Another couple of days, another couple of million new Lil Wayne-related mp3s. I'm so motherfucking shocked I could write a blog post. Hey, mixtapes!Remember Friday, when I said that one of the bigger trends in blog-era hip-hop is "stuff that sounds like M.I.A. or Santogold"? Well, here's another one. Only instead of sampling Santogold's "Shove I...

-- Montreal instrumental sextet Bell Orchestre (featuring Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry and Sarah Neufeld) are getting ready to release their second album, As Seen Through Windows, on March 10 via new label Arts & Crafts. Because seeing something through a window makes it look a little different than if there was no window (also depen...

Photo by Kathryn YuM.I.A. is really racking up the industry-sanctioned accolades now. It's getting a bit silly. Her Pazz and Jop singles win for "Paper Planes" wasn't such a big surprise-- music nerds have loved Ms. Arulpragasam for years. But non-geeks are starting to catch up. First there was that Grammy nomination, and now an Oscar nomination...

Photo by Kathryn YuThe Oscar nominations have been announced, and the biggest surprise in the Best Original Song category isn't what has been nominated, but rather what hasn't."O...Saya", M.I.A.'s collaboration with composer A.R. Rahman from Slumdog Millionaire, garnered a nod, as "Jai Ho", another A.R. Rahman song from Slumdog, featuring Sukhvi...

Or, in words your parents will understand: Lily Allen did a cover of the Clash's "Straight To Hell" with the original's co-writer Mick Jones, no less. Originally released in 1982 as the third single from Combat Rock, "Straight To Hell" returned to the spotlight last year after its familiar opening riff was sampled on M.I.A.'s ubiquitous "Paper P...