I have taken a particular interest in Kanye’s brand of life since he thrust himself into the limelight with College Dropout. To the average eye, Kanye West can be described as arrogant, pompous, cocky, and a diva. He might LOOK like all of those things, but maybe people just don’t know how to handle someone whose brutal honesty is the only thing that comes close to his undying confidence.

It may be Kanye’s confidence that has led his army of determination to be the world’s next international superstar. He has made it no secret that he wants to get to Michael Jackson status. He wants to sell out stadiums. But he seems to be stuck on this idea that hip hop artists don’t sell out stadiums, pop stars do. (The extravagance of his Glow in the Dark tour is only the start of things to come from this man, I’m sure of it.)

Is this idea of only popstars being superstars the reason the Chicago-raised West has shifted gears so drastically with his newly released tracks from his upcoming 808s and Heartbreak? Kanye has always been a genius in marketing his albums. His outreach to the blog world feels more like a focus group. A way to gage people’s reaction to a new sound before he unleashes it on the Wal Mart demographic who will essentially make him a superstar.

The material from this new album feels like Kanye is, for the first time trying to be something he is not. His road to selling out the Meadowlands or Wembley is not going to come from a pop/r&b album from a hip hop artist. It is going to come from his ability to fuse genres into his root sound. Then again, this could just be Kanye’s Electric Circus

Here’s the tracklist for the album out a week from today:

808s & Heartbreak:

1. Welcome to Heartbreak
2. Heartless
3. Love Lockdown
4. Robocop
5. Anyway
6. Streetlights
7. Say You Will
8. Real Bad News
9. Amazing [ft. Young Jeezy]
10. Tell Everybody That You Know [ft. Lil Wayne]
11. Coldest Winter

Chromeo hit up the first Pemberton Festival this past summer in Pemberton, British Columbia, and rocked the Bacardi B-Live dance tent. Being that the electro duo have family ties with Fool’s Gold Records, it’s only natural that A-Trak and the gang would join in the fun. Fool’s Gold artists Treasure Fingers, Trackademicks, and Nacho Lovers offer up killer remixes of Chromeo’s track 100%.

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• MP3: Chromeo - 100% (Treasure Fingers B-Live Pemberton mix)
• MP3: Chromeo - 100% (Trackademicks B-Live Pemberton mix)
• MP3: Chromeo - 100% (Nacho Lovers B-Live Pemberton mix)
  

VIMBY does it again, offering a killer video feature with Gold Coast to Wham City punk rockers The Death Set
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• MP3: The Death Set - “Superzero”
• MP3: Daedelus - “Fair Weather Friends (the Death Set rmx)”
• MP3: The Death Set - “On The Street (Bumblebeez rmx)”

Born in London, Dan Black could not resist the magnetic power of the Paris music scene, and with the recent explosion of Parisian party culture who can blame him. You probably heard his take on Biggie’s Hypnotize, now we give you his newest single Yours with a remix by Bmore king DJ Blaqstarr.

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• MP3: Dan Black - “Yours”
• MP3: Dan Black - “Yours (Blaqstarr rmx)”
  

Paper Route Recordz are releasing their newest project titled Fear and Loathing in HuntsVegas. The album is slated to hit the net on November 18 in a ‘pay what you want’ format where paying $0-4.99 gets you the whole album in 192 kbps quality and $5.00 and over get you the album in 320 kbps with bonus tracks. Diplo lent his hand on five of the new tracks, including the one below featuring WALE.

You’re gonna be able to scoop that 320 quality for only $5 HERE

• MP3: BIG P.O.P.E. - Don’t Go (Feat. WALE, Diplo Remix)
  (via Elitaste)
  

I’ve been a fan of Alice Russell’s ever since her work with the Quantic Soul Orchestra, and her latest solo effort, Pot of Gold, does not disappoint. As much as I’m a huge fan of other British girl vocalists like Amy Winehouse and Duffy, I’ll go out on a limb and say that Russell can sing circles around all of them.

Russell has recorded or performed with just about everyone – Massive Attack, the Roots, Femi Kuti, De La Soul. Most recently, she leant her voice to the legendary Mr. Scruff for “Music Takes Me Up” on Scruff’s new Ninja Tune full-length.

On her most recent solo effort, Russell brings big strings and big horns to complement that big voice. I’m a sucker for classic 60’s-style arrangements, and the instrumentation on Pot of Gold wouldn’t be out of place on an Atlantic or Stax release from 40+ years ago. However, Russell is no lazy nostalgia-purveyor. Her crisp sound is unmistakably modern even as it pays homage to 60s soul and pop.

The full-length is out now as a digital download direct from Russell’s label, Six Degrees Records

• MP3: Alice Russell - Got the Hunger?

After almost 4 years, Anthony Hegarty is set to release the upcoming full length The Crying Light (January 20, 2009) with Mercury Prize winning group Antony and the Johnsons.  Check out a track from the upcoming album:

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• MP3:  Antony and the Johnsons - “Another World”

Brazilian duo Database offer up a few tracks that stand out from a lot of the speaker beaters we often receive. With enough filter sweeps and synths to satisfy the french electro lover in all of us, Database adds funky guitar licks, soulful beats, and sultry vocal loops.

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• MP3: Database - “Burn Me Up (feat. Midnight Martyn)”
• Database - “Gotta Take Your Love”
• The Kills - “URA Fever (Database rmx)”
  

Wasting no time, Heads We dance opens The Human Touch with ripping synth stabs and a throbbing heartbeat kick drum.  Weighing in at 5 minutes, you might think the track would become repetitive, but HWD does a top notch job of keeping the track grooving with quick stabs and contrasting dream-like synth breaks.  Moving in and out of space-age disco and teeth breaking electro, The Human Touch is enough to give any robot a heartbeat that will bang the rust off.  Look for this track, along with plenty of extra goodies, on their upcoming 12″ / digital single release out November 24.

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• MP3:  Heads We Dance - “The Human Touch”
• Heads We Dance - “You Are Never Alone With Model 21″

Jessie Kilguss is not another actress turned musician. Well technically she is, but for a classically trained alum of NYU’s acting program who was featured in films with Daniel Day Lewis, she can certainly write a mean song. Her music is an exploration of genres that tastes more like a fine dining sampler platter rather than hobo soup.

Her first single A Little Place Behind Your Eyes uses a full-band funk sound under her vocals that are at times as soulful as Joni Mitchell while floating from note to note like Regina Spektor.

Her album Nocturnal Drifter is set for release in January. Take a listen to her new single:

MP3: Jessie Kilguss - A Little Place Behind Your Eyes