Have you heard this breezy Major Lazer track featuring Amber of the Dirty Projectors yet?

If you haven’t, check out this subtly badass music video before continuing on to the rest of this post (my personal favorite is the part with the T-Rex skeleton)

How about this awesome mashup  between Major Lazer and N.C. rapper J. Cole producer and DJ Diplo posted to Facebook this week?

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/61416261" params="show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=ff0400" width="100%" height="81" iframe="false" /]

Photo by Nicole Palko

Major Lazer’s North Carolina tour stop this past Tuesday at Cat’s Cradle proved to be one sweaty, non-stop dance party.

Sleigh Bells opened the show with a mix of loud, distorted guitar, blasted beats, and the yelping, chanting vocals of singer Alexis Krauss. The duo did a fine job warming up the crowd for what was to be a night of non-stop dancing and mayhem. They played a mix of blog favorites including as “A/B Machines” and “Crown on the Ground” and new tracks likely to appear on their debut album due out later this year.

Immediately after Sleigh Bells closed out their set, British dubstep artist Rusko took the stage to the sounds of a bass-maxed-out version of Petey Pablo’s “Raise Up”. From there, he cruised through crowd-pleasing remixes of Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘n’ Nite” and Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek”, in addition to original tracks such as “Woo Boost” and the Tupac-sampling “Da Cali Anthem”.

Photo by Nicole Palko

Following a brief intermission at the end of Rusko‘s set, Major Lazer main men Diplo and Switch took to a table of CDJ’s and laptops at the back of the stage. The lazer lights came on and the party wouldn’t let up for another hour-plus. With hype-man/MC Skerrit Bwoy bouncing around the stage in his colorful mohawk and a bikini-clad dancer pulling moves that looked like something a gymnast might do in a strip club, the crowd went absolutely insane. People were bouncing. People were dancing. The whole crowd was swaying. Foam lazer-guns were thrown into the crowd. As the duo mixed their way effortlessly from Major Lazer hits “Pon De Floor” and “Keep It Goin’ Louder” into tracks they’ve produced individually, Skerrit Bwoy and the dancer took to pulling off moves straight out of the “Pon De Floor” video (warning: NSFW). The chemistry between the two was obvious, both wearing ear-to-ear grins the entire time.

I had heard that the show was supposed to run until 2 a.m., but was cut short after a guy fell and busted his head open , which was evident due to the pool of blood near the back of the room. Regardless of whether or not the show was supposed to go on for another two hours or not, Major Lazer brought what is likely to be one of the best-remembered dance parties the Cradle has ever seen.

Dj Benzi x Plain Pat x Kanye West: Sky High – A We Got The Remix Special Edition

After teasing fans with a streaming preview that was available for only one day, the finished product is finally available for download! Sky High features 21 Kanye tracks that have been remixed by top-notch producers and mixed by DJ Benzi. The first half of Sky High has hip hop sound while the last half has a more electronic feel. So after you finish breakin your neck to the first half of the mixtape, go ahead and diversify your bonds with the electronic sound of the latter half.

Favortie Tracks: Sky High (remix) ft. Kid Cudi, Good Morning (The Kickdrums Remix), Champion (Nick Catchdubs Remix), Flashing Lights (Diplo Remix), Addiction (Kenny Dope Remix), Electric Touch (Steve 1der & Mighty Mi Remix), Love Lockdown (Tom Wrecks Remix), Homecoming (Discotech Remix), I Wonder (Scottie B Remix)

If you are familiar with Dj Benzi then you know that most of his mixtapes are best described as re-mixtapes. Fear and Loathing in Huntsvegas, The New Deal and Sky High are some of Benzi’s latest projects. I’ll talk about Sky High in part 2 of “Gettin Busy With Benzi” since it can also be categorized under Afterhours.

Fear and Loathing In HuntsVegas – We Got The Remix: Special Edition

DJ Benzi and producer, Diplo, hook up with Paper Route Records (see the Fader Magazine article from October 2008) to create what has to be one of the best mixtapes of 2008: Fear and Loathing In HuntsVegas. This special version contains remixes by Diplo, Emynd, and The Knocks.

My favorite remixed tracks include Rollin (Diplo Remix) by Jackie Chain ft. Jhi Ali which features a haunting sample taken from KRS-One’s Step Into A World (Rapture’s Delight). Bama Gettin Money (Diplo Remix) by PRGz and Soul Glo (The Knocks Remix) by PRGz are equally addictive. (hear the original mixes of Rollin and Bama Gettin Money featured in Fader Magazine.)

The original instrumentals hold their own against the remixes and, in some cases, surpass them. Travelin by Dawgy Baggz ft. Money Addict & B. Dewitt, Shots by Untamed ft. Dawgy Baggz and Grind Baby by X.O all boast innovative instrumentals. Mali Boy ,the producer of the original tracks, deserves just as many props as Benzi. For a relatively amateur producer, his instrumentals are damn good.

While not the most socially-conscious compilation of music, Dj Benzi’s blends along with mind-blowing instrumentals guarantee an hour of non-stop head nodding.

Dj Benzi x 10 Deep: The New Deal

The New Deal is Dj Benzi’s latest collabo with 10 Deep. Does anyone know what exactly 10 Deep is? I thought it was a clothing brand but apparently they produce mixtapes too. Go figure. Anyway Dj Benzi does it again along with ridiculously bangin instrumentals! The mixtape is studded with star power, featuring Wale, Kidz In The Hall, Kanye West, Charles Hamiliton, Blu, Skyzoo and so many more.

My favorite tracks are Party Works by Donnis, 2nd Time Around by Wale ft. Brother Ali, Cool, Relax by Kidz In The Hall ft. Jay Electronica and (yet another) Rollin (Remix) by Jackie Chain ft. Kid Cudi.

This joint has a little something for everyone, from the hardcore Underground heads to the Baltimore Club fiends.