THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
YOUNG ADULT FRICTION

Got word from an NixMix original visitor that the overloading of Xmas music is getting down the disenfranchised Scrouges of the world, so I'm gone above and beyond in search for varying and appetizing (not to mention a-seasonal) sonic pleasures for you. Below you'll see a bevy of R&B and Hip Hop delights to devour, but as a change of gear why not try some alternative indie rock Smiths-pop on for size (borrowed from my brothers musical wardrobe) from New York's most buzz-heavy up-n-comers. A treat.

JAMIE FOXX feat. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
WINNER

The day ends in Y and Justin's got a feature (is that why the production team on this is called The Y's?)...it would be a problem if they weren't all so good. Sounds slightly dated (think late 'cool' N Sync meets Solider by Destiny's Child) but as we head into our century's teens, there's something nice about that. "I feel like I can't miss"? I should say so.

LIL WAYNE
DA DA DA

You'd be forgiven for thinking that this was Lil's testament to learning to speak, but truthfully there's not a hell of a lot that can be said about this. On paper, and every other listen, this sounds like a big ol mess. But the other times, it's got that chaotic, frantic and varied sound that Wayne (who's words are undetectable as ever here) delivers... a real kick on loud.

USHER
STAY DOWN

So Raymond Vs. Raymond has been moved back to March - half of me thinks 'Good move' the other half thinks 'You've got a number one hit on the R&B charts - capitalize', but let's trust Usher and Mother know what they're doing. I'm feeling a lot of the leaked material from this era, and figured since none of you are getting an Usher album this Christmas, you might enjoy this harmonic four minuter.

TREY SONGZ feat. USHER & KERI HILSON
I INVENTED SEX

I've got great things to say about Trey's album...but keen readers will know what they are, so just get this juiced up version of killa single 'I Invented Sex' - there's been some time and thought put in to this one (not just borrowed verses from demos etc) and nice to see the cohesion from three big artists on a version that will probably never see the light of day in a mass-market sense.

SADE
SOLIDER OF LOVE

You couldn't call Sade a NixMix staple, but this is cool. It's got that sort of meandering melody with kooky production that falls on the side of commercial. If you wanna check out more from these guys, I suggest a good look on Wikipedia, you'd be surprised to read a lot of of their stats. Back to SOL - it has this nice Moby/Nina Simone thing going on for it, and you, should you decide to listen to it yourself.

NIXMIX NOVEMBER 2009

We have a NixMix first...when trying to compile November's list of tracks, it dawned on me that there were just too many to fit into one sixteen track session. So for the very first time, your November mix comes in two parts. Look out for the second part very shortly.

ALICIA KEYS feat. BEYONCE
PUT IT IN A LOVE SONG

Two NixMix favorites right here, together in one song. They'd have to really trip to mess this one up...thankfully, and obviously they didn't. It's refreshing in that it's not a retread, not what I'd expect from either of them - still though they've retained their own identities on the track, which is a tough balance.

Sssup! Sorry, slow connection. Such matters got in the way of me kicking off the Christmas season in style, which is basically the most Un-Christmassy thing since The Grinch got his hands on it. Those of you who aren't familiar with 'niXmas' should pay attention...basically it's a musical advent calendar. Each day of December, there'll be a new numbered window denoting the day...click on it and you'll receive a festive tune from a NixMix favorite. There'll be some old, some new, some contemporary, some traditional. There will be no repeats. That means songs from Nixmasi on by will not be returning. It's all new, mysterious, and the most Christmas fun you can have on any blog this side of cool. (The first one is my favorite) Check it...

TRIBUTE TO CHAKA KHAN
@ THE SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 09

KELLY CLARKSON
THE DAY WE FELL APART

My love for this song has been fairly well documented on this blog. It's not going to be the next single, it's not even on the proper album, but it's by far my favorite song of this era. It should be the next single, or at least they should have saved it and used it to launch a re-release. Yup, I think it's that good. If you haven't heard it blog readers, please do, it's too awesome to pass up, and is the official NixMix single after Already Gone.

TIMBALAND feat. THE FRAY & ESTHERO
UNDERTOW

So guess what kids, Tim's albums out. Great news right? Made even better by the fact that it's great. And whilst there's not so much progression in his sound, there is variation. We all know the big hit from that album was Apologize...so let's take it slow again and get invested in this amazing slow jam (with vocals from The Fray guy doing his best Ryan Tedder impression).

ALLISON IRAHETA
JUST LIKE YOU

It's a tough time for these Idols...a tonne of work, good albums, but a hell of a time getting people to spend money on them. How times change. In essence, the music is still great and so are the singers behind it. As is evidenced on here by a really good, grown up commercial ballad (love the melody turn on the 'I can be cruel'...) from Idol's gravelly voiced vixen.

JANET JACKSON
I GET LONELY feat. BLACKSTREET [1998]

Never let it be said that J. Jackson hasn't fought and earned her way to the top of music's pantheon. Her greatest hits proves, ultimately, that she was, is and always will be more than Michael Jackson's little sister. This track, a particular jam of mine, is from Janet's 1997 killer LP The Velvet Rope. Tracks don't get much smoother.

NIXMIX:
WINTA

Ssup? Winta won out, just in time for the frost to set in. It's a goody too. I've mostly slowed things down here, but we get a few mid/up-tempo cuts to round it off. A lot of these tracks are buried deeply within the new albums that have come out over the past year or so. Stop My Heart just aches of Winter don't it? Kelly opens up. I've thrown in a few curveballs in there - an old school cut, some Ray for a couple of years ago. Anyway, good choice people. Wrap up warm.

JAY Z feat. MR HUDSON
YOUNG FOREVER

So it looks like this is the next single off of the Jay's album. And what an amazing album it is (do I smell a boat load of Grammy love come February?). This is slightly more obvious than the past singles, and it relies a little too much on the Forever Young sample (the Mr. Hudson bit), but when all is said and done, it's still a song and a half - and should smash like the others.

ESMEE DENTERS
ADMIT IT

ED has been keeping a low pro it seems, and whilst I admit I haven't given her album many listens, it's unleashed some pretty cool singles. 'Pretty cool' is a great way of describing this actually...the harmonies, the verses, the production it's all edgier than she has a right to be. She seems to have the voice, the appeal, the production and the writing behind her, she just needs more promotion and marketing - the age old tale.

NOISETTES feat. WALE & ESTELLE
DON'T UPSET THE RHYTHM (TRICKY MIX)

The frontwoman for this band is a bit of legend. Just very attractive and fucking cool. I'm not too sold on their music (although, it's always been on my 'to-listen' list) but who can resist when Wale, Estelle and Tricky get in on the game? Not me.

COMMON feat. JOHN LEGEND
STRANGE FRUIT

It was the original (or the song that this is based around) of this that made me want to get into music journalism. Billie Holiday's version is just amongst the most brutal and haunting minutes of popular music. It's an ugly subject, but good art often comes out of the ugliest. My man Common and John Legend (with production from Kanye) give it a new-Millennium twist without compromising the sentiment.

GUY SEBASTIAN feat. JORDIN SPARKS
ART OF LOVE

Now we all know what happened last time Jordin did a duet. It was awesome. Guess what? This is too. The guy is one of the Australian Idols. Gotta love the aussies. It just so happens that this one can sang his face off. These two bring the sick vocals on AOL and, whilst the song isn't quite as good, it all comes together very nicely.