Just released earlier this week, Sky High, by DJ Benzi and Plain Pat features remixes of 18 well-known Kanye West tracks, including “Good Morning,” “Champion,” “Get ‘Em High,” “Love Lockdown,” and “Stronger.” The tracks on Sky High were plucked from all four of Kanye’s albums (The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation, and 808s & Heartbreak) as well as Estelle’s Shine. After giving this mixtape a couple of listens, it definitely ranks above some of the other Kanye West remix albums floating around out there. The best tracks on the mixtape are A-Trak’s remix of “Get ‘Em High” and “Stronger” as well as Discotech’s remix of “Homecoming,” which features Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

Listen to “Stronger” remixed by A-Trak:

Here’s the complete tracklist on Sky High:

1. (00:01:18) Kanye West – Sky High Intro
2. (00:03:08) Kanye West – good Morning ft. Big Sean (The Kickdrums Remix)
3. (00:02:54) Kanye West – Champion (Nick Catchdubs Remix)
4. (00:02:49) Kanye West – Barry Bonds (Eli Escobar Remix)
5. (00:03:01) Kanye West – Crack Musik (Cookin Soul Remix)
6. (00:00:30) Kanye West – We Major (The Kickdrums Remix)
7. (00:04:12) Kanye West – Get Em High (A-Trak Remix)
8. (00:02:45) Kanye West – Throw Some (Cousin Cole Remix)
9. (00:03:54) Kanye West – Electric Touch (Steve1der & Mighty Mi Remix)
10. (00:03:25) Kanye West – Love Lockdown (Tom Wrecks Remix)
11. (00:02:36) Kanye West – Flashing Lights (Diplo Remix)
12. (00:02:39) Kanye West – Addiction (Kenny Dope & Terry Hunter Remix)
13. (00:02:39) Kanye West – Stronger (A-Trak Remix)
14. (00:02:07) Kanye West – Impatient Boy (Benzi Refix)
15. (00:03:01) Kanye West – HomeComing (Discotech Remix)
16. (00:02:37) Kanye West – I Wonder (Scottie B Remix)
17. (00:03:11) Kanye West – good Life (Strech Armstrong Remix)
18. (00:04:26) Kanye West – Can’t Tell Me Nothing (Dj Godfather Remix)

Click here to download Sky High

Late one night, I was at a small party, doing DJ duty and selecting songs on my iPod. I searched for a while, scrolled to a song, then clicked “play.” Chris Martin, of Coldplay, began to croon out his slow (medical?) ballad, “Fix You.” Initially, the crowd was not happy with this choice. “When you feel so tired that you can’t sleep,” Chris sang, slowly. “Stuck in reverse!” he whispered. Suddenly, the word “reverse” began repeating, and a bass beat started thumping. People at the party started tapping their feet. The beat built up, people started dancing, and by the time Jay-Z (aka Jazzy, Sean Carter, Jiggaman, Hova, The Roc, etc.) began rapping, the party was bumping.

Such is the brilliance of Viva La Hova, the mixtape by Mick Boogie and Terry Urban. It samples a huge variety of Coldplay beats – extracting them older songs, like “The Scientist” and “Trouble” and from more recent ones like “X & Y” and “Speed of Sound.” It mashes these beats up with a cappella tracks from some of Jay-Z’s best songs – like “Falling,” “Song Cry,” “Party Life,” and “Pray”.

Like most good mashup CDs, this one really makes you listen to the lyrics in a new and sometimes revealing way. “What if We Cry?” – which mashes up “Song Cry” by Jay-Z and “What If” by Coldplay – becomes a genuinely mournful peace, much moreso than the nostalgic track Jay-Z originally produced. Similarly, the aforementioned “The Reverse Fix” – playable, below – becomes an astonishingly upbeat take, both on the originally slow “Fix You” and “The Bounce” by Jay-Z.

Here is the complete album tracklist:

1) Intro (produced by Mick Boogie & Terry Urban)
2) Public Speeding (produced by Cookin’ Soul)
3) Know My Place (produced by The Amps)
4) Never Changing (produced by nVMe)
5) Miss Trouble (produced by Judah)
6) Back At My Place (produced by Remot)
7) No Love Coming Home (produced by The Kickdrums) Lost Part 1 (produced by Coldplay)
9) A Spy’s Prayer (produced by nVMe)
10) Science Is Ignorant (produced by Gooch)
11) The Reverse Fix (produced by Mick Boogie & nVMe)
12) Hola Blanco (produced by Garbs Infinite)
13) Take The Hill (produced by nVMe)
14) Lost Part 2 (remixed by Mick Boogie)
15) Cold Success (produced by 9th Wonder)
16) What If We Cry? (produced by Remot)
17) Beach Chair (produced by Coldplay)
18) Falling In Shadows (produced by 6th Sense)
19) Life of Clocks (produced by Terry Urban)
20) X-Y-Z (produced by Hasan Insane)

Updated Link on Dec. 28th 2008
Click here to download Viva la Hova.

Finally, to conclude, here’s Jim’s Bonus Mashup. It’s DJ Earworm’s cross between Radiohead’s “Reckoner” and Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.”