We Love You So – Where The Wild Things Are – Spike Jonze

Wizards + Fog Machines + Italo-disco + The Alan Parsons Project + Pink Floyd = Pink Project. Established by club DJ/Kano producer Stefano Pulga in 1982, Pink Project thrust the concept of mashups into Italy’s popular consciousness with “Disco Project,” a track that fused together The Alan Parsons Project’s instrumental tracks “Mammagamma” and “Sirius” with “Another Brick in the Wall,” forgoing the use of a single sample– they even enlisted an Italian children’s choir to sing the famous anti-education chorus a capella. The tune was an instant hit, resulting in a series of mysterious public appearances by four anonymous individuals covered in dark robes miming along to the recorded song. The true identities of the people under those robes remains a mystery to this day.

Pink Project tried to repeat their success with “B-project,” a follow-up single that spliced together “Billie Jean” and Greg Kihn Band’s “Jeopardy.” Sadly, it turned out the Italian public’s craving for mashups had already been satiated. Anyway, it’s not like there’s room for improvement on the beat in “Billie Jean.”

Jens Lekman is a Swedish singer whose chest cavity is home to one of the world’s most beautiful voices. But more than that, he’s also an amazing musician with a masterful command of pop history. His encyclopedaic knowledge is clearly evident in the vast array of nostalgic influences audible in the his music, but if you needed any more evidence, he’s released a fantastic new mix tape for free download on his website. The Summer Never Ends: Part 3 includes tunes from country music legend Nicolette Larson, an Italo-disco children’s choir called Baby’s Gang, late ’60s one-hit-wonder rock group American Breed, and sneak peeks at new songs from Lekman himself. Best of all, we finally get to find out who was on the other end of the line in Alicia Keys’ 2003 hit, “You Don’t Know My Name”– The Honeydrips‘ Mikael Carlsson, sounding decidedly unsexy.

Check out Jens’ video for “Sipping on the Sweet Nectar” from his 2007 album, Night Falls Over Kortedala: