Perhaps the world’s most widely known mix series is !K7’s legendary DJ-Kicks mix collection. It’s been on hiatus since October of 2007 with the last mix being given by Booka Shade, but today official word was given that DJ-Kicks is back and the next ones up are Chromeo, who will no doubt put together some seriously dope, pimpin’ ’80s disco coupled with self-ironic R&B. Some names have already leaked as to who will be featured on the mix: Leo Slayer, France Joli and The Alan Parsons Project.

Although we’ll have to wait until October for the full mix, Chromeo have put together an exclusive track that can already be downoaded for free now. Get it here.

“So whether you’re learning the ropes, considering going pro, or just want to tap your inner DJ, this book is for you.” – is how The Scratch DJ Academy Guide describes itself, and aims to be the mini-encyclopedia of the Scratch DJ Academy founded by Jam Master Jay.

The book, however, doesn’t stop at just showing you how to handle a crossfader. It goes into detail and offers much helpful information from start to finish on mastering the art of DJ-ing. From Brooklyn to Ibiza, well-known DJs acquaint the reader how they got started, and what they went through to get where they are today. They also give helpful tips, such as what steps are involved from booking to gigs, and share their thoughts on music, scratching, mixtapes, their techniques. And if you don’t know what beat juggling is, they even go into details about that too.

To mention just a few names who contributed to the book: Grand Wizard Theodore, A-Trak, Richie Hawtin, DJ Yoda, Q-Bert, Nick Warren, Matt Black, DJ Craze.

To find out more, and to purchase, click here.

Stones Throw’s emblematic character, Madlib is back. After heeps of mixtapes and other hip-hop projects, the multi-faceted sample king has put together his dream jazz band and called it The Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble.

The album, entitled Summer Suite is one long, 44 minute continuous musical meandering, which aims at giving closure to the Yesterdays New Quintet era, and aims to open a new chapter in the recluse artist’s career, who up until now, had no trouble making up artists and group names, such as Sound Directions, Young Jazz Rebels, and Kamala Walker and the Soul Tribe. All of which are figments of his very vivid imagination.

It might be worth mentioning that the album was in fact completed back in 2007, and was offered as a gift to those who purchased the Yesterdays Universe album. Now, however, it is readily available to anyone who has not yet heard it.

The people at Invisible DJ and LnA have used their Music Tee to coincide with Mos Def’s new album, The Ecstatic, which released last Tuesday, and features beats by some of the biggest names in the industry including Madlib, Oh No and Dilla (RIP). This is the first time an artist has chosen to make his album available in Music Tee format. In essence, the front of the tee features the album cover, and the back has the tracklist. The hang tag, however, has an individual code that the buyer can use to download the full album.