Did you know that The Bees just released a mix album? Kind of makes sense doesn’t it? As marathonpacks rightly pointed out here, these guys pretty much do the band equivalent of DJing, selecting sounds and bands to mix and match in fun and highly enjoyable ways. And no, I did not say “reinterpret” — I’d say faithful and respectful replication is more the goal here. I’m cool with it; I don’t need all my bands to be geniuses/auteurs, creating something new every time they press record (my beloved Deerhoofs and Animal Collectives notwithstanding). So yeah, what I’ve heard of this mix (the sample “mini mix” on Last.fm, embedded below) is really wonderful, a very nice blend of soul, funk, jammy rock, afropop, tropicalia, electro-exotica, warm and crackly reggae, and indie stuff. Pretty much what you’d expect from The Bees, and that’s a good thing. Also, really nice for Mondays.

In closely related news: I’ve been looking forward to this James Pants album for a while now, and it looks like it’s finally out. Pumped!