No rest for the weary.  Nicki Minaj, who just blazed Kanye West’s new single “Monster” last week, is ready for some solo time in the spotlight starting with her upcoming performance at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. According to ONTD, Ms. Minaj will perform a “live mash-up” of her single “Your Love” during the VMA pre-show, which airs at 8pm (est) on Sept 12th.

The site is also reporting that on Tuesday, September 7th, MTV and Nicki Minaj will hold a Twitter contest where 10 lucky fans will win a front-row spot to watch her VMA Pre-Show performance. For more information on the contest, follow both @NickiMinaj and @MTVTJ. Winners will be announced on Friday, September 10th.

Check out Ms. Minaj’s VMA promo spot in case you missed it. It’s actually mind-blowing if you think about how many songs she’s been on, how much press she’s racked up, all without her album being released. Why bother at this rate? Just keep blazing guest spots and make your paper girl!

Cee-Lo Green – “Fuck You!” mp3

We start things off with “Easy Bear”, an awesome departure from former Northern State femcee Hesta Prynn. It’s a great little indie pop jam with hooks for days, putting Prynn’s solo career on our radar from this point on. The jams keep coming with an upbeat joint from Spanish multi-instrumentalist El Guincho, fond of stacking layers of noises in a Wall of Sound fashion that would make Panda Bear proud. “FM Tan Sexy” uses steel drums, hand claps, an organ, a xylophone (?), and snippets of backup vocals, among other elements. After that is the much-buzzed about Kanye West track “Monster”, which features an unstoppable team of guests: Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver. The song is solid in every sense, but Minaj’s verse is the definite standout. To say she kills it is an understatement. From there we have a rocking, Heart-inspired diss track from Katy Perry. Rumored to be aimed at her ex, Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes fame, “Circle The Drain” laments their relationship by placing most of the blame on McCoy’s addictions. Then we have a new track from Starfucker, who you may remember from the first all-cover version of the Millah Mix, with their great update of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. This time around we have “Julius”, an original track that mixes upbeat synths with ethereal vocals.

Side B slows things down just a bit with “I Walked”, the brand new song from Sufjan Stevens off his just-announced, upcoming album The Age of Adz. Fans of his early work (A Sun Came and Enjoy Your Rabbit) won’t see this electronic, beat-driven vibe as a departure and the rest of the fans will be able to find the same old melodious Sufjan in there. Then we have another electronic, slow beat-driven joint: the Tiga remix of “Shelter” by The xx, which adds depth and accessibility to the original. After that we pick things up a little with “Big Wave”, a retro rock ditty by indie power couple Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice. They just released debut album I’m Having Fun Now as Jenny & Johnny, which totally fits the throwback sound. From there we go to a sweet RAC mix of Ra Ra Riot hit “Boy”. If you liked the original (and who didn’t?), then you’ll def like this dance-y, but-still-true-to-the-original re-do. Finally, we end on the brand new single from Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim. “Cameras” shows promise for their new album, Sidewalks by way of them further evolving their sound from 2009′s Grand. It’s the perfect end of summer jam.

Okay then. Hope you like this week’s mix. Hit me up in the comments!

Track list and download links after the cut.

Mini Millah Mix 9/1/10

Download

Side A
1. Easy Bear – Hesta Prynn (feat. Tim Harrington) mp3
2. FM Tan Sexy – El Guincho mp3
3. Monster – Kanye West (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver) mp3
4. Circle The Drain – Katy Perry mp3
5. Julius – Starfucker mp3
Side B
6. I Walked – Sufjan Stevens mp3
7. Shelter (Tiga Remix) – The xx mp3
8. Big Wave – Jenny & Johnny mp3
9. Boy (RAC Mix) – Ra Ra Riot mp3
10. Cameras – Matt & Kim mp3

Check out previous Millah Mixes here.

“Love the Lie” is quickly surpassing “Best of Times” as my favorite song off of Sage Francis’ latest, Li(f)e. While I noticed that the music for the track was a little different than Sage’s usual stuff (already pretty varied), I didn’t realize it had been written by the late, undeniably great Mark Linkous.

That fact certainly adds to the whole experience, but we’ve got even more to appreciate on top of the musical collaboration.

The video, featuring stop-motion animation by Jim Foltice, fits the music and lyrics perfectly. All in all, an affecting bit of work featuring some very talented artists.

Read more about “Love the Lie” at Strange Famous Records.

Yesterday, RiRi, who just commandeered her Twitter channel from her label, also dropped some clues in a tweet to Ryan Seacrest that a new song was on the way.

Who’s ready for some new Rihanna?

Junip

Junip was formed in the late ’90s by drummer Elias Araya, the afforementioned José González, and organ and moog player Tobias Winterkorn. Fields ends a five year drought since the band last released an album.

Between now and September 14th you can hear the album in its entirety on NPR’s website. I highly recommend checking out the full album or at the very least a few front-runner favorites in “Sweet and Bitter,” and “Without You.”

Junip will be bringing their intimate atmospherics back stateside in the Fall. The
complete tour schedule is after the cut.

JUNIP ON TOUR
11/1–World Cafe–Philadephia, PA
11/2–Royale Nightclub–Boston, MA
11/4–Belmont–Montreal, QUE
11/5–Lee’s–Toronto, ONT
11/6–Lincoln Hall–Chicago, IL
11/7–Cedar Cultural Center–Minneapolis, MN
11/10–Neumos–Seattle, WA
11/11–Venue–Vancouver, BC
11/12–Doug Fir Lounge–Portland, OR
11/13–The Independent–San Francisco, CA
11/14–Music Box At The Henry Fonda–Los Angeles, CA
11/16–Rhythm Room–Phoenix, AZ
11/18–Mohawk–Austin, TX
11/19–Fitzgeralds–Houston, TX
11/20–Spanish Moon–Baton Rouge, LA
11/21–The Earl–Atlanta, GA
11/22-Cat’s Cradle–Carrboro, NC
11/23–Black Cat–Washington, DC
11/24–Irving Plaza, New York City, NY

According to Baeble, Ms. Bareilles played to a crowd of contest winners and fans alike at the cozy Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1. Be sure to check out the performance footage of the singer and her band performing “King of Anything” and “Uncharted” off her upcoming album Kaleidoscope Heart (Sept. 7) as well as previous hits “Love Song” and “Gravity” from her debut album Little Voice.

Just for good measure, be sure to read her self-penned bio – so much personality, so little time.

Watch the full concert at baeblemusic.com

With their first single, “Slippin’,” The Influence combine a lot of the good parts of late 90′s alternative rock, with some of the more respectable riffs of what later became thoroughly embarrassed under the banner of “screamo.” Heavy, chugging hooks that don’t sacrifice catch for amp and vice versa.

Think of Sunburn-era Fuel meets Open Hand’s “Life as is,” and you won’t be far from the sound of “Slippin’,” off of the band’s upcoming debut Falling Objects, which lands September 28th.

It’s not too much cock to scare off Hinder-haters, but the vocals and music are still raw enough to capture people who withhold a fondness for groups like Bush and the Foo Fighters. Speaking as someone who thinks that respectable alternative music stopped somewhere around 2003, I’m very excited to listen to The Influence’s debut album all the way through.

Band Stats:

• Origin: Virginia
• Age: 3 years
• Reasons for Makin’ It: They’re making good alternative rock music (shout out 1999) and have enough personal flair to distinguish themselves above and beyond the legions of Nickelback clones.