Last week, Big Sean beat out Lana Del Rey as the top vote getter for your favorite song of the week. In this week’s edition of In the Mixtape, we give you stuff you might’ve missed, top songs from Metric, M83, Gotye, The Shins, and Grand Puba, and a look ahead at upcoming events in the world of music. Click to read, listen, and vote.

COED Nation what is good in the hood? Happy New Year! I hope you guys enjoyed my first year with COED and my SOTW editions last year. I know I certainly enjoyed comprising these weekly compilations of music for your eyes and ears every week and look forward to sharing more great music with you in the twenty twelve. I plan on switching up the format this year by not on… Click to read more

Whether you’re hosting a party or pre-gaming before hitting up the club, you need to bust out some tune-age. By now, most people are tired of hearing Party Anthem, so why not drop a ball of supremely unique beats and tracks from the peeps at RCRD LBL? Their NYE playlist features joints from Wild Light, The John Henrys, Class Actress, Doldrums, Atlas Sound, and The Internet (great band name). There’s no better way to guarantee a kiss at midnight. Send a one finger salute to ’11 after the jump.

With the twilight of 2011 upon us, it’s our job as internet gurus to take a look at some of the best and funniest from the past year. Obviously there are a bunch of submissions to go through, so I thought it was imperative that we set some groundrules. The first (and possibly most important) was the removal of anything Rebecca Black. Secondly, no political campaign videos were admitted because those are generally created (read: schemed) to go viral. The best viral videos of 2011, nailed it? Let us know in the comment section.

With ’11 leaving us in couple days, RCRD LBL has released its four-part playlist of their 100 most downloaded songs of the year. Featured artists include Chromeo, Cold War Kids, Lykke Li, Kanye West, Sleigh Bells, Foster The People, Fleet Foxes, Lana Del Rey, and more. Take a listen to the top 10 tracks after the jump then head over to RCRD LBL to see the rest of the list and download all tracks.

2011 was a great year for music. Multiple genres – from indie rock to rap to pop to country – all had huge years. We saw the emergence of brand new power players (Adele, LMFAO), consistency from the staples (Kayne West, Rihanna, Lady Antebellum, Foo Fighters), solid debuts from important breakthrough artists, (Foster the People, Frank Ocean) and quality sophomore releases from breaking stars (Bon Iver, Drake). We got introduced to Spotify and the cloud. Music even brought an influx of reality TV shows all geared towards finding the next best thing in music (X-Factor, The Voice, American Idol). Click through to see Al Jones’ Top 30 Songs of 2011.

Chiddy Bang’s “Ray Charles” won top honors in our last SOTW poll, beating out Chris Brown’s “All Back”. Beating might not be the best choice of words when “Chris Brown” is in the same sentence. Anyway, this week’s nominations include jams from Avicii, Flo Rida, Wilco, Bon Iver, and The Band Perry. What? Country? We know, it’s scary. Check out which tracks made the cut then vote for your favorite after the jump-off.

If you’re a rapper who likes to make it rain or addicted to the smell of baby wipes, dim lighting, and flowery-smelling lotions (i.e. me), you just can’t enough of the strip club. A lot of dudes think it’s just one big wallet-draining cock tease, but those of us with ingenuity know to wear silk or stain shorts without underwear when receiving a lap dance. Still, with the economy sucking dong, we long for the days when, as N.E.R.D. put it, “You can get this lap dance here for free”. Well, now it’s come true with RCRD LBL’s Lap Dance playlist. Check it out then download all the tracks for free after the jump.

If you’re sick of listening to the play-by-play commentary during the NFL games or the sound of your aunt’s voice is making your brain leak or your Friendsgiving could use a soundtrack, we’ve got just the (cranberry) jams for you! The rad crew at RCRDLBL has compiled two Thanksgiving-themed playlists for your jive turkey @ss – The Good and the Bad. No ugly, though – we’ve got plenty of that goin’ on the TV. Baste your brains with thick beats after the jump.

Last week, we had a tie between And It Spread by The Avett Brothers and Drake’s Crew Love. Just goes to show how diverse our listening palate’s are at COED. In this week’s edition of Al Jones’ SOTW, we feature tracks from Janelle Monae, Wild Flag, Chris Brown, Chiddy Bang, and Blitzen Trapper. Take a listen then vote for your favorite after the jump!

Thanksgiving is all about football, feasting, and family. But, if you’re in the 18-34 age demo, this time of year is also your high school’s homecoming. You’ll usually rage your face off on Blackout Wednesday, gnaw on some hair of the dog at your high school’s homecoming football game against your bitter rivals, stuff your grill that night, pass out, then marvel at all the @ssholes losing their minds on Black Friday while you prep your ‘puter for Cyber Monday. To get you amped for the plethora of parties bound to go down this week, we’ve put together playlists comprised of the past decade’s most popular songs by graduating class. Check out each class’s suggested playlist after the jump.

In today’s world of electronic music, it’s refreshing to know that not everyone is obsessed with making the next dubstep or Dutch house single. Some, like A-Trak, even still use *gasp* real turntables for their performances. In my opinion, this shows not only real talent, but also a dedication to the idea behind the DJ being a musician. As you can tell from his brand-new mix, the vinyl goes hand-in-hand with his funky fresh style of dance music. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be able to rock the tables yourself, A-Trak’s uploaded his new mix for you to download. Check out his new mix from Fool’s Gold Radio after the jump.

Who’s ready for a fresh new round of Songs of the Week? Last week, we saw T.I. watch the throne with Hova and ‘Ye with his remix of “N****s In Paris.” We need a new king though, so that’s why we need you to vote! This week, we got tracks from Nicki Minaj, Tupac favorite Bruce Hornsby, James Morrison, Ghostface Killah, and Passion Pit. Check out which songs made the cut then vote for your favorite after the jump!

Midterms were a couple weeks ago. You either rocked the sh*t or sh*t the bed. With the holidays right around the corner, you’ve either taken your foot off the pedal and are coasting or you’re freaking the f*ck out. We don’t advise you do either of those things, so to get your mind right the rad party rockers at RCRD LBL have assembled this “Studying Sucks” playlist. From Moby declaring a “Study War” to Class Actress trying to “Keep You” focused to The Game taking a non-traditional kind of test, there is something for everyone here. So, plug in and silence the voices in your head with these concentracks (concentration + tracks) after the jump.

The rad dudes and dudettes at RCRD LBL have come through again, this time supplying you with “Chillers” from Creep, Dawn Golden & Rosy Cross, Chairlift, The Field and “Thrillers” from Hussle Club, Atari Teenage Riot and… Britney Spears?!? Shave your heads, kiddies, because this spooktacular mixtape will have all the party people boo-ing in a good way. Let us know which is your favorite track in the comments. Many thanks to RCRD LBL for the downloads! Click the link to check it out.