Local hip-hop outfits are dropping free tracks left and right in the spirit of the holidays. One of the latest is a five-track EP by Huntington Beach-based wordsmith Ariano and Delmos Wade (a recent pseudonym of Long Beach soul singer Judd Nestor).

Released on Christmas Eve on Ariano's label Technicali Sound, "Remix My Soul" does exactly what its title suggests. The project started with a batch of Ariano's a capella songs and verses that would eventually become chopped and screwed into an amalgam of throwback funk, club-rattling bass and eerie vocal riffs and runs. Not to mention the socially conscious prognostication of songs such as  "R.I.P. to the Radio" and "Gotta Get Mine" (featuring U-God of Wu-Tang Clan).

Both collaborators regularly hustle various side and solo projects at places such as the Airliner and the House of Blues. Teaming up in the studio together earlier this year, DW's process of building tracks and choruses around Ariano's flows took the better part of two months to complete.The joint effort by both artists offers a spoonful of a forthcoming Ariano solo album that DW is also producing.

Click here to download the free EP.

-- Nate Jackson