Mixtape Riot

Happy as a dog with a stick. Maybe happier. I’ve got a million and five things to be thankful for, but more than anything right now, I’m giving praises to the most high for helping my youngest brother make it safe and sound through an 8-hour surgery yesterday. Today’s songs don’t really have anything to do with the worrying, or good health, or giving thanks per say, but sometimes joyful distraction is just what the doctor ordered. I realize there’s a bit of a clinical flavor to the funk today, maybe that’s the connection (I’ve been spending a fair amount of time in a hospital this past week, which might explain it).

Benny Sings : Big Brown Eyes & One II
from this album. Shouts to Marlee (& indirectly Radio Nova) for hipping me to this smoothed out electro soul

Carte Blanche : With You (ft. Alexis Taylor)
mellow blue-eyed soul crooning from Hot Chip vocalist has kept this simple bouncey electro house jammer in steady rotation lately

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs : Trouble & Dream On
more funky white-boy electro house. I’m not sure if any of these tracks would really go over too well on a dancefloor (unless perhaps you’re playing the 3-5am shift at a Bushwick warehouse party), but “Trouble” in particular is hitting a sweet spot for me.

DJ Self Help : Cape Cassandra
Straight outta Columbus Ohio, DJ Self Help comes supremely correct on this blend of afro-tropical-bass and white-boy-electro-house. I’ve been meaning to post this joint for a minute but finally found the playlist to fit with it.

New Navy : Zimbabwe
Afro-pop meets indy rock and they fall in love on this song. I don’t think a holiday in Zimbabwe would actually be as rewarding as the lyrics by New Navy suggest, considering Mugabe is still president, but don’t let that get in your way from appreciating the nice drum break down.

Jamie Woon : Lady Luck
while some of this guy’s singing leans a bit on the cheesy side, this track (which I believe he also produced) falls right in the pocket.

Alan Wilkis : Come & Go (ft. The KickDrums)
really glad to hear this hard-hitting collabo off Wilkis‘ upcoming album “Prints”. The grimey dubstep styles on here are a pretty big departure from both Wilkis & The KickDrums more 80′s funk styled earlier tracks, but I’m liking the new direction. Check here for the whole EP with remixes from RJD2 & Big Pooh among others

DJ Shadow : Scale It Back (ft. Little Dragon)
I can’t whole-heartedly recommend Shadow‘s new album in it’s entirety (sorry dude, the hard rock shit ain’t for me), but this unexpected collabo is a total standout on there.

Gotye : Puzzle With A Piece Missing
excellent dubby sounds from an earlier album by this man who’s catalogue I’m just now discovering.

Back on the road again (thus the lag in posting). The pic above comes courtesy of my new homie DJ SUN who kinda runs all things funky in Houston, TX. I had a whirlwind stay with the man where we managed 4 dj gigs in 3 days, got busy in the studio on a new track, and played lots of funk 45′s. Oh yeah, and then there was that $600 bottle of wine that we drank… Big shouts to The ARE, Krystal Hardwick and all the other cool people I met and chilled with in H-Town.

Then I stopped in NOLA for an action packed reunion with my Beatards brothers. Much more drinking, eating of amazing food, dancing to live music, and general tomfoolery ensued- as well as some very fruitful record digging (which you’ll hear more about soon). But for now, while I’m stranded in the Philly airport on a delayed layover, some tunes! Good ones at that. Props to another new friend of mine, DJ THC, for a bunch of today’s selections.

Munk : Tipsy? & Violent Love
taken from this recent album which I highly recommend. Tripped out funky mid-tempo disco with bouncy vocal melodies that have a tendency to stay with me long after the song is over (check “Kitchen Call” for a prime example).

Midnight Magic : Beam Me Up & What The Eyes Can’t See
irresistible from the first conga slap. This disco group from BK stands out with powerful vocals and a hilarious sense of humor

Hypnolove : Holiday Reverie
perfect song title for my week. Really a sucker for the percussion and afro-pop style guitar intro on this one. Check out their Holiday Reverie EP

Penguin Prison : Don’t Fuck With My Money
the man makes perfect sense, and does it over a synth groove that would leave Prince drooling. I think we all can relate.

Jessica 6 : East West Funk
just saw them open for Holy Ghost in NOLA this past weekend and was very pleasantly surprised when I realized I was seeing members of Hercules & Love Affair on stage without even realizing it. More here.

WhoMadeWho : The Plot (Discodein Remix), Motown Bizarre, & Small Town City
Found out about this group by the old tried-and-true-over-the-shoulder-dj-trainspotting technique I’ve been working to master for 10 years.  “Motown Bizarre” has just the right amount of fucked-uppedness.

Gregory Porter : 1960 What? (Opolopo Bass & Kick Rerub)
So happy to share this new soul jazz gem. The OG version didn’t need much tweaking (already such a winner), but I really respect the subtle touches that Opolopo added to make this one just that much more devastating.

For the first time since babyhood, I haven’t had a bite of solid food in 10 days. Surprisingly, I feel great. I’m currently wrapping up my first experience with the master cleanse- subsisting on fresh squeezed lemon juice with maple syrup & cayenne pepper. I’ve had a bunch of friends and family do it and recommend it, but I just never had the right moment or thought I really needed it. Thing is, I drink a LOT of whiskey, and double that amount in coffee, on a daily basis. When I realized I hadn’t had more than a single night off the sauce for about a year, I figured it was time to focus and give my liver an early holiday gift. Thus, the cleanse. It’s primarily a battle of the mind, but I’m proud to say I’m winning. I’ve been able to work, DJ, even do some light exercise. I’m always a healthy eater, but I feel like after this is over I’m going to appreciate food with a whole new intensity (for 3 nights in a row I’ve had food dreams!). Anyway, all of this is to say, I’ve also been in a very mellow mood, and these songs have helped keep me in the right mind state.

Hollie Cook : Body Beat & Milk And Honey
The daughter of Sex Pistol Paul Cook, and singer for The Slits, has teamed up with Prince Fatty and made an album of catchy retro reggae pop. What’s not to love about this equation?

The Shoes : Baby (ft. Hollie Cook)
Speaking of Ms. Cook, apparently she teamed up with The Shoes and made this dubby electro head-nod masterpiece as well.

Benny Tones : Home (ft. Joe Dukie) & On My Way (ft. Mara TK)
Recent discovery thanks to Jeremy Sole. Check out the rest of Benny’s very solid debut album on BBE.

Amp Live : Differ.e.n.t.
Considering I had a Zion I cassette tape in high school (TRUE!), I’ve seen Amp Live come a long way. Really feeling this instrumental off his new EP.

New Look : Nap On The Bow
Fresh sounds from Brooklyn = fresssssh indeed. Can’t remember where I first heard this, but the hook slays me. Really looking forward to more from this moody synth pop duo, and it looks like they have an album

Trolle Siebenhaar : Sweet Dogs
My friend Marlee hipped me to this one. Simple throwback trip-hop goodness from a Danish duo. That little harmonica solo is a nice touch.

King Biscuit Time : I Walk The Earth
More mellow trip-hop (wow haven’t even used that word in so long, today twice in one post!) from Steve Mason (ex-Beta Band frontman)

The Bees : Winter Rose
The Bees come through with more downer psych goodness on their latest album. Get it on Amazon for the bonus tracks

Air : How Does It Make You Feel? (Adrian Sherwood Version)
Shouts to my girl Austin for sending me this tripped out dub psych bomb. If there’s a better song to make you feel really high without blazing a fat one, then I haven’t heard it.

Reeeeeeemix tiiiiiiiime!!! I’ve been busy. There’s a lot more to come. I was really hoping this one would go official, but alas, it wasn’t to be. Apparently the band heard it and liked it a lot, but there’s always more than that to get the label involved and whatnot. Anyways, what that means for you all is that it’s now available FREE. Grab it. I know it can be a bit confusing to put out music under different names, but somehow it makes sense in my mind.

And speaking of remixes… REMIX ME! That’s right. Bastard Jazz Records are putting together a Captain Planet Remixed EP to drop early 2012 and they’ve made the stems of my track “Get You Some” (featuring Brit Laurén) available to all. You’ve got 20 more days to download, chop, and tweak and then turn in your finished mix to Bastard Jazz. The winner will be featured on the official release, so go GET YOU SOME!

Final toot of my own horn- the good people at Turntablelab have blogged about the contest and featured my TOP20 list on their site. Take a look at what’s in my playlist (a lot of tunes that you probably already have since I gave em to you here, haha).

Ritual Union (Captain Planet Remix) by DJ Captain Planet

Hope you all had excellent and debaucherous weekends! I know I certainly did. The Yellow Disco party was indeed a highlight, complete with soultrain line dancing and 2-stepping galore. In honor of a happy November, I present you with one of my latest remixes inna disco stylee. The original version by Yellow Alex & The Feelings will be available here very shortly

Lisa Lisa Lisa (Chuck Wild Remix) by ChuckWild

Parties parties parties! I DJ’d 4 nights in a row last week and there’s 2 more (possibly 3) good one’s this week. The main event is taking place on Friday night downtown LA at The Mezz – peep the FB event here for more details. My homies Yellow Alex & The Feelings will be performing and releasing their brand new single (along with a funky disco-fied remix by yours truly) and I’ll be on crowd control duties behind the DJ booth. The general idea is to bring Studio 54 back from the dead for one night. Actually, it would be more appropriate to say that we’re having a séance on the dancefloor to make Studio 54 “undead” for one night of ghoulish gaudiness. To give you a lil taste of what you can expect, I put together a playlist of some disco & Italo favorites that you may not be familiar with.

Sister Sledge : Lost In Music (1984 Mix)
the Bernie Edwards & Nile Rogers combo never disappoints!

Stephanie Mills : Put Your Body In It (12″ Mix)
possibly one of the first disco 12′s I ever got. Still love it.

Joy : I Need Your Love

ESG : Dance
The simplicity of this joint is devastating. When in doubt, let out a hoot over a drumbreak and you’ve got a hit record.

Loose Joints : Tell You Today
another funky Arthur Russell production. The horn line definitely sounds like it owes a bit of inspiration to “Soul Makossa”.

Ingram : D.J.’s Delight
who is Ingram? I don’t know but this track is dope.

Talking Drums : Courage
moody, spaced out, New Wave meets dark disco. Or something like that. Found out about this joint from DJ DRM back when we made this mix together.

Charlie : Spacer Woman
Italo electro craziness that makes me proud to bear the same name.

Ruth : Polaroid/Roman/Photo
sexy bizzaro synth trippiness. The horn build at 2:20 is absolutely stunning and very unexpected.

Exile : Stop (The Starkiller’s Edit)
a little something to wind down at the end of a long night. I could definitely hear Biggie on top of this. Puffy slept on this one, but The Starkiller didn’t.