@TheLoopDigga got in contact with me today to let me know that life happened and they cant get their mix in right now. Thankfully
@Captainfog sent me his mix yesterday to use in situations like this, so here it is:
Art Brut - Modern Art (from Bang Bang Rock & Roll)
Their debut album was just so fun, I listened to it loads when it came out. The front man, Eddie Argos, is also quite the character and puts on an very entertaining live show. I have a very fond memory of seeing them perform at Glastonbury where Eddie went on a long diatribe about how shit the Killers are and how their lyrics are completely meaningless and because of that rant I will always have a soft spot for them (sorry Killers fans).
CSS - Lets Make Love And Listen To Death From Above (from Cansei De Ser Sexy)
Klaxons - Totum On The Timeline (from Myths Of The Near Future)
I'm lumping these two together because both these songs remind me of a particular time in my life, I was in my mid 20s and was still partying hard and these are just wicked dance floor fillers. They are also two bands that completely fell off my radar and I didn't really listen/care for their subsequent releases. They were part of that indie electro movement with bands like Foals, Late Of The Pier and LCD Soundsystem. In hindsight that scene was of it's time and only LCD have really endured in my music library, I guess they were a cut above, but regardless, these two tunes are absolute bangers (Yeah I know Foals are still going and are massively popular, but I don't like them. Sorry Foals fans!)
La Femme - Ou Va Le Monde (from Mystere)
Sometimes you hear an album and it completely and unexpectedly hits you in the face and you're like, woah, that's fucking great. La Femme did that a couple of years ago with their album Mystere and it became the soundtrack to a holiday in France I had that same year. I have really fond memories of that holiday and this album and this song has become intrinsically linked with them because wherever we went I'd crank it up in the car and rock out to it.
DJ Shadow - Organ Donor (from Endtroducing)
Yeah, I know it's a ridiculously well known and overplayed tune but I love it and it takes me back to being 20 years old and exploring hip hop for the first time. It was such a fun period of my life, I was living in a shared house with friends where we were all part time students and full time stoner fuck ups. Happy, happy days.
DJ Vadim - Life From The Itchy Side ft Skinny Man (from Life From The Other Side)
I wanted to include some vintage UK hip hop. I could have chosen a hundred other tunes but went with this one for no particular reason. DJ Vadim is still going but making more dancehall kind of stuff now, but in his early days he was a wicked hip hop producer and Skinny Man is/was a fucking great wordsmith. He's quintessentially English in his style - grimy and dirty. There ain't nothing bling about Skinny.
SEED Ensemble - Afronaut ft XANA (from Driftglass)
I couldn't make a mixtape and not include something from the UK Jazz scene and so why not choose a track from my favourite 2019 album? This tune perfectly encapsulates what the London scene is about and how it mixes and melds Jazz, afro and hip hop into one beautiful musical soundscape. It's fucking great. UK Jazz is taking over the world and rightfully so.
The Rift Valley Brothers - Mu Africa (from Kenya Special Vol 1)
This was my gateway into Afrobeat. I went into my local record shop one New Years Eve wanting to buy a particular calypso record but he didn't have it in stock and rather than leave empty handed I decided to ask him to recommend me something. He told me to buy this. I went home and put the record on while me and my wife were getting ready to go out and when this track came on it was like a bolt to my heart and my ears. From that moment on Afrobeat in all it's forms has been one of my most loved and cherished genres.
Pat Thomas - Don't Blame Us (from Pat Thomas Introduces Marijata)
Once I decided to end this mixtape with an Afro flavour I knew I had to include something from the legend that is Pat Thomas. I bought this record on RSD a year or two ago and it is described as a 'seminal album' out of Ghana. You can see why as it's a carnival of highlife, funk and soul. Man, it's so good.
Fela Kuti & Roy Ayres - 2000 Blacks Got To Be Free (from Music Of Many Colours)
FELA FELA FELA. I've lost count of the number of Fela records I own but this was my most recent purchase. Side A is sung by Ayres while Fela takes lead vocal duties on side B. I've actually chosen the track sung by Ayres because it's so goddam funky and the perfect way to end a mixtape. If you aren't furiously nodding your head or shaking your hips to this then you are dead inside.
Sadly I couldnt find Pat Thomas song on Spotify, but other than that it's all there
open.spotify.com
