Mixtape Monday: Vintage DJ Marley Marl, Just Blaze, Cannonball Adderley + More!
If a mixtape drops in the middle of the internet and no one's around to heard it, then we're not doing our jobs. Welcome to yet another installment of Mixtape Monday--have you had your coffee yet? This week we're bringing you a yin-yang roundup of vintage goodness tethered up to some brand new progressive gold. We've got throwback radio sounds from the legendary Marley Marl, a tender tribute to jazz legend Cannonball Adderley, some desert funk and neo-R&B whorls. No matter what your age, generation or time zone, there's plenty to enjoy, so let's get right to it. Your week in sound starts now.
A vintage live radio set from Marley Marl, circa 1989? With very special guests EPMD and DJ Scratch? Taped live off of WBLS and preserved now for our listening pleasures? The answer to all these questions and so many more can be answered with a simple head nod, which is what you'll be doing for the next 90 minutes once you stop messing around in life and push play on the good-good below.
It's no secret that we're huge fans of the Habibi Funk series from Jakarta Records, and so we're certainly not going to pass on the opportunity to post yet another one of these fine tapes. Sourced from the North African regions of Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and more, it's some of the most novel and downright excellent funk material you've surely never heard. Here's how Jakarta exec Jannis Stürtz summed it all up:
In the last couple of month I had the privilege to be able to travel a lot for DJ gigs and in order to find Fadoul's family (the fruits of this labour can be found here: habibifunkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/azmanah-salb). I spent some time in Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. This mix is some of the music I found, a few trades are in there too. It's quite a colorful range. Disco from Algeria and Morocco, a James Brown cover from Egypt, a modern soul meets reggae hybrid from Tunisia, a new Fadoul track that the internet doesn't seem to know of yet and some other great bits and pieces. Come along to another journey to the funky side of the arab world.....
Habibi Funk 004 Tracklist:
Ziad Rahbani – Electro Shock
Nordine Staifi – Oh-La-La
Little Prince – Kezzabi
Ouiness – Maa Lab Nat
Marwan Rahbani – The Visit
Fadoul – Al Zman Saib
Cats – Cold Sweat
Jema – Bob Marley
Robert Maalouf – Ana Wil Leyl
Ammar El Sheriyi – Gafno
Just Blaze and DJ Soul went all in with this new "Casino" mix, and their big bet paid off. This one goes from vintage boom-bap to 50 Cent to Future and all points in between. It's like a stacked deck. It's like some sonic roulette. It's like we used up all our gambling puns already and there's nothing left to do but push play on the damn thing.
This summer marked the 40th anniversary of saxophone legend Cannonball Adderley's passing, and as partial commemoration of his brilliant contributions to music, Kris Guilty has constructed a grade-A mix of some of his tunes. Here's how Kris describes its inception:
"Cannonball Adderley was one of my first jazz obsessions. Along with Art Blakey, Ahmad Jamal & Sun Ra... There were a few years where any record I would come across by these leaders would make its way home with me for further listening. This turned out to be a blessing as some of these records that were once regularly in the bins of shops have got substantially more difficult to hunt down... While listening to the Adderley recordings last week I plugged in the Marantz tape recorder and got dubbing a mix of some choice pieces, including the voice of the man himself talking to the crowd, a regular feature on the records of live dates."
This one's a two-parter. DJ ID and DJ Zakes have put together a double-sided mixtape of Skyzoo material, intertwining 'Zoo with the works of Jadakiss, Black Thought, Domo Genesis, Statik Selektah, Blu and plenty others. The set's official title is "Homecoming Part 2: The New Best of Skyzoo South Africa" and has been crafted in celebration of Skyzoo's upcoming trip to Johannesburg. Given that it's saturated with material from the Brooklyn MC, you know exactly what to expect: vibrant, top-notch goods.
Rare and hard to find grooves, tracks and verses (put it another way, "them hits you miss") are what lies in wait on Donnie Propa all-vinyl mix of Masta Ace jams. The mix was originally released on a special edition white cassette tape, which has long since sold out. Thankfully the digital version remains for posterity. Our good friends at Egotripland put us on to this one, and to paraphrase them a bit, this is great rap music for rap fans who like rap music. Enjoy your damn selves.
Tracklist:
1 - Intro
2 - Dont Understand
3 - Nostalgia
4 - One Two, One Two
5 - Out Da Box
6 - Born To Roll
7 - Acknowledge
8 - You Dont Know About It
9 - Aint No Thing
10 - Claimin Respect #2
11 - Progression
12 - Survival
13 - Thousand And 40
14 - Beautiful
15 - Fans
16 - Dopes, Pushers, Addicts
17 - Da Grind
18 - I Did It
19 - Troubles
One of the greatest electronic duos to ever walk the earth, matched with an equally excellent MC, all in a strange surprising context? That's exactly what's going on in "Boards of Doom," a new set by Deathhop, which blends the gorgeous, washed-out tunes of Scottish brothers Boards of Canada with verses belonging to MF Doom. It's a strange formula, but it works, and for those not-so-versed in the glory that is BoC, this is your remedial catch-up session.
Boston DJ and beatmaker Evilldewer's latest installment in his ongoing WMBR radio show, "Dusted Anomalies," is an antique gem to behold. The prolific spinner can be caught throwing it down all across Boston plenty often, and those in tune with his sonic selections will want to check out his R.A.W. instrumental project here.
The great folks at Bedford Box Office consistently come through with greatness, and their new "DOPE" tape is certainly no exception. As usual, it's progressive and bright R&B that's on tap, and if the handclaps on Tcvvx's "ASTORIA" don't get you, then the cool flowing keys of Kamzei's "Me" most certainly will.
Artwork by Gangster Doodles
Fresh Selects is having a banner year with releases from both SiR and Iman Omari currently driving us round in giddy groove circles. Now, for the latest installment of their "Tight Songs" mix broadcast, Omari himself stops in to share an exclusive mix and plenty of his own solo material. Pick up High Loops & Higher Loops today, listen to the mix below, and keep an eye out for more Omari material, we've been told new things are in the works.