Mixtape Monday: Karl Hector Spectrum Road mix
We kick things off with the premiere of the Spectrum Road Mixtape courtesy of Karl Hector of the psychedelic afrobeat group Karl Hector & The Malcouns. The afro-funk theme continues with the Africa Nightlife Ravers series (3 mixes included--you're welcome) exploring vintage Malian club sounds and spotted at Okayafrica, natch. We then spotlight those special talents in hip-hop who can spit as well as make beats (we're talking about Kanye West, MF Doom, Q-Tip, RZA, and many others) with Ambrosia for Heads' Double Threat mix while DJ Apple Jac aims to go deeper than anybody has ever gone in on a James Brown tribute mix with his Soul On Top, Vol. 3. OKP's (not to mention SBTRKT and Drake's) favorite singer Sampha takes a turn behind the decks in his boiler room set of soulful dance...and that's just the beginning of Mixtape Monday! Tune in >>>
At Okayplayer's express request the brilliant Karl Hector & The Malcouns hand-selected tracks that influenced their unique blend of afrobeat and krautrock (if you don't know what i'm on about, you should stop reading and immediately go check out their new LP Sahara Swing on Now-Again records). Hit the link below to get it your sweaty palms and then scroll down to read the tracklist and analyze the make up of said sweat-compounds.
>>>Download Karl Hector's Spectrum Road Mix
Tracklist
Abdou El Omari - Rajaat Laayoun
Funkees - Ogbu Achara
Sory Bamba - M´bife
Tony Williams Lifetime - Via The Spectrum Road
Roundhouse - ´Scuse Me
W. Farley - Kraal
Keith Mlevhu - Love And Freedom
Barney Wilen - Dur Dur Dur
Voices Of Darkness - No More Tears To Cry
Happy Dragon Band - Astro Phunk
K. Frimpong - Me Yee Owu Den
Some Cyrillic - Shit I Can´t Read
Ambrosia For Heads stay on their serious study of the arts of hip-hop (you may recall perhaps their "Where It All Began" interview series relating the origin stories of Kendrick Lamar, DJ Jazzy Jeff and other rap luminaries). So when they put together a definitive compilation of dope rappers who are also dope producers (and vice verses)...we can trust they have done their homework on the matter. Dive into their double-threat discography below:
Midnight Ravers is a a crew of French dudes obsessed with dub, Mandinka blues from Mali and animation, apparently. Makes sense than they would launch and audiovisual project which brought cartoonist Emmanuelle Prost with "some of Mali’s finest contemporary vocalists and multi-instrumentalists for a full multimedia exploration of popular Malian music." One happy side effect of the project (actually three happy side effects and counting...) were these Africa Nightlife Ravers mixes of Malian sounds. Stream Vol. 1 below and hit the link to grab two more via Okayafrica.
"Featuring hits from pivotal figures in the development of Malian orchestral music such as Ama Maiga, Super Biton de Ségou, Salif Keita and his Rail Band de Bamako, Kanté Manfila and Super Djata, the two sets are extensive meditations on the polyrhythmic compositions and hypnotic vocals from the golden age of Malian music."
Decatur's own DJ Applejac has been featured in Mixtape Mondays before behind his mixtapes maybe even a few dedicated to the Godfather James Brown. But as our country cousins down at Bama Love Soul (who put us up on this Georgia-state-of-mind mixtape) below:
I knew once the James Brown film biopic was released there would be a rash of mix tributes to The Godfather. I didn’t know, however, that Decatur’s own Applejac would resurrect his James Brown tribute mix, Soul on Top. I walked in from my daily run and saw the link for Volume 3 on Twitter with the disclaimer that the download is only available through this week. Grab yours now and enjoy JB favorites, rarities and Applejac’s own special blend of mixes and splices. Available only through the end of the week!
There you have it. Soul On Top Vol. 3 is still downloadable and streaming in all its goodfooted glory for the moment: but jump on it fast:
>>>Download DJ Applejac's James Brown tribute mix Soul On Top, Vol. 3
We knew Sampha could lay some soul on a vocal track but it turns out he can do the same when running the set for a room full of sweaty revelers from behind a DJ rig. As proof Boilerroom TV recorded the whole thing, watch above or hit the link to stream the audio if the trainspotting is giving you a cold vibe.
>>>Stream Sampha's Live DJ Set For BoilerroomTV
Bless those musical monarchs, the Underground Kingz. The Texas duo's deep catalog of grooves, smooth and humid as the Houston heat, got a mixtape treatment from DJ Superix in this all-live vinyl 12" set. Listen while you're cruising the ave or cooking up something special and you'll get treated to all sorts of remixes and rarities from the UGK catalog. Added bonus: you can download the mix right here.
Tracklist:
UGK – "One Day"
UGK – "Use Me Up (Ghetto Jeep Remix)"
UGK – "Pocket Full Of Stones (Port Arthur Mix)"
UGK – "Its Supposed To Bubble (Remix)"
5th Ward Boyz feat. UGK – "Swing Wide"
UGK – "Belts To Match"
UGK feat. Middl Fingz – "My Bitch"
UGK – "Let Me See It"
Bun B – "Draped Up"
UGK feat. Kool Ace & Too $hort – "Pimpin Ain’t No Illusion"
Pimp C feat. Bun B, Twista & Z-Ro – "I’sa Playa"
UGK feat. Talib Kweli & Raheem DeVaughn – "Real Women"
Our good siblings over at LargeUp just premiered a top-shelf mix of island tunes from Screechy Dan, and we can't help but spread the shine around. Loaded with roving basslines and easy head-nod tempos, Screechy's mix is the perfect (re)introduction to the state of modern reggae all around the world. The LargeUp crew put it all in context last week:
From the previously-released sound effects and freestyles to the skits and the tunes themselves, listeners are sure to come away from My Story knowing who Screechy Dan is and what he’s all about. One thing that listeners won’t be able to see is how much of a down-to-earth, humble and genuinely good person Screechy is. It was an honor to work with Screechy and to collaborate with Kenny Meez and DJ Shirkhan on this project. Of course, we gotta LargeUp all the guest artists who appear on the mix: Shaggy, Rik Rok, Johnny Osbourne, Assassin (aka Agent Sasco) and Red Fox.
