Sol De Invierno

The views of this post are in no way a reflection of the views of this station, its management, blah, blah, blah...we now return to your regularly scheduled program....

Wow, Obama is doing a great job so far huh?! Well its been a week since we last posted, but a lot has happened in the week. And its all good news for you, the listening, and reading audience. We have been talking with Dan Martino aka Soulstatic, one of the ill dj’s over at BrooklynRadio.net, and there is a possibility your two favorite dj’s might get their own show at the BK spot. We have been working with writer extraordinaire Seth Harwood, who is helping us create and bring you easier ways to stay updated with the contents of your favorite blog. seth is currently helping us make the downloading function easier to handle for all your toys and gadgets. We will be updating all the previous posts with these new widgets, and buttons. mantisounds and i are also working on a super-top-secret-project with Seth, that involves one of his …. be on the look out its gonna be crazy. surgeries, new family members coming in, old ones heading out, and extra work at our actual jobs, has kept Mantisounds and Mosart212 ridiculously busy in this last week, but La MoDa is nothing if not resilient. we shall keep you waiting no longer. its here. we will be featuring new mixes by both Mosart and Mantis this weekend. here to start it off right is “Sol De invierno” by Mosart212....

"I'm Emeril Lagasse and I LOVE food and La MoDa. BAM!"

Mantis has inspired me to make something a little bit more upbeat. i have been getting calls from fans all over the world asking for something with a little more pep, so that they can groove when they go for that power walk, over to the burrito place. Mmmmm burritos. The intro to this mix builds up slow, then pauses, you need a breather, then kicks it up a notch, like emeril laggasse. does anyone actually like emeril? i used to be a huge food network junkie, until i killed my television, which by the way does make me better than you. i recently saw emeril on the tube and he looked all fat and sweaty, and sick, like his tongue was swollen or something. very disturbing. I cant get that image out of my head. bam, stroke, bam! i did something different with this mix : i used 2 tracks twice. i start off the mix with lightspeed champion, for those of you who have been paying attention and have a good memory, Devonte Hynes, formerly of Test icicles, is LSC. I used "Galaxy of The Lost - the Bo$$ rmx", and then a little later on i mix in the Bonde do Role remix. bonde do role, wow. so good. Their album, With Lasers, was not only brilliantly named but was also killer as well. The band is witty, funky, and fun. Their rappers are earnest and terrible in that early 80’s i “know” how to rap sort of way. like the rappers on the hip house albums of the early 90’s. so awful, and yet so full of esprit. the songs on the album, in particular, “solta o frango” which sounds a lot like jj fad, and “jabuticaba” with its incredible theft of the song from grease, are sure fire pleasers at the enormous room. the other thing i repeated was the track "FaFaFa" by datarock. i love this nerd, he is - we interrupt this post for an important news flash - datarock is two people. not one.

i like the original "fafafa" better than the remix, of which there were millions, and speaking of millions what the hell is what with the remix craze. i mean i like a good remix err now and then, La MoDa wont front on a banging remix, but damn yalls. take it easy. a great song comes out and you check the blogs and all of a sudden there are a million remixes of it ready for download. Like an arms race. err blog is racing against time and each other to see who can put up the glitchiest, rawest, loudest, stuttering-est remix/edit. and eventually it all sounds like noise.

Hey Krames, you don’t know me but i know you. what the fuck? i used to love your remixes. nowadays its like listening to an audio seizure, what gives? i is also looking at you too, uhm, well actually, at all of you. you know who you are. i tried to single out one or two of you, but i have decided its not worth just picking on one or two of you. sorry krames, that wasn’t fair. its all of you out there in the electro blogosphere. bring that game up please. "repeater effect” does not a remix make. the mantis does not agree with this assessment by the way, he is happy with whats out there on all you discobelles, missingtoofs, and etc, etc. keep up the good work he says. damn that mantis. He’s too nice.

there are some straight up dancy tracks on this mix, and i have to say, it was tons of fun putting it together. Sammy bananas used to be in the band Miss Fairchild a band that kicks major funky ass. He’s on tour now doing his thing all over the world. if you have a chance to check him out you should, he’s incredible, oh and he plays like a million different instruments and its not fair. like in the same way its not fair that jack Johnson is a surfer, a hippie music star, a model, a philanthropist, and a brain surgeon. fuck you jack Johnson, you’re not black or a boxer, so ha! you aint all that. but sammy bananas, he is all that. and a bag of chips. Barakas is also on this mix. Those of you who love bonobo, and honestly who doesn’t love that dude? he’s a monkey who makes really good music! No, not that kind of monkey. No really i didn’t mean it that way, please don’t boycott me or La MoDa. We are poor and ignant, you wouldn’t get a thing from us. barakas IS bonobo. except with a bit more swing and less hair. but no, seriously, they are both simon green. i promise. have i ever lied to you? there are a couple of sweet old school remixes here to get you thinking about your past. i know we all think sean paul is annoying right, but this temperature remix/blend thing i do on this mix, will hopefully get you past the hatred you feel for him and bring you down a notch to “extreme dislike” after all isn’t hate too strong of a word to be throwing it around like that? shouldn’t we save words like that for artists like snow, or vanilla ice, or color me badd? wait, no, not color me bad, although they were white they were ok. oh wait, this just in, i am being informed that there was indeed and african american in the band.... thoughts? well i am gonna end it here cause i am not sure i can handle all my snark for much longer. all this tired has got me cranky and testy. enjoy this mix and let it put you in a good mood. you deserve it. its 11 oclock, do you know where your children are?

Sol de invierno by mosart212

Sol De Invierno
Track list

Galaxy of The Lost (Bo$$ in Drama Remix) – Lightspeed Champion
Good Times (FiTFORUSE Edit) – Crystal Castles
Brew Barrimore – Diplo
Falling Out (Sammy Bananas Dub) – Oh Snap
2042 L.A. Dreams – Gentlemen Drivers
Can i Get A (Soohan Bmore remix) – Jay Z
Girlfriend – DJ Technics
Temperature (Mosart Famous Amos Blend) – Sean Paul
When Will i Be Famous – Sascha Funke
FaFaFa (Miami Horror RMX) – Datarock
FaFaFa - Datarock
LES Artistes (Grahm Zilla Remix) – Santogold
Lowlife (LA Riots Remix) - Scanners
Day n Nite (Crookers Remix) – Kid Cudi
Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon, & Lime – Muscles
Freak Out (Gold Chains Panique Mix) – Gold Chains
Galaxy of The Lost (Bonde do Role Remix) – Lightspeed Champion
Stabilo Bossa – Barakas
My Beau – Daedelus

track list said and done....

1978 (Henry Hill Where Are You?)

(pic: frank c.)

direct download

’78/ one year later/ peace to La MoDa/ take me out wit the fader…

...a year after our birth. 1978 is… like “the old man and the sea”. lots of struggle. introspection. many false starts. the mixes on this one are some of the Mantis’ best - the man went out of his way for this one. We wrestled with these tracks; tried to tame them. the result is a new sound, one that is on the verge of coming apart – is it a trainwreck, is it meant to sound like that? no, and yes. no more sitting around and listening to those comfy blends that we’ve mastered. yes we went out to sea. we cast our nets, we dragged up the tracks we thought represented the year of “the copyright act” ; the hillside strangler, the “one love peace concert” ; louise brown ; harvey milk ; and of course the masterpiece known as the Lufthansa heist. We thought the year sounded like drugs. ironic but earnest. 1978 does not acknowledge its limitations. 1977 brought many riches, in the form of new fans, old friends coming back into the fold (does that sound cultish?) (are we a cult?), new opportunities (big big ups to brooklynradio.net especially dj soulstatic!), and more love all around. boston’s waking up. the tide is coming in. we have plenty o’ fish. We might even teach you a thing or two about fishing…

1978 - La MoDa Mix Tapes

1978 track list

The Manual (La MoDa 1978 D.A.R.E. mix) - Lazyboy
Drop (Cornelius remix) - Kings Of Convenience
You Make Lovin' Fun (Trailmix Remix) - Fleetwood Mac
Listen Up (MSTRKRFT relick) - The Gossip
Most Of All - Morgan Geist
Solid Gold - Golden Filter
Wholemeal - Groove Armada
Super Sound - J-Rocc
Sabali - Amadou & Miriam
Blowing Up The Barrio - Fort Knox Five
Top Brass - All Good Funk Alliance
People Make The World Go Round - Angela Bofill
Rippin Kittin - Golden Boy ft. Miss Kittin
Give It Up (U-Tern Remix) - Marvin Gaye
Day One - Deadly Avenger
Igla (La MoDa Insert Funny Name edit)- Monokle
100% (La MoDa Funky Girl Intro Edit) - Chromeo/Treasure Fingers
And I Was A Boy From School - Hot Chip
Africa/Mayibuye I (Dixon's Alt Version) - Meitz
Soul Shakedown Party (Afrodisiac Sound System Remix) - Bob Marley
Beat Goes On - Original Mix - DJ Kid Stretch
Zulu Nation Party (La MoDa That's Messed Up Edit)- Malcolm McLaren

track list said and done....

Seeking to Believe

direct download to mix

(pic: lisa alisa)

I spent the past weekend snowboarding and drinking whiskey in a cabin in the woods in NH. Snowboarding is a funny sport, because it involves long periods of downtime. Driving to the mountain (or the house the night before) is always a road trip. You generally snowboard during the day, so at night you're relaxing around a table or a fire with your friends (or alone). And you spend a lot of time on chair lifts. These are all prime mixtape listening opportunities, and we here at La Moda strive to service the whole spectrum of your listening needs. The following mix is perfect for that first ride up the lift, first thing in the morning, when only a few people are on the slopes, and the 4 lifts in front of and behind you are empty, and the sun hasn't yet touched the side of the mountain, and the cold air has that extra-clean morning bite, and the snow below you hasn't yet been carved up and snowplowed and it's all perfectly groomed, and the mountains behind you remind you how tiny and insignificant you are, and how lucky you are to be alive on that particular morning...

Mantisounds - seeking to believe by Mantisounds

1. juana molina - que llueve

I have such a crush on Juana Molina, just because her voice is so soft and warm and pretty. I think she's like some sort of Argentine Alanis Morissette, in that she was on tv as a kid and grew up to be a sensitive, serious artist. My Spanish has gotten so rusty that I only understand about half of this song, but Juana Molina could sing me her grocery list and I'd enjoy it...

2. four tet - everything is alright

This song got used in a commercial a few years back. I'm definitely one of those "go for yours however you can get it" people with respect to artists/musicians licensing their work for commercial purposes. If licensing your song to Bud Lime gets you that much closer to making art or music your full time job, or keeps you making art or music as a living, go for yours. "Selling out" is so 20th century. Do your thing, Moby...

3. bebel gilberto - august day song

This is another singer who could sing me test questions from the SAT and I'd enjoy it...

4. lemon jelly - kneel before your god

5. soulstice - color me blue

I am a sucker for any song with that "Mardi Gras" sample behind it (or any variation/recreation thereof). Soulstice put out some great music in their day, and always lined up the killer remixers too.

6. nightmares on wax - finer

Nightmares on Wax make weed music. No two ways about it. Hell, his first downtempo album is called Smokers Delight. This track is off of Carboot Soul, the following album, though as you can tell, it's no less smoked out.

7. nash - keep rising

Nash didn't release a ton of songs, but the ones they did release were good. Izzi Dun, who appears later in this mix, played cello in Nash...

8. groove armada - tuning in (rewritten)

Groove Armada has been turning out high-quality music for over a decade (not to mention the amazing compilations and remixes Tom Findlay and Andy Cato have been involved in). It is both a blessing and a curse that they are famous for one of the more annoying songs ever made (don't front, you want to gouge out your own eyeballs whenever "I See You Baby" comes on), because I'm sure they got paid for it, but it's not at all representative of their body of work. "Superstylin," "Wholemeal," "Easy," "At the River," those are timeless tracks. This is Groove Armada's "Beatles" song. It sounds really good on nice, loud headphones...

9. groove armada - suntoucher

I loved Jeru's first album, but I have to say I think he must have gotten a LOT of help from Premier, because nothing he ever did after that was that good. This song is not Jeru's finest hour, but the beat is so damn hot that I'll let it slide. I played this for someone once and they said, "Jay Z's gonna be pissed." But this song came out in 2001, "What More Can I Say" came out in 2003. Just another example of rappers borrowing from electronic artists ("Stan," Kanye's "Stronger," etc.)....

10. massive attack - protection

The term "trip hop," as cringe-inducing as that might be today, was practically INVENTED for Massive Attack. Massive Attack is another one of those groups that can do no wrong. Everything they do is a masterpiece. And Tracey Thorn's vocals on this track are hauntingly beautiful. This song is right near the top of my "all-time downtempo greats" list...

11. izzi dunn - big picture

Samples "Protection," so the mix fits very nicely.

12. ms. dynamite - dy-na-my-tee

Dynamite got her start in the UK Garage pirate scene back around the turn of the century (I still love saying that). This track is off her first album, which was fire. Dynamite was one of those acts that just missed her window. She won a Mercury prize, had a hit album, and was getting ready to tour stateside. I think she could have been M.I.A.-big with the right promotional push. But she got pregnant, and took time off from music to have her son. While an admirable choice (versus the ever-rotating nannies, odd hours, and non-stop travel), the oh-so-fickle public quickly moved on. Her follow up release a few years later wasn't as warmly received, and then she was arrested for assaulting a cop outside a nightclub, and her label sort of backed off. File under "What Might Have Been"...

13. pepe deluxe - beat experience

Killer Donna Summers sample from Finnish downtempo producers...

14. imonster - daydream in blue

I think AT&T used this song on a commercial recently. Get that money, iMonster! We ain't mad atcha...

15. zero 7 - up with people

I absolutely adore Zero 7. Not only do they make some of the warmest, fullest, beautiful music, but their albums have introduced me to such vocalists as Sia and Jose Gonzalez. This song has a soaring, lush string arrangement and a very "age of aquarius" vibe to it.

16. freeland - physical world

17. weekend players - jericho

More turn of the century downtempo...

18. zero 7 - destiny

This is the song that made me fall in love with Sia. Her voice is so amazing (as anyone who has heard live versions of this song can attest to), and when she talks about watching porn in her hotel dressing gown, you KNOW she's a cool chick. The video for this song is also one of those cool rotoscope animations, like Waking Life or Scanner Darkly (both amazing movies, BTW)...

19. lemon jelly - ramblin' man

This is the second Lemon Jelly track on this mix, so you can tell I like them. Lemon Jelly was one of those groups that got a lot of shine from the vinyl purist heads, because the EPs they dropped were such well thought out packages. Colored vinyl, limited edition pressings, beautiful hand printed album art.

20. mazzy star & chemical brothers - asleep from day

DJ Triple A and I have spoken at length about our mutual love of the Chemical Brothers (his "Kut 2 Kill" mix is practically a tribute, I highly recommend it). I remember hearing singles by the Dust Brothers (before they changed their name to the Chemical Brothers) at illegal raves in Boston before Exit Planet Dust was even released. And they have held onto their own signature sound now for 15 years! The Chemical Brothers always had that downtempo psychedelic tune on every album, and this is the one from Surrender, which came out in 1999. "Fade Into You" was Mazzy Star's biggest hit, and it still sounds good today. Hope Sandoval is another woman with one of "those" voices, and it works very well with the swirling psychedelia that the Chemies were going for on this song.

Sleep When I'm Dead

direct download to mix

So I'm a total pack rat. I have collected random shit off and on forever. Mixtapes. Magazines. Books. Records. Stupid toys and figurines. One of the things that I collected a lot of in my day was rave flyers. I never threw flyers away. I started going to raves ("parties" we called them, "rave" was so corny) in the winter of 1994 (yes, I am old) in a bar somewhere on the waterfront in Portland Maine. My friends told me it was a "micro-rave" but I think they just made that up because it sounded clever and there weren't many people there. But there were enough people there. All of them VERY. VERY. FRIENDLY. And about 30-45 minutes later, I began to apreciate what they were so excited about...

Young people are so earnest! And they do everything earnestly. And we partied EARNESTLY back then. We'd drive forever, we'd stand in line in the freezing cold for hours, we'd wander around the worst parts of strange cities at 2am trying to follow the "thump-thump-thump" of the hidden party. We were invincible, and what better time and place to be invincible than at a rave. You'd never dance like that or talk to THAT guy during the DAY, but invincible people do whatever they want, and if that means talking to the 7 foot tall viking leading his girlfriend around on a leash, so be it! Going through some of these flyers that I've collected over the years, I realize I had forgotten how damn IMPORTANT everything felt back then. Every party was going to take me to "another dimension" or "a new sonic frontier" or something. Every dj lineup was unprecedented, unrivaled, gifted from the gods of music, assembled by mad scientists in a lab or something. And yet when you were there, one of a thousand loved up party kids dancing and laughing and rolling and lounging and networking and bullshitting, it actually felt unique, special even. "Wait a minute, I HAVE arrived at a techno shangri la where music is master and the vibe will sustain us for the next 10 hours and everyone is free to be themselves!" It all felt so important, but in hindsight it was probably equal parts boundless energy and youthful narcissism.

P.L.U.R. stands for Peace Love Unity Respect. I guess it was our equivalent of "Tune in. Turn on. Drop out." Or something. There was a series of parties thrown in the National Guard Armory in Charlestown (Chelsea?) based on P.L.U.R., and PLURalism was the final installment. At the time, I probably DID think that it was all about the "wealth of openness" and "giving and receiving Peace, Love, Unity & Respect" though in hindsight it was probably more about selling tickets and keeping the cops at bay for a few more hours. Given that this party was supposed to be a "movement," I'm pretty sure that the crowd outside eventually ripped open a garage door and bumrushed the party (PLUR indeed). It was a dope party, the music was great (seriously, check that lineup: Onionz, Joeski, Dieselboy before he was big, Overload), I met a ton of friendly people, and there WAS a bouncy moonwalk, which was cool until the pills started kicking in, then it turned into a giant sex mattress and eventually deflated like some symbolic post-coital comedown. The free snow cones lasted about 45 minutes, but hey, it's the thought that counts. And they did have free massages for a while, but it was a rave, so after a few hours EVERYONE was giving out backrubs.

I went to the first Bassrush party in Allentown, Pennsylvania (a, um, 'sleepy' little city in the middle of nowhere). It was at a giant club called the Frightyard and, trust me, the bathrooms were f*cking terrifying. Get a load of the mission statement on the inside of the rather large flyer for Bassrush: New Year's Eve Rush: "The party that is set to explode, we are going to take you on a voyage of musical delight and enter 1997 right! After an amazing year of Bassrush parties we come to the grand finale. Absolutely no expense has been spared and this is guaranteed to surpass all your expectations!" FYI, I went to this party, it was supposed to be somewhere on the northeast edge of Washington DC until the cops raided the venue AS THEY WERE SETTING UP! Long story short, arrests were made, venues were ditched, and I spent my NYE in a dingy motel room with 6 other ravers watching Dave Letterman killing time while the Bassrush folks convinced The Capital Ballroom to let them have this party there. Doors opened at 2am. Happy New Years, ravers.

I just read a flyer that's too big to scan that says "come join us: when the colored lights shine off the dj's turntables and the floor becomes alive with the energy we all create and all our senses heightened and we all unite as one LIFTED spirit." Have another, drugbags! You can just imagine the "brainstorming sesh" the promoter called with his team to come up with THAT promotional copy...

"Taste the rainbow?" Tastes like lysergic acid, you bug-eyed little troll!

Thanks for indulging my meander down memory lane. I won't bore you any further today, but reserve the right to post random old school rave flyers when I'm feeling nostalgic. Here's a mix of ravetastic breakbeats for your listening pleasure. "I'll sleep when I'm dead" was something of a mantra for me and my crew back in the olden days, and was usually heard at about 6am when the discussion turned to heading home or reupping and staying until the after-party. Please to be enjoying....

Mantisounds - sleep when I'm dead by Mantisounds

1. Future Funk Squad & Tamara - Kissing Air (Kraymon Mix)

2. Sole Claw - Goth Chick Handjob

3. Tayo meets Elroy & Piper - Down Under Dub

4. Aquasky & the Breakfastaz ft. Dianne Charlemagne - Good Sound

5. Freestylers - Warrior Charge

6. Tayo - Wildlife Dub

7. Ivory - Free the Beast (Breakfastaz Remix)

8. Ian Van Dahl - Inspiration (Breakfastaz Remix)

9. Freestylers - Punks (Krafty Kuts Remix)

10. Deep Impact - Methods (VIP Mix)

11. General Midi - Turn it Loud (Rollin Mix)

12. Ils - Angels (Ed209 Remix)

13. the Autobots - Seconds Out

14. Ils - Feed the Addiction

A Stream Of Words And Music

Kava Tea : The Redeaux (a stream of consciousness)

i like Kava tea. my wife introduced it to me the other day and i have been hooked ever since. its soothing and calming properties put me in a great mood and a great state of mind. I have been stressed lately. I think the fluoride in my water is making me a little paranoid too. But on the whole I have been feeling paranoid lately. i had originally recorded another mix, “The Kava Tea Mix Down” two days before, but accidentally deleted it from my computer before I was going to post it – well before I had a chance to send it sound cloud, to be exact. Tough week. so I had a “mini” panic attack, and here’s why: so i am now on faceboob after swearing that I would never be on faceboob. And i like it. Believe me I don’t want to like it but I do. I like being able to connect with people who I haven’t se--- wait! You know what. i am not getting into this here. long story short, i was freaking out because i wrote on my “status update” that I was working on a mix and I would have it up by the next day. I wrote that on Friday night. now it is Sunday night and due to technical difficulties i have not yet posted. (meta moment…) will they hate me? will they all give up on the blog? blogs that are updated regularly, on a schedule do much better than blogs that are updated on the whatever tip… I really like the Andrew bird remix on this tape. I really like Andrew Bird. andrew bird if you are reading this call me!



I went to school with ebon moss-bachrach. he has turned into quite the handsome fellow. He was always into acting and now he is a big time actor. The serious kind. the kind you’ve never heard of. I was annoyed to find out that I could not be his “friend”, even though we were friends when we were in HS.I know people always say that, “oh no, we were tight… we were close in high school.” But this is true. we weren’t like best friends but we were good enough friends. I knew his name, he knew mine. Unlike the 300 hundred other peoples on his fan page, I have actually met, and sat next to ebon moss-bachrach. i should be able to be “friends” with him now. instead the only option I have is to be a “fan”. that is a metaphor for how unfocused this mix can be at times. actually it isn’t.

the comparison essay is not intended to be an essay in which the student points out what is different or the same in the papers they read, but rather an assessment to see if they can find the thematic, applicable, or abstract ways in which two or more authors think about subject/topic/idea X.

psychadelic

i had another freak out. we were making sushi yesterday and we had no wasabi. Well we did, but it was bad. It was bitter and it wasn’t at all spicy. i like it spicy. so I put on my coat, to walk over to the Japanese restaurant around the corner, and see if they would sell me some wasabi, and while I was there some ginger too. i hate goin to restaurants and asking them to sell me stuff lke they are a grocery store or something. but that doesntstop me from doing it. love that ginger. as I was putting on my coat I decided that I would check with my neighbors before I went out. It was cold out, and I didn’t really want to go out, even if it was across the street. I knocked on their door and the guy (don’t know his name) (ok I do know his name but I forgot) answers in his bathrobe. I ask if he has wasabi. he smiles and shakes his head, no. he does not have wasabi.

i go back to my apartment and i ask my wife if this makes me a racist. Oh I forgot to mention my neighbors are a young Chinese couple (ok so I didn’t forget his name, i just cant pronounce it) who have lived here just as long as I have. My wife doesn’t know if this makes me a racist or not. thoughts? yes i have white neighbors. no i did not ask them.

this mix is weird. and by weird I mean i have been on a weird kick lately, and I am putting together these crazy arrangements and mixes. Like my life in the last two months. I sit down to make one thing and this is what comes out. other things. rollercoasters. there are a couple of real sleepers on this mix. I dug into my compilations collections and came back with some obscure one hit wonders from the chill-out room to get you into just the right mood. i was going for a relaxed mix, one that i would want to hear after a long and stressful day. One of my all time favorites, kid loco, is on this mix. a beautiful gorillaz remix of “dirty harry” wait, now that I think about it, this mix is not all that chill. It’s got a bit of a psychedelic edge to it. The koushik, the stereolab… hmmm maybe its all that kava tea I have been drinking. i seem to be making no sense. No sense at all…..

“eaux” sounds like “o” does it not?

Kava Tea
Track list

Kava Tea : The Redeaux (a stream of consciousness...) by mosart212

66 Meters - Indian Ropeman (ft. Shahin Badir)
Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser - Azymuth
She's My Lover (Song For R) - Kid Loco
Talk To Me - Live At Maison Folie - DJ Vadim
Dirty Harry [Schtung Chinese New Year Remix] - Gorillaz
Dirty Fingered [mosart212 surfers blend] - J. Rocc/ Jack Johnson
L.O.V.E and you & I - Jazzanova
One In A Day - Koushik
Elephants - Owusu & Hannibal
Someone's Second Kiss - RJD2
Departures - Karminsky Experience Inc
Siamo Noi - Laura Pausini
Harvey Daley Hix - Stereolab & The High Llamas
Infinity Of Rhythm Remix - Ammoncontact
I (joe beats remix) - Andrew Bird
Songs That We Sing - Charlotte Gainsbourg
Dinosaur On The Ark - Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit (ft. Ben Brewer)
Piranas Are A Very Tricky Species - Mark Mothersbaugh
Jamie Oliver - Cassette Boy

I'll Give You Something To Cry About

direct link to mix

Edit the Sad Parts You Baby

I told Jason Keith and Rocket.One that the moment I dropped into my Radiohead edit, I knew this mix was going to be something special. mantisounds has been hitting yall over the head with all them floor-sweepers. get up and dance he tells you. well, this is not that. Chillout. Contemplate life. there is a definite story that this mix is the soundtrack to, but what that story is, I don’t know. I was imagining a piece of classical music as I was mixing one song to the next. The way classical music is written and performed in “movements”. this mix is about movements, about feelings and experiences. you start one place, and in a way you return there at the end, but you are not the same. No. you are never the same…..

Edit the Sad Parts You Baby - Track List

Edit the sad parts you baby by mosart212

Videotape (mosart212 ghost in the machine edit) – Radiohead
Another crack at making edits. I made this one using my AEM 100i (greatest mixer in the world!), kaos pad and my serato scratch. added a couple of effects to give it that dirty sound, right towards the end I went a little crazy with my analog effects on the AEM. the original song is, in true radiohead form, unbelievable. I do mean unbelievable in the truest sense of the word – I CANT BELIEVE IT IS REAL. It blows me away every time I hear it. I hope I captured the essence, but more importantly how I feel when I hear it, in my “remake”.

Video tapez (ft. del the funky homosapien) – AmpLive
Amplive was gonna “grey album” the whole IN RAINBOWS, then he received a cease and desist order (or so I heard from the interwwwebs, which I never question) and stopped. for a while there were only two singles from that project floating around that i could get my hands on. Here is the whole thing! This rhyme is vintage del the funky homosapien. I was sooo not into the whole deltron 3030 thing, I mean, yeah I knew the dude was a nerd (and really if you believe that most rappers aren’t you need to get your head checked, and as the old folks say, I have a bridge to sell you in bk when you get back from your appt.) but deltron3030 was a bit too much. on this track he is rhyming words, semi coherently, circa ’93. yeah La MoDa has been jockin the “golden age” of hip hop, but the love is mad deserved.

Mince Meat – Danger Doom
wow… is there anything Doom cant do? I mean seriously the guy is like Mantisounds, he is just always on, always working. (cue the clipse “grindin” instrumental) I love the way mf doom rocks a mic. he understands that sometimes rapping is about rhyming words together. even if you are rapping about seemingly nothing, which is NOT what doom does. he weaves together these stories that have a david foster wallace flow to them – footnotes, asides, and even some marginalia. first he is telling you about the ionic breeze quadra, then about how his secretary likes to tease him, and finishes it up by telling you that he is so paranoid he wears a HAZMAT suit under his tuxedo. Wowz. is he a secret agent? is he a private eye? and of course “…wherever mouse go danger follows…” Dangermouse has been on a tear lately. the evolution from ODD COUPLE, to MODERN GUILT, alone, is enough to show you the kid ain't finished. he is looking for the perfect combination. it's sort of how I felt before I met up, and started working with, Mantisounds. with beck, dangermouse is getting closer to the wall of sound 2.0 – stay ready!

Cosmic Rapp – James Pants
Again. I can’t stop. please james pants come visit me. I ain't rich but I have a guest room. and no cats.

Passport Radio (mosart212 poetic edit) – Broken Social Scene
first thing is first. My wife knows I LOVE leslie feist. she's the one person i would leave her for. And now you do too. I first discovered Feist thru Broken Social Scene, the come and go band with a million famous folks, from Canada, where every good indie band from the last 4 years has come from. I added a poem (“night feeding” by Muriel Rukeyser, off a disc of famous poems read by the authors themselves, my home girl Lilly, let me burn a couple of years ago. I do a lot of damage to the poem before I underplayed it with the BSS song) to this one, some digital decay, re-looped the middle, stretched out the time, threw in a thumping drum and hat on reverb, and the rest is history. I love the noisiness of this edit. on the verge of breaking up all together, but keeps it together right thru to…


Dumb Hyphy – E-40
I am just now getting into E-fizzle. this guy is a genius, why no one told me this before (except for P. Strong the III who told me this and the fact that lil weezy was gonna be HUGE, back in 97. P knew in 97 yall!) E-figgidy, in case you haven’t heard aint an arrogant rapper. but he is a wordsmith of the highest caliber. he ain't super witty ala canibus, but he is a better rapper than ‘bus. he is more fun, less obsessed with aliens. The hyphy movement is pretty intense too. I don’t really like the other guys in the scene, but Forty Fonzarelli, has a style I can relate to. perhaps it’s his earnestness, his boastful humbleness. this track is a lot of fun. Music right now is too serious, I was just saying to my man, Liam, the other day, there are not too many people out there having fun, and making fun music. these ARE trying times but come on yalls, can we get a little dumb erry now and then?

Pass It on - Faust & Shortee
another F&S track? Yes.

Thanks For Your Time – Gotye
Gor-tee-yeah. also rocks out with The Basics. the lyrics to this one are brilliant. this song is about how when I call T-mobile, or ComCast, or Bank oF America. I can never really get through to a fucking human. they don’t want to inconvenience me, but they do it anyway. the hook, “don’t ask me I just work here,” is straight up slackerdom. I feel like it’s the new mantra of all big-box working idiots. and if you are a big-box working idiot, sorry about the fact that you are going to lose your job. make sure you RSS this blog, so you can at least listen to some good music while looking for another dead end job.

Hip Hop Saved My Life – Lupe Fiasco w/ Nikki Jean

Lupe is fire. Lupe is a Muslim, but you can’t tell. as I wrote that I felt guilty. is it wrong to point out that he is Muslim? I think maybe saying “but you can’t notice” is also a little weird. but it’s the first thing I think of when I think of lupe. the next thing I think about is how lupe is the best in the game right now. ain’t no one (yes good for you if you caught the "double negative. now move on) writing on lupe’s level. Period. Food & Liquor, was a great introduction, he took it easy on us. He drove us to the church, but he didn’t force us to come inside. he preached, but he was on that subversive tip, you didn’t know he was preaching. but with The Cool, which by the by, is nominated for 4 Grammies, he dragged us inside. he said, “listen if you wanna hang, you have to listen” and if you heard what lupe was spitting on The Cool, you should be disturbed, inspired, sad, ecstatic, pumped up, and depressed, at the state of this godless world, all at once. If you can follow Lupe’s narrative arc on this one, you’ll see that it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Lupe is the truth right now.


Avante (mosart212 extra nyc edit) / Italian Visitors – Michna
Adrian Michna came to the scene as a dj, and thank god he moved on to making beats. blazing beats. beats that sound old in their compositions, but could only come from the mind of an ADD addled, city dwelling, techno-porn loving, white kid. Thank god. the edit on the front end of this mix extends the intro, and layers on the intro piano, and voices, (thru midi), from Italian Visitors. I hardly ever play them back-to-back, but it just felt right this time. Let me know what you think. the songs switch over as soon as the voice says “holler” and I throw on the kaos effect #53 at 101 bpms.

Delirium – Owusu & Hannibal
“Your delirium, something, something, something….” these two mofo’s are smooooth. I mean like marble-floor-in-your-socks smooth. Yacht rock smooth. please pick up Living With… so you know just how sexy Copenhagen gets. they make baby making music. when I first received this album in the mail, from my boy Dan (holleracthaboing!) I really did not like it. at all. I hated the beats. I thought it was a bit boring. But its complicated, and like all complicated things, if you work at it, and try to understand it, you arrive at this place where Owusu & Hannibal are tearing shit up.

Robots – TV On The Radio
I cannot believe all these robots fucking in the middle of the street. pictures of oprah winfrey fucking robots, on ebay….go pick up “dear science” aight….

Dutty Six Pack – Santogold & Diplo
Cutty Ranks, is the DJ (get with the lingo, gringos! That’s what mc’s are called in Jamaica, birthplace of reggae) on this one. this one gets me amped up err time. Cutty’s flow is sick, and supposedly this is a freestyle. it’s the guitar in the background, that makes all the difference. it ain’t even a big guitar sound either, it’s got almost no bottom or base to it, but it makes you want to break something just the same.


Flight Of The Conductor (mosart’s girl is crazy edit) - Beatfanatic ft. Mad Midget / Soko
this is off the Mad Midget myspace bio: "Mad Midget brings some gangsta shit with a flavor of delta blues. With a dirty mouth that never use toothpaste he makes cash and more cash. With guests like Cleancut, Rinning eye and Tacky Tick he brings that ultimate blues shit for the pimps and hoes who likes to shake their bootay! BLING BLING CASH IS KING." it cracks me up good. I blended the middle part of the F.O.T.C. track with this stripped down / acoustic version of Soko’s “my enemy”. I thought her lyrics went along real well with the backing track. its an acoustic version so there wasn’t much to isolate on the Soko track, which makes it all the more smoove. I love the way the breakdown in the backing track works with the hook of “my enemy” which by the way was actually pure luck. this mix is a one shot deal, blended in real time. If I had to do it over I would pump up the vocals just a tad more. what do you think?

Until It Comes Again – The Black Ghosts
the hook/break part of this song, when the electric guitars come in (right before the actual hook “until it comes again/oohh ooh oh”) reminds me of one of those grungy rock songs from the early 90’s. I would expect a little bridge like that to exist in a “jesus and mary chain” song. this is a funky song, with some really nice drumming, Theo Keating is Fake Blood, for those of you still trolling missingtoof and discobelle for the latest remix of a remix of an edit. Fake Blood is a little too hard for my taste, but I love the laid back style of the Ghosts. I am always blown away when I find out that all these new group that I love are just duo’s. two people pumping out all that sound. Simon Lord, the other half, was in Simian, not to be confused with Simian Mobile Disco and they were pretty fly for a bunch white guys. his voice is beautiful. A little sleazy, a little silky, a little, dare I say, black?

Forgotten Places (moodymann remix) – Alif Tree
again, this is a song, that although I love the whole thing, I come in at the 2-minute point. the guys shouting out the names and places, really bring me back; reminds me of riding late night, in the west Indian cabs in queens, nyc. the dudes are always listening to underground radio, which is one, very long, trini beat and the dj constantly shouting out folks. what I especially love is the way the beat comes down a little when the dj begins to talk. 5 minutes of the beat coming in and out and some ill, island patois. I used to ask the cabbies to translate what the dj was saying, and they would always look at me like I was crazy. they’d tell me, but they would still think I was nuts.

Cross Bronx Expressway – Cross Bronx Expressway
pure funk. sounds old, feels old. makes you shake your hips. why is this sound so hard to recreate? Discuss…

Paper Float (Styrofoam x-911 remix) – Cassettes Won’t Listen
you know that thing I said about amazing duos and how they get me all charged up? well solo acts, like my new favorite (in every mix I have submitted for posts so far) Cassettes Won’t Listen, makes feel inspired and makes me want to quit trying all at once. this remix is about the chaos I was feeling, during the last few moments of recording this mix. I felt I was melting.


set list said and done....

OBEY @ the ICA with Z-Trip

(pics:  obey giant)

Shepard Fairey is one of my heros.  I was a skateboarder in the Northeast in the 90s, and his "Andre the Giant has a Posse" movement was ubiquitous on skateboards, skate ramps, lamp posts, walls, and sidewalks all over the place.  It was viral before there were platforms DESIGNED to MAKE things viral.  As readers of my previous blog know, the scene that gave us Fairey and Harmonie Korin and Ed Templeton was influential across underground scenes and genres.  And Obey is a local boy done good, a RISD alum who repped RI since back in the day.

As he got bigger, there were grumblings from the tastemakers that he'd "sold out" or "gone corporate," which sort of misses his larger point (harnessing the tools and motifs used by the establishment to blur our vision and sell us useless widgets in order to open our eyes and get us to realize we're being manipulated), but hey, once your shit starts showing up on tshirts and backpacks, you're gonna get your share of heat from the haters.  But the "Obey Movement" stepped into ageless territory with Shepard Fairey's "HOPE" poster for President Obama.  I think it's almost beyond debate that Obey's was THE iconic image in an already iconic, historic election, and that sort of lightning does not get bottled very often for an artist.  So I went to the ICA on Friday night rooting for the guy who started out making silly stickers for his skate punk buddies in Providence.

While effective and well designed in mass media format, Fairey's artwork is much better in person.  Photos and tshirts do not do the many layers of texture, custom screenprinted patterns, stencils, and overall depth that his work contains.  The Obama piece is a perfect example:  when standing up close to the 7 foot tall version, you can see a level of detail and texture that is lost on the cover of Time or on mass reproduced stickers.  There are layers of patterns upon layers of news print upon layers of the image itself, so that you can almost work backwards through the artist's thought process.  And at it's core is an incredibly subversive message, like a Zach de la Rocha rant made visual.  When trying to absorb a wall full of dozens of his "propaganda" pieces, I found myself amazed at the message discipline, both visual and philosophical.  It was an assault of sharp, blisteringly pointed cultural commentary, delivered in the language of a Madison Avenue marketing wizard and therefore appreciated on a visceral, subconscious level that actually surprised me in its effectiveness (and I consider myself pretty open to most forms of subversion!).  The exhibit is going to be there for a little while, I highly recommend checking it out. 

To add an additional layer of authenticity to his big art museum debut, Shepard Fairey went and got arrested as he entered the event (HIS event).  While disappointing, as he was scheduled to actually DJ his own event, I have to say, it added a level of authenticity and credibility to the whole vibe.  Getting busted for vandalism on the way INTO the museum hosting your life's work is the definition of keeping it real.  And it also helped that Z-Trip stepped in to dj for twice as long since Fairey was in disposed.

(pic: mantisounds)

Z-Trip killed it musically AND technically (it was amazing to watch a great dj with a Serato setup and shiny new Rane TTM 57SL use a lot of the bells and whistles available through that sick setup).  Classic Z-Trip, lots of classic rock mixed with familiar beats and lyrics, and a healthy dose of sick ass scratching.  He dropped a version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" that I would purchase in a heartbeat.  And when he peaked with "Testify" by Rage, and had the whole room chanting "F*ck you we won't do what you tell me!" to the Boston cops unfortunate enough to be working museum duty that particular night, it was total fire.  All in all, two hipster-scarved, skinny jeaned thumbs up...

The Breakbeat Bug

direct download to mix

(pic: chiara bautista)

I've been personally collecting music for almost 20 years, maybe more if I count the years I ganked all my dad's good tape dubs of the Beatles, Steely Dan, Creedence, and Cream. My sister and I would make sure we had a blank tape at the ready to record our favorite songs off the radio when they'd come on Rick Dee's Weekly Top 40 on Sundays. Remember the Columbia House hustle? 17 Tapes for a penny? Then a tape in the mail every month that you had to remember to return or get charged? Thanks for all the hair metal, Columbia House and BMG.

My music collection really exploded, really boomed, if you will, when I started going to raves and buying, boosting, sharing, or trading dj mix tapes, those DIY mixtapes with the photocopied tape covers if you were lucky, sometimes so far removed from the original dub that there was no label or cover at all, just a tape in someone's trunk and faith that it was who that dude said it was. There was a guy who ran a company called Fusion Mixtapes and if you sent him a self addressed stamped envelope he sent you a photocopied "catalogue" of all the mixtapes you could buy from him. A lot of them were recordings of dj sets from other raves, little windows into these little underground scenes in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, California, Florida, etc. My "rave radius" was pretty much Portland Maine to Washington DC in those days, so it was dope being able to get my hands on mix tapes from cities or towns or countries I'd never visited. In this age of instant gratification and online access, you forget sometimes how much more effort and energy went into maintaining these little scenes back then. We used to use Mission Control, an automated voicemail number that would list the raves in the northeast (Jersey to Maine) each week. Or we'd just hit up Satellite records or Boston Beat or roll through Axis or the Paradise and collect fliers, planning our upcoming roadtrips on the drive home from Boston. And with all that time in the car, we listened to LOTS of mixtapes.

I miss those days, and the music of those days. I was a breaks and jungle fanatic, and probably still have hundreds of mixtapes in boxes just waiting to be converted to digital. If you'd like to relive your 90s rave years as well, or just get a sense of what the hell I'm talking about, check out EZSkankin Mixtapes. They've got a ton of 90s era west coast djs like DJ Dan, Doc Martin, John Howard, and Jeno, plus some great classic Joeski and Onionz mixes. I highly recommend the DJ Dan "Scratch the Bass" mix.

Sometimes when I get to reminiscing about those halcyon days, I feel the breakbeat bug bite. This mix scratches that itch. It's been a while since I did a proper breaks mix, but having enjoyed the mix Triple A recently posted on his site, which is chock full of 90s/early 2000 era big room breaks, I thought I'd switch it up over here at La MoDa and jack up the BPMs, fire up the smoke machine, and get a little warehouse up in here...

Mantisounds - fire by Mantisounds

1. kid cudi ft. crookers - embrace the martian

2. 2 live crew - party (2 bit thugs badboy bmore 2X2 redub)

3. javier morillas - rock yours

4. maral salmassi - fire gem

5. NAPT - gotta have more cowbell

6. WI:RE - fresh moves (electric soulside mix)

7. slyde - frequency (NAPT remix)

8. evil 9 - they live (dj version)

9. agent k - can't hold back (curtis b remix)

10. n. annan & ed solo - handz up (stanton warriors remix)

11. stanton warriors - blaze (baobinga & ID remix)

12. beat assassins - gunclip

13. prato - hotterdam (mr. no hands remix)

14. plump djs - listen to the baddest

15. plump djs - shifting gears (stanton warriors remix)

16. stanton warriors ft. big daddy kane - get wild (bassbin twins remix)

17. kid sister - pro nails (rusko remix)

18. b. rich ft. rick ross - everyday hustle (ac slater remix)

19. bassbin twins - woppa

(pic: pacman23)

On a Crowded Floor

direct download to mix

(pic: Themrock)

Here’s a little mix to ease you from the chillout room onto the dancefloor. Funky midtempo breakbeat stylings of the “organically cultivated, slow roasted” variety. This set is a little more deliberate, I let the songs bubble and blend in the mix a little longer. And the Bonobo song at the end is a perfect example of why I’ll buy literally ANYTHING with Bonobo’s name on it (has Bonobo EVER made a bad song? If so, I haven’t heard it!).

No lengthy discussion of the tracklisting this time, just a linky link and a flash player (I’ll let the music speak for itself, brah)...

Mantisounds - on a crowded floor by Mantisounds

Mantisounds - on a crowded floor

1. krafty kuts - the funk is
2. fort knox five - dodge city rockers ft. mustafa akbar
3. freestylers - b boy stance (dub pistols remix)
4. ed royal & dj enne - vamos irmanos
5. flow dynamics - edit
6. All Good Funk Alliance - AGFA Theme
7. flow dynamics - superjam
8. All Good Funk Alliance - smooth daddy
9. anita o'day - swing, swing, swing (RSL remix)
10. shirley horn - come dance with me (sugardaddy remix)
11. mr. scruff & quantic - it's dancing time
12. NONO - funk master
13. hydroponic sound system - blue notes for the puma set
14. herbaliser - gold rush
15. dj shadow - right thing (z trip remix)
16. goyte - a distinctive sound
17. bonobo - recurring

Housekeeping

(pic: runningwithjack)

Just wanted to point out the obvious to our readers/listeners that this website, and the bells and whistles we're trying to stuff into it, are works in progress. Both Mo and I have a pretty good ear for SOUND (and associated troubleshooting), but our knowledge of "the computers" and online publishing ranges from "what's a hyperlink?" to "make that squiggly blue thingy go away!" We're also trying out some different file hosting/flash player services (as you might have noticed). Please drop us a line if you notice something amiss (Mo teaches English, so correcting his typos will be extra satisfying!). Conversely, if there's stuff you like, or certain features we roll out that work, let us know. Drop us a comment, shoot us an email (lamodamixtapes[at]gmail.com), or harass us on one of the various social networking sites the kids love so much these days.

(pic: malinmaskros)

As they like to say on the train, If you see something, say something...then flip it, flange it, and put it over a fire beat!