Losing Games

So it's been quite some time since we here at La MoDa Mixtapes have posted a podcast.  Oh, we've been staying busy (check out Mo's most recent deep-as-a-Chilean-mine offering for BrooklynRadio here), but it HAS been more than a fortnight or so since we last dropped a La MoDa Mixtapes exclusive for y'all.

Since our last official post, the Occupy Wall Street movement was born, the Enormous Room closed, Muammar Gaddafi was ousted, Kim Jong Il stopped looking at shit and Steve Jobs ascended to the great App store in the sky.

Oh, and Justin Bieber and/or Korn killed dubstep.  Or something.

I've been trying my best to avoid this topic since I last picked that scab back in January.  Being a little long in the tooth, I've tried to take the long view on this whole "dubstep is dead/brohstep makes me sad" topic.  I really have.  I mean, it all sounds so familiar to me (see:  death of jungle, death of trance, death of UK Garage, death of grime, death of hip hop, and on and on and on).  But, after a few recent articles/posts from other writers/artists making some valid points, I figured I'd strap on my hip boots and wade into these murky waters.  (If you're just here for the music, please feel free to skip to the bottom of this post).

2011 was a big year for dubstep.  We saw Britney dip her toe in the pool, we saw Skrillex pop up on the playlists of every high school kid's iPod Nano (and score a grip of Grammy nominations in the process), we learned that the Bieb was going to bless us with his particular brand of wobble pop, and by the end of the year we learned from washed-up nu-metal "pioneer" Jonathan Davis that Korn had in fact "invented" dubstep.  In 2011, dubstep sold us cereal and outerwear and cameras.  And, depending on who you talk to, this all added up to the "death" of dubstep.  And the haterade came out by the GALLON, especially for the man of the moment, Sonny Moore, aka Skrillex. 

The "dubstep is dead" keg has been tapped pretty frequently this year (seriously, Google that shit), from a variety of different angles.  Rather than rehash the whole trajectory of dubstep, I will just link to an article that I think really captured the whole debate rather succinctly:  Who Killed Dubstep? and the follow up article posted on the From Eternity to the Next Beat blog.  As the author stated, "Mainstream acceptance doesn't make good music any worse. The purists might disagree, but personally, I don't need to be part of an elite crowd to enjoy music."  That pretty much summed it up for me.  I don't love Skrillex, but I don't fault that dude his success.  

More importantly, some of the djs and producers I respect and enjoy, who are not exactly Johnny-come-latelys in the world of subsonics, seem to feel the same.  I mean, if Skream can tip his cap to what Skrillex has done (as he does rather effectively in this interview), then who am I to judge?  Anyone who follows DMC Champ and stateside D'n'B player DJ Craze's Twitter feed knows he's also on Team Skrillex.  Hatcha, one of the universally recognized pioneers of the sound, seems just fine with Skrillex's success.  And Skrillex himself argues that he is not a "dubstep" artist, but an electronic musician who incorporates dubstep tempos and formats into his work.

But the blog commenters and forum posters just can't hate him enough.  He has come to embody everything that is "wrong" with "mainstream" dubstep, or "brostep" as the cool kids like to call it.  Being rather uncool myself, I find this whole debate tedious, and a little confusing.  If the people who "invented" dubstep don't give a shit, why should I?  From where I stand, the whole debate can be reduced to a few main beefs:

1.  "it's not REAL dubstep."  Who gets to define "real" dubstep?  And how is it defined?  Because as soon as you define it, you set limits, you build walls.  Is there a dubstep "formula" one must follow to "qualify?"  Doesn't that sound terribly boring?  Or, worse, something music writers sit around lamenting because, let's face it, they're the ones who invent these sub-sub-sub genres and they've got deadlines to make and dilettantes to look down upon.

2.  "s/he is too young/new to the scene."  This line of criticism would argue that anyone who didn't buy white labels from Big Apple Records or go clubbing at FWD>> or tune into pirate radio to hear their dubstep is not authentic enough.  This argument always puzzles me.  I remember the first few raves I went to, and how enamored I was with the sounds of New York house and Detroit Techno.  I'd never been to a NASA party or heard Juan Atkins or Kevin Saunderson play techno in Detroit, but I knew what I liked.  And I paid $20 to get in, just like the cool kids....

3.  "brostep is ruining the scene."  Again, this one confuses me.  If 1000 kids show up to see a Skrillex show, and get their faces melted to "brostep," how is this BAD for Mala or Silkie or Von D?  If your argument is that those 1000 kids don't know the history of dubstep, or don't care to learn, who gives a shit?  Those kids are there to party, not learn.  If 100 of those kids leave that show and do their homework, that doesn't make the other 900 kids stupid.  But it DOES have the potential to open those 100 kids' eyes to the deeper, more underground sounds of the genre.  Is that a bad thing?  Furthermore, if 500 kids show up to see N-Type at a club, and only 50 of them actually know who N-Type is, and 50 more think N-Type sucks because he doesn't play enough face-melting drops, who gives a fuck?  All 500 of those kids paid the cover at the door, so if anything, N-Type is BENEFITING from "brostep."  Skream says as much in the above-linked article:  everyone benefits, if only a little, from the expansion of the scene.  Maybe they have to put up with a few more stupid requests each night, but really, is that so bad?

4.  "s/he doesn't have the proper pedigree."  This argument supposes that, unless you have crates full of underground UK Garage/futuristic 2-Step records in your basement, unless your playlist includes sufficient offerings from Horsepower or Tempa, you're not "coming at dubstep properly."  One of the main knocks against Skrillex is that he was a metal/emo kid until 2008, and this metal/rock influence brings the "wrong" sort of fans to the scene.  Again, this implies a certain level of unsophistication of his fans, due to their lack of pedigree.  In addition to #2 above, this argument also dismisses those who arrived at dubstep from a place that didn't include the original Dubstep Warz broadcasts.  So if your CD book includes more System of a Down than Digital Mystikz, if your crate contains more Leftfield than Loefah, you're disqualified.

Anyway, as I've stated before, I enjoy all sorts of bass music.  Though I've been repping breaks for the last 15+ years, I thoroughly enjoy dubstep in ALL its variations, and I wanted to put together a mix that really covered a broad spectrum of sounds, especially those of the 140 bmp variety.  There may be some "brostep" in here, some "fake dubstep," I'm not sure.  I don't know, and I don't care.  

One of my favorite magazines is Waxpoetics, and the editor's note from issue 46 keeps coming back to me as I consider the "dubstep is dead" argument from this last year.  Editor Andre Torres, in discussing the effect that "purists" had on jazz, states "...So though some think they're doing jazz a service by protecting what they feel are traditional elements of the music, they're also doing it a terrible disservice by so narrowly defining jazz that it's forced to stay a niche music forever."  To me, purity is boring.  And it would be tragic if, in 10 years, we look back and realize that this vibrant, diverse, storied genre called "dubstep" was sacrificed on the altar of purity.

Plus, sometimes you just want your face melted.....

Mantisounds - losing games by Mantisounds on Mixcloud

1.  Amy Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game (Lucian X & NAPT Redub)

2.  Fugees - Ready or Not (Rastah Mouse Remix)

3.  FJH - Borsche

4.  George Lenton - RDD

5.  Skream - Rollin

6.  FJH - Enter the Dragon

7.  Torqux & Twist - Relentless (16bit remix)

8.  Datsik & Bassnectar - Elevate

9.  B-Phreak - Body Check (Random Scarves Remix)

10. RackNRuin - Skanker Riddim

11. NAPT & Lucian X - Blow Your Mind

12. Freestylers - Say Yes (Ben & Lex Remix)

13. 601 - This Year's Champion

14. Ellis Dee & DJ Twista - Touch Me ft. Marie Louise

15. Shakes - Gangbusters

16. Pyramid - Feel Like Jamming

17. Schema - Move

18. Iman - Only You (RackNRuin Remix)

19. Queen Latifah ft. Al Green - Simply Beautiful (Pyramid Remix)

20. Jose Gonzalez - Crosses (The Boogaloo Crew Bootleg)

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

Loonies

took this one back to '94. what!?! I asked my boy Mo the other day, "Do they make classics anymore?" Well, do they? 

That was the theme of this mix, the question I pondered. Classics. Means something different to everyone, right?

I'm not saying every song on this mix is a classic, but they sure is a grip of electro jams, nu skool breaks, and techfunk classics from MY formative years sprinkled throughout. Classics should be able to stand next to a track from last week and bark back at 'em, hold their own, right? Never leave your crates, right?  A lot of these never leave mine (or wouldn't, if I ever left my basement or still carried crates...) 

Don't forget to sign up for the podcasts by following the instructions to the right of this page.  ---->  

Relaunch is imminent.  

Stay tuned....

Mantisounds - loonies by Mantisounds on Mixcloud

1.  B.L.I.M. - Loonies (2003, TCR)

2.  Stanton Warriors - Dakota (2011, Punks)

3.  Thunderball - Rio Mescalito (Mexicans with Guns Remix) (2011, CDR)

4.  Florence and the Machine - Drumming Song (Boy 8-bit Remix) (2010, CDR)

5.  Left/Right & Digital Pizza - Organizized (Hunter Vaughn Remix) (2011, Sound of Habib)

6.  Adam Freeland and Kevin Beber pres. Street Technique - Down (1998, Ultimatum Breaks)

7.  Steve Bug vs. DJ T - Monsterbaze (2000, Poker Flat Recordings)

8.  DJ Tokyo - Soul Oddity (1996, Astralwerks)

9.  Rebirth (Xpando & DJ Trance) - Go Off (1994, Bassex)

10. Metro LA - Hold Your Wig (Bassbin Twins 96 Remix) (2011, CDR)

11. Freestyle - It's Automatic (Dastrix Remix) (2000, Pandisc)

12. Ming & FS - the Human Condition (2001, OM Records)

13. The Martin Brothers - Duck Face (Elmo is Dead & HEDS DubDuck Edit)(2010, CDR)

14. The Young Punx - Ready for the Fight (the Young Punx Gutter Remix)(2010, MofoHifi Records)

15. Groove Diggerz - Rock Da Beat (2010, ADHD Digital)

16. Daft Punk - TRON Legacy (Adam Freeland's 303 Remix) (2011, Marine Parade)

direct link to mp3

Mongrel

I don't do this for money. I don't do this for fame. I don't dj to pay my bills. I have a job and a family, and I am blessed to be able to go out once in a while and listen to the music I like played on loud hi-fi soundsystems. I am even more blessed to be able to go out once in a while and dj with my friends, to drink beer and mix records that I love in a club on a loud hi-fi soundsystem. It's fun. FUN. It's rarely lucrative. Sometimes it's not even that cool (you ever gone up against two or three competing nights and lost? played to 10 people in a 150 capacity club?). But I try to make sure it's always fun. Should I take it more seriously? Maybe. Could we get more heads in the club if we treated it more like a job? Probably. Should I be spending more time promoting and hustling and grinding and getting my name out there? Definitely. But that doesn't sound fun to me. That sounds like work, and I already got a job.

So rather than go on a long winded rant (I've had one brewing for a minute now), I'm going to cut to the chase and post some music. This shit is fun to me. I hope it is fun for you. If you don't like the mix I posted below, whatever. Not your bag. No big deal. It's OK. 75% of you stopped reading as soon as you figured out this wasn't Mo. That's cool. This mix has been melting my face for a few weeks now, and I thought I'd share. I hope it melts yours too....

Mantisounds - mongrel by Mantisounds on Mixcloud

1. Band of Horses - the Funeral (Butch Clancy Remix)

2. DJ Shadow - Mongrel Meets his Maker (Sonotech Mix)

3. George Lenton - Makura

4. Muse - Knights of Cydonia (Parker Remix)

5. Gella - Vapour Trail

6. Ashes & Dialect - Burning

7. Desmond Dekker - Israelites (Freear Remix)

8. Bassbin Twins - Blow Em Up

9. Peo De Pitte - Burning Up (Bassbin Twins Remix)

10. Far Too Loud - Bass Association (Torqux Remix)

11. Ways & Means - Kick a Hole (Hellfire Machina Remix)

12. Flux Pavilion - I Can't Stop

13. M.I.A. - Internet Connection (Flux Pavilion Remix)

14. Mark Instinct vs Greenlaw - Go In Peace (Dubstep Vocal Mix)

15. RacknRuin - Dazed & Confused ft. Janai & Illaman (SKiSM's Baroque Out Remix)

16. RacknRuin - Pull up That

17. Gella - Wrong Turn

18. Rennie Pilgrem - Erica's Fix (Breakspoll Mix)

19. Squarepusher - Red Hot Car (Girl)

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

this is a man's dub

I was going to do another post on the further escalations in the dubstep wars (commercial/brostep vs. deep/underground/"intelligent" dubstep), but I decided against it, because it seems like too much energy to spend focusing on things people don't like, on division, on negative energy. So the theme for this evening is: the glass is half full. Because, really, does the world need more cynicism? Negativity? Nah. Put some positive vibrations out there. Ponder what you LIKE...the glass is half full...

What do I like? I like bass music. All sorts. I like my bass music like I like my hallucinations: kaleidoscopic, dipped in chrome and neon, aurally expansive, and infectiously groovy. I like combining bass musics of different types to create interesting spectrums and combinations of bass music. Do you like bass music?

You know what else I like? Motown and soul music. I also like face-melting drops, and jump-up-and-grab-you builds. They're a blast (come on, admit it, they make you want to smile)....the glass is half full...

This mix combines elements of a bunch of things I like (bass music, soul music, melted faces, Foreigner, reggae, raves, and funky robots) into one chrome-dipped sonic hallucination. Can you dig it? If this mix makes you want to tap your feet, or nod your head, I am honored to have contributed to and/or assisted you in your sonic-kinetic vibrations. And fair enough if you don't like it, it's not for everyone (hallucinations rarely are). But either way, don't expend too much energy trying to categorize it or put it in a tiny little box: dubstep, brostep, chillout, wavestep, lovestep, future garage, post-dubstep, 2step, drugstep, soulstep, drumstep, sinestep, broken beat, broken heartstep, it's all sort of irrelevant.

A lion doesn't know the word "lion" but he still knows he's a lion...

The glass is half full.

Drink up....

mantisounds - this is a man's dub

1. James Brown - It's a Man's World (Regrooved by Parker)

2. Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman (Cutloose Remix)

3. Brenda Lee - I'm Sorry (Woodhead & Blenda Remix)

4. Gramaphonedzie - Why Don't You (High Rankin & Evolve or Die Remix)

5. Ashes - Dubvine

6. Bassnectar - Magical World ft. Nelly Furtado

7. Jean Jacques Smoothie - Two People (Jay Robinson's 1 Hour Bootleg)

8. Don Diablo ft. Dragonette - Animale (Datsik Dubstep Remix)

9. Bassbin Twins - Eat Em Up

10. SKisM - Power

11. Foreigner - Cold as Ice (Specimen A Remix)

12. Linton Brown - Horndog (Kinzy's Frisky Dog Remix)

13. Jinx in Dub ft. Rider Shafique - Meditate & Relate

14. Althea & Dona - Uptown Top Rankin (Hostage Remix)

15. Chop Shop 45 - Hyphy Gotta Learn Sometime

16. George Lenton vs. Mr. Little Jeans - On Repeat

17. Hostage - Sweet Sweet Riddim (instrumental)

18. Jurassik - Baby (Jurassiksravingmonsterloonymix)

Mantisounds - This Is A Man's Dub by Mantisounds on Mixcloud

(cross-posted at mantisounds)

Ender's Game

So dubstep has arrived. Officially. I don't say that because it's being used to sell cereal and sneakers and electronics (it's not...yet). I don't say that because Diplo has finally slapped the Mad Decent stamp of approval on the genre with Blow Your Head: This is Dubstep (he has, and it's not bad). And I don't say that because Madonna's new album is all dubstep produced by Skream or Rusko or whoever else might be the go-to dubstep producer of the moment (though I will not be surprised if that's EXACTLY what Madge's new album eventually sounds like, given her flavor-of-the-month output of late).

Dubstep has arrived because it's beginning to eat itself. For all you drum n'bass heads out there who are a little long in the tooth (like me), what's happening in dubstep now is beginning to look an awful lot like what happened to jungle after its initial underground explosion in the late 90s. Jungle was starting to blow up, you started hearing it on main stages and peak-time slots, rather than side-rooms. Artists from different genres started "experimenting" with the sound (cynical interpretation: trying to cash in on a budding new market). The music press started trying to churn out endless sub-genres (jump up, ragga, trance & bass, darkstep, techstep, etc.). And then along came Roni Size and Reprazent: a stable of "old school" jungle cats performing dnb "live" with a drummer (Si Begg) and live vocals. Suddenly, jungle wasn't side-room niche drug music, it was "respectable." (BTW, I saw Reprazent twice live, both times they absolutley murdered it!).

With the rise of all of this "respectable" attention, and the need to compartmentalize everything for the music press, the genre began to split into different camps: the posers who heard the Aphrodite/Jungle Brothers single and decided they liked jungle and/or could sell it to lots of new fans, and the "intelligent drum n'bass"/intelectuals who were "pushing the genre forward" and who looked down on all the jump-up hip-hop sounds, the kids who loved them, and the producers who were making it.

(SIDEBAR: is there a descriptive term MORE obnoxious than "intelligent drum n' bass"? Like, not all that stupid UNINTELLIGENT shit, it's "intelligent." I always felt bad for LTJ Bukem, purveyor of that smoother, broken-beat/liquid/atmospheric jungle sound, because record stores and magazines would aways slap the "intelligent drum n' bass" sticker on his cds and make him seem like some pretentious asshole, which I'm sure he wasn't, and I'm also sure he didn't think his music was "smarter" than anyone else's)

I think that's about where we are with dubstep right now (seriously, google "dubstep" + "commercial" and take a gander at all those complainers!). You've got a lot of people making ear-scorching wobble tunes at 70 bpm that sound great on a soundsystem with hands in the air and pupils dilated, and then you've got a lot of people claiming that the "scene is changing" and the music is getting diluted because the sound is starting to be appropriated by other artists/genres. You've got folks trying to distinguish between "legit/underground/artistic" dubstep and the pervasive (and some would say formulaic) wobble of the more "commercial" stuff. And with the release of Magnetic Man's self titled debut, and the critical acclaim it's received (including from me, who loves me some Magnetic Man), it appears dubstep is having its "Reprazent" moment, and tribal boundaries are being drawn.

I mention all of this for a few reasons. One, I was around for the explosion and subsequent implosion (and rebirth/realignment) of drum n' bass, and I am very interested to see if dubstep follows the same trajectory. And two, this new mix would probably be considered a little more "underground" than previous dubstep sets, embracing artists and sounds that I've heard described as futurestep, future garage, lovestep, breakstep, junglebreaks, 140bpm jungle, etc. To me, it's all bass music, and there's a time and a place for all of it. Like, I generally enjoy microbrewed/homebrew beer, but apprecaite that there is a time and a place for a 30-rack of light domestic beer. Same with bass music in general. Some of it is all drops and builds and face-melting wobble bass designed to slay a dancefloor, and some of it is a little more subtle, a little more intricate, maybe appreciated more in your headphones or in your car. But it's ALL GOOD, homie.

Usually in my mixes I try to incorporate a little of everything (a splash of Anchor Steam, a dash of porter stout, maybe a pint of cider, and a can or two of Bud Light), though this mix is light on Bud Light and heavy on the microbrew. But that doesn't make it "intelligent" or "underground" or better than any other style or micro-genre or sub-category being pushed by the latest issue of Knowledge or Mixmag, because, really, in the end, this is DANCE music, people, not an anthropology class. Don't worry about how "commercial" something is, or how "underground" it sounds. Look around. Are people dancing? Are you? Isn't THAT what's important?



Mantisounds - Ender's Game

1. Liondub & Matt Shadetek - the General Riddim (OG Riddim instrumental)
2. BangaTang - Bashful
3. Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine (Indaskyes & Tracksmyth Remix)
4. Hunter Vaughan - High Hopes
5. Eric Hassle - Hurtful (George Lenton Remix)
6. Bertie Blackman - Peekaboo (Marco del Horno Remix)
7. Excision & Datsik - Swagga (Homegrown & Nils Jumpen Mondays Afternoon Mix)
8. I.D. - Flay
9. the S.K. - Bass
10. George Lenton - Cold Rocker
11. Nero - Something Else
12. Downlink - Moonrock Badman
13. Nero - Bad Trip
14. Excision - Obvious
15. Skool of Thought - Heart of the Hood
16. I.D. - Akusative
17. JSaxton - Kick Snare Ganja Buddha
18. Ludwig Coenen - Green Movement (XI Bas Vapour Dub)
19. Doorly - UK Geee
20. Ramadanman - Offal
21. Redlight - Rock the House ft. the Voodoos
22. Foamo - Centavo (Warrior One Remix)
23. BSD - We Are Elektro

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

P.S. All you sci-fi nerds out there might recognize the cover artwork appropriated above. "Ender's Game" was one of my favorite books growing up. It's the story of Ender Wiggin, a child prodigy recruited into Earth's "Battle School", a training camp orbiting the planet designed to develop the planet's next great generals and warmakers in the ongoing battle against the evil alien "bugger" race (kind of Harry Potter meets Starship Troopers with less campy bullshit and magic wands). If you have not read this book, cop it in paperback (or eBook like the kids on their Kindles) and get busy!

Shoot the Moon

"The freak with the top hat is leaving with the basketball. Cover the freak....Tell the men, it's time to shoot the moon!"

I've been promising a disco mix for a while, and this weekend I finally got it together and finished it up. This is 14 tracks of smoked out, dubby disco edits that put a smile on my face. Nice and slow, lots of spaced out effects, slow motion funk for Sgt. Stedenko and the freak in the top hat (mostly for the freak). I used a bunch of edits from Deep& Disco and Munga, who are all killing the disco reedit scene right now. Check their Soundclouds for serious midtempo disco damage.

You can stream the set below, or download the mp3 directly using the link below. Better yet, follow the instructions on the top right side of this page to sign up for the podcasts, which will beam all our sets right into your iTunes/iPod fresh out the oven!

(Ralph Bakshi's "Heavy Traffic" promo, 1973)

mantisounds - shoot the moon

1. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (Cole Medina Remix)
2. Minnie Riperton - Inside my Love (Darren Daz Dalton's Inside my Filter Rework)
3. Ed Wizard & Disco Double Dee - This Joint
4. Kazino - Binary (Munga Rework)
5. Loleatta Holloway - Seconds (Deep&Disco's Once is Never Enough Rework)
6. Sister Sledge - Pretty Baby (Eyan's Deep Space Dub)
7. Sister Sledge - Lost in Music (The Revenge Rework)
8. Mona Raye - Do Me (And Munga Done Did It Rework)
9. Sharon Brown - Specialize in Love (Munga vs. Deep&Disco Edit)
10. Jamiroquai - Alright (Dan & Kris Re-Edit)
11. BeatFanatic - Something Better
12. Richard T Bear - Sunshine Hotel (Musica Hermosas Bounce Edit)
13. Stevie Wonder - Do I Do (U-Tern Edit)
14. Alpha Blondy - Jah Glory (Rhythm Plate's Disco Riddim Plate)

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

(cross-posted at Mantisounds)

3AM Request Line

I keep trying to switch things up, really I do. I've been working on a sleazy disco mix for you all, and it's coming along fine, but I keep getting distracted by wobbly, face-melting breaks and dubstep when I step beind the mixer! Here's another bass-heavy set I put together a couple of weeks ago that I hope you'll enjoy. It's the polar opposite of Mo's last mix (which I suppose is the point), and definitely will get you humming on your morning commute (legal disclaimer: not liable for moving violations incurred while consuming this product).

As always, flash player and download link below, but please sign up for the La MoDa Mixtapes podcast by following the directions on the right-hand side of this page, and you'll be the first on your block to receive all La MoDa-sanctioned mixes, podcasts, manifestos, and musique concrete! Do it to it!

Mantisounds - 3AM Request Line

1. Jinx In Dub - Bucky Don Dub
2. Steve Bug & DJ T - Monsterbaze (Evil Nine Remix)
3. Koma & Bones - Medium Cool (Bassbin Twins Mix)
4. Bassbin Twins - the Lock
5. Jabbawockeez - Robot Remains (Sangers & Ra Mix)
6. Project Bassline - Drop the Pressure (Cut La Roc ReDrum)
7. Excision & Datsik - Calypso (Elite Force Mix)
8. Giggs & Mike Skinner - Slow Song (Marco Del Horno Dubstep Mix)(Dustin Hulton Breaks Edit)
9. Miike Snow - Black and Blue (NAPT Remix)
10. Ben & Lex - All Da Breakz (Mskr-nt's VIP Remix)
11. Freestylers - This City (Kouncil House Remix)
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (A-Track Remix)(Andy McAllister Reedit)
13. the Prodigy - Spitfire (Future Funk Squad's Dogfight Remix)
14. Specimen A - Just a DJ
15. Access Denied vs NAPT - Remark You Realised (Yreane Mashup)
16. Freerange DJs - Back to the Old Jack (Eshericks Remix)
17. ILS - Sabotage (Deekline & Wizard Remix)
18. Ways & Means - Serious Business
19. Phaeleh - Selecta (Jinx in Dub Remix)
20. Cut La Roc - Looking for the Deep Bass (Schema Remix)
21. Jurassik vs. Skream - Midnight Rquest Line (Jurrassik ReRub)
22. Ed Solo & JFB - I Need You

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

Bring Me a Dream

Good news boppers, it's new mix time from deep inside La MoDa Central! Both Mo and I have been hard at work, with some new goodies in the pipeline to get your toes tapping as the summer says goodbye and the leaves start changing. First up is a new breakbeat mix from me (Mantisounds). I endeavored to create a mix that was a "breaks-through-musical-history" concept, if you will. Starts with some flapper-style swing elements, passes through the early days of pop music (Mr. Sandman), and then storms headlong into the disco era. There's a nod to classic breaks (the Mexican remix), the remix of the year (IMO) from Peo and the Drumattic Twins, and then I finish up with breaks from the future (Slyde and the Stanton Warriors remix). All given the big room tweaked out thump that I can't get enough of.

I played most of these tracks in my set when I joined Atomik in Portland in August, and they went down really well, so I thought I'd do it again and post it up for all to enjoy.

Keep it locked, more treats from both me and Mo coming soon....

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

1 parov stelar - catgroove

2. gramophonedzie - why don't you (krafty cuts re-rub)

3. the chordettes - mr. sandman (mr. no hands wobbly remix)

4. emanuel kosh - make my music (zodiac cartel remix)(krafty cuts re-rub)

5. yolanda be cool & dcup - we no speak americano (johnny dangerously breaks mix)

6. duck sauce - aNYway (andy mcallister remix)

7. stardust - music sounds better (rebel sketchy 2009 remix)

8. the soulbrothers - 21st century disco shit (miles dyson remix)(rel1 re-fix)

9. bombermen - alcatrax vol. 1 (miles dyson breakfast edit)

10. wolfgang gartner - 5th symphony (rel1 refix)

11. drumattic twins - crazy love (peo de pitte 2010 disco edit)

12. plaza de funk - get crazy

13. fort knox five - party pushers ft. mustafa akbar (smalltown romeo mix)(krafty cuts re-rub)

14. mr. b - little acid people (drumattic twins remix)

15. deekline & tim healy - the mexican (krafty kuts re-rub)

16. slyde - move ya body

17. sub focus - rock it (stanton warriors edit)

18. dj zinc - wile out (small fry rerun)

19. yeah yeah yeahs vs a-trak - heads will roll (electric soulside ft. odissi mix)

Pushin'!

Picking up where Mo left off on his last post (which I assume not many people read, but definitely should), Mo and I both come from the same place when it comes to WHY we do what we do: because we love it. Not because we want to be famous, not because we think it looks cool, not because we're show-offs or because we think we're the best djs in the world. We both love music of all kinds, and at different places and times in our lives, we each were bitten by that post-modern sonic bug that says, "wow, if this song sounds this dope on its own, how much better could it sound mixed with this OTHER song, or sound, or rhythm, or peom, or whatever." We like the sound of two different things being mixed together to create a THIRD thing. And we like to play those things loud, preferably with other people who like to dance to those things. Because dancing to dope beats is fun.



With all the millions of songs out there, there are a thousand billion permutations of combinations, and that alone keeps us pushing to find that next dope mix, that next perfect rhythm or sequence, which, like a surfer's perfect wave, only comes along a few times, or maybe just once, in your life. But once you've caught it, once you've stood in front of that speaker stack and it's all clicked and you've captured that perfect rhythm, you will spend the rest of your life looking for it again, or trying to create it, or top it. Sometimes we get close, sometimes we totally lose the plot, but it's something you never stop shooting for...


I don't want to speak for Mo, but I don't spend most of my waking minutes obsessing about obscure micro-genres of music and trolling the dusty corners of the internet for sounds because I think it will make me famous, or get me laid, or be the "best" at scratching or juggling or reverse crab flaring. I don't do it to try to inflate my friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter. And I definitely don't do it to make money (though a little here and there doesn't hurt). I do it because I like hearing dope shit. Period. And making something dope into something REALLY dope, even if just a little bit more, is never a bad thing. Plus, what the fuck else am I going to do, play videogames?


I bought myself a gangload of subsonic weaponry recently, and spent about 90 minutes mixing it together and throwing down effects on the Kaoss pad. I recorded it, check it out below. I hope you like it, but I fucking love it, and really, that's all that matters...


Still lookin' for the perfect beat...





1. Slyde - Block Party
2. Slyde - SlydevsMGMT booty
3. Skool of Thought - Villa Funk
4. Hot Mouth - I Don't Care (Krafty Kuts and Hot Mouth Re-Reub)
5. Stanton Warriors & Bassbin Twins - Rhythm Rocks the Blue (Elite Force Mix)
6. Slyde - Discofukka
7. 30 hz & Vlad - Get Low
8. Lee Morimter & Laidback Luke - Blau (Fog's Blunderbuss Mix)
9. Micky Slim & Mark Brown - You Know What's Up (Krafty Kuts re-rub)
10. Hatiras, Vandal, JELO & Stanton Warriors - M.A.D. (Elite Force Remix)
11. Twocker - Stitch (Bass Kleph Mix - Krafty Kuts Re-Rub)
12. NAPT ft. Louise Marshall - Make my Day (This is NOT a Jack Beats Remix)
13. Deekline & Wizard - Angels (NAPT remix)
14. Deekline & Wizard - Back up (Krafty Kuts remix)
15. Bar 9 - Shaolin style (Elite Force Mix)
16. Splitloop - Ghetto UK
17. Elite Force - The Law of Life
18. Deekline & Wizard - Fire (Adsorb Remix)
19. Stupid Fresh - Get the Fuck Up ft. Stellar MC (Krafty Kuts re-rub)
20. Si Begg - Are You the Big Boy DJ (Milo Firewater Remix)
21. Deekline & Wizard - Bounce and Rebound (Beat Assassins Remix)
22. Deekline & Wizard - Keep It Pushing ft. Freq Nasty & DJ Assault (Specimen A Remix)



Direct Link to MP3

Up Down Up Down Left Right Left Right B B A...

direct link to mix

here is what happened: I went from 65 beats per minute, to 165 beats per minute, back down to 65 beats per minute. tried some double time over some traditional time signatures, tried some contrapuntal melody arrangements, tried to wrangle some blends into some sort of symmetry. this was done several times over in what is known as “practice” then the results were induced onto a recording device, which doesn’t really record but actually transcribe a series of 1’s and 0’s onto some sort of “memory” the final product was re-branded a “mix” received the La MoDa blessing (think kosher v. non-kosher) posted onto a web diary, along with a snarky “pic” and then sent out into the world alone and vulnerable for others to make judgments about the creator’s insignificant life filled with trifling minutiae… enjoy!

blessup, wile out!

Stoked about this mix. I've always loved DJ Zinc, his Bingo Beats imprint was killing the dark 2step/breaks hybrid sound back at the turn of the century (I love writing that), and his drum n'bass output was always rugged ("Tru Playaz Vol. 1" is still one of my favorite jump up compilations). I recently copped his Crack House EP as well as the "Wile Out" package (with Ms. Dynamite's long-overdue return to good music), and have been feeling his warehousey, bassed-up toasty dancehall-tech sound, so I decided to put together a mix along those lines (sidebar: there very well could be an actual genre that encompasses the sound on this mix. Being an old fart, I stopped trying to figure out what every new micro-genre was a long time ago. So if you're saying "duh, this is totally formulaic Jackin Ethno-Fidget Wobble, get with it!" you're a young whippersnapper who should respect his elders...

When putting together this set, I imagined wandering into a seriously grimy rave full of rudeboy antics and toasting mcs, dancing my ass off, and then hitting the afterparty of that rave on a beach with the sun coming up and the scent of purple kush and Nag Champa incense filling the air....(In case you needed a visual). Starts all shuffling and shady, peaks with some annihilating rhythms, rave sirens and generally over-the-top bassbin madness, and finishes with some serious skankin and toasting. I used the Kaoss pad for this mix, and will admit that I got a little carried away at the end with the dub reverb/feedback effects, but hey, put something in the air and let this mix freak you out....It works...

As usual, please sign up for La MoDa Mixtapes podcasts using the instructions at the top right of the page. And if you like the mix, tell a friend!...


Mantisounds - blessup, wile out by Mantisounds

1. layo & bushwacka - love story (SOLO bootleg)
2. dj zinc - music makers
3. sub focus - could this be real
4. roisin murphy - momma's place (heavyfeet remix)
5. trevor loveys - organ grinder (greenmoney's lighter remix)
6. rox - my baby left me (arms remix)
7. dj zinc ft. ms. dynamite - wile out
8. dub pistols - i'm in love ft lindy layton & rodney p (d-funk's summer of love remix)
9. flore - we rewind ft. rodney p (am I angry? flore remix)
10. sub focus - move higher
11. dj zinc - nu sound
12. rusko - woo bost (subskrpt)
13. benga - 26 basslines (elite force refix)
14. benga ft. ms dynamite - my dj
15. freestylers - cracks
16. dee patten - who's the badman
17. aquasky & tayo ft. earl 16 - looking for a session
18. evil 9 ft. toastie taylor - restless
19. dreadzone - king dub rock

Direct link to mp3

Dating Sure Is Hard

direct link to mix

So this past summer (while I was living at my wife’s mother’s house, and I set up a mini studio in the attic space, where it was so hot I was sweating like a slave cleaning out a chicken coop, and I recorded a ton of mixes and played around with a ton of samples, remixes, and edits, as well as traveling back and forth between portland and boston to gig, drink hang out, and get teary eyed at the prospect of leaving the east coast) my homegirl broke up with her boyfriend. She was heartbroken and I did the only thing I knew to do to make someone feel better – I made her a custom made mixtape. This scorcher utilizes samples from several dating manuals from that bass ackwards era that brought us those despicable “baby boomers” (the only group more entitled, selfish, and assholish than Williamsburg and other “cool” neighborhood hipsters). I laid out tons of great samples of this one, as well as dropping a couple of mosart212 original edits of sufjan stevens, jel, herb alpert, deltron, andre 3000, and bangin reinterpretations of the beatles, the white stripes, regina spektor, and many more!

Lets face it dating is not fun unless you is having sex and eating out all the time. Eventually it becomes monotonous and obnoxious and you reach that point where you have no idea what you are doing anymore – why am I even with this person? why are we even sleeping together? I was trying to capture that uncertainty along with the absolute absurdity of the whole practice. at the end of the day, dating isn’t just hard, it is flat out retarded (yeah I said it, go ahead get mad, miss the fucking point…)

Enjoy this mix and be on the lookout for the rest of the leaked attic tapes (last summer some asshole named moises nunez, who goes by "mo" stole a bunch of the mixes, the mixes were never intended for public consumption, but now that we here at La MoDa know they are out there we figured it was only fair to legitimately share them with our faithful brethren).

Oh… and by the way… my homegirl and this dude got back together again and they are living “happily ever after” true story, or as the kids say nowadays, “real talk yo!” (stupid kids!)

Hit Record pt 3. - I'm in Cleveland suckas!

Direct link to mix

Yo yo yo... wasss happenin....?! Its another installment of "Project Hit Record" where Mantisounds and i have the pleasure of recording a one-off mix (str8t off the dome, no edits, no re-do's, etc, etc) just for you (you know, "YOU" : person of the year). There is something about sitting down to a mix and knowing you aint gonna do it again. as david lee roth says - this is it...

the perfection we strive for today, in dj sets, in studio music, in art in general is degrading the human heart, mind and spirit....

Jailbreak!

Quick, before the kids start crying! I made a new mix!

Life has been non-stop neon-green poopy diapers and spitup-covered shoulders for the last few weeks, and my prior life as a rave kid getting by on little to no sleep has definitely come in handy, but the one thing I really miss is music. Loud, wake-the-neighbors, head-nodding hands-in-the-air music. I have to be on point 24 hours a day, so even rocking headphones isn't really in the cards right now, as I still need to hear them breathing and catch them fussing before they wake their mother up. These kids got us on Shawshank lockdown right now, and after two weeks, even a sip of pruno or extra socks from commissary is a treat.

So when the in-laws came by a few days ago, my little baby jail wardens allowed me some time in the yard, and I arranged for a conjugal visit with my mixer and some new breaks tracks. No practicing, no thoughtful track selection, hell, I didn't even get to listen to a few of these tracks first, just turned the mixer and the Kaoss pad on, hit "record," and jacked up the volume. 60 minutes of bass at high volumes (preferably in a res-i-dent-ial area). All in all it came out pretty well, I'd love a do-over on a couple mixes, but for a blind run it was aiight.

As usual, for the most up to the minute mixes from the La MoDa brethren, follow the instructions at the top right of this page and sign up for our podcasts. The jailbreak siren is sounding, I better get back before roll call or it's extra hours of latrine duty for me.

mantisounds - jailbreak

1. Wiley ft. Emeli Sande - Never Be Your Woman (Solo "Loves Garage" Remix)

2. Chase & Status - Eastern Jam (Kyle Watson Re-rub)

3. Josh Money & MC Flipside - Wave Over Me

4. Felguk vs Tim Healey - Rio (Slyde Remix)

5. Tim Healey & Tai - Pocket Rocket

6. Deekline - I Don't Smoke (Deekline & Tim Healey Mix - Krafty Kuts Edit)

7. Sidney Samson - Riverside (Peo De Pitte Dub)

8. Beat Assassins - Put Em Up

9. Diverted - Big Baby Fear (Nick Thayer Remix)

10. Slyde - Jetset

11. Bassnectar - Art of Revolution (Prepmode Remix)

12. Hostage - Skin Out

13. Nick Thayer - Pressure Point (Thayer's Drop the Bass Mix)

14. Lee Mortimer & Foamo - Superman (Streetlife DJs Remix)

15. Hostage - Lost in Bass

16. Deekline & Wizard - Back Up (For the Music)(Krafty Kuts Summer Mix 12" Edit)

17. Groove Diggerz - Just Be Good to Me

Direct link to mp3

Meet the Twins

So up until 6:43am on Feb. 24, 2010, my favorite twins in the world were the Bassbin Twins, followed by the Drumattic Twins. Hell, my wife and I rearranged our honeymoon to catch the Bassbin Twins in Las Vegas at Club Ice (sidebar: thanks for representing for my honeymoon, Bassbin Twins)!...All that changed when my wife gave birth to OUR twins, Paloma and Bodhi. Words cannot describe how amazing an experience it is, and how proud I am to be a father (or how amazingly sleep deprived I am after a day and a half of doublemint duty!).

DJ Recon, the mad genius behind Monkeys for Helping, suggested a few weeks ago that, in honor of the birth of my twins, I should do a twins themed mix (Recon is an "ideas man," as they say in the "biz," a mad scientist with the ideas and the lazers and the test tubes with the bubbles and the electricity and the bunsen burners and the 1.21 jigowatts). What better reason to collect all of my favorite Bassbin/Drumattic Twins songs in one place and melt faces in honor of the twins that melt hearts (that might sound corny, but when you meet these kids, I DARE you not to turn into a cooing teary-eyed mess. They are fucking adorable!). I even snuck a Capoeira Twins track in there too to round out the theme.

You can peep the divshare player below, download directly using the link below, OR, impress your friends and neighbors and sign up for the podcast service directly to your iPod or Zune by following the instructions posted on the upper left of this page.

Don't be a singleton, meet the twins....

mantisounds - meet the twins

1. bassbin twins - the dogs
2. bassbin twins - gun down
3. capoeira twins - to the dawn of the day (slyde remix)
4. drumattic twins - under the lights
5. drumattic twins - sound of the drum
6. evil nine - crooked (bassbin twins remix)
7. aquasky & the drumattic twins - bring it on down
8. mr. no hands vs bassbin twins - adrenaline
9. drumattic twins - twister
10. drumattic twins - the flunk
11. drumattic twins - big buddha
12. drumattic twins - feelin' kinda strange (bass kleph & nick thayer remix)
13. bassbin twins - UFB2
14. bassbin twins - the ruffest
15. deejay punk-roc - my beatbox (bassbin twins busted my beatbox remix)
16. bassbin twins - woppa
17. bassbin twins - whistle choon

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

Knowhow

(pix by =surround)

So it's my turn to rock your iPods, and for this mix I've gone back to what I know: jackin' beats and funky breakdowns. This mix is awash in BASS and I tried to keep the intensity high throughout. I also made a conscious effort to make this mix familiar and new at the same time; thus, lots of remixes of songs y'all can sing along to. A little Sir Mixalot, some Run DMC, a bit o' Stevie Wonder and some Lionel Ritchie, even a remix of that Robin S classic "Show Me Love." Oh, and a bit of a "fuck you" to Henry Rollins by AC Slater, flipping one of Rollins' more obnoxious "spoken word" rants into a face-melting bassed up workout! (Sidebar: I fucking HATE Henry Rollins!).

Anyhoo, as always, you can enjoy the mix with the embedded flash player below, and even download it from divshare if that makes you happy, but what makes la MoDa happy is when you sign up for the podcast by following the instructions on the top right of this page. It's easy, it's fun, and it blasts our weekly mix madness straight into your iTunes/iPod! While it might cause you to accellerate out of control, or stop you from braking properly, we promise we won't have to issue a recall!

mantisounds - knowhow

1. A1 Bassline - 8oh8
2. Hostage - Achtung!
3. Joakim - Watermelon Bubbalicious (torro Torro Party Remix)
4. Rye Rye ft. MIA - Bang (WTF I Asked for a Kuduro Remix by Buraka Som Sistema)
5. Young MC - Knowhow (Stanton Warriors Edit)
6. AC Slater - Play the Record Again
7. Sir Mixalot - I Like Big Butts (Tom EQ's Cellulite Edit)
8. Run DMC - It's Like That (2 Bit Thugs Remix)
9. Don Nola - Roasted & Toasted
10. Curtis B - Cough and Choke ft. Mafioso
11. DJ Dan & Hatiras - Drop Hits (DJ Dan Unreleased Mix)
12. Black Noise - Knock You Out (Kik the Break VIP)
13. Fake Blood - I Think I Like It (Philly Blunt Mix)
14. Robin S - Show Me Love (Redlight Remix)
15. Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke (Dirty Monkeez Remix)
16. Lionel Richie - All Night Long (Rico Tubbs Remix)

Direct link to MP3

Dub Intentions

So even though it's Mo's turn to post, and even though he's sitting on a couple of hot new mixes that he's posted on Facebook already (calling you OUT, homie), I'm going to go out of turn and post another new mix for the masses. It's another dubstep set, starts pretty mellow but builds into a pretty noisy climax. I'm digging the dubstep coming out of Giant Pussy Records right now, and used a bunch of tracks from that label on this mix (the Ed Solo remix being a particularly heady vintage). I broke out the Kaoss pad again, I'm really starting to enjoy incorporating effects into the mix. Hopefully it adds a little flair, and alla y'allz enjoy it too.


mantisounds - dub intentions

1. chromeo - night by night (skream remix)
2. miike snow - black and blue (caspa remix)
3. robert miles - children (hxdb remix)
4. deadmau5 & kaskade - i remember (caspa remix)
5. interpartysystem - last night in brooklyn (numbernin6 remix)
6. lea luna 0 leaving for mars (b. rich remix)
7. artful dodger ft. craig david - rewind (havocndeed remix)
8. 321 vs tim healey and deekline - bring it back (ed solo and jfb remix)
9. the partysquad - murderer (diplo & jayou remix)
10. tinny - zingolo (doorly remix)
11. perfection & will streetwise - tough old colin
12. ac slater - calm down
13. felguk vs tim healey - rio (jfb remix)
14. sidney samson ft. wizard sleeve - riverside (lets go)(breakage remix)
15. simian mobile disco ft. beth ditto - cruel intentions (joker remix)
16. stripper ft. dj omega - stripper theme (akira kiteshi remix)
17. tim healey and tai - pocket rocket (tes la rok remix)
18. fast eddie - yo yo get funkky (crissy criss remix)
19. j-break - 24 hours (curtis b remix)

DIRECT LINK TO MP3