Thu, 12 December 2013
Mixpak FM 061 is brought to you by Glasgow producer, Inkke. With only one official release under his belt - 'L.O.K' for Ninja Tune's Grime 2.0 compilation - Inkke has already made a name for himself as part of the current instrumental grime 'renaissance' in the UK. Whether he's channeling the ghost of Eski, creating a head-turning war dub, or refixing Nelly, Inkke is constantly pushing the genre's hyperactive syncopation to new and experimental places. With both an EP for Local Action and a beat tape (as in cassette) for Astral Black due early next year, he'll be a grime producer to watch for in 2014. His Mixpak FM is an interesting ride through what seems to be influences from the UK and international underground - from archive Roll Deep to new grime contemporaries Logos and Strict Face, afrobeats to RnB refixes, and of course many of his own unreleased productions. |
Tue, 26 November 2013
Mixpak FM 060 comes from UK producer Lenkemz. His sound is unadulterated club music that has made its way onto Slit Jockey, Senseless, Jeffree's and Fool's Gold. His inspirations seem to run as deep as clubbed-out soca, bassline, reggaeton, dark electronica and straight up dance music. His Mixpak FM runs through heaters from UK to USA - Baltimore club to grime, Diplo to Dubbel Dutch, and his own productions thrown in. |
Wed, 30 October 2013
Mixpak FM 059 comes from Glasgow-via-Slovenia DJ & producer, Nightwave. An RBMA graduate, Judo champion and now label head for her newly-launched imprint Heka Trax, Nightwave is not a girl to be messed with. Drawing from classic Chicago house, techno, juke, rap and strains of the UK bass spectrum, she's landed releases on Unknown to the Unknown, Local Action and a collab with Rustie for Warp. We know we can vibe with anyone who makes crazy Trina edits and has 808 in their soundcloud handle. Her Mixpak FM comes with a strong dose of RnB, Hip Hop, Juke and, of course, some of her own (and new) productions. |
Fri, 20 September 2013
Mixpak FM 058 comes from Portland based producer, EL CUCU¥. Last year he impressed us deeply with his trunk-rattling submission for the first Mixpak Pressure compilation - 'Thug Theogony'. He's as mysterious as his boogieman name suggests, but his eyes (and ears) are firmly on the club - with tracks spanning from hyperactive juke to blissed out 112bpm and dark trap. His Mixpak FM passes through some dreamlike dancehall, latin club, his own remixes & edits as well as some Mixpak family faves. |
Wed, 28 August 2013
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Mon, 29 July 2013
Mixpak FM 056 is brought to you by versatile London producer, Cadenza. While he often sits in the UK tradition of creating club music with a strong Jamaican influence, he's also known for his hip hop beats, straight-up electronic instrumentals and even the occasional bassline track. In the last year alone his tracks have landed on US labels Mad Decent, Fool's Gold, and on our second Mixpak Pressure compilation released earlier this year, as well as the UK's Dummy imprint. Alongside his underground releases, he has also produced two cuts on Ryan Leslie's upcoming album, Black Mozart. His Mixpak FM is a dark ride through some of his own exclusive & unreleased material, Kanye & Jay Z collaborators Wondagurl & Evian Christ, as well as tracks from Mixpak family Melé, Popcaan & Ward 21. |
Tue, 16 July 2013
Mixpak FM 055 comes from Australian producer, Lucid. If you were tuned in to our first Mixpak Pressure compilation, then you'll have heard his trancey, dark production on 'Transet' and the crazy video that went with it:
Or perhaps you've heard his releases for Pelican Fly or Nightshifters, or his mad remix of Ying Yang Twins. Contrary to what his moniker would have you believe, his productions are hard to pin down to just one style, flipping between the influences of house, grime and hip hop, but always with that club leaning, whether dark or playful. His Mixpak FM rolls through his own edits & originals, jersey club, hip hop & RnB tinges. |
Tue, 2 July 2013
Mixpak FM 054 comes from ballroom legend, Vjuan Allure (pronounced like Vaughn). Vjuan has as much energy for production as his dancers do on the runway, having created an alarming 350+ Ha's since he first remixed 'The Ha Dance' for the ballroom scene. No stone is left unturned - his remixes reach for chart-topping RnB artists, to cartoon characters and even YouTube memes. With his name firmly at the helm of the new ballroom phenomenon (with the likes of Mike Q, Divoli S'vere, Kevin JZ Prodigy and more), he now upkeeps eight club residencies and as ballroom spreads from its NY origins across the world, his releases have made it onto labels like Night Slugs, Jeffree's and Ultra Nate's 410 Paradox. He's still keeping it real though - check out his website to buy an original production for just 45$ or buy a CD. His Mixpak FM features exclusively his own material and, though it only clocks in at 12 tracks long, is packed full of energy and crazy samples. Storm the runway. |
Wed, 19 June 2013
Mixpak FM 053 comes from Boston/NY's Doctor Jeep! He's been on the grind for a couple of years, making tracks that range from 2-step to 4x4 and wavy dancefloor tracks. Aside from pushing out tracks on Trouble & Bass, Freshmore & Youngunz, he even has an alias - DJ Bark Lee - for his big Baltimore & Jersey club sounds. His Mixpak FM gives you a taste of his wide-ranging sounds & influences, passing through big house tracks, UK Funky, Jersey club, and flecks of RnB and hip hop. |
Thu, 6 June 2013
Mixpak FM 052 comes from East London grime producer, Faze Miyake. Though he only really burst onto the scene in 2011 with the huge 'Take Off', he's since been a leading figure in the current wave of instrumental grime. Walking the 140bpm line, his productions marry that Bow bassline with deep south drum patterns, propping up some of the genre's best: from Boy Better Know to Kozzie. Alongside being a Family Tree member and running his own label, Woofer Music, he's just joined the Rinse FM roster and is expected to release an album this summer. His Mixpak FM is a dark offering that steams its way through his own unreleased tracks, huge grime instrumentals and rap and trap influences. |
Thu, 23 May 2013
Mixpak FM 51 comes from Danish producer and DJ, Why Be. He joins the likes of Total Freedom, Kingdom and Lil Internet with one of the most un-googleable names ever, alongside his productions and remixes that toy with the outer edges of underground music. His Mixpak FM brings together UK vibes, from Ruff Sqwad to Pulse X, through commercial US music thrown off key, and his own edits. Soundtrack to your Second Life rave. |
Wed, 1 May 2013
Mixpak FM is 50! For this special podcast we bring you Baltimore club don, DJ Technics! Technics has been in the game for over 20 years, starting out in the B-more scene working at a record store with Scottie B. After putting out the classic 'Dickontrol', a number of releases on Unruly Records and collaborating with KW Griff and Rod Lee among others, he founded Knucklehead Records and continued to release party pumping tracks. A pioneer of the Baltimore breakbeat sound and a veteran in the game, Technics is still promoting the genre hard via his website and a continuous stream of party remixes. His Mixpak FM is a high energy trip through today's b-more sound - featuring remixes of Trinidad Jame$, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Lil Wayne and Juicy J. |
Tue, 16 April 2013
Mixpak FM 049 comes from young Australian producer, Bosstone. His productions, which have seen releases on Sounds of Sumo, Scattermusic & Freshmore, take in sounds from corners of the US music landscape, from Jersey to Chicago and not forgetting that big 808 sound. His Frank Ocean and Amerie remixes certainly had us trippin', and his latest instrumental offering, 'Static', has just dropped on Soulection. Just like his influences, his Mixpak FM runs through some dark rap and big club sounds from the dirty south to Glasgow. He's on tour in the USA throughout June, watch for his dates over at his Facebook page. You can subscribe to Mixpak FM via iTunes, subscribe with an RSS reader from the Mixpak FM site or download this mix directly. |
Tue, 2 April 2013
Mixpak FM 048 comes from London grime producer, Slew Dem Crew member and boss of Ghost House Records, Spooky. Around since the dawn of grime, he's been holding down pirate radio shows for over a decade now and producing some super heavy, innovative and often playful tracks for labels like No Hats No Hoods and Oil Gang. You can still catch him doing his radio show on Deja Vu FM which, if you're lucky and he's covering for someone, can run for 6 hours. Though the conversation about the influences and cross-sections of dancehall & grime is not new - see the still excellent Grime in the Dancehall podcast for a thorough run-down and discussion - Spooky is certainly keeping the link alive, well and deep, giving us a constant reminder of UK soundsystem lineage. In amongst his many releases and remixes, you'll find samples and hat-tips that run from Bob Marley and Barrington Levy right through to 90s classics and contemporary dancehall. So for his Mixpak FM, we asked him to pull from his collection of reggae and dancehall-inspired grime and his (live) mix is something quite special - from his own productions to P Jam's take on Eek A Mouse, Chimpo's grime version of Sleng Teng and even some Luciano thrown in. Read our Q&A with Spooky below to find out how the dancehall sound got into his productions, his most memorable Slew Dem sets and his favourite reggae records. Spooky Q&A Where are you right now? In a East London hell hole. How & where did you record this mix? Recorded the mix at a mate's studio called Real Vibes based up in Tottenham. How long have you been doing the grime thing? What pushed you into it? Been doing grime before it was even called grime. Plus grime was more or less the music everyone was into at the time and the music was (and still is) exciting. How did the Slew Dem Crew come about - how did you all meet? Slew Dem have been about since the very late 90s.. I only came into it around 2005/06. What's your most memorable Slew Dem set/performance? Performance-wise: me, Chronik, G Man, Merky Ace (Family Tree) and DJ Magic in Prague last year (2012). Radio-wise: me, Esco, Chronik, G Man, Rage & Tempa T on Rinse FM in 2006. So many of your tracks take from reggae/dancehall - what's your relationship with the Jamaican sound? Blame my folks. They're from JA and they were down for playing old time reggae, ska, rocksteady or lovers rock. What influence has dancehall had on you, as a producer or as an individual? I like to revive an old dancehall or reggae track every now and then.... give them a update but not take too much away from the original. And I know everyone can relate to a few of 'em even now! What links do you think there are between grime & dancehall? Probably down to the bass-heavy vibrations. Plus you got the likes of Riko Dan, Killa P, Jamakabi, Badness etc who bring that dancehall element into grime as well. You've been playing some of reggae stuff in your Deja sets recently - what are your favourite reggae/ dancehall records? Not too much though!! Favourites would have to be Elizabethan Reggae (Boris Gardener). Soul Serenade (Byron Lee), Silly Games (Janet Kay), Wide Awake In A Dream (Barry Biggs) and Stealing Love (Carlene Davis). What gets the most wheels in a live Spooky set? Probably "Spartan" from what I remember. What's the best thing about the grime scene now in 2013? There's more professionalism within the scene. Maybe a bit more unity and positivity is needed along with a few more DJs and a few more raves / organizations. What's the difference between now and when you started out? In my opinion.... there are barely any under 18 raves, no-one's really hungry for radio, most pirate radio stations only following what genre of music is hot, most record shops have closed down and the music now really goes hand in hand with the internet. What else have you got coming up this year, release-wise? A double A-side 10" vinyl, a single called "Baby" on Unknown To The Unknown Records, a track called "Moonlight" on the Big Dada 'Grime 2.0' compilation out 5th May and a couple remixes as well as knocking out a few releases on my Ghost House label and the occasional free download. |
Wed, 20 March 2013
Mixpak FM 047 comes from the mysterious DJ Hoodcore. We can't really tell you anything about the producer, except for the simple fact that his/her amped up club tracks are fire, and he/she has just produced the impressive 'Float' for NY's Le1f.
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Fri, 8 February 2013
Mixpak FM 046 is a Trinidad & Tobago Carnival 2013 special delivered by Hot 97's D-Life. One of New York's top soca selectors, D-Life is a Massive B family member and host on Miami's Mixx96, alongside being Alison Hinds' tour DJ. Safe to say he knows all about fete. Read our Q&A with D-Life below for the full lowdown on his mix that runs through everything he thinks will be tearing down the house of bacchanal at carnival this coming week. |
Thu, 24 January 2013
Mixpak FM 045 is brought to you by Estonian producer, Bert on Beats. Bert has made his way through various monikers and genres - starting out as Estonia's number one hip hop selector, DJ Critikal, and releasing an acclaimed Drum n Bass album before settling on the B.O.B sound & name we know today in 2009. Releasing originals & remixes on Man Recordings, Trouble & Bass and Moveltraxx, his influences bounce from all around the world - from kuduro to dancehall. He joined the Mixpak family for his remix of Vybz Kartel's 'Half on a Baby', and will be featured on Mixpak Pressure Volume 2 next month. |
Tue, 8 January 2013
Mixpak FM 044 is brought to you by Seattle producer, Astronomar. He landed his first release on Neoteric's "Turned On Vol 2" just last year, and has since released on Jeffree's, Top Billin' and Fool's Gold, not to mention dropping a hot remix of Percolator. His Mixpak FM runs through some of his own edits and originals, heavy hitting house, plus even some Sun Ra and Katie Got Bandz thrown in. This one's for the floor. |