Here is an interview with me, Cosmo & Eleven talking about The Rub and soul music and such, on Cornerstone’s Suite 903 website.
Natalie Storm
I remixed my friends Business Class, and you can download the MP3 for free! The original is a hybrid bass-pop jam (get it right here). I turned it into a house tune, somewhere in afro-jack-beats territory. Download right here:
Business Class ft. Natalie Storm & Tifa – Running (DJ Ayres remix) (Sendspace)
Burlesque Design dug this remix so much they put it on their Do It To It 3 CD – a bunch of our friends have great tracks on it, and you have to see how insane the packaging is:
My favorite tune on the CD is Pumpkin Patch’s remix of the Doobie Brothers – that’s coming out on Young Robots sometime soon.
I asked Top Billin to remix Rob Threezy’s “The Chase” and although it wasn’t done in time for the EP (due to a computer crash), it’s finally here and free for you. Grab it over on Mad Decent and go buy Rob Threezy’s “Let’s Go Ravers” EP on Amazon.com, Turntable Lab or iTunes.
“If Rob Threezy’s membership in the Chicago’s Ghetto Division isn’t enough proof that his tracks represent the new vanguard of the Chicago sound, then perhaps this astounding remix from Finland’s Top Billin’ will convince doubters. Given the original’s stems, Top Billin’ somehow make “The Chase” even more of a Windy City club banger, channeling the monstrous kicks of Cajmere, the sampling style of early Larry Heard projects, and even a bit of Adonis’ acid. In no uncertain terms, this is a perfect house track, and one hell of a remix.” – Thomas Rees for XLR8R Magazine
This month The Rub welcomes DJ Kayper, London dj extraordinaire and host of The Hype Show on BBC‘s Asian Network. Kayper rocks a set of old-school hip-hop and London dance music (with serious skills), and talks about her journey from teenage turntablist to eclectic club and radio DJ.
The Village Voice wrote a very flattering recommendation for The Rub: ” If hip hop is what you’re looking for, go to Southpaw for the Rub’s monthly sweat-fest. Residents Cosmo Baker, DJ Eleven, and DJ Ayres are some of the city’s finest and will keep you dancing with a masterfully mixed set of rap, funk, and probably no Lady Gaga. The line for this party can be tiresome, so get there early.” Join us, won’t you?
Tittsworth & I have a new release, rock to this! Rob Threezy is an unstoppable young producer and DJ from Chicago’s Ghetto Division crew. Rob is best known for his unique take on Baltimore Club fused with classic Rave samples, having jumpstarted a whole movement with his now-classic “The Chase.” With releases on Mad Decent, Fool’s Gold, Nightshifters and Fabric Live, Threezy has been banging out hits nonstop since he first released “Love To The World” on T&A less than two years ago. “Let’s Go Ravers” sees him stretch out, from the minimal 808-driven “Round House” to hyperactive dubstep on “They’re Coming,” along with his signature rave/club anthems “Your Love” and “Let’s Go Ravers.” T&A label owners Tittsworth and Ayres provide remix support; Tittsworth injects dark synths and stabs into “Round House” and DJ Ayres takes “The Chase” into tech-house territory. Rounding out the EP is Rampage (Ghetto Division)’s mix of The Chase, bringing even more energy to the rave banger.
Promo: grab “They’re Coming” on RCRD LBL for free!
Rob Threezy – Let’s Go Ravers EP
Buy digital from Amazon (MP3)
Buy digital from iTunes (MP4)
Buy digital from Juno (MP3 or WAV)
1. Rob Threezy – Let’s Go Ravers
2. Rob Threezy – Your Love
3. Rob Threezy – They’re Coming
4. Rob Threezy – Round House
5. Rob Threezy – Round House (Tittsworth Remix)
6. Rob Threezy – The Chase (Rampage Remix)
7. Rob Threezy – The Chase (DJ Ayres Remix)
BONUS:
Promo Only! Download here:
(Right Click “Save Target As”)
2. Dave Nada – Riverside (Moombahton Edit)
3. Dave Nada – Seductive Sound (Moombahton Edit)
4. Dave Nada – Ruffcut (Moombahton Edit)
5. Dave Nada – Ruffcut (Moombahton Dub)
Dave Nada invented Moombahton (pronounced Moom-buh-tone) at his little cousin’s house party when he slowed an Afrojack remix down to 108 beats per minute. Since then, he’s been making reggaeton-tempo edits of Dutch house and tropical house, and clubs have been going crazy for the stuff. By popular demand, we give you five Moombahton edits for free!
http://www.myspace.com/davenada
Artwork by Rhek (Sharks and Hammers)
Blogging about blogging! I’ve put a recap of my Canadian tour up on the Turntable Lab blog. Go look at pictures and read captions here:
Canda tour blog part 1
Canada tour blog part 2
Fresh from shows in Vietnam and a New Zealand tour with uk mc Mystro, Dublin’s Mikki Dee joins us at The Rub on Saturday, March 6. He’ll be rocking a video dj set downstairs. Here is a mix of hip-hop, reggae and soul to get you warmed up:
Mikki Dee – Sweet Sounz 9
http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/pwe7oh
I’ve been putting up a new vinyl rip from my record collection every Monday at the Flashing Lights website. The loose category is dance music: everything from house to 80’s electro to classic techno to disco.
Grab those MP3s, and be sure to join us this Friday at Flashing Lights (at 88 Palace) with our special guest Congorock (Fool’s Gold).
Reposted from CosmoBaker.com. Be sure to go to Cosmo’s website every week for a new edition of Breakbeat Thursdays
Last week was Mardi Gras and so I figured we’ll make this week’s post a tribute to that. I’ve never been to New Orleans but I have always wanted to. We almost went there a few years ago with the A-Trak “Sunglasses Is A Must Tour” but the date that was scheduled in 2005, for 2006 happened before Katrina (we went to Baton Rouge instead.) But anyway, I’m fascinated by the city, its rich history and culture, its spirit. Choctaw Indians, jazz, Second Line, voodoo, Wild Tchoupitoulas, honestly in concept the city has pretty much everything for me haha. And I don’t really ever think about my death, but have occasionally thought that I would like my funeral to at least have the spirit, if not the customs, of a Second Line march. But let’s get to the music…
So obviously like any kid my age, there was a fair amount of Paul Simon / Simon & Garfunkel that I was raised on. In fact it’s quite possible that “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” might have been one of the first songs that I memorized the lyrics to. And it’s funny to me because when you’re a teen and you want to rebel against anything that you parents like, it’s very easy to say that Paul Simon isn’t hip. “Turn this wack juice off mom, I want to listen to Public Enemy.” But now that I’m older I have no qualms about not only accepting, but publicly proclaiming that Paul is that dude. Honestly, who doesn’t have love for “Graceland?” And in my humble opinion, “Rhythm Of The Saints” is one of the finest albums of the 80s. One may say that without Paul Simon there would be no Diplo (oh snap, did I just say that haha…)
CTI Records was founded in the late 60s by legendary record producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of Herb Albert’s A&M Records. It was a very distinctive record label that during the early and mid 70s was very much at the forefront of releasing a sound that bridged the gap from jazz to funk to easy-listening, all with a certain swing to it. Taylor, along with his artists and other in-house producers and arrangers, took the de rigueur sound of tepid 60s soul / jazz and infused a particular sheen to it that gave it all a very modern sound. That sound was embraced en-masse by a whole generation of hip-hop producers who mined the readily available CTI catalog in dollar bins to help sculpt the landscape of rap music in the late 80s and early 90s, a debt that often goes overlooked. And “diggers” often poke fun at CTI records because, for many of us, when we first started digging in the crates it was all the CTI records that many of us got in the initial stages of amassing our collection. So while many look at it the records as almost being somewhat pedestrian, I challenge that the back catalog is stronger than many of the rarer pieces out there. And trust me, I’ve GOT RECORDS, dudes…
Okay, tying this whole thing together, Bob James recorded a cover version of Paul Simon’s “Take Me To The Mardi Gras” for his 1975 release “Two.” It is a funk-infused monster a times, an easy-listening masterpiece at others… (did I really just say “easy-listening masterpiece?”) But the thing that James’ version is best known for is its incredibly infamous breakbeat at the top.
Bob James “Take Me To The Mardi Gras” (CTI, 1975)
And just to make it so that I’m beating you all over the head with the obvious, here’s a Mardi Gras tribute treat courtesy of my homie Supreme La Rock. For the few of you who don’t know him, Preme holds in own in Seattle and one of the illest DJs I know, period. Not only is his DJ game sick, he’s one of the top diggers in the world and has been for as long as I can remember. His is game to respect, no question. You should also check out his podcast here. So Preme sent me this record by The Spotnicks, a pop group from Sweden who recorded a version of Mardi Gras – complete with their own breakbeat. It’s pretty ill, and completely different from the Bob James version. Check it out, and happy Mardi Gras yall…
The Spotnicks “Take Me To The Mardi Gras” (Mariann Grammofon AB, 1978)