Today we woke up and convinced ourselves that it’d be just like any other day, but then we had to face the truth. How can you really escape Valentine’s Day? Luckily for us we found a sweet gift in our mailbox, a Valentine’s mix dropped off by a secret admirer/friend of Truants to share with you. They won us over and lifted our spirits, no cheesy love ballads here. Click below to download the mix, and check the full tracklisting at the end of the post.
Download: [wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Will-U-B-My-Valentine-_3.mp3″ text=”Truancy Valentine’s Mix”] (320 kbps)
We also decided to share the love a little by highlighting some of our personal favourite Valentine’s selections to keep with the holiday spirit:
Must Be Love RMX by Jacques Greene
In the chorus, Cassie coos to Diddy: “Don’t wanna give in to you so easily / But I can’t even fight it, you make me so weak …” but it’s also an accurate description of the usual reaction to anything Jacques Greene puts out. The woozy synths, the heartless percussion – it makes us weak at the knees. For some, this was an early introduction to the addictively icy house that has since become Greene’s signature. For just as many others, this remix went undetected and its existence comes as a surprise. Released as part of the “Skydiver” compilation on Local Action, it accompanied 7 other tracks that served as “remixes, tributes and marriage proposals to Cassie” from Local Action artists and friends Lunice, Mickey Pearce, Slackk, The Blessings, Altered Natives, 8Bitch, and Brackles. This particular ‘marriage proposal’ remix easily outshines the original, keeping the vocals intact while morphing it into five-and-a-half minutes of audio sexytime. If you don’t have a valentine this year, then let Cassie be yours (who doesn’t want that?) by downloading the whole compilation below.
Download: Cassie feat. Diddy – “Must Be Love (Jacques Greene’s Marriage Proposal Remix)” (320 kbps)
Download: LOC004: Skydiver compilation (320 kbps)
[wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Romping-Shop.mp3″ text=”Romping Shop – Vybz Kartel ft. Spice” dl=”0″]
Let’s be honest, Valentine’s Day is really all about tricking people into having sex with you. In the most romantic way possible, of course. Which is what makes this epic duet between Vybz Kartel and Spice so compelling – it’s refreshingly direct. This song’s honesty is like an arrow into your heart. But such is the pretty delicacy of the song’s melody that I’ve been witness to friends’ parents singing along to this, seemingly oblivious of the content of the lyrics. Which is another reason this one gets serious points – it’s a universally loved classic that never gets old. If you’re as yet unfamiliar with the track, be prepared to find yourself walking around later, softly singing sexually explicit lyrics to yourself. Which brings me to the greatest line in the whole of romance: “Me nah let yuh go, so don’t let me down, mi two phone a ring an me nah answer none“. Imagine! Such is Spice’s adoration of Kartel (and his sexual prowess) that both her phones are ringing and she doesn’t answer either of them! If that’s not true love, I don’t know what is.
[wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/1-15-Flowers-Sunship-Mix.mp3″ text=”Flowers – Sweet Female Attitude” dl=”0″]
So Wikipedia is trying to tell me that the lyrics to “Flowers” were written by “a man named Mike and his friend.” I prefer to think that Sweet Female Attitude were trying to subvert the dominance of the patriarchal system – look, girls can buy boys flowers too! Or sometimes I pretend that they were the pioneers for lyricists to step outside the sphere of heterosexuality. But ultimately, this is just a classic euphoric garage song. In the pouring rain…
The possibilities when trying to put together a bunch of appropriate songs for this time of year are endless, from deciding what to choose for this page to any number of seasonal mixes out there. Canadian beat-juggler Skratch Bastid did a pretty sterling job with his short mix for The Strombo Show last year. You know you’re on to a winner when things kick off with Quincy Jones’ oft-sampled “In The City”, and from there he delightfully mixes through a series of slow jams and heart-felt rap tracks, all in a short and easily digestible 20 minutes. It’s not at all chocolates and roses however, as Stevie Wonder will tell you – “Always treat me like a fool, kick me when I’m down that’s your rule, I don’t know why I love you, but I love you” – and then there’s Nas, rapping to his boy locked down (which SB pits against the joyous original track sampled by Q-Tip for “One Love”). But ultimately, Freddie Scott reminds us that love is for life: “I’m thankful every day that you came my way.” Don’t stop loving tomorrow y’all…
Valentine’s Day themed mix for The Strombo Show by Skratch Bastid
Truants Valentine’s Mix Tracklisting:
1. Jeremih “All About You (LOL Boys edit)”
2. Usher “U Got It Bad”
3. Alicia Keys “Fallin’ (MJ Cole remix)”
4. O’Jay Boulevard “Scarlett”
5. Peverelist “Roll With The Punches (James Blake remix)”
6. DJ Technics “Girlfriend”
7. New Boyz “Tie Me Down (DJ Sliink remix)”
8. DJ Jonty “Grindin'”
9. The-Dream “Falsetto”
10. Ollie McFarlane “Rain Theme (Cedaa remix)”
11. Vistos Bosses “Delirious (Dubbel Dutch edit)”
12. Terius Nash “Form of Flattery (Contakt remix)”
13. Fort Romeau “Say Something”
14. Beyonce “Crazy in Love (Todd Edwards mix)”
15. Morri$ “Affairs”
16. Miguel “Sure Thing”
Download: [wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Will-U-B-My-Valentine-_3.mp3″ text=”Truancy Valentine’s Mix”] (320 kbps)
