1. In anticipation of Forward Strategy Group’s brilliant debut full-length “Labour Division” – an astonishing full-length definitely worth your consideration – out today on Perc Trax, the two Scotsmen took care of the label series latest podcast.The outcome is a little over an hour of granular and forthright techno: racing through a selection of tens of tracks, the mix draws you in from the start and won’t lose the auditor during any point of the moody yet uplifting voyage. With only one-third of the mix coming from their own releases (as well as a new track aptly named “Rundes Leder” for this season, directly translating to ‘football’), the mix reflects exactly what you’d expect them to play out: a limitless collection of deep industrial, some tracks that are familiar to the ear such as Levon Vincent’s Ovum anthem “Love Technique” and Geeemans “Bang’t” but a lot of the mix is all about Smear and Walker drawing for the more unpredictable records and exposing the listener to new sounds. This week we’ll undoubtedly be doing a lot of alternating between Forward Strategy Group’s new LP and this podcast, which is also downloadable via SoundCloud.
Stream: Forward Strategy Group – Perc Trax Podcast (Tracklisting here)
2. “Your hood is my hood, and my hood is your hood…” Dutch techno peculiarity Legowelt certainly ventures out of his own territory with his latest surprise mix including some of his favourite ‘90s Memphis rap tracks. Of course geography has no limitation on his knowledge and Mr. Wolfers has a way with words that consistently beats any of our attempts to verbally describe what he does. This is what he had to say about the mix: “Summer is coming so I made a little mix with my favorite 90s Memphis rap trax – one of the greatest music genres in history especially during its golden days circa 1993-1994. Think over the top OMINOUS John Carpenter basslines, more tape smudge and obscurity then all minimal wave records in history, enchanting inspiring melodies and pure unadulterated poetry. More then 50 minutes of the most obscure best Memphis Rap songs all mixed to perfection to play LOUD in your car -> cruising in your neighbourhood while u laugh and smirf at all the pedestrian jock bro mediocrity moving past you.”
It’s probably wise to obey the man who knows best – download below or stream above. There’s no tracklisting for now, but believe us, we’re working on it!
Download: Legowelt – Memphis Rap Mix 1 (256 kbps)
Stream: Legowelt – Memphis Rap Mix 1 (No tracklisting)
3. The man behind The Trilogy Tapes has presented us with another Knyx radio mix filled with smooth house stylings. Not only is he responsible for the album art for labels like Swamp 81, R&S, and now Hinge Finger, he is also one the most underrated DJs with the selection of a studied student of music. Even though he claims the mix is “a bit fucked” the vibes are abundant and touch on all sorts of tunes from Chicago and beyond. Covering tracks from DJ Bone to Alex Israel Bankhead’s mixing is swift and to point; in an age where the DJ booth often resembles a 1960s NASA control panel it’s refreshing to hear someone keep it simple and let the music do the talking. So if you’re in the mood to get down, but lack the proper music to do so look no further.
Stream: MASHYMASHMAN – The Trilogy Tapes (No tracklisting)
4. In a 1998 interview, Tuff Jam were asked the simple question “What pisses you off?” Their response: negativity. Haters only need to listen to a few minutes of Tuff Jam’s own work in order to turn their frown upsidedown. There’s little music better than UK garage for a feel-good summer soundtrack, equally great for barbeques or dancing or maxing out your credit card with glee. Matt “Jam” Lamont and Karl “Tuff Enuff” Brown’s essential mix comes all the way from 1997, a full two hours of garage mixed by the some of the most prominent players in the game. The mix is still getting commented on to this day and stands as an excellent primary resource to branch out from, for those just beginning their dig into older UK music. As a bonus if your attention span is lacking, the mix is available for download here.
Stream: Tuff Jam’s BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix (October 1997) (Tracklisting here)
5. And for our concluding mix, we have chosen to travel back in time again. This time instead of going back to the nineties, we kept in our current decade though this one already carries a somewhat nostalgic and sentimental charge, as it’s been the soundtrack to our two last summers and will undoubtedly be on heavy rotation again over the next few months. The mix is curated by Jamie XX, for one of Paris’ fashion houses Colette. It was here where we first stumbled upon his gem of a collaboration with Gil Scott-Heron, “NY Is Killing Me,” and there are many more present-day classics to be heard in the mix. It’s an impeccable selection from garage and dubstep to house and instrumental hip-hop, this mix being a vital ingredient to the beginning of a Summer evening by slowly easing you from slow jams into the more up-tempo work, leaving you no choice but to get up and dance – download available here.
Stream: Jamie XX Mix for Colette 10 (Tracklisting here)
Words by: Cayley MacArthur, Immy Soraya, and Jonathon Alcindor.
