Here at the Truants Mansion we love the idea of soundtracking this most beautiful day for all you Yung Khaleds. Whether you’re spending the time crying or grinding, we got the tracks to see you through.
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Spread the love with whomever and wherever you like today. Saint Valentine’s would want us all to get a bit wild. Whether you are out on a romantic date, home alone, or just hanging out with a couple of close friends, Traunts is here to make sure you turn this Hallmark holiday into a night to remember by listening to some seductive jams. Piu Piu, the French/Uruguayan DJ and songwriter put together a mix that is the meant to accompany late night love affairs. Featuring tracks from the divine darlings of r&b and hip-hop such as Jhne Aiko and KP & Envi, Girls Like Quickes Too is a short mix of sugarcoated hazy rhythms that will have you moving your body in ways you didn’t even think were possible.
Stream: Piupiu Music – ‘Girls like quickies too’
Rather than sticking to a strict get-down / feel-down vibe, last weekend on her NTS show Throwing Shade aimed to take the listener through the full range of emotions that might pertain to Valentine’s. Nabihah Iqbal’s jazz and world picks are always on point on a Saturday afternoon, using them here to mix between themes of marriage and divorce, sex, jealousy and abortion, throwing out shout outs to the sweethearts in between. She takes us from Algerian fusion to Bollywood, through Cannonball Adderley and to a 1960s Nottingham club using a clip of dialogue from Brit film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (out to Alan Sillitoe). Really great range and always loads to look up afterwards.
Stream: Throwing Shade – NTS Radio
Last year, Pelican Fly’s very own Sam Tiba put out a Valentine’s mix that caught a lot of hype (and rightly so!). Mixing an impressively wide range of tempos and genres seamlessly whilst also featuring a few originals and edits from the man himself, it’s obvious a lot of love went in to this whirlwind mix. Whether you’ll be spending the day with boo (Lenny Williams – “Cause I Love You”), bemoaning your luck once again (DJ Jayhood – “Heartbroken”) or at the club falling in love with a stripper (Juicy J – “Bandz A Make Her Dance”), this mix will have you covered. One final note, a double helping of Jeremih should be an industry-wide standard for mixes of this nature.
Stream: Sam Tiba – Valentine’s Mix 2013 (Pelican Fly)
Last Month Dirtnap2 posted an Afrobeats mix by the guy for the job: Brackles. In the supporting interview, he talks about how it was grime aficionado, Dan Hancox’s, article about Afrobeats in the UK that triggered his interest in the use of the (admittedly huge) genre. The Rinse FM regular’s taste for lusty rhythms and that Funky swing are applied here to create a more explicitly afro mix. And obviously, it works. Effortlessly adaptable, as always, he knocks up a chaotic yet considered mix of bouncy, ever-pleasing, passionate jams that sit on the sexier side of romance (meaning: perfect for grinding on Valentine’s Day).
Stream: Brackles – Afrobeat Mix for Dirtnap
Oneman made his name as a DJ unfazed by different BPMs or styles, encompassing all in his varied and wide-ranging club sets. His Month of Love mix from back in 2010 is emblematic of this approach. Kicking off the mix with Usher’s sensuous “Nice & Slow”, Oneman moves through a selection of seductive R&B slow jams which will be sure to have pulses racing. With a few curveballs thrown in along the way (Jeff Buckley’s “Everybody Here Wants You”, anyone?), the mix rapidly progresses to faster tempos. Whether it’s Cooly G’s atmospheric funky or Burial’s timeless “Archangel”, things are kept steamy throughout. With a running time of 33 minutes this is an ideal soundtrack for those more intimate encounters.
Stream: Oneman -Month of Love
If you haven’t heard of DJ Milktray, you’ve most certainly heard one of his edits in the dance. He’s been steadily releasing some of the most lively and infectious r&b edits this side of the pitch-it-down-and-slap-it-over-a-4/4 era. His take on Cassidy and Kells’ “Hotel” snaps with the elasticity of a rubber band; he adds a sinister bounce to the familiar Indian flute melody from 50 Cent’s “Just A Lil Bit”; and in his Aaliyah edit centres Timbaland’s ad libs over “Are You That Somebody?”‘s melodic stabs. As a Valentine’s Day treat, Astral Black are offering his free edit of Flukes’ “Wifey Riddim” – grime’s OG sensitive thug joint. The instrumental’s been used by everyone from Tinie Tempah to Sadie Ama, and in his Making It Personal edit Milktray excavates the original’s delicate surface and gives it a rougher, rolling deftness. With material forthcoming on Unknown to the Unknown, Astral Black and Glacial Sound (plus a Functions of the Now in the pipeline), we’re gonna be hearing a lot more from the Burberry-clad Glaswegian this year.
Stream: Flukes – Wifey Riddim (Milktray’s Making It Personal Edit)
Words by: Afi Baaqi, Eliot Brammer, Matt Coombs, Erin Mathias, Matt Gibney, Sophie Kindreich.
