Mixtape Wednesday

We're on a countdown to a new decade and we still have no flying cars or hoverboards. Let's face it, the future is a lot less cool than we expected.

Yes, this decade gave us the iPod, Serrato Scratch, Ableton Live and YouTube, but it also gave us X-Factor, lawsuits from Metallica, the death of James Brown and Autotune.

Not great. Or is it? When you look at some of the amazing music released in the Noughties (next decade to be called 'the Teenies'?), you realise the perks of living in the 21st Century.



As if to illustrate this point, DJs 2tall, Clockwork and Kper have compiled an impressive mix of raw, soulful, underground hip-hop released between 1999 and 2009.

Year by year, track by track, beat by funky beat, 'A Boom Bap Continuum' cuts, samples, mashes and blends its way through 10 amazing years in music.

Taking in Skitz, Erick Sermon, MF Doom, Mos Def and a host of other artists, from the US, UK and Europe, this is not so much a mix as an important social document, recording the voice of hip-hop in the Noughties.

Yeah, you can bob your head to it, but it also deserves a place in libraries and archives.

Download the mix, read the epic tracklist and find out more about the three time-travelling turntable tour-guides here.


Another mix so huge, encyclopaedic and funky that we could ignore it no longer, is the Stickypod Connection's Shambhala 2009 set.

This is three hours of Drum n Bass, Funk, Dancehall, Womp, Breaks, Reggae, Soul, Hip Hop and Mashups from two truly creative DJs, J-Pod the beat chef and Stickybuds.

Recorded live at the Shambhala Festival in Canada, this bass-heavy mix is peppered with acapellas and unexpected eclectic collisions.

Where else could you hear The Eagles and The Rare Earth wrapped around MIA and Fort Knox Five? This mix is surprising, groovy and exciting, standing out in a world full of unimaginative, plodding mixtapes.

Download it and read the mammoth tracklist here. You can also get their previous Shambhala sets on their Myspace.


Finally, just got time to highlight some really rather excellent classic soul mixtapes from Modern Sun Records.

Go here to grab mixes by Skymark, Ill Dubio and Ketepica featuring artists such as Cassiano, Future Flight, The Lovelites and The Fantastics.

That should keep you going until next week!