Obviously, the greatest mixtapes you're ever going to hear are put together here at LET, but it would be unfair of us not to give credit where credit is due when we come across winners from others (second place is respectable, too, folks, so good on ya', mate!).
While LET probably is never going to be your definitive source for outside mixtapes, you know we're going to hip you to the good stuff.
"Inspired in part by Lindsay Lohan’s grotesquely fascinating black hole existence and in part by my unwavering belief in the power of pop music as an artform, I saw an opportunity to create something interesting with her music, and decided to ask some friends to reinterpret some of Lindsay’s songs. 'Tri Angle Records Presents: Let Me Shine for You' is the result. Even though we are all fond of Lindsay in our own ways, there is no FREE LINDSAY agenda here. We all love pop music and this is merely an experiment. All of our intentions are very sincere."
While this simply could have been a joke, the tracks are surprisingly good. It certainly doesn't hurt that some top notch talent was assembled to add tracks. Think somewhere between drone and chill, but without wearing its panties in the limo while people stand around taking cellphone pictures.
While we've posted tracks sponsored by Red Bull before, clearly i was uninformed on just how into the music scene your favorite vodka mixer actually is. Seems that since 1998, they've been sponsoring a traveling music academy. Essentially, they set up an HQ for two fortnight-long terms in a different musical metropolis each year, pulling "together pioneers of days-gone-by and musical legends of tomorrow from all aspects of rhythm and sound." This years' 60 participants set up shop in London, resulting in a pretty damn kick ass 41-track mixtape, bringing together some of the biggest names in instrumental electronic music. Seriously, TokiMONSTA and Oddisee on the same track? Do not pass go without picking up this bad boy. Be forewarned, however, at least i had a bitch of a time extracting the files from the zip. With that in mind, here are a couple of tracks to prove it's worth the effort of figuring it out yourself.
mp3: River Song (J-Wow & Sui Zhen from Various Assets - Not For Sale - London 2010)
mp3: Jackin4beats pt. 4 (TokiMONSTA feat. Andreya Triana & Oddisee from Various Assets - Not For Sale - London 2010)
i've inadvertently been sitting on a mixtape from Alex Ludovico for so long now that's he's since put out another one. You might recognize AL from various mixes we've put together ourselves, but his own stuff tends to be pretty damn good by itself. Homeboy spits fiyah and tends to kick it over dope beats. Expect to hear more about and from this up and comer.
And finally, we recently received an interesting, homemade mixtape coming in at a handful of tracks at under ten minutes. As fans of the DIY ethic, here's a nod of the cap to Alex Gladwell. Sure, the production is a bit rough, but we all have to start somewhere. Plus, i'm pretty much a sucker for any beat that heavily samples Disney. Snow White in the house, y'all!
Sorry, kids, but ye olde inbox did not get too full too quickly this week. Most of my normal traps turned up crap, quite frankly, and a lot of other stuff came just over the last day or so. Most be a tantric issue. For those of you who happen to submit to LET, get your stuff in early, folks, so we can give the people what they want when they want so they won't sit all the time. It's only fair, jah?
