I’m in waaaay over my head with new music right now. I recently partook in a DJ power summit, which basically consisted of 12 steady-working LA deejays getting together for tea & crumpets & hard drive swapping. Yeah, it was a big sloppy music nerd orgy. Remixes flying all over the place, zip drives getting stuck in inappropriate usb ports. There was a lil bit of vinyl swappage, but mainly we were dealing with heavy ass gigabytes. This is good news for all of you out there who will be benefitting from this plethora of beats as well. And just in case you don’t get your fix taken care of here, try making a stop over at this other blog I just found where they like old funky obscurities and good photos (I stole this one of the record man above from them).

Bag Raiders :       So Demanding
felt it was pretty appropriate to start with these guys who make no qualms about their raiding abilities.

Tweet :       Make Ur Move
somehow I missed this one by 10 years! Still sounding really fresh. The only question is, could she have picked a worse name? Misfortunate pre-twitter fiasco.

Bear Hands :       Crime Pays
simple but effective. Whiney falsetto meets garage rock with an age old adage that we can all relate to (I illegally let you download music because I WANT YOUR MONEY!) Not quite.

Breakbot :       Baby I'm Yours ft. Irfane
do songs get more perfect than this??? I don’t believe so. There’s something slightly strained in this guy’s voice that just pulls me out of whatever place I was in, and puts me down on top of the world. If the song alone doesn’t get you high, check the rad video

J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science ft. The Pimps Of Joytime :       Go To Work (Hot Toddy Remix)
long ass name, long ass song, deep muthafuggin groove. 7 and a half minutes of a bass loop, and I’m ready to rewind and do it all over again. The Pimps are my homies, and I’ll let you in on a lil secret… I did an official remix for them that should be dropping soon, stay tuned.

Todd Terje :       Inspector Norse
whoa!?! Can you say “cosmic”? This being played loudly in a warehouse at the brink of dawn sounds like a good idea to me. More from this awesome label here.

Azari & III :       Manic
channeling Prince and Kraftwerk, this one’s a dark dancefloor destroyer. They’ve got more.

The Temper Trap :       Resurrection (Penguin Prison Remix)
I’ve been seeking out more stuff by PP since getting his great album a lil while back. This man has done a lot.

Priors :       What You Need (Hey Champ Remix)
Hipster disco, yes. Sweater funk, yes. But that doesn’t stop me from liking it.

Ornette :       Crazy (Noze Remix)
GORGEOUS!!! You need this one in your life. Huge thanks to my homegirl Marlee for finding a piece of myself that I didn’t know was missing. And huge thanks to Noze (wherever you are) for being brilliant.

Lovebirds :       Want You In My Soul ft. Stee Downes
another slow builder, but when it finally drops, wow. There’s actually a Hot Toddy remix of this one too, but I’m slightly partial to the OG.

Etta James, Johnny Otis… more legends passing. If you’re unfamiliar with the work that gave them that status, I suggest you visit my homie O-Dub’s site to catch up. But right here I’m once again paying homage in my own way- new music to keep us feeling things more deeply, thinking more openly, and living more inspired. The image above comes courtesy of one of my new favorite blogs. If you see more vintage 60’s and 70’s biker/bikini/gangbanger/all-around-rebel pics creeping up on here, that’s probably where they will be coming from.

Pretty Lights :       Finally Moving
there’s a few remixes of this one, but I like the simplicity of the OG with Etta James’ voice sitting perfectly on top of that old Stax record sample (also used by Rappin 4-Tay on “Player’s Club”).

Bonobo :       Stay The Same (ft. Andreya Triana) &       1009
This guy played at The Lift in downtown LA on Sat night and it was massive. That party just keeps getting better. Both of these are from his very solid latest release Black Sands.

KASTLE :       Time Traveler &       Bring Me Back
don’t know too much about this dude, but these are some of the more creative & crispy bass tunes I’ve found in a while.

Cubic Zirconia :       Night Or Day (ft. Bilal)
this is deep space nine in soundwave form. Also very appropriate for play during foreplay. Check em out.

Solomon :       Love Recycled 2 (ft. Curtis Mayfield)
basically a Curtis remix, but I’m not mad at this guy one bit. Am I horny? Damn, what’s with all this sexy ass music.

Javelin :       Intervales Theme
just discovering these cats catalogue. Looks like there’s a lot more where this gem came from.

Blundetto :       Hercules (ft. Hugh Coltman)
Aaron Neville’s classic gets a slinky reggae redux from the funky Frenchman Blundetto. Lookin forward to the next album.

Gotye :       Somebody That I Used To Know (JR Blender Remix)
wow. JR Blender has been putting out a lot of great mashups over the years, but this one is just too good. Always loved this Aswad riddim.

Goapele :       Undertow
If there’s only one song on this playlist that you listen to and spread, I hope it’s this one. When the kick drops, so do the panties. Sexiest thing I’ve heard since The Weeknd.  “Play” is another winner on this album, and the remix by Los Rakas is not to be missed either. Too much good music. Or then again, never too much, never too much, never too much…

Jimmy Castor, lover of Troglodytes, big butts, and nasty basslines, you will be missed. Rather than simply posting some classic funk cuts by the man himself (which I’m sure you can find elsewhere), I started an original track inspired by one of his lesser known gems. That’s coming… but for now we’ll keep the momentum moving forward with some newer stuff that has helped me stay on my grind lately. So many cool projects coming up that I’m really excited about. For starters, check this hilarious music video featuring Rachel “Thug Lite” Bilson rapping her ass off (250k views in 24 hours!?!?). I produced the beat and co-wrote the song with my bro Murphy Lawless (one day he’ll get back on here and post something).

Coco Morier :       Explosions
heavy indie pop with a dirty disco bottom. Lookin forward to more from this lady.

DJ Eleven :       Every Freakin' ft. Mike Baker (Illo & Kream Remix)
doesn’t take a genius to get this one. Uptempo 80’s style disco funk for the floor . Nice work once again from DJ Eleven.

33hz :       Nightspot (Walker & Royce Remix)
taking cues from Chromeo, these dudes are mixing vocoders and pop hooks with more contemporary production. I’ll be honest, the song gets a bit sleepy in the middle (at least for a dancefloor) but then skip ahead to 4:10 and BOOM! That’s what cuepoints are for.

Phreek Plus One :       Back To Fatback
indeed, sometimes all you need is just a groove. More of them here 

Mux Mool :       Enceladus (Daso Remix)
slow builder here that drops around 2:20 and is pure devastation thereafter.  From this EP

SBTRKT :       Hold On (Them Jeans Remix)
thank you Them Jeans! I was thinking of doing a bootleg remix of this myself, but now I don’t need to cause this one’s perfect.

Cassius :       Les Enfants
truth be told, I found out about this EP after Watch The Throne. So thanks to Kanye & Jay-Z for puttin me up on this I guess.

Goldroom :       Morgan's Bay
random inbox find from a while ago. Check out more breezy yacht-rock disco steez right here.

Space Flight :       22 (RAC Maury Remix)
don’t even remember where I got this one. Came up on shuffle and when the hook hit I knew I had to share it. RAC really took this one to another level, cause the OG ain’t doing it for me

Free Moral Agents :       When I Smile
this one comes courtesy of Garth Trinidad.  Don’t even know how to categorize this, so I won’t, but it’s damn good. A little crazy with the panning in the mix perhaps, but damn I love that synth combo when the beat drops. Check em out.

I was lucky to catch an exhibit of Nick Cave’s Soundsuits (above) when I was in NOLA a couple months back. I keep going back to images of them for inspiration. If I could DJ a party and have everyone in the crowd dancing in one of these, I think there’d be nothing left to desire from life. Someday… In the meantime, some funky sounds to fuel your weekend shakedown.

Faraon Bantu Soundsystem :       Macaco (Novalima Remix)
Novalima :       Mamaye
both of these are from Novalima’s new album. High quality material as always from this Afro-Peruvian future roots collective.

Palenke Soultribe :       Choroni (Palenke Remix) &       Te Veo
saw these guys live at the AfroFunke party a while back and they put on an extremely high energy show. Deep trance-inducing tribal rave from the Jungle. Check it out.

Ikebe Shakedown :       Tujunga &       No Name Bar
really love the classic sounding production on the debut record from this Brooklyn-based afrobeat group. And the fact that they cover one of my favorite slow jams by Sparrow’s Troubadours (“No Name Bar”) earns them extra music nerd cred.

Analog Players Society :       I Can't Wait
my homie Amon (who’s played percussion with me a few times) has put together a kickass band and their first release on Redbud Records is a handful of top-notch steppers reggae covers. Here’s the studio he runs in Brooklyn. Can’t wait to heat more.

Jimmy Cliff :       Guns Of Brixton
superb Clash cover by one of the originators.

Grace Jones :       Well Well Well (Dub)
glad to hear the 80’s party godess coming back around to her dubby roots.

Started off the year with a massive hangover and a nasty cold that has left me coughing up lung butter a full week later. I know, it’s gross. So I’m taking it easy with some slow burners right now, while chain-drinking tea and running through handkerchiefs like it’s my job. Props to my friend Marlee for hooking me up with today’s visual inspiration, which apparently has been floating around the web for a while. You can print one up yourself and watch as the R&B fans line up for their little piece of Lionel. 

Also, big shout out to Anita Brenner at DMX Music for naming my album “Cookin’ Gumbo” the #1 World record on her best of 2011 list! Wow.

Woolfy :       Odyssey
classy, smoothed out mid-tempo disco from an LA band that somehow I’d never heard of until recently.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. :       Simple Girl (Tiger & Woods Remix)
epic slow builder in a spacey 80’s boogie style. I’m now a fan of these guys.

Jesse Boykins :       B4 The Night Is Thru
if you aren’t already familiar with this cat, don’t stop at this track, get acquainted.

Washed Out :       New Theory (RAC Remix)
I think this guy wins the award for most appropriate name. The music sounds exactly like it should, with ever-busy RAC stepping in to make this one a little more head-nod-able. Perfect food for daydreaming.

Gardens & Villa :       Orange Blossom
Heard these guys live on KCRW when they performed this track live. Slow bubbly indy-funk hybrid with an excellent usage of what sounds like a bamboo flute. Well done.

Coco O :       Sleep
the voice behind Quadron (and a bunch of other side-projects), Coco O shines here on this very organic retro soul cut. Peep the release.

Chunking :       Voodoo
while we’re in this mellowed out downtempo soul vein, why not throw in an oldie but goodie. Here’s Chungking

Freddie Cruger & Anthony Mills :       Serious Drug &       Come Closer
awesome collabo here. Props to my homie Freddie for making the first and BEST drunken-lounge-singer ode to cocaine.

Chromeo :       I Can't Tell You Why
really nice to hear the pre-eminent torch bearers of 80’s electro soul come correct on a straight slow jam.

Are you ready for the end of the world as we know it? In case you haven’t heard- tonite at midnight, the great Mayan god Quetzalcoatl will descend upon Earth and usher in a new age of elevated consciousness. I, for one, am quite excited. I decided I’d better prepare by making a playlist that will surely please the white feathered snake deity. Long time readers know I usually shy away from doing “BEST OF” lists, but I decided to take a crack at it anyway. Not necessarily in order of importance, certainly very eclectic, possibly scattered, and would most certainly look different if I did it tomorrow or the day after (that’s why I think these lists are pretty crazy to begin with). So without further blabbering, here’s my top 25 releases of 2011 (the ones I actually listened to the most). A lot of songs from these artists have already been featured on here, so I’m giving you a few tracks from the ones who’ve slipped through the cracks, as well as some winning material from artists who didn’t quite make the list, but are deserving of shine nonetheless.

MIXTAPE RIOT TOP 25 of 2011

SBTRKT – S/T
Mayer Hawthorne – How Do You Do & Impressions
Little Dragon – Ritual Union
Boom Clap Bachelors – Mellem Dine Laeber EP
The Weeknd – House Of Balloons EP
Theophilus London – Timez Are Weird These Days
James Blake – S/T
Holy Ghost! – S/T
Benny Sings – ART
Captain Planet – Cookin’ Gumbo (I put out 2 albums this year, had to include one!)
Gotye – Making Mirrors
Atropolis – S/T
MUNK – The Bird & The Beat
Ocote Soul Sounds – Taurus
Los Chicharrons – Roots Of Life
Cut Copy – Zonoscope
J-DaVeY – Evil Christian Cop
Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
Tune-Yards – W H O K I L L
Tom Vek – Leisure Seizure
Kris Kasanova – War Paint
Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne
Hollie Cook – S/T
Penguin Prison – S/T
The Black Keys – El Camino

honorable homie mention:
Outernational – Todos Somos Illegales. Dope band & the album is free. Go get it!

AND NOW some music for you…

Theophilus London :       Stop It

Tom Vek :       A Chore (Re-Edit)

Rihanna :       We Found Love (Solidisco Bootleg)

Young Empires :       Enter Through The Sun

Cut Copy :       Take Me Over

Mayer Hawthorne :       The Makings Of A Lover (Pillowtalk Edit)

Escort :       Cocaine Blues

Tune-Yards :       Bizness

The Echocentrics :       We Need A Resolution  (Aaliyah cover in Portugese?!? YES)

Kris Kasanova :       Ready To Die