Been on hiatus for a damn good reason. Young brother Murphy and I are living it up in paradise. The picture above was taken yesterday in Semuc Champey, Guatemala. I honestly don’t think I could picture a more perfect place (even after seeing AVATAR– which any self respecting person should view while under the influence of psilocybin). We’re back in lake Atitlan now after exploring some caves, jumping off enormous waterfalls, and climbing a 10,000ft. volcano. The rest of the trip I plan on doing as little as possible while listening to this stack of bootleg CDs I picked up at the mercado. If I get up the gusto, I may try to post a best of 2009, but then again I may be preoccupied playing futbol with local heads at the little field in town. Todays picks come from an ambiguously labeled CD which gives no artist credits and improperly lists some song titles, so if anyone out there can help identify these cumbias it would be much appreciated. There’s supposed to be a 3-day rave on a nearby volcano starting tomorrow, so if I don’t post before 2010, enjoy yourselves!

Unknown Artist :       Cumbia

Unkown Artist #2 :       Cumbia Arabe

Luz Roja de San Marcos :       El Gallo Mojado

This one you really don’t want to miss! And I’m not just saying that. FREE GIVEAWAYS from our homie’s rad clothing company run called DEATH/TRAITORS. Happy Hour 10-11, NO COVER, live show that will certainly be unruly, and yes POLE DANCERS! I’ve talked about Ninjasonik a few times on here, broke my nose in the pit at one of their SXSW shows, and I heartily support what they do. My other friend DJ Morsy (who did a remix for my Gettin Jacked song and has done a BUNCH of other dope production) will also be performing with his group Claire Hux. You should be there! Just sayin

And here’s some songs that will be played for those of you reading this all the way in Norway…

Quintino :       Parapapa

Ninjasonik :       Pregnant (Morsy Mix)

Death From Above 1979 :       Romantic Rights (Erol Akan's Love From Below Re-Edit)

Temperatures are finally starting to drop a bit here. Spent the better part of the weekend shooting a music video for Get Lite (Trampolines, Acrobats, BMX, Dance Crew, Skaters… it’s gonna be bananas),  and some of that time was spent dancing in the freeeeezing rain. We had a crew of kids who were total troopers- popping and jumping around with the beginning stages of hypothermia setting in. I think my body also went into some state of intense shock after it was all over, because I ended up sleeping for 15 solid hours straight. Heaven must be like that. When I finally woke up, I needed some BRIT FUNK! As promised a lil while back, an entire post of music by Freeez. If this doesn’t thaw you out, you may be dead.

All selections by FREEEZ

      Southern Freeez

,       Flying High

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&       Caribbean Winter

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all taken from Southern Freeez 0n Beggars Banquet (1981)

      One To One

taken from The Best Of British Jazz-Funk Vol.2 on Beggars Banquet (1982)

      I.O.U.

&       We've Got The Juice

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taken from Gonna Get You on Beggars Banquet (1983)

and one more fresh video, peep the nonchalant suave of this lead singer!

Working hard doesn’t really do it justice. I have now found a singular focus in music that is really all consuming. Sorry to my friends who think I flake on them, to the girls who are pissed at me for not calling back, and to my own mother whose birthday I forgot (by 3 days!), but there is a reason, if not an excuse: I’m making music. This here is the latest single, fresh back from the mastering spot. If you haven’t seen my group The Beatards live, then it may be difficult to picture just how ballistic we get while performing. These days there aren’t enough hip hop groups that are willing to jump around non-stop and sweat buckets on stage. We couldn’t do a show without that. And we’ve got a lot more music on the way.

This is an official leak, since the songs will be up on the iTunes store soon (and then people will have to buy them, or find them on a sketchy Russian 1 cent per mp3 site). If you’re inclined to making remixes or listening to straight beats, then I’m also sharing a link to the zip file with acapellas & instrumentals for you to mess around with. More coming soon so keep your ears right hear!

The Beatards :       Don't Step On My Sneakers

&       Get Lite

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cop the whole single with artwork, aca’s & instrumentals HERE

ALSO- my good friends and fellow rockers OUTERNATIONAL have a big show this Friday at Highline Ballroom to celebrate the release of their new CD Eyes On Fire. Japanther and R-Tronika will be on the bill as well- Good Times!

I’ve been listening to a lot of music by B.o.B. lately. You should too. Rapper, singer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and the man has a sense of HUMOR! You can find some of his mixtapes online. This is still my favorite one. Cloud 9 is actually worthy of it’s name. I can’t listen to this song without feeling better. Only problem is, like any good drug, I’m developing a habit. Past week I been using this track like 3 or 4 times a day. I keep telling myself it could be worse. I know some kids who stay hooked on that Miley Cyrus oxycontin. That stuff destroys the brain. If you’re in NYC, B.oB. is playing at S.O.B.’s tomorrow night. I plan on attending.

B.o.B. :       Cloud 9

p.s.- The broken links in older posts should be fixed now, not quite sure what the problem was.

One of my favorite things about putting on this party is when I find out about a new artist, post up their music here on the site and write something like, “these guys would be great at a Mixtape Riot! Party”, and then 2 months later it happens!  Fredericks Brown caught my ear with their afro-beat infused soul banger “Betrayal” a little while back and tonight I get to hear them do it live. You can too if you come out! In case you still need convincing, check a bit of footage from last month’s jumpoff. And as a musical offering, a couple tracks from this funky producer that I’m just finding out about way late- MUNK. And yeah, he would be great to have at a MTR party…

Munk :       Kick Out The Chairs

taken from the album Aperitivo on Gomma (2005)

Munk:       Down In LA (Shazam Remix)

taken from the single