I’m off to New England for the weekend to do some shows with The Beatards (anyone near Northampton, MA needs to holler!), but I wanted to give a quick heads up about this Hip Hop Howl Mixtape featuring one of our tracks- alongside fresh business from a bunch of other up-n-coming folks you should get familiar with. MTR family members Crosmopolitan & Miz Metro (with a lil help from the one and only Fiona Bloom) put together this amazing live mixtape showcase that we were a part of at SXSW in Austin last month and this mix is the closest thing to a recorded version of what went down live. It was an insane line-up of like 30 artists, everybody feeding off each other’s energy and getting inspired. Check out the iMeem front page where the mix is featured, then proceed directly to the download page to get your copy for the wonderful price of free 99!

Today I have the pleasure of sharing a fresh mix from a fellow DJ who stays on his grind. Hailing from Cali, DJ Still Life recently relocated to Brooklyn and has quickly found himself at one of the better jobs I can imagine (promoting records for Strut, !K7, and BBE among other notable labels). A long-time contributor to one of my favorite funk & soul blogs (www.earfuzz.com), he now also hosts a Thursday night show on East Village Radio called “Pain In My Heart” and puts together a regular podcast on GiantsArise.com called “The Raw & The Crooked”. Today’s Afro Tripping mix is the 10th installment in that series- which is eclectic enough to feature indie rock, dancehall, euro psych and just about anything else that people who like good music listen to. Start checking the man’s back catalogue and see why his diverse mixing style represents exactly what we love here at Mixtape Riot: NO BOUNDARIES, JUST GOOD MUSIC. For the Tripping mix, Still Life put together a solid 30-minute collection of funky, syncopated afrobeat- old and new. It’s definitely danceable, but also dubby and lazy enough to accompany a nice Sunday hammock session (if only I had a hommock!). We still haven’t had the opportunity to actually DJ a party together yet, but hopefully we can remedy that situation soon.

Cop the mix here!

TRACKLIST

1. Omo Mi Gbo Temi - Kollington Ayinla
2. Watch We (Soul Jazz Orchestra Remix) - Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle
3. Psychedelic Woman (Bonobo Remix) - Honny & The Bees Band
4. NNT - Lightening Head
5. Mondo Soul Funky - Ebo Taylor Jr.
6. Afro Beat Blues - Ojah W/ Hugh Masekela
7. Beaten Metal - Antibalas
8. Watch ‘Em - Black Milk
9. Asiko - Tony Allen
10. Gbagada Gbogodo Gbodgo - Luisito Quintero Jr.
11. Aye - The Mighty Underdogs
12. Keep It Rockin’ (Afro Dub) - Wunmi

In other news… peep the updated blogroll (finally- I know we’re kinda slow sometimes) and holler if you run or know of other good blogs that we should check. We DO actually read the e-mails you send, it just takes us a while.

It’s not often that listening to any artist tagged as “indie-rock” gets me so amped, but since I jumped on the Arcade Fire bandwagon a few years ago, I’ve always had the urge to mess with one of their songs. Their music is anthemic. It delivers an energy and emotion that celebrates the best and worst things in life. Think I’m being over the top? David Bowie is alleged to have called them the greatest band in the history of music, so I think by comparison I’m still on sane ground.

While I can’t say I’m as consistently a fan of Three 6 Mafia, I still have not gotten tired of their 2006 hit, Stay Fly. The original beat, sampled from Willie Hutch, was straight fire, but I thought I’d try my hand at a little mash-up with Arcade Fire’s Rebellion (Lies), off their debut album, Funeral. Indie rockers and dirty south hip-hop heads… Unite! Continue reading…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK85IZpa3GA[/youtube]

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Mixtape Riot launch party last Tuesday. There was drinking, dancing, live performances, and drinking. Check the video for a very brief recap of the night. MTR is doin it big from now on, so don’t sleep on the next event. More info. on that coming soon…