Take a deep breath and if you can’t make it to your local watering hole, slip on a pair of ear buds and take this mix around the block. I’ve thrown together a mix of new and old using the wonderfully, elegantly simple Mixmeister Fusion (thanks Natalie for the suggestion to bin Ableton – way too powerful for my humble needs).

It’s been a tough week, but be-bopping around Lake Merritt in Oakland to this selection helped me usher in the weekend with a fresh glow. Along the way I managed to catch this fabulous mural hanging out in an underpass.

Let me know how this mix works for you…

Tracklisting

Harry Flowers – William Orbit
Molten – Digital Mystikz
The LSD User – Stagga
Warrior (The xx REMIX) – Magic Wands
Anything’s Possible (Xrabit Remix) – Zero dB
Stories – Izit
Rock The Bells – LL Cool J
Makeout Stakeout – David Last
Let’s Start (Messengers Remix) – J.Period & K’NAAN
Rockit – Herbie Hancock
Acperience 1 – Hardfloor
Ondulation – Shonky
Justify (Will Saul And Mike Monday Remix) – Ramadanman And Appleblim
The Magician (Thomas Schumacher Remix) – Johannes Heil
By Your Side – CocoRosie

I’ve been sitting on this mix for a little while now. I just keep getting pulled back into it. I’d go as far as to say it’s redefining the music I follow and play.

Jubilee is a young turk from Brooklyn who is building up a reputation for serving up some of the rawest beats out there. Picking on producers as diverse as Bok Bok, Wiley, Roska, DJ Eastwood and Schlachthofbronx, the mix starts at pace and just keeps on sizzling.

I love the raw clanging of the French Fries’ Predator (Tomb Crew Remix) as it bleeds into the atonal warblings of WILDLIFE!’s Jumbie. I did start investigating French Fries and came across this stunner on Youtube from the Frenchman:

For more on Jubilee and the full tracklisting, check out XLR8R.

I originally posted part 1 of this J Period Dancehall Soundclash mix last year, and due to demand am offering up part 2 here. There’s no let-up in intensity, and we find ourselves once more engulfed in a heady concoction of dancehall, reggaeton, ragga, hip-hop and a spattering of jump-up pop classics.

Here’s the track names:

Lil Jon Interlude
The Workout
Yeah Remix
Elephant Message Remix
Elephant Message
Galang Girl
Get Busy/Egyptian Interlude
Sweet To The Belly
Milkshake Remix
Jook Gal
Move Your Body
Pull Up
Tamale
Killing A Sound Boy
Sound Bwoie Buriell
Look Into My Eyes
Shake That Thing
Enemies Remix
Paid Not Played
Paid Not Played Exclusive
No No No
Oh Yeah
Bad Boys
Wine Up
Champion Lover
69
The Chronic
Like A Rock Remix
Neva Scared Remix
Neva Scared Remix
Outtro

Listen to part one of this mixtape

To be honest, I’ve sampled his recorded music before and have never been that enthused. For the same reason I’ve passed up tickets to his show in the past. But the music really isn’t the point. It’s a prop along with the spandex cloak, the African tunic and, erm, his underpants. Not one to blush at pretentious ideas like artistic integrity, there’s even a spell of ‘yelling at the soundman’ drama, where HMS makes it clear the music player dishing out the backing track (including vocals from the likes of Beth Ditto and Karen O) is his fourth band member. The other two floppy-haired fellas being a bassist and drummer, both play it relatively straight as Har Mar pounces and preens through his dance/funk R&B, undressing at will.

Finally, the crowd has what it wants – HMS sporting little more than the garb that brought him into the world. And there, within his ‘barefaced cheek’ lies the crux of my enjoyment: Har Mar exults and adores us humans at our basest, most sordid, most ironic. Like a 40-year old accountant fantasizing about winning gold at the 100 meter sprint and getting it on with a supermodel. Har Mar just brings this fantasy to the stage as an urban yank version of the laughing Buddha. One that gets the last laugh.

More on Har Mar Superstar

A selection of hits from the sleek Har Mar Superstar website (I guess we’re still awaiting his release of a clothing line):

Surprisingly downbeat whilst being interviewed in a launderette:

Dirty Laundry Presents: Har Mar Superstar from Dirty Laundry on Vimeo.

You’ll find a collection of his ‘works’ on YouTube and he’s not too prouo to Tweet.

Most of these tracks have been hacked off the blogs I monitor. Definitely veering on the side of taught electronic production, and me like all the other bloggers is a sucker for the crafty remix so there’s more than a few featured here.

Chelonis R Jones – Rehabilitation (Excerpt)
Kleerup – Until We Bleed (With Lykke Li)
Can you feel it – Barack Obama mix
Vancouver – Felix Cartal
I Remember (Caspa Remix) – Deadmau5
Mr Oizo – Gay Dentists
M.I.A. – Death to the throne
WTF (DJ Wool remix) – Tittsworth
Bot (Original Mix) – Deadmau5
Black Music (One Kitten vs Chris T-T Remix) – Chris T-T
Jack got Macked – Julio Bashmore
Tanya Stephens – “It’s a Pity” (Lulu Rouge Bootleg)
Bigmouth Strikes Again (David Starfire remix) – The Smiths

If you’re interested in more like this, check out this listing of mp3 downloads from time to time.

What’s in store for 2010? Looks like dubstep is fragmenting yet still enjoying a share of the hype/limelight. Personally, can’t wait to get to SXSW in Austin!

White Feather – Wolfmother
Farewell to the Fairground – White Lies
The Reeling – Passion Pit
Rabbit Heart [Raise It Up] – Florence And The Machine
This Tornado Loves You – Neko Case
1901 – Phoenix
Too Many Dicks [On The Dancefloor] – Flight Of The Conchords
Fast Fuse – Kasabian
Must Be The Ganja – Eminem
Love And Let Love – Gossip
Panic Switch – Silversun Pickups
Lady Don’t Fall Backwards – Peter Doherty
We Are The Hunters – The D’Urbervilles
Ankles – CHRIS T.T.
Daniel – Bat For Lashes
My Girls – Animal Collective
Voices In My Head – K’naan
Concrete Walls – Fever Ray
Further Complications – Jarvis Cocker
Life on Earth – Tiny Vipers

For those of you that don’t know, Bua is a street artist who creates cartoonish portraits documenting the various cultural icons to be found in the lower stratas of the US social fabric, such as ‘The DJ’, featured here.

Check out this interview with the man himself interspersed with fitting old school hip hop classics from the likes of Afrika Bambaataa and Eric B and Rakim.

This interview is courtesy of the wonderful Winnie Cooper blog.

Blentwell feature a great showcase from Elmattic tracing the history of this boy with the golden tonsils from Queens. There’s something in this laidback delivery that you rarely see in current hip hop but at the time was popularized by Rakim and the likes of Guru from Gangstarr.

The other thing about Rakim is that just about everybody remixed him (his biggest hit in the UK being ‘Paid in Full’ remixed by none other than a very young Norman Cook) and there are a bunch of those remixes featured here. Some of my faves are the ones where the vocals are cut back to grunts and shouts over a percussive workout.

Half an hour later and my wallet is $30 lighters and I’ve got some obscure hip hop from labels I never bumped into as a kid. B-Boy Records is probably the standout. This fine establishment is most notable for having brought Boogie Down Productions to the world, but other standouts include the J.V.C Force.

A second thank-you goes out to David Grimes for turning the ripe old age of thirty. Still fresh-faced and probably a mere Morrisey-loving imp in Arizona when a lot of this stuff came out, somehow I felt this mix might be appropriate. C’mon surely even the miserable Mancunian had a soft spot for Brooklyn’s finest spitting rhymes over the drum and bass (well, apart from the bigotted homophobic rantings the genre lapses into from time to time). So Dave: happy birthday and erm, here’s an old school hip hop mix…

Here Come The Drums – Keenan Webster & Balafo
Conflict (Remix) – Masta Ace, Guru
Doin’ Damage (Original Version) – J.V.C. F.O.R.C.E.
Conquer Mentally (Large Pro remix) (Large Pro Remix feat. Sadat X, O.C., & Large Professor) – Presto
Part of Greatness (feat. CL Smooth) – Presto
Kiterae Premier Track 08 – Notorious B.I.G
Work That Pole – The Beatnuts
Any Type Of Way – Big Daddy Kane
Hip Hop Worth Dying For – Main Flow Feat. Talib Kweli
Ready or Not (Jungle Mix) – Fugees Dj Hype Remix
Word Association – 7L & Esoteric
KRS One – BDP – My Philosophy
Let’s Jam – DJ Matte
The Bridge Is Over (The Bladerunners Edit) – Boogie Down Productions

BTW, I didn’t even know that I had a Notorious track on here until Thug Wife chirped in and schooled me.

There’s some serious mixing here as Mr Period manages to jam over 60 tracks onto one CD. Let it be the soundtrack to your party or your chilling at home. Enjoy it as you cook, read, dance, play your favourite games on Getminted, or drive to work. It’s the mixtape of the year! Spanning dancehall and the bootier realm of hip hop, I guess if I had to sum up this mix in one word, then that would be: ’sizzling’. So, crack open a Red Stripe and let this one rip…

Track names:

Move Intro
Anything Goes
You Bring It
Give It To Me
Can You Do The Work?
Bad Man Chi Chi
Give Dem Di Shabba
Badness
Gal You Lead
Gal You Lead Remix
She’s Hot
Hey Sexy Lady
Top Shotter
The Struggle
Roll Out
New Millenium
Millenium 2
Millenium 3
Row Like A Boat
Grindin Remix
Dude Grindin
Dude
Ay Ay Ay Remix
Puerto Rico Interlude
Ay Que Bueno Reggaeton Remix
Dat Sexy Body
Say Woee
Jack It Up
Deport Them
Like Glue
Nuttin Nuh Go So
Get Low Remix

Part 2 of this mix