Words by Eddie STATS Houghton
1/1/11 may have come and gone but 1/3/11 is the first Monday of the new year, which means today is the actual first day of the rest of your life. And also the first Mixtape Mondays of twenty-eleven! Based on today’s findings it promises to be a good one, joint-wise, so let’s begin:
Jah Warrior Sound, Righteous Sound Sizzla mix (via mixcrate.com): DJ I-vier of Bay Area’s redoubtable soundsystem Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi put down this solid-as-a-rock mix of everybody’s favorite firestarter Sizzla Kalonji. If your 2011 resolutions include “move to a farm somewhere in Zimbabwe and rebuild the black nation from scratch” this is the one for you. Download the tracked version here.
Jillionaire, Radio Maliboom Boom mix (via Let’s Mix): This is the shit we been talking about. Trini Chris aka Jillionaire aka Chicken n’ Rum puts down his take on the Malibu rum radio channel with this set of all things tropical, chock-full of soca, house and other sounds in the LARGE UP wheelhouse, from Maluca to Theophilus London to Bunji Garlin, From jamtech to showa eski, and of course a whole mess of soca. Listen here.
DJ Kevy Kev, Federation Bounce Vol. 1 (via Cutlass & Cane) DJ Kevy Kev runs through uptempo Caribbean sounds from Nicki Minaj to zouk, with lots of wuk up in between, including dub plate-style exclusives and refixes from King Konris, St. Kitts soca monarch for 2010…listen here. (It’s worth noting that Kevy Kev is representing the St. Kitts Federation, not to be confused with the internationally-known Federation sound–to hear their latest podcast go here).
Soldier Sound, High Noon Soundstation & Glockwork Posse mixes (via Seen): Yes this is actually three mixes for the price of one! Our gute bruderin over at Seen made our Mixtape Mondays hunt a little easier by aggregating these three throwback-oriented dancehall blends from European sounds in a post called “Mixes To Start The Week With.” (um…) Get all three here.