Yasiin Gaye – ‘Inner City Travellin’ Man (Soul Mates Remix)’

Yasiin Gaye is the latest project of Amerigo Gazaway, formerly operating under the Gummy Soul guise and the brains behind the Fela Soul mixtape/mashup albums, and one of an elite few who’s done mash ups justice.

Gazaway’s latest project unites rapper Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and soul legend Marvin Gaye for a dream collaboration. Carefully weaving Bey’s dense raps and Gaye’s soulful vocals over his new arrangements, he’s aiming for a quality far closer to Gaye’s famous duets than that of a mere ‘mashup’ album. ‘Inner City Travellin’ Man’ is a hugely impressive prelude; taking one part Yasiin Bey in the form of ‘Travellin’ Man’ and one part Marvin Gaye in the form of ‘Innercity Blues’, put them together and you’ve got ‘Inner City Travellin’ Man’. This is apparently the first installment of a whole new series called ‘Soul Mates’ and suggests great things for Yasiin Gaye and the broader series on a whole.

Yasiin Gaye is released on February 25th. You can stream or download ‘Inner City Travellin’ Man’ below: 

BarryGruff’s Irish Songs of 2013 (Mixtape)

There’s been some really great stuff released this year from Irish acts and as has become customary for this time of year, I’ve put together a compilation/mix of my favourite tracks from throughout the year. 

There’s some old friends and some new, hopefully you enjoy the tunes as much as I, and  without further ado, here’s my favourite Irish Songs of 2013. Tracklisting is after the jump.

Electric Picnic 2013: Irish Acts Mixtape

The wait is almost over. Electric Picnic 2013 is almost upon us, with just days separating us and a weekend of  green fields, blue skies, sunshine and great music (who said I wasn’t an optimist?).

One of the Picnic’s big pluses is, in my humble opinion, sprinkled among all the international acts are plenty of top notch homegrown acts too. There is a fine array of local talent on show over the weekend; The Mighty Stef, Raglans, Adultrock, The Lost Brothers, The Dead Heavys & Lethal Dialect to name but a few. In an attempt to provide a flavour of what to expect from some of the Irish acts playing this year, I decided to put together a wee mixtape (I use both terms rather loosely). You can download the mix and listen to it before going, or on the way to EP – you know the kind of thing. Or you can ignore it entirely, that’s your prerogative. 

The tracklisting with stage times/days is after the jump. All the stage times for this weekend’s festival (so far) are available for the ever reliable GoldenPlec too. 

Trojan Warriors 3 Mixtape (Ska, Reggae, Dancehall & Rocksteady)

When I did the first ‘Trojan Warriors’ mixtape I never envisaged doing any more than that. Lo and behold, here we are with ‘Trojan Warriors 3’, completing the most unlikely of trilogies.

It’s been great fun putting all three together and the previous two have proved far more popular than I had ever imagined. Anyway, the third and final mix is much the same as before; a selection of Jamaican sounds ala Ska, Reggae, Dancehall, Rocksteady etc. compiled of favourites from various albums, compilations and box sets acquired throughout the years. Some are fairly well known, others less so. As with the previous two, I can’t guarantee that all these featured on Trojan Records (I’m pretty sure quite a few didn’t) but ‘Trojan Warriors’ has a nice ring to it. 

That’s enough waffle. I hope you enjoy the mix below and if you haven’t heard Part One & Two, check them out here. If you’re digging the tunes and happen to be going to Electric Picnic this weekend, why not swing by Trenchtown. And finally, credit for the image goes to my very talented cousin(t), Kevin Squires. Enjoy!

Citizen Partridge – ‘Soul Power – Volume 1: Dancing in the Street’

After putting together a couple of mixtapes of Jamaican Sounds I decided to ask Citizen Partridge to put together a Soul one along the same lines. Not only is Citizen Partridge’s knowledge of soul far superior than mine, he’s my older cousin(t), for whom I owe a severe debt of gratitude for my own love of music, when I was younger especially he was an endless supply of great music. I’m absolutely delighted he accepted and a massive thanks to Citizen Partridge for putting this together. Take it away Citizen. 

I’m thrilled that BarryGruff, definitely my favourite cousin(t), has asked me to make a mixtape for his excellent blog, and so I present ‘Soul Power – Volume 1: Dancing in the Street‘.

Soul music has been part of my life for nearly twenty years now, and while this collection isn’t necessarily my ‘Top 21 Soul Songs In The World… Ever’, each one is a stone cold classic. I came to soul mainly via hip hop samples and mod, and you’ll probably hear the evidence of the former in some of the selection when you say ‘oh, that’s from the Wu Tang’ or whatever.

Anyway, here’s the mix, I hope you’ll enjoy it. And if you don’t, then clearly you ain’t got no soul.

[Download]

Trojan Warriors 2 Mixtape (Ska, Reggae, Dancehall & Rocksteady)

Last summer I put together the ‘Trojan Warriors‘ mixtape, which was basically a selection of Jamaican sounds ala Ska, Reggae, Dancehall, Rocksteady etc. It was a whole lot of fun putting it together and as it proved far more popular than I had expected, I decided to do a sort of follow up. 

So yeah, I can’t guarantee that all these featured on Trojan Records (I’m pretty sure quite a few didn’t) but ‘Trojan Warriors’ just has a great ring to it, that and in the interests of continuity, I’m sticking with the Trojan handle. Between that and bouts of boredom over the weekend ‘Trojan Warriors 2’ was born.  The premise is the same once again, I listen to all this stuff quite a lot and regularly add to my collection yet it rarely features on the blog. The mix is compiled from favourites off the various albums, compilations and box sets I have acquired throughout the years. Some are fairly well known, others less so.

I got a real kick out of putting this together and hopefully people enjoy ‘Trojan Warriors’ mark two as much as the first incarnation. Well, that’s enough waffling from me, give it a spin below and the tracklisting is after the jump. Also, credit for the image goes to my very talented cousin(t), Kevin Squires.

BarryGruff’s Irish Songs of 2012 (Mixtape)

2012 has been another impressive year for Irish releases, leaving us with a hell of a lot of great albums, EPs and songs to enjoy. For such a small place it can be surprising, the sheer quantity and quality of stuff in Ireland. On the surface at least, Irish music appears alive, well and more diverse and vibrant than ever.

In an attempt to do the year some justice (some, I said), I decided to cobble together some of my favorites from throughout the year into a mixtape/compilation. Please excuse the odd mistake, my laptop has not been kind to me the past week. Without further ado, here’s my favourite ‘Irish Songs of 2012’.  The tracklisting is after the jump.

Welsh Wizards | Mixtape

This is a quite odd post even by my standards. This day ten years ago I upped sticks and moved to Wales, Wrexham to be precise, which explains all the Wrexham related tweets for anyone who follows me on Twitter.

Although I’m back in Ireland a few years now, it was one of my smarter moves & I retain a fondness for Wales as a country and the music it produces (although I don’t get over half as much as I’d like these days). Welsh music features quite prominently on the blog, something regular visitors are probably aware of. Apart from anything else it got me thinking and I decided to knock together a mixtape/compilation of some Welsh favourites from the past few years, with one or two older tracks thrown in for good measure.

So, without further waffling, here it is, some mighty fine weekend listening. Diolch. Mwynhewch.

Trojan Warriors Mixtape (Ska, Reggae, Dancehall & Rocksteady)

Trojan Records marked the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence with the release of Freedom Sounds, a collection of over 100 tracks spread across 5 CDs from influential Jamaican artists etc. that have influenced popular music across the past five decades.

That set me thinking, there’s never been much in the way of Ska, Reggae, Dancehall etc. on the blog. It’s quite strange seen as I’ve been a big fan since my Dad introduced to the genres when I was younger. This stuff, Ska in particular,  just struck a chord with me (no pun intended). It’s hard not to like, it is, for the most part upbeat, bright and fun. It is music with stories to tell, of love, life and struggles, but just as important, you can nod along and dance to it quite happily. It is probably only matched by Hip Hop in that regard. 

I have compiled some of my favourite from the various albums, compilations and box sets I have acquired throughout the years. Some are fairly well known, others less so. I can’t guarantee they all appeared on Trojan (but ‘Trojan Warriors’ has a nice ring to it), see it as an introduction if nothing else.

If you fancy delving a bit further, I suggest checking out BBC 4’s ‘Reggae Britannia‘ or getting your hands some of the many excellent Trojan Records Boxsets. Consequently this happens to be the 1,000 post on the blog, no better way to celebrate eh? Enjoy!

Castlepalooza 2012 | Irish Acts Mixtape

Castlepalooza 2012 is almost upon us. The Music and Arts Festival returns to Charleville Castle Tullamore, County Offaly this Bank Holiday weekend (Friday August 3rd to Sunday 5th).

Castlepalooza is definitely one of my favourite Irish festivals, it’s in a fabulous setting, relaxed and with an admirable mix of Irish and International acts. There are so many different acts worth seeing this year, check the line-up/stage times for yourself if you don’t believe me.

Here’s a mixtape, an introduction to some of the Irish acts playing this year, which have caught my eye. There’s lot’s of great stuff on here, with plenty of diversity reflecting the festival itself, hopefully there’s something for everyone.

You can stream/download it below and the tracklisting is after the jump. Hopefully it’s useful and people enjoy it and this year’s festival too, obviously.

The Expert – Neckbreakers Beat Tape

The Expert, the production half of Messiah J & The Expert, has produced seven track beat tape called Neckbreakers.

Over seven glorious cuts of jazzy instrumentals we are taken on a head nodding journey from start to finish. The Expert has been producing beats for over fifteen years mainly with his band MJEX and it shows. This may be his first foray into the world of beat tapes but it is a worthy addition to any record collection.

There’s some choice cuts below but it needs to be heard in it’s entirety to be fully appreciated. You can download Neckbreakers in full for free from bandcamp.

 The Expert – Apollo

The Expert – Dynamite

The Expert – Another Journey

Download | DJ Tu-Ki’s – ‘Just A Ride’ mix

Four-time Irish DMC champion and all round turntable wizard, DJ Tu-Ki is back with his first full mix since Pre:Seed just over two years ago.

Just A Ride is astonishing good, like we’re surprised? It is a little more club orientated than it’s predecessor which is still on frequent rotation two years later. Just A Ride began life as an elaborate intro a la Pre:Seed before taking some sage advice from Bill Hicks, he decided sure its ‘Just A Ride’. The mixtape is made up of tracks he was unable to stop playing/mixing over the last year or so. The artwork is from Killian Walsh and the video trailer is by Diarmuid Moloney, Niall O’ Brien and Tu-Ki.

This mix is just so good, don’t take my word for it, download it below now.

 DJ Tu-Ki – ‘Just A Ride’

Download the full mix here.