Mixtapes?

Whatever happened to the mixtape? It used to be the ultimate gesture of love; the hours spent choosing what songs would win over the object of your desire, the careful sequencing for maximum effect, and of course, the homemade artwork and handwritten track-listing – but the last few years have not been kind to the mixtape. If video killed the radio star and MTV killed the music video, than surely MP3s and file-sharing websites have a hand in the downfall of the mixtape.

That said, I am going to make an attempt to prove to you loyal Singing Lamb readers, that the mixtape isn’t dead, with the help of some artists that are putting mixes together these days to promote their own material and help introduce new artists to the world. Sure, the tape cassette may have all but dropped off the face of the earth, but there are still plenty of mixtape-styled CDs available in stores and often free online.

So I found myself a few weeks ago in Play De Record, on Yonge Street, on an assignment and got a chance to talk with an employee by the name of Ryan Stevens about the record store. If you find yourself in the downtown Toronto area, be sure to check it out – they specialize in all sorts of music from dance to local hip-hop to soca & reggae – not to mention a large selection of music production equipment and classic and current vinyl. To make a long story short I ended up walking out of the store with a copy of the stellar new Top Ranking Santogold – A Diplo Dub mixtape. Featuring a whopping 35 tracks, including songs from The Clash, Aretha Franklin and Three 6 Mafia – not to mention plenty of unreleased material and remixes from Brooklyn’s Ms. Santi White herself, it flows smoothly thanks to the master touch of the pride of Philadelphia, Diplo. You can get it here without paying a cent.

While we’re on the subject of Diplo, if you haven’t checked out his Mad Decent Radio podcasts on his websiteor available for free on iTunes, you should definitely do that. Look out for his Diplo In a Trainwreck remix of Radiohead ‘s “Reckoner” while you’re at.

The king of the mashup, Girl Talk aka Greg Gillis, was in Toronto last week and everywhere you went you could see his face staring back at you on the covers of Eye Weekly and NOW magazines. According to iheartcomix, France’s Leam is “kind of like the French version of Girl Talk, only not as over the top.” Listening to his Your Fucking Melting Pote Vol. 2, which includes French pop, club bangers and timeless classic hits, I’d be inclined to agree.

Alright, we’re getting there, I promise. Finally we have Washington, D.C. hip-hop artist Wale (which is pronounced wah-lay, as in not the large marine mammal) who in collaboration with DJ Nick Catchdubs, have released several well-received mixtapes. The first was 100 Miles and Running which has the best remix ever of “D.A.N.C.E.” with Wale rapping overtop, and now we have The Mixtape About Nothing. That’s right folks; it is indeed a Seinfield-themed mixtape. However for those of that typically wouldn’t have anything to do with hip-hop, Wale just might surprise you. “The Kramer” samples Michael Richards’ racist rant at a comedy club back in November 2006, and sees Wale weighing in intelligibly on the “n-word” and race relations in the United States.

More recently released mixtapes

The Hood Internet – The Mixtape Volume 3
The Kickdrums – Things Don’t Change
Weird Tapes – Blue Skies Captain
DJ K-Tel podcasts (especially the Bad Ass Blue Bees and Punk Ass Bitches mixes)

So hopefully this public service announcement didn’t fall on deaf ears, and I urge you all when you’re finished here to go and make your own mixtape for someone that you care about (or your sworn enemy, whatever floats your boat). As for myself, you’ll excuse me while I finish mine for my friend, which hopefully I can get finished before his birthday on the weekend.

Cheers,
Max