T_! – “NOMINATED” – 4 decks by T_macabre

Happy Sunday!

Hope your weekend has been good – here’s a mix that was sent through to me yesterday that I’m very happy to post about. It’s called Nominated and it’s a massive 4-deck mix of all kinds of dubstep/grime goodies from T_! of Macabre Unit. I was a bit dubious when I first saw the tracklisting, as even though it has lots and lots and lots of good tunes, I thought that fitting that many tunes into 77 minutes would be overkill. I mean, sure I’m someone with a short attention span when it cames to mixing, but even I have my limits. Fortunately, I was wrong! He’s done an excellent job of weaving the massive number of tracks into the mix in a way that is subtle yet compelling, with the tracks floating in and out nicely.

It’s definitely not the OCD dropfest I halfway feared!

Another nice feature to the mix is that although it is mostly eyes down dubstep, he’s slipped in enough grime flourishes to freshen up the vibe periodically so it’s not all introspective gloom (although gloomy dungeon sound dubstep is of course something I love) – overall, the mix has a really good balance of vibes throughout. I also enjoyed the mixture of fresh dubs and venerable classics – too often with online mixes people just try to show off the fact that they have a lot of dubplates, which frankly I’ve never cared much about. After all, ‘new’ is not a synonym for ‘good’. I’d rather listen to old, good tunes intelligently put together than a bunch of new crap piled up thoughtlessly. As for the mixing, well, obviously it’s really fucking good – you have to have a lot of confidence in your mixing ability to try to pull off a four deck mix, and he’s definitely nailed it. I like it a lot. You will too. Promise.

Continue reading Sunday listen: T_! – Nominated →

If you enjoyed last year’s Hang Ten, my tribute to Californian dubstep dj/producer and king of the bumping 808 bass, Matty G, well, then, you’ll love this excellent new guest mix that he’s just dropped for KMag. From the rough to the smooth, it’s really really tasty stuff, including loads of dubplates (some of which like ‘Jam Like A Tek’ and ‘Just Hit Me’ are amongst the best stuff he’s done, imo). Plus it includes an interview with the man himself. Bonus!

What more could you want?!?

Oh, yeah, a cue file.

Well, lucky for you, I’ve already done one for my own pleasure, and I’m more than happy to share it with you; if you want to get the cue file, I’ve stuck it up on my server here:

matty-g-kmag-mix

Tracklisting:

01. Matty G – R&B Style
02. Grand Puba – Get It (Caspa’s 80Eighties Remix)
03. Matty G – Ooohhh Baby
04. Matty G & Ugene – Baby Yeah
05. Matty G & Roommate – Caetano
06. The Others & Distinction – DISKO
07. Matty G – True Soul
08. Guido – Korg Back
09. Willie Hutch – I Choose You (Matty G Refix)
10. 12th Planet & Antiserum – Purple & Gold
11. Matty G – Funky Fresh
12. Caspa – Itchy & Scratchy
13. J:Kenzo – Ruffhouse
14. Tes La Rok – Ignition VIP
15. Matty G & Konfusion – Styles & Styles
16. Matty G – Just Hit Me
17. Matty G – Turf Warz
18. The Others & Trolley Snatcha – Break Your Neck feat. Dread MC
19. Matty G – My 808’s
20. Guido – Mad Sax
21. J:Kenzo – Stomp
22. Matty G – Keepin’ It Real
23. Matty G – Cold Break Ill
24. Matty G & Ugene – Back To The Bay
25. Matty G – Soundtrap
26. Sub Scape – Screw Up (Matty G Remix)
27. Matty G – Jam Like A Tek
28. Mavado – Gangsta 4 Life (Coki Remix)
29. Matty G – Madeira