Max Tannone – Mos Dub

Summer has arrived and it’s got a new best friend, Mos Dub. The album is the brainchild of New York producer Max Tannone who has by now a pretty solid reputation for mashups. It can be an arduous task trying to find great mashups and mixtapes sometimes, due to the sheer volume on the web these days, fear not, this guy doesn’t disappoint.

The idea of pitting the lyrical stylings of Mos Def against the classic sounds of old school Jamaican reggae and dub is nothing short of genius and would be littered with pitfalls for most. Mos Dub cares not for pitfalls and strides majestically forward fusing the finest elements of styles and genres, capturing all the feel good vibes and rhythms of  reggae and rap to give an honest and fresh feel. Max’s skills for timing, mixing and mashing are impeccable without doubt. Similarly chosing  the intelligent, political and insightful lyrics of Mos Def’s which aren’t too far from what you would see from actual reggae artists gives it a true authentic Jamaican feel.

Whether or not like me, you’re a fan Mos Def and all his musical guises be it solo or in Blackstar with Talib Kweli, this blend with reggae and dub is a marvelous piece of work, let’s hope we get plenty of scorching sunshine to go with the cracking summertime tunes!

Mp3: Mos Dub – Johnny Too Beef

Mp3: Mos Dub – History Town

You can get the full album from Max Tannone’s website.

The Reborn Identity – Britpop Rebooted

There is something hugely endearing about mashup records, perhaps it’s the unique blend of familiarity and the intrigue of the unknown involved. They became an art form in their own right (for me) after discovering 2 Many Dj’s, Girl Talk and brilliant bootlegs like The Clash: London Booted and Blur: Parkspliced. So what of the here and now?

UK-based The Reborn Identity has put together a clever and slick  mashup record in ‘Britpop Rebooted’, which rework some old Britpop classics from the likes of Blur, Supergrass and Oasis with a multitude of other tracks and genres. This is far from a simple excercise in ‘Britpop nostalgia’, bolstered by the use of other artists both past and present adding greatly to the value of the record, most notably ‘Rebel Stereo’ and ‘Blurring the Sheets’, mash-ups of Supergrass/Bowie and Blur/Ellie Goulding  respectively.

It’s obvious that a huge amount of time, effort and dedication has gone into this work, especially when you take into account that many other bootlegs are collaborative ventures involving numerous different Dj’s. It’s great to see that there is still a vibrant  and burgeoning mashup scene which is very much alive and well.  Equally refreshing is the continuing tradition of the online bootleg which demonstrates the dedication and love for this unique form. The good news is you can download the full album for free here, but if you still need convincing there are two very good reasons after the jump.

Mp3: The Reborn Identity – Rebel Stereo

Mp3: The Reborn Identity – Bluring the Sheets