POST CATEGORY : Mix/Mixtape

End of year round up of sorts……

sensible soccer

Being the time of year it and all that, the blog shall be assuming radio silence over the festive period but fear not, normal service shall resume in the New Year. Before I sign off it is only right to say thanks to a few people.

Firstly, a huge thanks to Stevie, Co & Paul for all their help with the BarryGruff / Discord shows earlier this year and thanks also to Poggy for the desk. A big thanks to Johnny Feeney for his excellent guest posts throughout the year and his work revamping the site too. Thanks to everyone who either played the shows this year, those of who came to gigs during the year and continue to read the blog. Without you, the blog is pretty much fucked, so thanks a million. Last but not least, thanks to Caroline who has to put up with me on a daily basis and unlike you, can’t just click away somewhere else. I hope I haven’t missed anyone, if I have I apologise.

It’s been quite a year with lot’s of laughs, great music, some smashing gigs and seen me end up on the other side of the pond (which has been ever so much fun too). There is some really interesting stuff planned for next year too and I look forward to sharing that with you in the new year.

Before I go here’s a sort of round-up of stuff from the blog, with links, playlists etc. Enjoy your holidays if you have ‘em and see you on the other side. Cheers BG.

Some links….

BarryGruff’s Albums of 2014

Favourite New Sounds of 2014

Johnny Feeney’s Albums of 2014

Artist’s who played BarryGruff gigs in 2014 and their picks from the year

Some playlists….

50 Favourites songs from 2014:

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Phoenix 48 Radiothon: 2 Hours w/ BarryGruff + The Boozey Swine

VLUU L100, M100 / Samsung L100, M100

A few weeks back, myself and The Boozey Swine, sandwich maker to the stars, took to the airwaves as part of Phoenix FM‘s 48 hour Radiothon.

The Radiothon was to raise funds for the station and to support the continued work it does in the Dublin 15 community, and it was an absolute pleasure to be part of. It was pretty nerve racking but after Boozey said a few prayers to the patron saint of radio, Larry Gogan, we we’re on our way and it was loads of fun. Sure what’s more enjoyable than taking over a studio to play loads of your favourite music? You can listen to the full two hour show in all it’s glory below and the tracklist is after the jump. We’d quite like to do something similar in the future but we shall see, maybe those prayers Boozey was rattling off will come through for us.

Before that, a massive thanks to Boozey for being part of the show, and everyone who donated a few quid and all the sound people at Phoenix FM, we thank you. Enjoy!

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

Yasiin Gaye

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)

bg2013

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.

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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. 

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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!

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

soul power

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.

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[Download]

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

snippedkevsquires

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.

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BarryGruff’s Irish Songs of 2012 (Mixtape)

BG12Irish

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.

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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.

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