On that note, Jamie xx stepped in for Benji B on BBC Radio 1Xtra last week and made for a f@#king phenomenal two hour mix featuring exclusive, unreleased material from some of the sickest producers around these days— James Blake premieres a new track at the 30 minute mark along with some exclusives from John Talabot and contributions from Modeselektor among others…
He opens the set with his latest release, All Under One Roof Raving. In short, this track is a six minute rave in yo brain. Listen with your best pair of cans and lose yourself in *steel drum heaven*. The vocal samples are weird and perfect, featuring excerpts from British artist Mark Leckey’s 1999 documentary Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore. Definitely a must-see based on these sick-ass samples.
Cheers & thanks to Jamie xx for being brilliant as always.
Before you start reading, start listening. As usual, Steph has provided us with exceptional fire and not a second should be wasted before you start playing it.
I’m just what you made God, not many I trust.
Imma go my out way God, take my fate to where ever you want.”
I think about that a lot these days, fearlessly becoming yourself that is. I try to picture my life without external influences and what it would be like. The job we have, the people we love, the places we go all play a huge part in defining who we are. Each one of those requires compromise, you have to spend your time in an office behaving in a way that agrees with the company, your lover may be different from you and you have to make compromises to be in harmony and on and on. But what if those things didn’t play a factor? Think about that for a minute, does the world you live in allow you to truly be yourself? To be yourself, to truly be yourself man, that’s where it’s at.
Avril starts off the Moss remix of Glass Animals’ Gooey Gilligan and the first lyrics says
Let me show you everything I know…”
I was on a call with the EMPT team last night and our conversation was about being open, inviting everyone to be express themselves, not just in the context of the site but who they are. I encourage that because I sincerely want to know the great people around me, I want the world to know them. I want to learn, I want to have more perspective, more places draw inspiration from, more love to know about and on and on. Show me everything you know!  There’s some futuristic Space Age hippie, rebel, uptown, world class shit going on with EMPT right now and it represents everything I am and love.
Perhaps my fascination with LMDM stems from how pedagogic it is, how well it speaks to my desire to explore and learn. Historically, I don’t fare well with know it alls, they have a very clear understanding of what life is, what love is, what the rules are, how good they are at following them and how bad you are at not understanding. I can’t walk around the marvel that is earth pretending like things aren’t malleable, like the world isn’t in constant change. Sound like a dreamer? HYFR it does. This is romantic realism, the world as it exist is always acknowledged but the limitless wonder is never out of sight or out of play.
Needless to say, open minds fascinate me and Le Miel du Mois is perhaps the epitome of an open mind. You can learn a lot about style from these tapes. If epigenetics or former lives are real then I imagine Steph or someone in her lineage being the Diana Vreeland or Anna Wintour of another time. That’s the only way to explain the constantly evolving sound, taste and masterful curatoria that is LMDM. Like all other tapes, this one is 360 degrees of stylistic expression. From the retro future 90s sounding Filthy Lover, to luxurious chill out jam Talk is Cheap, to banger Holding on to Heaven, Steph gives us everything, always showing not just what she knows but what she’s learning. That’s that Space Age hippie, rebel, uptown, world class shit. I love her for that, enjoy.
Ca fait quatre pays, quatre villes et deux continents en deux ans. C’est quoi ce bordel ? Et après on dit qu’on devrait jamais oublier ces racines.
I don’t know what it is about The xx but they keep delivering singles and re-edits that I cannot stop listening to. The minimalist style allows for other artists to come in and fool around, but what I appreciate the most about this band is their willingness to play around with their own stuff. One lesson I learned in art school is that no work is ever completely finished. This can be a burden to some (me being one) it is also a freedom. An idea has a beginning point, but its end is infinite. Ideas evolve and grow as they progress. You can reach what feels like the end of a project, but really you’ve reached a point in the idea where you and it need to rest. This idea works sonically as well and The xx certainly aren’t afraid to breathe new life into their already lush tracks.
I always thought it was sad
the way we act like strangers.
After all that we had
we act like we had never met.”
This morning I had a conversation with of my best friends. We went back and forth relishing in the truth they had just discovered. A veil had been lifted on a (now) one-sided relationship and liberated vibes were pulsing. This track is a conversation between two ex-lovers and their perspective on the failed relationship. Oliver Sim and Romy Croft exchange verses with words of regret and a little dash of shame. Croft, it seems, is like my best friend – hoping that something will come about again…that they’ll somehow rekindle the flame. Her perspective, however, sees beyond the blind hope and knows that what’s done is done. Now it’s mere frustration towards the relationship, for who wants to see a person they’ve had history with and feel inadequate?
Jamie xx’s re-vamp of this track spins it into a melodic dance tune. While the story unfolds xx provides a beat that makes it okay to let go and shake it all off. There should be celebration in finding truth, no matter how unfortunate it may be.
Man I have to be the luckiest guy around to have Ryan Radler sending me a mixtape one week and Steph Lund another the very next. I mean, I hear mixtapes all the time, but not once in my online scavenger hunts have I run into such unique tastes and diverse quality. Cheers to the to the best, most eclectic and tasteful, mixtapes in the game.
Every time I hear the the latest installment of LMDM it’s my new favorite. Steph gets better every time so that makes sense, but Aout 2012 is something special. From top to bottom the tape is sensational. It’s loaded with so much emotion & passion it almost broke me down while I was putting it together this morning. I’m pretty good at controlling my emotions but music is where it all comes out and it’s a beautiful thing.
Steph has amazing taste and it’s in full effect here, but these aren’t just a few good songs in a row, there’s a story being told throughout. I couldn’t put my finger on it at first but when I asked Steph why the tape was hitting me so hard she went on and told me how much she’s experienced this month, and then it all made sense. Whatever you do, DO NOT SKIP through it, your experience will be diminished greatly if you do.
The story begins at the end as Snowden sings what could be considered the theme of this novel — “there’s no way to go back now”… When you care about someone even the bad times can have this comforting effect, and the end finds a way of repeating itself many times over. Its such an interesting place and the first half of this tape captures that essence perfectly. The moment builds up into Thony Ritz’s Remix of Spandau Ballet, it comes at the most perfect place and it will rock any music lovers world. From there the story continues and you can’t help but feel like every song is a conversation, thought, or experience. I don’t know the details but it seems to come from a bittersweet perspective of someone who tried, felt as if they had done the right things, and still, things just never felt right. The sweet part comes from having learned from the experience and knowing that all is not lost, which is why the tape ends with Winter Beats, a song that to me is pure romance and is letting us all know that: ‘no matter what happened, the hope is forever alive and the story is far from over’…
Until next LMDM, enjoy.
Current stand out album is the new 7 track EP from Bear Mountain, two tracks are on this mix and it was hard to not put all of them on here…watch out for this Vancouver act. Another stand out is UK artist Florrie – she sings while she plays the drums and is unsigned. Can’t imagine that will stay for too long… favorite summer track right now is Honey Claws remixed by Bronze Whale
Hope summer + the sun never fades….
There’s a million Valentines day commercials on TV, red is everywhere and I still had no idea it was already February until Steph sent me the lastest installment of LMDM. Who can blame me though, the city’s been dark and cold for who knows how long so I’ve made it my duty to zone out on all things music.
This month Steph is a facilitator because all you want to do while listening is escape to the surreal dreamscape she creates with the song selection and sequencing. Just listening to See of Bees going to Jamie XX to Fleet Foxes will instantly change your environment and put you in an extremely relaxed, balanced and creative mindset. Don’t forget though, this is a Steph mixtape and what goes down must come up and you could start dancing at any time with little to no warning. Once again, Steph kicks it up a notch cooking up a mix fresher than the rest leading me to title Steph and LMDM as your favorite mixtape maker’s favorite mixtape, enjoy.
I discovered Sea of Bees in Rough Trade, London. The opening track on the album is Gnomes, and I thought it was perfect to open the tape with that as well. Her voice is strong and a little different and I think it sets a great tone for February’s mix. Agent A & Omae is another band I found last month that you should definitely check out more on their bandcamp and download their whole album, its amazing. I could say something about each track, but I’ll leave it at that and let you decide which are your new and maybe some old favorites..”
I’ve held off on posting this song since the radio version started circulating last month but I finally got my hands on the MP3 today so it’s time to release it. Right ff the bat, this is one of my favorite tracks at the moment. Jamie Xx absolutely killed the production and Adele’s vocals are always on point so that’s nothing new. What’s so impressive about this production is how well it compliments the vocals with no sacrifice in style and flash. The arrangement is constantly evolving and the very few instruments used are presented and abandoned with perfection.
The song represents that point after a breakup when you go from sad to mad and start having that serious love/hate for the person you were with. In this song Adele realizes just how much potential her relationship had to grow and is pissed at her ex for playing her and throwing it all away. Apparently, the dude was looking for something else and she took it as a slap in the face…
Throw your soul through every open door
Count your blessings to find what you look for
Turned my sorrow into treasured gold
You pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow.”
I love how passionate her performance is and this remix just put those vocals on the spotlight to enhance that feeling even more. Definitely one of my new favorites, enjoy.
