for the funk of it

So I was listening to Steinski's appearance on WFMU's Coffee Break For Heroes and Villains from a few years ago the other day and was blown away by how much good stuff was on there that I hadn't heard prior, so I hunted down some of those tracks and made a quick mix with some other goodies I've been listening to. There is some good stuff here so I wanted to share the wealth. You can check out the original program here, and trust me, it's worth the three hours of your time! THANKS CRAIG!!! Enjoy and have a good weekend!


for the funk of it

01 Amy Winehouse - Monkey Man
Amy's cover of Toots & The Maytals. This is so good! I wish she'd get herself straight and record another album. Back To Black was so good! Of course, there is always Sharon Jones, but still, it would be nice to see Amy back in action.

02 Tony! Toni! Toné! - Feels Good (Ben Liebrand House Mix)
Cheesy and dated, but still kinda fun. Got this on the b-side of a cassette single back in the day for a really lame Christmas record. I'll post said lame Christmas record eventually for laughs, but it really is awful.

03 Mary J. Blige - Be Without You (A. Brucker & Sinden Remix)
Did this get an official release? I can't find it anywhere for purchase. This is an incredible remix that flips the sorrowful mood of the original and makes it intense and driven.

04 Funk Factory - Rien Ne Va Plus
The main sample source for the Beastie's Car Thief. Excellent!

05 Interpol - Evil (Steinski Remix)
This was played on the aforementioned show with Steinski and is probably the only place this has ever been played as it remains unreleased. Not classic Steinski by any means but good and worth having.

06 Robbie B & Jazzy Jay - Rock The Go Go (Original Version)
This was also played on the aforementioned show with Steinski. There was a reissue of this track in remixed form on Schooly D's label back in the day, but I've never heard that version. This, the original version released, is pretty damn great so I have no idea what could have been added. Eventually I'll get around to checking that Schooly D remix out.

07 Jamie Lidell - Big Drift (Krikor 1982 Remix)
This was recently given away by Jamie via e-mail. Apparently he's giving away a total of five remixes of tracks from his last album, Compass. The first one, a remix by Beck of Completely Exposed, is surprisingly weak, though Krikor's remix of Big Drift is rather great! You should definitely sign-up for those remixes, all of which are free and will only cost you an e-mail address. You can do so via the widget below.

08 Fantasy Three - It's Your Rock (Instrumental)
Another track I first heard on Coffee Break with Steinski, this dates back to 1983 and was produced by Master OC. It kinda sounds dated but it also sounds like it's still from the future, and that is simply awesome!

09 Nine Inch Nails - The Perfect Drug (Aphrodite)
This was issued as a promo-only remix on a triple vinyl promotional edition of the Perfect Drug remixes. I've only got two of the 12"s so my dream of compiling an un-segued version of that release is on hold, but this is from the one that really counts. As the title suggests, this remix is by jungle-aficionado, Aphrodite. It's pretty good, but it's also clear why this is the one that didn't make the CD.

10 Coldcut - More Beats + Pieces (DJ Lord Fader Turntable Mix)
This also got played on the show with Steinski, though I'd heard this before as it appears on Coldcut's Let Us Replay album/comp. Incredible scratch and cut-up remix!

11 Lightnin' Rod - Doriella Du Fontaine (feat. Jimi Hendrix & Buddy Miles)
Once again, this was played on the show with Steinski. I may have to post Lightnin' Rod's Hustler's Convention eventually, though I have to make sure it's out of print first. That said, I'll have to find out what led to this rather incredible collaboration! As you can probably guess, Jimi and Buddy handle the music while Rod tells the tale.

12 J. Rocc - Chasing The Sun (Remix)
This remix appears on one of the Mystery Discs that are included with copies of J. Rocc's Some Cold Rock Stuf. If you haven't got a copy yet, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??? One of the best albums of the year!



13 The Ink Spots - If I Didn't Care
My reference point for this is the original trailer for Blade Runner, as it was supposed to appear in the film but was dropped due to licensing issues. Classic.

14 Wall Of Voodoo - There's Nothing On This Side
Taken from the flipside of the 12" for Wall Of Voodoo's Mexican Radio, this is a noise/tape/weirdness experiment that I don't believe ever appeared on one of their records. Strange as hell and totally not essential, but I love it anyways. I got this as a kid and always wondered, are they saying there is nothing on this side of the record, or nothing on this side of existence? A sign my brain was already tormented. My mother HATED the cover of this single, with a bunch of doll heads stuck on poles like voodoo dolls. If she had it her way, I'd only listen to Bruce Springsteen. No offense mom, but I know the music I listened to freaked you out back in the day.

Steinski is THE MAN!!!!

Steve Stein, better known as Steinski, is a gentleman and a scholar! He was kind enough to answer some questions I e-mailed him and gave me permission to share the tracks you'll find below. Make sure you drop by his personal website and check him out. He's always posting new stuff and when he goes on tour that'll be the place to get the scoop. What more can I say? HE'S F*&KING STEINSKI!


Me: Can you share some information about your other collaborators like DJ ET, Alan Friedman and such? A lot of people aren't terribly familiar with those individuals, and to be honest only Friedman's name immediately jumped out at me because of his work with C+C Music Factory and other nineties dance music producers.

Steve: DJ ET was a really talented producer/rapper (state name Earl Kerlew) who I met at the Roxy right after Douglas and I did The Payoff Mix. We stayed in touch, and when I started doing my own records, he was in the studio as scratch DJ and support. In the late 80's or early 90's, he was driving a taxi and was killed in a holdup, may he rest in peace.

Alan Friedman is a studio whiz and multi-talented musician I met before he blew up with C + C; we've worked together on many projects. We're still in touch. He's great.


Me: Regarding Reckless Spenders, are there tapes of those parties live sets in your archives? Is there a chance of any of them eventually seeing release?

Steve: None of the Reckless Spenders parties were recorded, I don't think. Those were hot events.


Me: During the Solid Steel interview you mentioned your working on a Steinski album, presumably of new material. Did anything come of this? Is the track you were working on with Prince Paul the one that appeared on his Itstrumental album?

Steve: The Prince Paul track was independent of anything else I was doing; I was flattered to be asked. The idea of working on new stuff has been floating around in my procrastinating brain for years, and I'm finally getting down to it.


Me: There were a lot of tracks that were left off the What Does It All Mean? compilation. Is there a chance of recordings like the Sinatra tribute, the Tony Touch remix, the Dimitri From Paris remix and others eventually seeing a reissue, physically or digitally? Could there be a What Does It All Mean? Volume 2?

Steve: Doubtful. Everything left off was left off because of possible major label entanglements.


Me: Can you discuss any of the reasons the Lessons and Motorcade were able to be given an official, physical release after all these years? I had heard stories for years regarding the impossibility of their clearance for any sort of release beyond that of a promotional issue.

Steve: The situation hasn't changed. Illegal Art decided to run with it, luckily for me.


Me: Regarding your recorded invitations for parties and Ralphie's Bop City recordings, will more of those eventually get posted? I really enjoy the Bop City tapes.

Steve: Glad you like them. I doubt the invitation will ever be "released" as such. They're interesting little artifacts, that's all. As far as the Bop City tapes are concerned, I'm still mulling over a possible release, or at least a public presentation of some sort.

NOTE: Several compilations of Bop City recordings are available to be listened to on Steinski's music page.


Me: How did your work on The Simpsons remixes come together?

Steve: The Simpsons remixes came to me from Rhino, which was doing something - I don't recall what - with the Songs In The Key Of Springfield CD. I think the only one of my mixes that came out (promo) was the Theme Park mix.


Me: Regarding the This Jazz Is Hot compilation you curated, you didn't add any production to the recordings, correct? I've seen a lot of people looking for it though I've never seen nor heard it myself and don't know anyone that has.

Steve: It's an import from Switzerland, done by Vibrations, an excellent French-language music magazine published in Switzerland.


Me: It was brought to my attention that a record named The Invitation, credited to yourself and Sugar Kane, is listed on Discogs. No one seems to have heard this before or has a copy, so can you clarify whether this is a track you two composed or an invitation track like the ones you recorded for Reckless Spenders?

Steve: This was a short piece serving as an audio invitation for the opening a club in Vienna called Kennedy's. I don't have a copy of it myself. I'm not sure how they distributed it. If anyone has a copy, I'd love to hear it.


Me: There are a bunch of other rare tracks that I've been asked to ask you about, like your work on the Akabu 12", your contributions to Coldcut's My Telephone, the edited version you and Douglas mentioned of the Tony Touch remix, the DJ Spooky remix, etc. Any thoughts on these or other assorted rarities? Will a finished version of Lesson 4 ever be heard?

Steve: Most of these pieces have fallen into obscurity for a good reason - they're not all fabulous.

Lesson 4 will likely remain as the partially finished collection of loops it's always been; both Douglas and I are on to other things at this point.


Me: Are you going to continue doing live sets or speaking to musicians and students?

Steve: Playing live is on temporary hiatus while I work out a different method (I hope) of playing dance music in clubs. As far as speaking goes, it's hard to shut me up, so I'll speak to anyone as long as they ask nicely. The talks and classes I did for the Red Bull Music Academy were among the most satisfying experiences I've had.


Me: Can you give information about the works you did for your Mass Media company? In the Solid Steel interview you mentioned industrial films, video only works, audio only works and other assorted media productions. Are there any of those works that could be seen with relative ease? Any that stand out? Award winners?

Steve: I won a few awards for radio commercials I produced in the 90's, but ad industry awards are highly subjective; they exist mainly to give clients reassurance that they don't have to trust their own judgement. I still work on soundtracks for industrial films and commercials. I think the only commercial I've worked on that's relatively easy to find is a UK tv advert for Pretty Polly Bras that I wrote and produced, based on I'm Wild About That Thing. I believe it's on YouTube, featuring a number of scantily clad women.





Here are the rare cuts mentioned above. I haven't bothered putting these in any particular order so go have some fun with them. Big thanks to Irish Craig and DJ Pigg for hooking me up with the Sinatra tribute and Dimitri remix! As a bonus, you'll find a non-Steinski track in the download that you may find interesting. It's File 13 which is Douglas, aka Double Dee, and his only officially released track without Steve (as far as I know), the extremely dirty Taste So Good! You'll also find another link below for a download of the Solid Steel show dedicated to DD+S, Now We Come To The Payoff. I'm happy to acknowledge that I got it from BosBos as it's not on the Solid Steel site, but it's split into two files there that you have to get from a certain file sharing service that makes you wait between downloads, so I thought it might be easier for some people to grab here as a single file. Props to the awesome BosBos which you should visit it IMMEDIATELY to get the scoop on the Now We Come To The Payoff program as there is a lot of information there you may not be aware of. And most of all, a gargantuan thank you to Steve Stein for being such a cool guy and making incredible music! Keep doing what you're doing and we'll keep listening!

UPDATE: The links are now working. It must have been an error on my part. Sorry guys.

Steinski - Rarities

Akabu - Watch Yourself (edited by Double Dee & Steinski)
Amon Tobin & Steinski - Ten Piece Metric Wrench Set
Coldcut - My Telephone (feat. Ralphie's Bop City)
Dimitri From Paris - Une Very Stylish Fille (Double Dee & Steinski's Memphis Mann Remix)
DJ Spooky - Invasion (Bifocal Remix)
Double Dee & Steinski - Lesson 4 (Solid Steel Edit)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (Steinski & Ill Chemist Relax)
Steinski - The Xen To One Ratio
Steinski - What Was Raymond Doing With His Hands?
Steinski & Mass Media - It's Up To You (The War Mix)
Steinski & Mass Media - Let's Play It Cool (Club Edit)
Steinski & Mass Media - The Motorcade Sped On (Alternate Version)
Steinski & Mass Media - We'll Be Right Back (Club Edit)
The Simpsons (Steinski's Overture Remix)
The Simpsons (Steinski's Rap Remix)
The Simpsons (Steinski's Theme Park Remix)

Bonus Track: File 13 - Taste So Good


Solid Steel Presents: Now We Come To The Payoff...

Updates/Announcements

Hey everyone, just wanted to drop in and note some happenings and make an announcement or two.

1) All of the interviews I've recently mentioned are coming soon. David Williams and I are talking regularly and he's providing further details about the recording sessions for Crazy Wisdom Masters. We're taking things a bit slowly because there is some potentially huge news around the corner regarding the Jungle Brothers, but we'll wait on discussing that. When the interview is posted I will be uploading a lossless copy of The Payback EP and some other JB's ephemera from that era which I'm sure everyone will enjoy. Really good stuff and all from excellent quality sources!

2) I've shared a few e-mails with Steinski and I'll be posting a brief interview with him soon. He told me it's alright with him to share his rarer remixes and tracks that he isn't selling on his site so I'm going to try to get a very thorough compilation of his works that aren't featured on What Does It All Mean? together.

3) If everything goes right I'll be conducting a brief interview with Alex "XXXChange" Epton on Wednesday night. I'll try to get that interview up as soon as possible. We'll be discussing his new project, Win Win, and I'm going to ask him about some of his previous collaborators like Amanda Blank and Spank Rock. If this interview doesn't happen I'll let you know, but it's on as of right now.

4) I've hinted that I've got a project I wanted to start for a while and here is the announcement: I want to curate a compilation of covers of unreleased Prince songs. I'm going to cover one myself but I really want to get a diverse set of musicians who would like to participate. This is going to be a free project, there is no money involved whatsoever and no permission has been given to cover these songs, but you're free to do whatever you want with your recordings when we're done. My intention is to post these tracks as a free download in lossless FLAC and MP3 formats. I'd like to get them online by this summer but I don't know if that's possible. Regardless, I've got a number of songs I can send you to sample from if you'd like, so if you're interested please drop me an e-mail. You can find my e-mail address in my Blogger Profile.

5) I've got more backlogged stuff to post but I've also got a pile of Warner Bros. comps that I want to share. At this point I believe I have all of the Trademark Of Quality compilations and several other bizarre promotional use collections and I intend to post them all in the next week or two. It probably sounds kinda dull but they're all pretty cool and most of them have a lot of otherwise unavailable tracks.

6) I'm starting a project with some friends called the edits. It's kind of a band but not really. We're not just about music, but that's mostly what we're working on now. I've got another site that is dedicated to the edits and it will be updated with stuff to check out as it becomes available. Regarding our sound, we don't really have a firm direction, although if pressed I'd say it's punk-hip-hop-noise-balladry, or at least that's the spirit of what we're doing. I'm making beats occasionally and it'll later be decided whether there is singing, rapping, chanting, noise or whatever atop them. Just for kicks, I might follow through on a threat and make the Metal Machine Mixtape, a tribute of sorts to Lou Reed's album, albeit with more humor than you'll find in the source material. More details to come.

7) Anyone know how I might go about presenting a television project to potential collaborators or investors? Anyone know how to find potential investors? If you want to know more about this, whether you've got suggestions or just want to know what it's about, drop me an e-mail and we can talk. It's definitely not a normal television program by any standards.


There are other things going on but more will be said when the time is right. For now, the new job is going alright and it looks like a company I could definitely stay with for awhile. There are a few musical happenings I want to mention.

Craig Wedren, the lead singer for Shudder To Think and a frequent musical collaborator with The State, has a new record coming soon named Wand. It'll be accompanied by a short film of the same name which I believe will have videos for each song on the album, but don't quote me on that. If you head on over to his site you can learn more about the new record and see an extremely ambitious interactive video for the first song from the album, Are We. It's a 360 degree video and features A LOT of members The State. I love me some Shudder To Think and The State so this looks pretty sweet! Check it out at Craig's official website.

Also, I'm on pins and needles waiting for J Rocc's new record, Some Cold Rock Stuf, to be released! Play This Too is the first single and it's incredible! Seriously, check out the stream below:

J Rocc - Play This Too by stonesthrow

You can find more info about the album here on Stones Throw's official site. They've also got J Rocc's appearance from Benji B's show on BBC Radio 1 streaming and available for download. You can download it here, although the stream is below. This is some seriously awesome sounding stuff!

Exploring Future Beats: J Rocc previews Some Cold Rock Stuf on BBC Radio 1 by stonesthrow


Last but not least, I was going to ask if anyone had ever seen a few rare tracks and might be able to share with me so I can share them with everyone. The only one I can think of now though is Double Dee & Steinski's remix of Tony Touch's I Wonder Why? He's The Greatest DJ. Seriously, does anyone have that? PLEASE!?!?!?!?!

Oh yeah, anyone know what pornstars listen to? Seriously, anyone?

Everybody have a good rest of the weekend and I'll see you all tomorrow or Tuesday!



Dave3, The Unheard

Steve Stein aka Steinski - Sonic Boom Reel #3

Sometime in the late nineties, at least if I'm remembering correctly, somehow I managed to find Steinski's e-mail address and wrote telling him how much I loved his records. I don't know if it was because I was actually collecting his other releases, the ones that aren't The History Lessons, but he was extremely polite and mailed me two CD-Rs with the request I don't go blabbing all over the internet where I got them from because he simply couldn't mail out free discs to everyone that asked nicely. I was thoroughly enthralled and discussed the contents with him in some detail, especially Tommy Boy apparently having used alternative masters of The History Lessons on a promotional reissue that coincided with their Greatest Beats compilations. That's buried in my collection but I'll post it eventually because someone out there might find it interesting to hear an extra two seconds of crowds cheering at the end of Lesson 3.

Anyway, as I was saying, Steinski mailed me two CD-Rs, the first being a homemade retrospective named Beg, Borrow & Steal that contained all three Lessons, three then-difficult to find Double Dee & Steinski tracks (one of which I can't find another copy of regardless) and six Steinski & Mass Media recordings. Almost everything on that disc was reissued on the What Does It All Mean? comp a few years ago but at the time they were pretty damn near impossible to find so I was elated. I abided by Steinski's request and didn't tell anyone about where I got the discs or makes copies, but he must have given copies out to other people because I saw people trading versions with the same track list and artwork as well as revised versions with a then unavailable remix of a Coldcut and Chuck D track. Still, no matter who had what, I had a CD from the man himself and I was in heaven!

The second CD was just as interesting as the first but for completely different reasons. At the time, Steinski, under his given name of Steve Stein, was working with an advertising company named Sonic Boom and that second disc was a collection of commercials, radio ID's, excerpts from his own show, a binaural audio demonstration and a few more remixes. The humor and creativity shines through those recordings, reminding me of a time when advertising didn't suck, when commercials could be entertaining too instead of obnoxious. It's the sound of a guy who loves sound, be it musical or found anywhere else, finding a way to make a living doing what he loves in different mediums.

I've never shared this disc previously and I haven't seen anyone else trade this online so I thought it would be a nice post. With the times having changed some and most of Steve's discography being easier to find I figured he wouldn't mind, especially for mostly decade old advertisements. It's a hell of a listen and a lot of fun, but not just for the commercials. There are remixes I'd read that Steinski had done for The Simpsons which never saw release, so I figured I'd never have the opportunity to hear them. There is also a lovely remix for DJ Spooky, a guy I don't have many good things to say about, but Steinski's remix of Invasion is basically an ambient version of his other remixes, still covered in voices carrying on a theme and it's gorgeous.

Regarding the CD-R of Beg, Borrow, & Steal, it stopped working a LONG time ago for reasons I never understood. If anyone has advice regarding the salvaging of a CD-R's contents please lay it on me. There is a Double Dee & Steinski remix of Tony Touch's (I Wonder Why) He's The Greatest DJ on it, and while it did see release on vinyl I've never been able to find anyone with a copy. It's not the greatest DD+S remix but it's good and along with their remix for Dimitri From Paris's Une Very Stylish Fille they're two tracks I would trade something seriously kick-ass for copies of! That offer is standing and can be discussed in detail if you'd like, but for the time being please enjoy this fascinating look at Steinski's career outside of hip-hop cut-ups! Scans of the track list, disc and cover are included in the archive.


Steve Stein - Sonic Boom Reel #3





PS - Steve doesn't work with Sonic Boom any longer apparently. I called there and was told no one has been in their employ with that name within the last four years. With that said, I deleted Sonic Boom's contact info from the packaging info for their privacy. Also, I found this post while Googling a pic of Steve for this post. It has some VERY INTERESTING images of early DD+S releases. Check it! Oh, one more thing, Steve, if you don't want this shared, let me know and it'll be gone in a flash.


UPDATE: I spoke with Steve and he is totally cool with the reel being online. He is the consummate gentleman and pointed out an important detail regarding Sonic Boom. It's actually his own corporation although it appears the Sonic Boom I contacted is actually in Chicago. I don't know why Google would connect a Chicago phone number with a New York address but strange things happen I suppose. Regardless, Steve is a wonderful guy and I'm going to send him some questions for an e-mail interview. Thank you again Steve!

Steinski & Mass Media - It's Up To You

I had something else planned for today but I thought it appropriate to post this after yesterday. This is Steinski's breakdown of the Gulf War and was released on vinyl via Ninja Tune and CD via Death Of Vinyl (DOVe). The Television Mix is available on What Does It All Mean? but the other versions are all out of print, so here is a rip from the CD version for your listening pleasure. The Ninja Tune artwork appears at the top while the DOVe art is at the bottom. And remember to go get What Does It All Mean? at illegal art's website!


Steinski & Mass Media - It's Up To You

FLAC

V0 MP3

01 It's Up To You (The War Mix)
02 It's Up To You (The Television Mix)
03 It's Up To You (Instrumental)

N.I.C.E. Vinyl #3: Steinki and Mass Media

When Steinski put out his excellent career retrospective, What Does It All Mean?, a few years ago, one of the first things everyone asked is why We'll Be Right Back and Let's Play It Cool, two singles he recorded for 4th & Broadway in the mid to late eighties, weren't included. He later said that he couldn't clear those records and knew there would be issues if he tried to include them on the comp. For a record on illegal art with the infamous History Lesson mixes, tracks which have never been cleared for legal release prior but are available on that comp for the first time outside of a promotional issue, that seems a little odd, but who knows what the true issues at hand were. Steinski has always remained friendly with the Tommy Boy and Ninja Tune people, but does 4th & Broadway even still exist? Anyway, I've had original US twelve inches of both of those singles for a while and I wanted to share them so here they are.

We'll Be Right Back is Steinski's ode to advertising and commercials, the field he works primarily in, and features tons of samples from varying sources, although I remember hearing some if not all of them may have been recorded specifically for the record. Let's Play It Cool is more of a streamlined version of the History Lessons with an emphasis on dance floor mastery. I remember hearing We'll Be Right Back on Open House Party and some other mix shows, but I'd never heard Let's Play It Cool before getting the record. It's fun but a bit dated, definitely not on par with Steinski's other releases. We'll Be Right Back, on the other hand, definitely sounds dated if not a little cheesy but it's got a charm to it that makes it irresistible. If the samples were indeed re-recorded for the release, I'd love to hear the tapes as I bet they're a ton of fun.

If you haven't gotten What Does It All Mean? yet, it's still available for download and purchase at illegal art's website. Like all of their releases, you can get it as 320kbps MP3s for free, FLAC or MP3s with liner notes for $5 dollars (!) and the double CD is $13 dollars with an immediate download. It's well worth your time, especially if you love the History Lessons or the other projects Steinski has been involved with, and the liner notes are very detailed and well written. I'd suggest the $5 dollar version myself, but that free 320kbps MP3 is there if you need convincing first. But make sure you grab the downloads here too. Steinski would have included them if he could have and they are just as important to his career as anything else he has released. Enjoy!


Steinski & Mass Media - We'll Be Right Back

FLAC

V0 MP3

01 We'll Be Right Back (Club Edit)
02 We'll Be Right Back (Radio Edit)
03 We'll Be Right Back (Dub Version)
04 We'll Be Right Back (Bonus Beats)


Steinski & Mass Media - Let's Play It Cool

FLAC

V0 MP3

01 Let's Play It Cool (Club Edit)
02 Let's Play It Cool (Instrumental)
03 Let's Play It Cool (Hippieboy's Jungle Mix)
04 Let's Play It Cool (Acapella)


PS - It's worth noting that DJ "Sugar" Kane gets a featured credit on Let's Play It Cool but there is practically no scratching on that record. He does share the production credit on the song but Steinski gets the full writing credit.

PS2 - Wicker furniture FTW!!!

January 2010 Mixtape: No Rights Given Or Implied (Side One)

As I stated in a prior post, this month's mixtape is essentially my private soundtrack to a project I hope to begin sometime this year. I don't mean to be a tease, but I will share information about it only when things begin moving forward. This mixtape is a little different from previous ones I've posted though, as it serves a dual purpose, the second being my want to assemble an introductory compilation to different styles of sampling and the forms of music that use it in great detail rather than the occasional soundbyte or lifting of a melody. Not to say that those uses of sampling aren't legitimate or should be considered wrong, but I'm more concerned with the creative recontextualization of previously recorded material, which means pre-existing content can be altered in such a way that it won't necessarily represent the original source recordings and in it's new form cannot be said to be overly representative of the original sources, or in layman's terms, it doesn't rip-off anything. There will probably be a second volume of this compilation, and if there is enough interest I will definitely pursue this further.

Unlike a lot of my prior mixtapes, almost everything here is sourced from a lossless recording. Because of that, I've made a point of posting this mixtape as two separate downloads in the highest quality MP3s possible. Please make sure to download both sides so you get all seventeen tracks. Side Two should be live at some point Tuesday, Wednesday morning at the latest.


The Unheard Music January 2010 Mixtape: No Rights Given Or Implied (Side One)

01 Dickie Goodman - Mr. Jaws
Dickie Goodman, along with Bill Buchanan, can safely be labeled the first artists to use sampling in popular music, although their releases are usually considered novelty recordings. Their singles featured stories where a reporter would interview an important figure (Batman, aliens, Jaws the shark, etc.) and that figure's answers would be provided via soundbytes from then popular records. Goodman and Buchanan did incur the wrath of the artists they sampled and were brought to court, but a judge decided in their favor stating it was clear the records were parodies and not taking income from the artists being sampled.

Sadly, Richard Dorian "Dickie" Goodman took his own life on November 6, 1989. He was fifty-five years old. R.I.P.


02 Negativland - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (1991 A Cappella Mix)
If only the world had been as kind to Negativland as they were to Goodman and Buchanan. To put it simply, U2's label, Island Records, sued Negativland for copyright infringement over their U2 EP, claiming it was an attempt to confuse customers and that it illegally sampled U2's original recording of the song in question. This is an incredible story, one that books have been written about and has been discussed in film and other outlets, so rather than rehash something in great detail that will take far longer to write then you'd probably like to read here, I'm going to direct you to the wikipedia reference for this event, as it will give you the low-down quickly and point you in the right direction if you'd like to learn more. Oh yeah, Casey Kasem sounds like a dick.


03 Girls On Top - We Don't Give A Damn About Our Friends
Richard Philips is best known as Richard X, producer and remixer for artists such as Kelis, Sugababes and Nine Inch Nails, but before becoming an in-demand producer, he released limited edition singles as Girls On Top. All the Girls On Top releases are considered mash-ups or bootlegs, tracks that combine two or more songs to create a track all it's own. While tracks that combined several songs had been around for quite a while in one form or another, Girls On Top, along with Kurtis Rush (aka Erol Alkan), The Freelance Hellraiser and others helped legitimize the trend in the early 2000s. We Don't Give A Damn About Our Friends, which combines the vocal from Adina Howard's Freak Like Me and the music from Tubeway Army's Are "Friends" Electric?, was arguably the most successful of the bootleg releases, becoming popular enough that it was re-recorded by the Sugababes using the Tubeway Army beat with Mr. X getting a production credit and a paycheck.


04 Ice Cube - Jackin' For Beats
Ice Cube isn't generally known for deep production, but this Bomb Squad produced track, recorded during the era of Cube's collaborations with Public Enemy and their production crew, is a true exception. Cube flows beautifully over a track made up of other people's beats, all the while explaining that he'll take your beat if he likes it, no matter who you are. The funny part is, despite the braggadocio, all samples were cleared on this track and the amazingly long list of credits made sure everyone involved, directly or not, got paid.

Jackin' For Beats is often looked at as the start of a trend with rappers where they take someone else's track and rap over it, most often without asking permission. Because of this, most of the tracks rarely receive official releases and are relegated to mixtape status.


05 Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full (Seven Minutes Of Madness)
Coldcut are the responsible parties for this classic remix, having been contacted by Eric B. & Rakim's then label, 4th & Broadway, to provide this remix. Eric and Rakim were not initially thrilled by the remix, but it's success helped to eventually change their opinions.

Coldcut started off as a hip-hop and dance-oriented production crew, creating their own cut-ups similar in style to Double Dee & Steinski's Lessons as well as club-centric records like Lisa Stansfield's People Hold On. Back in the cut-up vein here, Coldcut's 1988 remix of the Eric B. & Rakim classic introduced much of the world to the heavenly vocals of Ofra Haza and stretched the simple original well over twice it's length, all the while featuring scratches, cuts, samples from speeches and instructional records and all kinds of madness. Truly a classic in hip-hop as well as creative sampling.


06 Steinski - The Motorcade Sped On
Steve Stein, better known as Steinski of Double Dee & Steinski, gained his initial fame for the duo's groundbreaking Lessons, but afterwards went solo with the intent to release a cut-up record all about the assassination of JFK. Not the most commercially sound idea, but certainly a fascinating one, with just as fascinating a story behind it. Steinski attempted to clear the samples from CBS but was met with a cold stare, leading his label, Tommy Boy Records, to issue it as a promotional-only release. All of this led to the record gaining a reputation just as powerful as the Lessons, while being just the opposite of those three classics. Both records made you think, but rather than dance, The Motorcade Sped On made you learn and remember.


07 De La Soul - Eye Know
Not the most complex record here or the one featuring the most samples, but a great example of Prince Paul's ability to combine disparate parts and turn them into a catchy tune. From De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, that album is often considered the East Coast equivalent of the Beastie Boys' West Coast classic, Paul's Boutique. Unfortunately for Paul and De La though, they were sued by classic surf-rock group, The Turtles, for a minuscule sample in a brief instrumental on the album. A hefty fee was paid, and while it's their fault for not clearing the sample, one has to wonder how opportunistic The Turtles and their lawyers were over this exceedingly small bit of music that doesn't borrow any vocals or melody from the source. Sadly, copyright law hasn't been updated to appreciate the difference between blatantly ripping something off and using it in a new context.


08 Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies
The Beasties, The Dust Brothers and Matt Dike changed the game forever with the release of Paul's Boutique. They sampled so much and in such depth that you could argue the art of sampling had met it's ultimate act of creativity. In reality it hadn't, but it was certainly a major evolutionary step. I've said far more about Paul's Boutique in previous posts so if you need more from me, please examine my earlier posts, but what you should really do is get Dan LeRoy's book all about the album's creation and, if you haven't heard it yet, go buy the album immediately! Don't hesitate, it's totally worth it!



Come back Tuesday (or early Wednesday) for Side Two!

No Rights Given Or Implied: The Original Samplers

On Monday I'll be posting my January mixtape and, in my humble opinion, it's probably the best one I've made to date. Some of the material on it has been featured here in other posts, but there is a theme running through it for which those tracks are essential. In a way, it's my amateur take on anthologizing its content, making it a Volume One of sorts as I'd like to make a follow-up collection at some point, but it's also the soundtrack to a project I really want to do that may be a few years off. All in all, I'm REALLY proud of it and hope you find it enjoyable, but before I unleash it I was given some advice from my roommate. I was told the title might be confusing to some and that I'd get a lot of bugged-out looks for it, so I've decided to first post this excellent compilation which, while dated and a bit limited in scope, should give you an idea where Monday's post will be going.

As to where this comp, No Rights Given Or Implied: The Original Samplers, originated from, I've never been able to get a clear answer, but it seems that Coldcut is most likely responsible for it's creation. Half of it is dedicated to Steinski's works with and without Double Dee, but the other half features two classics from Coldcut doing their best to emulate the DD+S sound and three rare tracks from sources for which little is known or the data is questionable at best. It was sold via the Ninja Tune website for quite a while but that may no longer be accurate, primarily since the Steinski-related tracks have all been given a pseudo-official release on his wonderful illegal art compilation, What Does It All Mean?: 1983-2006 Retrospective.

Despite the availability of some of these tracks elsewhere and in better quality, No Rights Given Or Implied is still an essential compilation that one should definitely explore. The Steinski-related tracks are his best known works and essential for anyone interested in the evolution of cut-up hip-hop and modern producers like DJ Shadow or Girl Talk but the Coldcut tracks are also fantastic and everything else, if not quite as incredible, is still worth hearing. If this entices you for more, you should go to illegal art's site immediately and purchase Steinski's What Does It All Mean?, although it's also available there as a free download. Steinski could always use a little cash for his classic works though so, if you're really feeling his stuff, I implore to you to purchase a copy which comes in a nice package with cool liner notes from the man himself. As for the Coldcut tracks, they've both been reissued on a compilation of their own named Cold-Cut-Outs featuring rare tracks, mixes and instrumentals from early in their career, although I don't know about that release's availability.


No Rights Given Or Implied: The Original Samplers

01 Double Dee & Steinski - Lesson One: The Payoff Mix
02 Double Dee & Steinski - Lesson Two: The James Brown Mix
03 Double Dee & Steinski - Lesson Three: The History Of Hip-Hop
04 Steinski & Mass Media - The Motorcade Sped On
05 Steinski & Mass Media - It's Up To You (Television Mix)
06 Afrika Bambaataa, Afrika Islam & Jazzy Jay - Fusion Beats
07 Big Apple Productions - Genius At Work
08 TD - Feelin' James
09 Coldcut - Say Kids (What Time Is It?)
10 Coldcut - Beats & Pieces

A FEW NOTES ABOUT THIS COMPILATION: I've seen this listed as having been released in 1986 at several sources, but that's utterly ridiculous. Double Dee & Steinski's tracks date roughly back to 1985, but the latest released track here is probably It's Up To You which was issued in 1992 on DOVe (Death Of Vinyl Entertainment) as well as Ninja Tune. The comp was most likely initially released in 1993. As for the rest of the tracks, their producers have been confirmed for certain (TD is apparently an alias for Danny Krivit) apart from Fusion Beats which is uncredited on all releases. While I've listed it as having been credited to Afrika Bambaataa, Afrika Islam & Jazzy Jay, this doesn't seem to be in stone. If anyone wants to shed some light on the accuracy of that credit I'm sure many would love to hear about it.