Ill Street DuesDJ WarriorRemember that handful of West Coast DJs I said would bring the West a little more of the mixtape spotlight? DJ Warrior claims the title of L.A.'s Mixtape King and with the release of Ill Street Dues I can't doubt it. He is one of three that form the Cali Untouchable DJs where TheDJStrong and DJ Hideo complete the trio. The CD is chock full of exclusives and world premieres by: Kool G Rap, Jimmy Brinx and Game (produced by Dr. Dre), Royce Da 5'9, 50 Cent and Mobb Deep, Nas, Prodigy and G-Unit, Sadat X and Gemini, Jadakiss and Ghostface, OC, Kurupt and Bush Babees, Dj Warrior Feat. Stat Quo and Rock, 2pac and Crooked I, Young Zee, Smif Wessen, Black Rob,G-Dep and Ice Shuler, King T, Tray Dee, Planet Asia, Kardinal Official, and M.O.P. Despite the slew of artists there are some that burn tracks better than your computer can. My picks are Saigon's "U Don't," Red Caf's "U Don't Have To," Ras Kass' "Hand's Up," Red and Meth's "I Will Not Lose," and Scipio and Ben Buford's "Free Ras Kass." -djWarrior.biz
Road To Elsewhere Vol. 1Urthworm, MaortaPlain, noMSG, and DeliriusWhen you use cuts from artists like Esthero, Natural Calamity, Sneaker Pimps, The Cure, Portishead, Incubus and Beck and mix them with folks like Les Nubians, Digable Planets, Cut Chemist, RJD2, Eryka Badu and D'Angelo you'd bet that you've got no ordinary mixtape. It's interesting that Urthworm, MaortaPlain, noMSG, Delirius hail from Southern Cali where hip hop mixes reign in popularity. I'm guessing that you'll get a similar sounding compilation at a club or one of the places they spin at. These four DJs have a balanced amount of blends and scratching-and no self-promotional yelling. The CD is a little dark for my taste but overall it's kind of like on long ominous DJ Shadow slow jam-smoothed out on a lounge-type "kill your neighbor" tip. -ElsewhereStudios.com
Scion CD Sampler 7Mixed by Backyard BangersScion not only has unique vehicles they've come up with a sampler (its 7th for that matter) to test the speakers while putting you in hype-mode. This 7th disc was actually part of the grand prize for Scion's Free Up Your Mix DJ contest last spring where 263 DJs entered. Along with the CD gig, the winners-in this case hip-hop-derived-electronic music producers Backyard Bangers (E.moss and the Troublemaker)-got some CDJ100s (Pioneer's CD turntable-they are dope) and some URB Magazine gigs. Both have some history. E.moss has done several production projects and remixes and was picked up (and eventually dropped) by UK label Mo' Wax. The Troublemaker is an ex-Epitaph Records recruit that started Celestial Recordings.-BackyardBangers.com
TenClouddeadTen finds Clouddead building on all of the elements that defined their debut: razor sharp vocal interplay, quirky found sound samples, ambient drone dreamscapes, lyrics that walk the line between observational and confessional and a fair share of nosdam drums slowed to a growl. Doseone and why? never take the cheap way out. Their lyrics may range from blurry and buried to sharp and surfaced, but each and every line has meaning. The music and production are collaborative, featuring Doseone's knack for bottling emotion, why's self-taught multi-instrumentalist efforts, and odd nosdam's flair for borrowed genius. Individually, they are as prolific and fearless as anyone in today's new music scene, but together as cLOUDDEAD they are able to create music that captures all of the promise of their individual talents in an unequaled sound. -Dirtyloop.com