Don't mess up my bangs, I got them things perfect...
Well hello, fans of free music and/or prairie dogs. Thanks for stopping by. If you're new to the Flatbasset Mix game, let us explain what you're looking at right now.
Flatbasset - September '12 (Prairie Pup Mix)
TCDroogsma, when he's not busy judging mp3's and judging food, likes to make these mixes for everybody. They're typically between 10-12 songs and usually roughly 40 minutes long. Follow the link above to download the free mix or to just give it a listen. Do yourself a favor and check that out. That being said, let's find out what TCDroogsma has to say about this mix. Ay, TCDroogsma, what's good?
Not much, ominous blog voice. How you feeling?
Blogs about to hit 1000 views. We're feeling real good.
Good. Glad I could be a part of that.
Actually, just the other day somebody told us that, after reading your 'Songs Of The Week' column that, when it comes to music, you are a "little pissy bitch." You cool with that?
Who would say something like that?
Not relevant.
I suppose not. I just call 'em like I, err... hear 'em.
God, you just bleed cliches, don't you?
Now who's being the pissy bitch?
And now you're lashing. Listen, you have anything to say about this mix or are we just going to call each other names?
If it's up to me we'll just keep arguing. However, I fucking killed this mix, so maybe I'll say a few things about it.
Good.
Asshole.
01. Jack White - Love Interruption
One of my co-workers and I were in a heated debate the other day about whether Bob Dylan or Jakob Dylan was better. If you know me, you know which side of this debate I was on. As we were arguing the merits of 'One Headlight' versus 50 years of unlistenable bullshit
another co-worker walked by and simply said, "Jack White."
When I asked him what the fuck he was on about he told me that he thought we were debating 'voice of a generation' types and that Jack White was going to go down as the Bob Dylan of this generation. I was intrigued. I've never thought of Jack White this way since so much of his music is self-mythologizing yarns that don't totally apply to modern life. Still, I spent a good chunk of the week listening to old Jack White stuff trying to figure out if he might be right. I feel like this song is one of the bullet points in the Power Point presentation for Jack White: Cultural Touchstone.
02. Domo Genesis & Alchemist - The Feeling
It's no secret that I'm a big, big fan of free mixtapes. Sure, you have to slog through a lot of terrible songs to find the gems (which is typically true of fully-realized, record-label-backed hip-hop albums too), but it's totally worth it when you find gems like this. This track is from Domo Genesis & Alchemists mixtape
No Idols, which you can, and should, download
here.
Domo Genesis is one of the small army of Odd Future MC's. Much like Hodgy Beats'
Untitled mixtape from earlier this year, I found this album growing on me the more I listened to it. Domo Genesis is a solid, sometimes great MC, and Alchemists vinyl-crackling beats are fucking stellar throughout.
03. Building Better Bombs - The Action Pact
THIS CITY IS NOT TAKING US SERIOUSLY, SO WE ARE SERIOUSLY TAKING THE CITY!
Realest talk.
04. Despot - Look Alive
Gingers of the world unite!
I've known about Despot for a while now thanks to his affiliation with the Def Jux crew, but he's got, like, zero official releases. There's a long-standing rumour that he's putting together an album with Ratatat, but that rumour's been going on for years now. I'll believe it when I see it.
Anyway, you might know him from his guest spot on El-P's "Tougher Colder Killer" or from his smoking hot opening verse on Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire's "The Last Huzzah!" Here's hoping that Ratatat collaboration sees the light of day sometime.
05. Fugazi - Sweet And Low
After I threw that Eno instrumental in the middle of last month's mix I thought I'd throw on an equally enjoyable instrumental that has almost nothing in common with "Deep Blue Day." I love that a band that's as lyrics-based as Fugazi could crush an instrumental like this. I'll bet the guys in Mogwai cry every time they hear this song.
06. Marijuana Deathsquads - Top Down (w/Channy & Astronautalis)
Who would've thought that this is what Building Better Bombs would morph into?
"Top Down" is from the new MDS mixtape
Tamper, Disable, Destroy, another freebie that you can download
here.
If you don't know, Marijuana Deathsquads is essentially a collective built from the ashes of Building Better Bombs and Digitata. Ryan Olson (who put together Gayngs), as the story goes, was having MC's & musicians over to his studio over the course of the summer recording whatever came to mind. Eventually he cut it all up and built this mixtape out of the verses and beats. For better or worse, this is an incredible portrait of where the Twin Cities are at in summer 2012.
07. Peter Adams - The Observatory
I know nothing about Peter Adams. This was a Current SOTD years ago and it's one that I've been meaning to get into the mix for nearly as long. While I can't explain exactly what I love about this song, I can tell you that I do, in fact, love this song. Just enjoy it.
08. Rick Ross - 3 Kings (w/Dr. Dre & Jay-Z) / Brother Ali - 4th King
Alright, so here's the story.
Producer Jake One has a huge client base for his beats. If you remember, he produced some G-Unit tracks a while back, provided the beats for Freeway's Rhymesayers album
The Stimulus Package, put out his own awesome
White Van Music with an army of guest MC's, and has been doing work with Brother Ali, among others, since.
Now, when Jake One & Brother Ali were working on Ali's new album
Mourning In America, Dreaming In Colour, Jake One passed along this beat that, evidently, Brother Ali decided not to use. Jake then brought the beat to Rick Ross, who took it and signed up Dre & Hova for his, 'these are my peers, no, really' track "3 Kings."
The parent album for this song,
God Forgives, I Don't has been one of the biggest hip-hop albums of the year. Brother Ali, who still had the beat, decided to spit his own verse and give the song away as "4th King," (hence the line, "best verse on a song I ain't even on"). I love the way Ali flips Dre's shamelessly promotional line "You should listen to this beat through my headphones" into "You should listen to this beat while you're occupying." Either way, adding the Ali verse makes this song a nice little snapshot of just how spread out the hip-hop world is these days.
09. Bloc Party - V.A.L.I.S.
Even though I wasn't particularly kind to Bloc Party's single "Octopus" a couple weeks ago, I did still pick up the parent album
Four and make it my Album Of The Week last week (meaning I listened to it first every day). Even though I still think it's the least exciting Bloc Party album, it's still a Bloc Party album, which is a pretty fucking good thing.
I don't completely understand what Kele Okereke's on about in this song ("he's not the real me, but I can hear him from my future"), but I'll be damned if he doesn't sing it with conviction. Not to mention, that 'show-show-show-show-me' bit has been in my head for 10 days straight.
10. Soul Position - Keep It Hot For Daddy
"I'm just playin', but really I'm not."
Classic.
11. Big Star - September Gurls
It's a September mix! It was either this or Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends."
This is THE classic Big Star jam. Of course, most people from my generation learned about Big Star via The Replacements' classic "Alex Chilton." When you hear Chilton sing lines like, "Oh, I love you... nevermind..." it's easy to feel the same way 15 year old Paul Westerberg must've felt.
So there you have it everybody, Flatbasset September mix. I certainly hope you all enjoy it. Try to remember that put these mixes together to sound more like an awesome 40 minute block of the radio rather than, say, a Get Cryphy DJ mix. I'm just not that talented. It's just a bunch of tracks I was feelin' at the time.
Well thanks for stopping by and dropping the mix off TCDroogsma. I'm glad we were able to put that bitterness from the top of the column to rest.
For more of TCDroogsma's pissy bitchiness, be sure to give him a follow on Twitter or Instagram (TCDroogsma) or keep an eye on his personal blog Caffeine & Obscenities.
As always, this blog is on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1), which you should follow to keep up on our posts/tweets by our regular contributors. Also, if you dig the mix, stop by our Facebook page and give us a 'like.' It's the least you can do for 40 minutes of free bangers.
