J2 & Hudson The Indoor League (mixtape)
This is the second mixtape from the duo behind Derby's premier hiphop night - Off The Hook. This 80 minute mix takes a similar format to their first outing - i.e. a slick blend of quirky funk breaks played out alongside the latest hot joints with an odd hiphop classic for good measure. The eighty minutes is split into a massive forty seperate tracks. It comes in Cd format so has the benefit of better (unchewable) sound quality but this also means you can skip between the tracks.
The mix itself is pure quality - mainly because the choice of tracks is unquestionably heavy. That central strength works alongside a good quantity of celebrity shouts n' sampled drops which break the tracks up and keep things lively n' interesting to the ear. This approach could leave the mix slightly stuttered, but the tempo is maintained through smooth blends and tight cutting which steps sharp but still funky. Highlights include a nicely worked medley of sketches during 'Trueman Breaks' & 'Overthetop Breaks', a rare outing for The Guttersnypes 'Trials of Life', the quality 'Mad-izm' by Channel Live, a 45 King remix of Diamond Ds 'Best Kept Secret', etc, etc AND etc. There are so many snippets, cuts, n' loops of dope music on this CD that its too tough to narrow it down to a personal highlight reel.
My only slight personal gripe comes from the deep intensity of the mix - its been thoughtfully sequenced but at times the sheer volume of tune changes can leave you wishing for a track to be played in full. In many respects this is a dumb crit cos with a mix your buying into someone else's creative viewpoint and listening to the way they want to roll tunes together - but my initial reaction was that theres been too many switches early on. This initially makes it hard to fully engage with the music. The mix develop and acquire more shape after the initial stages. This calmer approach during the middle section does a lot to warm you up - it uses some classy comedy moments and most importantly you can hear the time, care and attention thats gone into making something detailed and original. When this mix clicks its absolutely firing - simply because its better to check something thats going beyond bluntly cut n' pasting complete tracks together. This comes with a large amount of skill and heavy dosage of creative thought.
Overall, a very enjoyable mix that definitely grows on you over time. Its slightly frenetic towards the beginning but when it settles down the use of samples and track interplay means this can easily sit alongside other heavyweight blends from bigger more household names. I'd like to see some of these track selection skills played out live - so should you - check their site and plan that trip to Derby ASAP.
- Smiffy | profile
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