Daily Jam - 3 'N The Mornin' Track 1

I've got to travel for work next week to the Houston area for a few days.  I don't leave until Tuesday, but let's go ahead and get prepared now.  And that means the chopped and screwed sounds of the late great DJ Screw.  Here's a track from his first "3 'N The Mornin'" mixtape, that finds the artist slowing Dr. Dre's "High Powered" to delirious effect.  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Angel Bat Dawid

Jazz artist Angel Bat Dawid just released a new album/mixtape, the "Hush Harbor Mixtap Vol. I Doxology," cassette.  The album is a weird, twisting and turning mix of jazz, soul, R&B, experimental folk, devotional synth hymns, and more.  It's a fascinating listen.  Check out "Heathen Practices at Funerals" below, a track that starts with a kind of subdued and autotuned R&B thing but morphs into a beautiful and also subdued instrumental synth exploration.  Cool stuff.  The cassette sold out instantly, as these things are wont to happen, but you can download the album here from International Anthem.

Conway & Big Ghost Ltd

"If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed," the latest mixtape from Buffalo rapper Conway The Machine and producer Big Ghost Ltd, dropped at the beginning of February and it somehow slept on it.  I'm not going to be too hard on myself as Texas was just a couple of days from freezing over, but man does this album slap.  It's good, old fashioned, down and dirty hip-hop.  Check out the Ransom and Rome Streetz assisted "Kill All Rats" below and download the mixtape here.

Mirage

Occasionally i will come across some music that just straight up melts my brain, and such is the case with the "Telepathic Radio Tape" from California artist Mirage, the side project of Banshee member Joe Freedman.  The album was recorded in 2020 at home after a near death experience in the Grand Canyon and sounds like a bunch of clerics and mystics loaded up on hallucinogens, boarded a rocket ship to travel to the nether regions of the universe, recorded all of the interstellar sounds they could find, and then put it all together on a mixtape for you.  Far out stuff.  Check out "The Mating Dance of the Purple Locust Storm" below and get the cassette here from Terrorist Rock Corporation.

Small Black - Moon Killer Mixtape

Small Black's 2011 mixtape "Moon Killer," a groovy, chilled out synth classic with assists from Das Racist's Heems, is finally getting a physical release courtesy of 100% Electronica.  Still dig this thing, and still dig that cover art ripped from Michael Mann's "The Keep."  Check out the title track below and order the record here.

Salem - Stay Down Mixtape

It's been almost 10 years since witch house trio Salem released their "King Night" LP, and while they've put out occasional remixes and such, there hasn't been a whole lot of activity over the last decade.  That might be changing soon.  The group has been teasing new music for a few years, and now they've dropped a dark and trippy mixtape called "Stay Down" featuring reworks of a bunch of other artists' tracks.  It's cool.  Check it out below, and keep your eyes and ears open for new music hopefully sooner than later.

Paul White - Everything You've Forgotten

Paul White, the UK psych-tinged producer behind much of Danny Brown's "Atrocity Exhibition," one of my favorite albums of 2016, just released a 30 minute mix of beats and music that's a trippy mix of everything under the sun called "Everything You've Forgotten."  Listen to the whole thing below and grab it here.

Watch the Stove

Hamburger Helper put out a hip-hop mixtape today.  It's called "Watch the Stove."  That's really weird.  What's even weirder is that it's actually kind of good.  Listen to the whole thing below and revel in the nostalgia of last minute weekday family dinners from when you were a kid.

Panda Bear mixtape

With a new album on the horizon, "Panda Bear vs. The Grim Reaper," Animal Collective's Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear, has assembled an interesting little mixtape to start drumming up some press.  I'm a huge fan of his previous solo efforts, so i am pretty excited at the prospect of a new record.  You can listen to the mixtape at PBVSGR or below.  I have no idea what these songs are.  Enjoy.

Digitalis Midlife Crisis mixtape

Digitalis is an excellent record label that specializes in electronic music, ambient jams, drone, synthesizer opuses, experimental music, and just plain, all around weirdness in general.  And they're located in Tulsa, Oklahoma of all places.  In May, the founder and head of the label turned 35 years old, and to commemorate the occasion, he offered up a sampler of sorts with 35 tracks from the label's roster.  It's really damn good.  Download it here and pay what you want.  In the meantime, you can stream the whole thing below.

Fight Bite

It seems like we haven't heard from Queens by way of Denton, Texas dreampop duo Fight Bite in a while (2012 to be exact), what with Leanne Macomber gallivanting around with Joel Ford and making synth pop music as Ejecta.  Well, that may be remedied in the near future, as a "mixtape" of sorts has surfaced from Fight Bite, a collection of some stripped down odds and ends from the band called "Swissex Mixtape."  Listen to it below and download it here.

Ramona

I recently came across an excellent mixtape of modern Spanish pop music called "Papasquiaro" put together by the fine folks at Club Fonograma.  The mix features an array of different sounds and textures, from electronic beats to hip-hop, psych to folk, to more traditional sounding ballads.  Tijuana band Ramona provide one of those ballads with their wistful and melancholy "Tristes Ojos."  Listen below, and then go and download the whole mix here...for free!

The Devil

The Devil is the project of Atlanta hip-hop producer Derek Schklar, and his new mixtape "Violence," is a dark, nasty, awful thing.  But it's captivating.  The album strings along bits of rap verse, radio samples of Johnny Cash, Dillinger Escape Plan, and others, and snips and clips from news reports about violence and murder, from Charles Whitman climbing the UT tower to shoot strangers to the more recent mall shooting in Maryland with a complete abandonment of structure.  It's ugly.  It's foul.  But it's worth listening to.  And it's aptly named.  You can download it for free here, and listen to "KILL RADIO KILL / THE RIDE" below.

De La Soul and J Dilla

Right now you can download the "Smell the DAISY" mixtape by De La Soul and J Dilla for free.  You would be doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't go download it here right now.  Get on that shit, and listen to "Vocabulary Spills" below.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Produce mixtape

Cheekily named synth pop duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. have offered up a free mixtape online called "Produce," in which the two take their sunshine pop and dance aesthetic and mesh it with a number of different rappers.  It's delightful.  Download it for free here and listen to "Rush into Love" featuring Slim and Chuck Inglish below.

Some Notes on Making a Mixtape

I wrote an essay about making a mixtape over at Joup.  I think it's pretty good.  You should go read it.

Action Bronson and Party Supplies - Blue Chips 2

Even though i'm a shade irritated that he cancelled his Fun Fun Fun Fest appearance next weekend, i'm always down to support the work of ugly, slimeball Action Bronson.  Compound that with the fact that the man has re-teamed with producer Party Supplies for the "Blue Chips 2" mixtape, the sequel to 2012's fantastic "Blue Chips."  You can stream the whole thing below and download the whole mixtape here.

Flatbush Zombies

Checking out the lineup and schedule for Fun Fun Fun Fest this year, i came across Brooklyn hip-hop group Flatbush Zombies.  I knew nothing about them except that their name was cool.  After a second's worth or research, i discovered that the group just released a new mixtape called "Better Off Dead."  And it's available for free here.  And it features Action Bronson and Danny Brown.  That was all i needed.  Take a listen to the Bronson-aided jam "Club Soda" below.

A$AP Ferg

With the success of A$AP Rocky, it was only a matter of time before a member of his crew (i sound so stupid saying that) released a solo record.  A$AP Ferg's "Trap Lord" lurks and swells in the same murky production style as Rocky, and is a fun piece of work.  Originally slated to be a mixtape, RCA apparently swooped in to sign the man and put his record out legit.  Listen to "Shabba" featuring Rocky below, and look for the album next week.

Tree

Chicago rapper Tree just released a new mixtape, "Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out," and it's a doozy.  The rapper's self-described "soul-trap" is a mix of growled vocals, soul samples, and doom blues.  It's a pretty ambitious mix, and can be downloaded for free right here.  In the meanwhile, listen to "The King" below and dig on those Elvis-as-chipmunk samples.