From BK to BH (Bar Harbor)

(flick via wirestyle)

I'm posting a mix from last summer (2006), and many of the songs are 5 or more years old (does that make them retro?). I love a whole lot about music, and I wouldn't be who I am without it, but I fucking HATE the fact that music obsessives always have to play that NEXT shit, and look down their noses at perfectly good music if it's "so last year" (or these days, "so last month"...fucking internets). If it was good when it dropped, it should still be good, or it wasn't that fucking good, now was it? On the flip, if music is now made for consumption like Cheetos or Ding Dongs (i.e. junk food for our ears, saccharine-sweet, full of filler and gone tomorrow), how much are you going to enjoy it in 5+ years?

OK, enough of my aging raver rant. This mix is a little of everything with a midtempo, vocal hip-hop angle. It's ground up and puffed down through the Mantisounds Musikhooka (patent-pending, bitches), and was made with my boy Toby (aka the White Busta Rhymes, the most freestylinist motherfucker from Mt. Dessert Island, Maine) in mind. As usual, the tracklisting can be found in the comments.

Mantisounds - From BK to BH (Bar Harbor)

Mistakes Is High

(via oh word)

Correction: Brie Streets is Watching

I don't actually believe anyone reads this blog, let alone downloads the mixes, but I'm going to go through the motions as if you're all waiting with baited breath for each new life-changing, paradigm-shifting, cortex-blasting post, and that you furthermore demand perfection, like I do, so here goes....

Correction: The link to the first mix I posted, Brie Streets is Watching, led to an earlier (and shittier) version of the mix. The version that matches the tracklist in the comments can be found here, and I've gone ahead and updated the original post as well ('cause you give a shit).

Just for the Tittsworth remix of "Poison" it's worth the re-up. Grab this shit (again)...

Other People = Smarter than Me

(flic via Future Relic)

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

(another heads up from the One and Only)

Running On Adrenaline

(pic via styx021)

I'm not convinced anyone's reading this blog, so I'm not sure how much time to spend on describing these fucking things. Running on Adrenaline is the third Mantisounds mix set to be posted here. Tracklist can be found in the comments, as usual. This one is strictly for the breaks heads (I'm talking to you Ken, Recon, and Travis). Pay special attention to the Villains remix of Thriller about halfway through. It is hands down the remix of the year. Also doing serious damage is the Bassbin Twins collabo with Mr. No Hands. As usual, Mr. Bassbin doesn't disappoint.

Other People Is Smarter than Me

(pic via Roberlan)

"The elementary reaction against injustice and for justice has been lost—and it is this reaction which over time furnished humankind with protection against a collapse into barbarity. I am convinced that the passionate commitment to justice and truth has done more to improve the human condition than any calculating political cleverness, which over time produces only general distrust. Who can possibly doubt that Moses was a better leader for humankind than Machiavelli?" - Albert Einstein (1937)

the Bassbin Twins

Here's how I knew that Mrs. Mantis and I were meant for each other: she agreed to hastily rearrange our honeymoon at the last minute to include a performance by the Bassbin Twins in Las Vegas in 2006. And she loved it. As a former raver and lifelong breakbeat fanatic, discovering that my lady also thought the Bassbin Twins was dope was like finding out your girl likes to collect vintage porn, loves video games, or can't fall asleep without having sex: fucking awesome. We got hammered and danced for 4 hours straight, and someone from Club Planet took our photo so we can prove to our kids someday we're not total squares.

The Bassbin Twins is one dude, first of all. I've seen him live twice, and both performances are in my top five all-time. For anyone who liked breaks during the mid to late 1990s, you HAD to dig this dude. He was creating mashups and doing crazy remixes of current hits when Girl Talk was still rocking training wheels (sorry, obscure hipster reference. I hate me). His style is the perfect combination of warehouse rave, hip hop, and a dash of reggae. And his remixes have a tendency to make you forget about the original track, like the remix below of Deejay Punk Roc's "My Beatbox," a late 90s anthem in its own right. Also posted below is "Between the Fro (Live Mix)," which is very representative of the mid-90s-era Bassbin Twins that kept my ears happy when my pupils were dilating and jaw was clenching. He's still releasing dope shit on Adam Freeland's Marine Parade label (there's that label again...), recently remixing a pile of Marine Parade classics as well as current hits. This is another situation where I will literally buy ANYTHING I see this guy involved with, because Bassbin Twins is automatic dope. Go get some.

Bassbin Records
Deejay Punk Roc - My Beatbox (Bassbins Busted My Speaker Remix)
Bassbin Twins - Between the Fro (Live Mix)

Bonus Bassbin: peep this tight little remix of a Yo! Gabba Gabba scene: