I recently bigged up Kid Chameleon’s Absolutely Shocking mix as one of the best of 2004, and so it is – so much so I want to reiterate those sentiments here. It’s an absolutely amazing mix of jungle, dancehall, grime and hip hop which is composed with seemingly infinite care. A large number of in-mix mashups appear to have been constructed, principally through the agency of playing old reggae records over the top of old jungle tunes, which is obviously something to be encouraged. Here it’s done with expertise and flair, so much so it rivals Coldcut’s Journeys By DJ Mix for best DJ mix ever. Yes it’s that good – for that set is my favourite ever. Standout moments abound, but any mix featuring both Nuh Ease Up by Shy FX and MC Det, Harold Faltermeyer’s Axel F, and Nena’s 99 Red Balloons, alongside perhaps the finest mix of the Red Alert rhythm yet devised, has to be a winner.
What’s really good about this mix is the sheer variety on offer You’ve got loads of great jungle, mixed into some old gospelly blues, into ragga, into electro-y stuff, and on and on, and it’s really engaging and fun to listen to, there’s a real pop sensibility at work throughout.
I wasn’t too sure about the accompanying Even More Shocking mix at first, finding it a bit atonal and opaque, but in fact it’s almost as good. It has more dubstep and squelchy garage for one thing, but it also features a quite magnificent mash-up of Shaggy’s Boombastic over, I think, Rage Against the Machine and some jungle track. It also has a quite brilliant re-working of Tom Waits’ Clap Hands over, um, something else… the sleeve-notes, while seemingly comprehensive, are a bit hard to understand.
You should also point your P2P clients towards the Pasmando mix which was recently posted on the mix of the day site. I’ve no idea who Pasmando is but this is just a very satisfying selection of classic but lesser known ragga jungle. Yes, I know, mouth-watering isn’t it? Filler is rare and it’s got a new-to-me mix of Tom & Jerry’s Maximum Booty Style (which have only in its Maximum Style incarnation, and then only on CD) – this is an absolute fave old skool tune. (Recordings of Tom & Jerry stuff are very welcome here cos I missed ‘em first time round.) Bounce people, bounce.
Finally MashIt’s DJC_JunglitBashment mix pretty much does what it says on the tin. It’s arguably not quite as inspired as the Pasmando mix but it’s still excellent. In fact it’s mind-blowing when it gets going.
MP3 DJ mixes are just the business, I love ‘em, they’re the ideal, consumable way to track great music. The new one John Eden one is nearly ready and should be released any day now.