The best way to give a sense of a DJ set by Spankrock’s Chris Rockswell is to just do it; lay it all out there and put a couple tracks under the microscope. In April of this year the Spankrock collective (MC Naeem Juwan, Producer Alex “Armani XXXchange” Epton, Ronnie Darko and Chris “Rockswell” Devlin) released Fabriclive 33. The 29 songs represent greatest hits from artists as disparate as Kurtis Blow and Yes, but it all makes sense in the context of 21st-century post-genre bricolage. Track 1/3, “Talking In Your Sleep,” is by 1970s Detroit forgetmepoppers The Romantics. So expect some 80s shit out of left field (Cory Hart, Talking Heads bootlegs et al.) 2/3 is the Playgroup mix of Chicks On Speed’s tribute to Tom Tom Club’s “Wordy Rappinghood.” This track has a nice proto-no wave chug to it. The final third of the pie is an electro-funk blend of Bonde Do Role’s “Melo Do Tabacco” mixed by Armani XXXchange. If you like these three tracks, chances are you’ll love to hear it all live this coming Saturday.

Providence Is Burning #1
Firehouse 13
Saturday, June 30 at 10PM Sharp
$1 Narragansett Tallboys While They Last

A seriously mental headbanger; ladies and gentlemen, this one is a long time coming. We all know her from The amazing album Reachin’, and the Grammy she won for “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat),” but something the hoi polloi may not have realized is that Ladybug Mecca is poised to make waves again with her 2005 solo disc, Trip The Light Fantastic, finally getting some of the attention it deserves. I guess she had to play a couple gigs with Butterfly and Doodlebug to prove to Kenny Dope, and in this remix’ case Om’s Fred Everything, that she was worthy of being propelled back into the light (don’t get it twisted, this shit came out in January as a matter of fact). Sa Ra and Martin Luther lend their chops on the production tip and Mecca flows like a burbling brook, demonstrating that Philly’s soft side, sometimes called Bebop Hip Hop, can devastate dance floors and make heads nod. If I get a version that is unmixed I’ll reup it.

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After a 12-hour bout with the world wide inter-web, I’m finally able to say that not only will I never trust an overseas online music retailer again, but that I fucking hate wma files and the format has no relevance. Fuck you ZUNE! I’m not even sure if Microsoft was dumb enough to make their own irrelevant player compatible with their doo-pie file format and I don’t care enough to google search it and find out. Ahem! I’ve been sweet on Sugababes since they released “Overload” back in 2K. I never really gave much thought to their individual persona or to who was singing what verse. There was no discernible Beyonce so what would have been the point? Scratch all that; Mutya Buena was holding shit down. The second in the original trio to defect, Mutya (pronounced Muh-tee-yah) was the lead pipes on many of their hits. Her recently released full-length solo effort is, unsurprisingly, seriously banging. The lead single, and title track, “Real Girl,” samples generously from Lenny Kravitz’ “It Ain’t Over ‘Till Its Over.” You wouldn’t know it from the sound of this amazing remix by Primary 1. I had never heard of this pop phenom, but his/her/their music is bubbling, fun, and kind of sad come to think of it. The synths build a less ham-handed approach to the Kravitz sample around Buena’s micro-bravado while squelchy guitars and other sparkling, psychedelic detritus fizzes around the edges of the arrangement. I love the break when the synth lead sort of marches on top of the sped-up vocal; bleet’n'bleep I’ll call it.

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I joked with Katrina before she left PVD that every rhyme or poem that dribbled from her lips (minus her Renga) had to be a Blow song. Knowing that she was crushing on the cuter-than-a-schipperke band gave me infinite ammunition to out shit-talk her. But now that she’s in NYC I find myself actually gravitating towards The Blow as a means of filling the void. Paper Television is one of the most delectable treats I’ve tasted in a long time, fusing the grungy left-of-center beats of YACHT/Jona Bechtolt and the quirky sugarspun sodeepop of fellow Oregonian Khaela Maricich, who pens most of the lyrics and frequently hums the tunes before Bechtolt comes in to embellish. E-Case and Trina might agree that “Parentheses” is the standout track. I really dig this remix by UK-based DJ/Producer Rory Phillips, who seems to be following my boy Kissy Sell Out up the ladder of indie-remixing cred with work on Chromeo, Holy Hail and Of Montreal’s recent singles. Not a huge fan of his work on Kleerup’s “With Every Heartbeat,” but that song was too good in its original incarnation to merit a remix anyway. So back to the subject: The Blow plus a charming disco beat and sparkling Talking Heads guitars equals 123bpm bliss.

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