Carrying on with the “someone else’s mixtape” series, I thought it would be appropriate to feature a DJ that I’m playing with this weekend in Toronto. This Friday, I’m teaming up again with T-dot’s finest, DJ Starting From Scratch, and we’ll be rocking alongside New York’s DJ Spinbad. 6 turntables, 3 mixers, 3 DJs. If you don’t know the man and what he has brought to the table, I think his mixes are a great place to start.

The first thing I had ever heard from Spinbad was his remix of “Hip-Hop vs Rap” by KRS-ONE. “Hip Hop vs Rap” was a DJ favorite for a few reasons – it’s a banger, it was only ever released on 12″ (it was the B-Side to “Sound of the Police”), and it has an acapella. The acapella is just screaming to be cut up, as the second half of KRS’ verse is all popular (and I guess at times not-so-popular) quotes from other songs. Among other things, Premier cut it up for KRS’ “MCs Act Like They Don’t Know“.

Spinbad basically made it so that no one else can ever make a remix of that song ever again. Maybe take a phrase or two, but nope, no remixes! The way he flipped all of the different beats to the songs that are referenced and transitioned between them blew my mind. It made me think differently about attention to detail in remixes – each of the little beat pieces thrown in last for a few seconds but in the grand scheme of things makes a huge impact. A little can go a long way. (Listen to the track at the bottom of this post)

This track kicks off a mixtape built entirely of ‘blends’ (or acapella remixes) that was recorded by Spinbad and DJ JS-1 (no slouch either, Rahzel’s tour DJ among other things) – “The Cold Cutz Remixes”. Recorded in 1996 to an analog 4- or 8-track, it sounds pretty grimey 15 years later, but it doesn’t take away from the quality of the effort. The tape hiss & cue burn are just things you had to live with in 96. Though the first track is my favorite, many other tracks have that touch that reward those listening close.

Click here to go over to Spinbad’s main mixtape (19 of them!) page on his website. But don’t stop there – his ’80s Rock The Casbah’ mix (and the follow-up) is widely regarded as a mixtape gamechanger, crossing genres well before the term ‘mash-up’ existed and cutting up many 80s & 90s records which had never had the treatment before. You should probably just do yourself a favor and grab everything on the page.

If you’re in Toronto this Friday, be sure to stop by Revival. Needless to say I’m excited to share the stage with Spin & SFS and we’ve got 6 tables setup, so it’s guaranteed to be a once in a lifetime show. Who knows where the music will go…

See you there!

Additional info:

Taboo Events + Shaman + SFS Ent. Invite You To…

——- DOOWUTCHYALIKE ——-

Spinnin’ Wutchyalike, Jus’ How Ya Like…

The World Famous…
DJ STARTING FROM SCRATCH

With Special Guests…
DJ SPINBAD (NYC/Spinbad.com)
&
SKRATCH BASTID (SkratchBastid.com)

Hosted By…
THE LIFE OF THE PARTY (Hip-Hop Vs House)
WAN LUV (The Main Ingredient)

And Special Guest Host…
KARDINAL OFFISHALL – Canada’s Hip-Hop Ambassador!

Friday, Dec. 23rd, 2011
REVIVAL – 783 College St (W of Bathurst @ Shaw)
COVER: $20 B4 Midnight * $25 After
2 Floors All Access – Dooinit Til 4am!!!

Also Featuring…
DJ J-CLASS & JAMES REDI in The Stone Lounge

$15 Adv Tix @ Play De Record, Home Base & Livestock

Thanks To:
TO FLO, ReFresh Ent, Hyped?, FUSICOLOGY, & Play De Record

Info: DoowutchyalikeTO@gmail.com

RevivalBar.com, TabooEvents.com, StartingFromScratch.com, Spinbad.com, SkratchBastid.com

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So we’re almost halfway through December and I’m calling it now: BEST MONTH EVER. I hit up Bermuda the first weekend of this month for a few shows, made my way through the depths of Canada via Thunder Bay, ON and Brandon, MB last weekend, en route to this week’s INCREDIBLE Red Bull ThreeStyle World Finals in Vancouver. I’ll be judging each night & performing on Wednesday, December 14th, with Peanut Butter Wolf.

When I get home, I have the pleasure of rocking the stage with my good homie DJ Starting From Scratch (your favorite entertainer’s favorite DJ) & one of my favorite mixtape makers Mr. DJ Spinbad. Dec 23rd we’ll be gracing one of my favorite rooms in Toronto, Revival (783 College Street). We’ll have 6 turntables setup. I don’t think you’re ready.

Then it’s off to Halifax for the holidays. I’ll be making the rounds in the Maritimes – PEI gets a taste on Dec 28th at Globe, I’ll slip Moncton the tongue under the mistletoe at iRock on Dec 29th, and then THE BIG ONE: New Year’s Eve at the World Trade & Convention Centre in Halifax for Making The Wish 2011. This is my third year in a row and I can honestly say it is THE place to be on the East Coast for New Year’s Eve – packed room of 2000+ all celebrating for the good cause of granting the wish of a child in need to visit Disney World. Great party, great night. DO NOT MISS! I mean, Jonathan Torrens is going:

Check out the flyers below and get your ass to a show! ‘Tis the season.

I’ve started a whenever-I-want-to-post-it series called “someone else’s mixtape“. I’m always checking out mixes and I know a lot of skratchbastid.com visitors come here for mine. So, I’ve decided to pass on mixes that catch my ear. This, as you know, can happen at any time. And so I am going to post them whenever I want. Subscribe to this feed at the bottom, I’ll never over-post, I promise.

I spoke with my man (and this year’s DMC World Champion!) DJ Vajra earlier this week and I asked him about his “I Live For The Funk” live mix that he recorded earlier this year. He said that it was a set he crafted for a show he played with funk outfit The New Matersounds and it was a compilation of a few different funk/soul oriented mixes of his, both new and never released. It came out great – but I’m not sure many people heard it. I think that judging by the soundcloud plays, this is an under-appreciated mix. If you’re a fan of good music and good mixes (and some tasteful scratches), I would suggest you look no further than the ‘play’ button below.

I Live For the Funk: A Live Mix by DJ Vajra

Here’s a youtube clip of him performing part of this mix live:

If you’ve frequented this website, than you’ve probably seen Vajra and I cut it up before. Be expecting some more of that in the future. Here is some footage from our last session:

This weekend I’ll be heading out to Vancouver to take part in the festivities surrounding CANADA’S SUPERBOWL!!!! Okay, okay, maybe it’s not THAT big, but it’s still a yearly event that Canadians look forward to drinking beer whilst watching, typically with friends and food. It’s the Grey Cup, the final game of the Canadian Football League season. This year, the game will be held in Vancouver, and the BC Lions fortunately have home field advantage against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

My part? I will be the in-house DJ at the Molson Canadian House Friday & Saturday, hosting the day’s bands and wrapping up with a 2-hour set each night. Among the bands playing will be canuck rock legend Colin James and, I’m very happy to say, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings! Big fan – I’ve seen them 3 times and they never fail. I’ll have to dig up a heavy set to follow those guys. I put their tune “How Long Do I Have To Wait For Your Love?” (below) as the last song on my “Get Up!” mix, and it was one of my most requested/asked about tunes from that mix. Top notch group.

For a full schedule, head to the Molson Canadian House event page.

What do Z-Trip, Just Blaze, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, The Rub, DJ Nu-Mark, Peanut Butter Wolf, Smalltown DJs, Team Canada, Vinyl Ritchie, The Freshest, Faction Sound Crew, The Goodfellas and Skratch Bastid have in common?

Look up.

We are 3 weeks away from the week-long party that will be the 2nd Annual Red Bull Thre3Style World Championships. DJs from all over the globe will hit Vancouver with their best tunes & slickest routines, no doubt bringing along some top secret, last minute magic in an effort to bring home the gold. The event has grown this year, and the finals have been reorganized to give the people, and the DJs, the best club experience possible.

The competition has now been laid out over 4 ‘elimination’ nights to accommodate the amount of countries now involved (18!) and to give all DJs good prime-time slots to shine. The competitors have been evenly distributed over the 4 nights by continent, along with showcases from some of the biggest names in the biz (did you see that line-up??). The final night will feature a showdown between the winners from each elimination, and sets from seasoned dancefloor slayers DJ Z-Trip & DJ Nu-Mark, along with my brother-in-wax-allegiance Vinyl Ritchie. That means the best of the best will have to rock TWO venues & parties on different nights. Sounds like a suitable challenge for those looking to take home the title of “World’s Best Party Rocker”.

Last year’s world finals in Paris brought the house down at Élysée Montmartre and I can’t tell you how excited I am to see the world finals come to Canada – a country known for it’s enthusiastic crowds and party people. It will be the perfect setting for each country’s champ to show & prove. The event is bigger, the stakes are higher, and I’m ready to see a show! Catch you in Vancouver.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, December 1st in Vancouver at Beatstreet, LiveStock and Dipt. Web link for tickets and more info is over at the official Red Bull Thre3Style website. I will be judging at the elimination events all week, and performing Wednesday, December 14th, along with Vancouver’s The Freshest, and founder of Stones Throw Records, the legendary Peanut Butter Wolf.

Here are a couple videos to get you ready for the big event. First, a little Thre3Style 101 from yours truly for those who don’t know what the competition is all about:

…And here’s some footage from the Canadian Finals: