Moving Mixes to Mixcloud

 
Since Apple closed their hosting services a few months ago I have started moving my mixtapes to Mixcloud.  You can now access them here. 

Regarding Broken Mac.com Links

Apple made changes to their Mobile Me service that affected any of the URLs here that linked to Mac.com. Please let me know about broken links, but in the meantime you can fix them like this:

If a URL was:

http://homepage.mac.com/alqahtani/.Public/web/haroon_alaahtani_presents_the_funk_and_soul_of_turkey.zip

It becomes:

http://homepage.mac.com/alqahtani/dotmac/Public/web/haroon_alaahtani_presents_the_funk_and_soul_of_turkey.zip

Basically two things are done:

1) dotmac is added after alqahtani

2) the period in front of Public is dropped

Sorry about this but it was beyond my control.

Dan the Automator - Music To Be Murdered By

Before working with Kool Keith, Dan the Automator did a record any DJ would love. The cover is great too, with a pair of Technics SP25s and an SP1200. Listen.

Tony Tee - Expressing My Thoughts

An early Teddy Riley production from '87 that is a precursor to what would later become New Jack Swing. This record really reminds me of Mantronix with the heavily chopped samples, and that's why I like it so much. Get it here.

The Tornados (Joe Meek) - Telstar

A slight departure from some of the stuff I usually post, but I think it's a great record. Joe Meek was the UK's Phil Spector pretty much -- complete with melodrama. Arguably, Meek is the true inventor of the so-called 'wall of sound approach' that entails running everything through a reverb basically. The sound works in many cases. You get this very erie, almost sinister sound out of a record that would usually seem fluffy. Think of the Beach Boys "Wouldn't it Be Nice." While Spector was using an EMT plate reverb, Meek was using a simple spring reverb he toted around in a box.

'Telstar' is a reference to the first satellite launched solely for the purpose of cross continental television broadcasting. The first broadcast was between the UK and US, and at the time, a miraculous thing. Meek (a producer who was tone deaf with no musical training) came up with the tune in his sleep, and hummed it to his musicians until they got it right. He was one of the pioneers in unorthodox recording techniques. The intro to 'Telstar" is a good example, which I think was an object being rubbed around an ashtray and then played backwards.

A downfall in his career led to a severe bout of depression and eventually he shot himself in the head, immediately after shooting his landlord. Check out Telstar here.

Tuff Tuf - Strictly for the Boomin' System

Another Pittsburgh artist from Homewood. The track "Ghetto Soundcheck" got heavy rotation locally, and I think even got some attention out of state. This is a CD rip of the entire LP.

Misfits in the Attic - Kick It Anyway (CD5)

This cover screams 90s. This was a group from Pittsburgh whose fate I know nothing about, beyond the PAT bus ads they were doing in the mid-90s. The name 'Attic' was a reference to Pittsburgh being some unearthed gold mine of Hip-Hop talent. Admittedly the Misfits weren't the most amazing group out there, but they came at a time when hearing any kind of Hip-Hop coming out of the city was a rarity, no thanks to WAMO not supporting local artists really. This is a CD rip. Were there any other notable rap trios with 2 females and 1 male? Can't seem to think of any right now.