Well waddya know? We did find some more mixes, in fact I found a whole bunch of them, although some are quite long so I don’t know how may will be posted online – do you really want to download a file 100mb plus file?
Anyway, this is one of three R&B mixes that I found on a CD, so you can reasonably expect the other two parts to follow some time soon. On this mix are some of the usual suspects – PussyCat Dolls, Ciara, and the ubiquitous Girls Aloud. Another track not infrequently used is “Call My Name” by Charlotte Church. The first two singles from her ‘pop’ album (this one and ‘Crazy Chick’) were very solid pop efforts and I’m surprised that she hasn’t bothered following them up. Guess she’s too busy trying to carve out a career as a chat show host now, doubtless trying to keep her husband in hair product. Anyway, enjoy this live-vocalled Top of the Pops performance of “Call My Name”:
The Calico Sessions R&B 2222:
Format: mp3
Size: 30.8Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Ciara – 1, 2, Step
2. Chaka Khan – I’m Every Woman
3. Charlotte Church – Call My Name
4. Justin Timberlake – Like I Love You
5. Mis-Teeq – Can’t Get It Back
6. C+C Music Factory – Things That Make You Go Hmmm
7. Cheryl Lynn – To Be Real
8. Stereo MCs – Step It Up
9. Pussy Cat Dolls – Don’t Cha
10. Michael Jackson – Bad
11. Dynamix II – Give The DJ A Break
12. Girls Aloud – Graffiti My Soul
This is the very last of the short mixes in The Calico Sessions series, unless others happen to turn up on some old CDs that I’ve forgotten about! Also, these aren’t technically mixed like the others are – this is more of a Radio 1, Chris Moyles-style mix, in that we raise the volume of one record whilst the other goes down! It’s because this is full of much slower records. I can’t remember doing the mix and for some reason I haven’t created a proper tracklisting, but there are tracks from (amongst others) Liberty X,Ciara, Kanye West, Wyclef Jean, Pharrel Williams and Gwen Stefani, and Mariah Carey. This video sees Mariah performing “It’s Like That“, “We Belong Together” and the track that’s featured on this mix, “Shake It Off” live on New Year’s Eve in Times Square:
So, we return at last to the R&B mixes in The Calico Sessions series. The R&B mixes generally feature faster mixing and less full tracks, which is how we manage to pack 12 tracks into just nineteen minutes. In contrast to almost every other mix that I’ve ever done, the tempo of this mix actually ends slower then the opening tempo. The final track on the mix is this track by Christina Aguilera from the album ‘Stripped’ – this is called “Get Mine Get Yours“:
And, just because I can and I think it’s another fantastic live performance of a terrific track, this is the live video (from the Mobo Awards) of “Sumthin’ Scandalous” by Mis-teeq, which is a remix of “Scandalous” and features extra vocals from Redman:
The Calico Sessions R&B 1924:
Format: mp3
Size: 17.8Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Digital Underground – Doowutchyalike
2. Usher – Yeah
3. Amerie – 1 Thing
4. Notorious BIG – Hypnotize
5. Mis-teeq – Scandalous
6. Lumidee – Never Leave You
7. Beyonce – Naughty Girl
8. Beyonce – Baby Boy
9. Rihanna – Pon De Replay
10. Mariah Carey – We Belong Together
11. TLC – Waterfalls
12. Christina Aguilera – Get Mine Get Yours
Ah, the pop mixes. Sometimes – especialy on a Friday night – the bar had a slightly older clientele and they preferred more records that they already knew, i.e. the contents of the Radio 1 and 2 playlists. Therefore I produced a couple of pop mixes for just such occasions.
Regular readers to the blog know that I have a bit of a pop music fetish. Currently it manifests itself in acts like Girls Aloud and The Saturdays; in days gone by the torch was held by bands such as Steps. Yes, I know it’s too terrible to comprehend, but there it is. Remember thought what I always say: a good pop record is like a good kebab – it should take about three minutes to get through, make your fingers sticky and leave you feeling both guilty and happy at the end. Steps did the pop thing extremeley well, and very, very briefly, so did some of the former Steps members in their solo careers:
The Calico Sessions R&B 1833:
Format: mp3
Size: 17.0Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Gorillaz – Dare
2. Lisa Scott-Lee – Electric
3. Jem – They
4. Amerie – Touch
5. Les Rythmes Digitales – Jacques Your Body
This is the last dance mix in The Calico Sessions series, and I hope you’ve enjoyed them. This is also the longest mix at three quarters of an hour and has some terreific tracks in it, most notably “Say Hello” by Deep Dish which features the haunting vocals of Anousheh Khalili. She also did the vocals for the duo’s hit single “Flashdance“.
Anousheh Khalili
The Calico Sessions R&B 1833:
Format: mp3
Size: 17.0Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy
2. Peyton – A Higher Place
3. Sandy B – Make The World Go Round
4. Tweet – Boogie Tonight
5. Danny Howells – Dusk Til Dawn
6. Gwen Stefani – What You Waiting For
7. Deep Dish – Say Hello
The third dance mix in The Calico Sessions series is one of the longer ones, coming in at 32 minutes 57 seconds. It contains one of the most popular dance tracks of the last decade, Michael Gray’s “The Weekend“:
The Calico Sessions Dance 3257:
Format: mp3
Size: 30.2Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Jupiter Ace – 1000 Years
2. Robbie Rivera vs. Jesus Jones – Right Here Right Now
3. DONS ft. Technotronic – Pump Up The Jam
4. CSSK vs. Howard Jones – Things Can Only Get Better
5. Mirabeau – Back From Outta Space
6. Mylo – In My Arms
7. Michael Gray – The Weekend
Next up in The Calico Sessions series is another dance mix, this time with seven tracks from the likes of Full Intention, Basement Jaxx and the Freemasons.
Basement Jaxx - "Do Your Thing"
The Calico Sessions Dance 3031:
Format: mp3
Size: 17.0Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Rasmus Faber – Get Over Here
2. Supyfly Inc – Let’s Get Down
3. Freemasons – Love On My Mind
4. Basement Jaxx – Do Your Thing
5. Soulshaker – Hypnotic Erotic Games
6. Bob Sinclar – Love Generation
7. Full Intention – America
This is a shorter (17 minutes and 50 seconds) mix consisting of six dance tracks from around 2005. The tracks on this mix are generally played out in full rather than the ‘bits and pieces’ approach that the ‘Shenanigans’ series uses.
My favourite is the track featured on video below, “Give It” by X-press 2 featuring Kurt Wagner on vocal duties:
The Calico Sessions Dance 1750:
Format: mp3
Size: 16.4Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Tiga ft. Jake Shears – You Gonna Want Me (Extended Vocal)
2. Xavier – Gimme The Night (Freemasons Mix)
3. Pussy Cat Dolls – Don’t Cha (Kaskade Club Mix)
4. Mylo vs. Miami Sound Machine – Dr. Pressure
5. X-press 2 – Give It (Full Club Version)
6. Cloud 9 – How Shall I Rock Thee (Original Mix)
Here’s another all-in-one mix I did some time ago. Listening back to it, I can’t remember doing it, but I can trace an evolution directly from this mix to the Shenanigans mixes that I’m producing now – tempos that go up and down mid-mix, eclectic track choices and so on. I haven’t included them in the tracklisting because they’re only samples that last for a bar or two, but there are some rock tracks that you wouldn’t expect to find in this mix, like The Clash’s “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” and AC/DC’s “Back In Black” – they are the two that come to mind, but there were others too.
I’ve decided to go with something a little different for my video choice this time – this is the Nike advert that used the Elvis Presley track that starts this mix. It’s cheesy, it’s choregraphed but it’s a lot of fun and it’s got Eric Cantona in it being a nutter. Considering it’s not that old as adverts go, it’s amazing to see how some of these footballers have completely dropped off the map (there’s only one Denilson now, eh Gooners?):
The Calico Sessions R&B 2323:
Format: mp3
Size: 32.2Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Elvis – A Little Less Conversation
2. Gadjo – So Many Times
3. De La Soul – Say No Go
4. Jackson 5 – I Want You Back
5. LL Cool J – Phenomenon
6. Indeep – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
7. Mariah Carey – Last Night A DJ Saved My life
8. Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
9. Cypress Hill – When The Shit Goes Down
10. Beyonce – Crazy In Love
11. Amerie – 1 Thing
12. Stevie Wonder – Superstition
13. Kanye West – Gold Digger
14. Fatman Scoop – Be Faithful
15. Jamelia – Superstar
16. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock – It Takes Two
17. Kelis – Milkshake
18. Britney Spears – My Prerogative
19. C+C Music Factory – Gonna Make You Sweat
20. Bomb The Bass – Beat Dis
21. Beyonce – Work It OUt
22. Britney Spears – Slave 4U
As people who know me will recall, I used to “work” at a bar in Chesterfield called Calico (the one that used to be called Inspirations). This series of mixtapes – called The Calico Sessions – are self-contained, much shorter mixtapes designed to take up anywhere betwen the last 10 and 30 minutes of a night so that I could walk round, say hi to people, have a drink, help tidy up or whatever. Unfortunately, Calico closed its doors recently for the very last time.
Calico, Chesterfield: Quiescat in Pace
These mixes were not created using Ableton Live, which is what I used now, and I don’t think the actual quality of the reproduction is as good as Ableton Live can produce. However, the quality was certainly fine when played in the bar so you shouldn’t have any problems when you stick it on your iPod or whatever you wish to do with it.
So! The first of the Calico Sessions mixtapes is an R&B-based mix, lasting 18 minutes 33 seconds – hence the name (it helped me work out how long I had left before the music ran out!). The video I’ve picked to go with it today is “She Wants To Move” by Nerd. The video features Alesha Dixon, and her new solo single – “The Boy Does Nothing” – is out soon and you can see the video on this blog by clicking here.
The Calico Sessions R&B 1833:
Format: mp3
Size: 17.0Mb
Audio Player:
Tracklisting:
1. Sugababes – Round Round
2. Pussycat Dolls – Don’t Cha
3. Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
4. Britney Spears – Slave 4U
5. Charlotte Church – Call My Name
6. Jamesy P – Nookie Tonight
7. Nerd – She Wants To Move
8. Kelis – Milkshake
9. Grandmaster Flash – White Lines
10. Amerie – Touch
11. James Brown – Living In America
12. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
13. Mariah Carey – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
14. Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl
15. Fatboy Slim – Praise You
16. Jackson 5 – I Want You Back
17. Fatboy Slim – Gangster Trippin’
18. Faith Evans – Love Like This
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/Basement%20Jaxx%20-%20Do%20Your%20Thing.jpg "Basement Jaxx - Do Your Thing")
