The Calico Sessions – R&B 1924

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

Click here to download “The Calico Sessions R&B 1924″

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The Calico Sessions – Pop 1709

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

Click here to download “The Calico Sessions Pop 1709″

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The Calico Sessions – R&B 2323

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

Click here to download “The Calico Sessions R&B 2323″

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The Calico Sessions – R&B 1833

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

Click here to download “The Calico Sessions R&B 1833″

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Shenanigans 02 round-up

For anyone who missed a part of the Shenanigans 02 mixtape, I thought I’d recap all the section here in one convenient place. And just because we have a convenient excuse to do so, let’s include one of the greatest dance records of all time, one that’s featured on this mixtape; Deep Dish’s wonderful “Flashdance“:

Shenanigans 02 – Part 1:

Format: mp3

Size: 14.2Mb

Time: 15:25

Tracklisting:

Lazyboy – Underwear Goes Inside The Pants
Radiohead – High
Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing
Sheryl Crow – What I Can Do For You
Crowded House – Take The Weather With You
Dr. Dre – Stil D.R.E.
A Tribe Called Quest – Bonita Applebum
Mark Ronson – Just
Prince – Sign Of The Times
DJ Yoda – Wheels

Click here to download “Shenanigans 02 – Part 1″

Shenanigans 02 – Part 2:

Format: mp3

Size: 12.0Mb

Time:13:04

Tracklisting

Moby – Honey
Sugababes – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Beastie Boys – Body Movin’
The Soup Dragons – Free
Diana Brown & Barrie K. Sharpe – Masterplan
Amerie – Take Control
Annie – Chewing Gum

Click here to download “Shenanigans 02 – Part 2″

Shenanigans 02 – Part 3:

Format: mp3

Size: 12.1Mb

Time: 13:07

Tracklisting:

Prince – Bob George
Foxy Brown – I’ll Be
David Bowie – Let’s Dance
Pink – Get The Party Started
Playgroup – Number One
Rose Royce – If It’s Love You’re After
LL Cool J – Take Control
Freeez – IOU
Bodyrockers – I Like The Way You Move

Click here to download “Shenanigans 02 – Part 3″

Shenanigans 02 – Part 4:

Format: mp3

Size: 12.1Mb

Time: 13:07

Tracklisting:

Kylie Minogue – Did It Again
Double 99 – RIP Groove
Madonna – Ray Of Light
Praise Cats – We Got Love
Deep Dish – Flashdance
Syntax – Pray
Dire Straits – Money For Nothing

Click here to download “Shenanigans 02 – Part 4″

Shenanigans 02 – Part 5:

Format: mp3

Size: 14.0Mb

Tracklisting

Noir – All About The House Music
Avenue D – Do I Look Like A Slut?
Planet Funk – Who Said?
The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
Soulsearcher – I Can’t Get Enough

Click here to download “Shenanigans 02 – Part 5″

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Shenanigans 02 – Part 2

This is the second part of the “Shenanigans 02″ mix compilation. The first part of the mix, which featured (amongst others) Radiohead, A Tribe Called Quest, Prince and DJ Yoda, is already available on the blog – click on the “Shenanigans” category on the right hand side and it will filter out all the relevant blog postings. The parts are designed to be played in order, with no gaps between tracks, to produce one continuous mix of about 80 minutes – enough to fit onto one CD.

Shenanigans 02 – Part 2:

Format: mp3

Size: 12.0Mb

Time:13:04

Audio Player:

Tracklisting

Moby – Honey
Sugababes – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
The Beastie Boys – Body Movin’
The Soup Dragons – Free
Diana Brown & Barrie K. Sharpe – Masterplan
Amerie – Take Control
Annie – Chewing Gum

Click here to download “Shenanigans 02 – Part 2″

The Sugababes’ version of the Arctic Monkeys’ “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” was the B-side to the girls single “Red Dress”, the first track they released with Amelle Berrabah, the replacement for founder member Mutya. It was not released as a single (or even a double-A side) but it’s been a popular track again the girls have performed it live on Top of the Pops and several award shows:

Keep an eye out for the next installment of Shenanigans 02, which features Pink, David Bowie, Rose Royce, Playgroup, more Prince, The Bodyrockers, LL Cool J and Foxy Brown.

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Shenanigans 01

Once I’d graduated from dj-ing with vinyl and CDs to using a  PC, I started using the Ableton Live software package. I’d been using a different software package that basically simulated two decks – you could even varispeed and ‘nudge’ mp3 files to mix them. That was okay, but it was quite limiting and not very good. I heard about Ableton Live, downloaded the demo, then bought a version of Ableton Lite off eBay (which I eventually upgraded to the full thing – a much cheaper route than buying the full package).

No longer did I have to worry about short intros and outros and mismatching beats, because I could re-edit my own versions of songs I wanted. And once I started saving loops and samples of my favourite parts of records, I could start remixing them from the bottom up in a live situation – using a drum loop from one place, bassline from anoter, an acapella from a third track, and so on. I added a midi controller to operate the volume and EQ levels for up to sixteen tracks simultaneously, and that was all I needed – I didn’t even need headphones because I had a  graphic representation of the song in front of me and could see the breakdowns etc and even mark where elements of a song began and ended.

Finally, I realised that I could also mix anything in 4/4 time very easily. With Ableton you set a beat marker at the start of a bar and one at the end, and then just tell it how long to take to get from one marker to the next. So if I had a record at 120bpm, I could simply set the master tempo for 125bpm (for example) and Ableton took care of the time-stretching and key – no more speeded up records sounding like Mickey Mouse!

The Shenanigans series of mixes was born out of a desire to see how much I could push myself using Ableton – whether I could mix rock, dance, hip-hop, r&b and pop as seamlessly as I could mix dance records together. This mix, Shenanigans 01, is my very first attempt at doing that. I deliberately picked as varied a selection as I could, so in this mix you have Ocean Colour Scene and The Sugarhil gang mixed together as an opening pair, and artists that feature later include Korn and Girls Aloud, Linkin Park and Elvis Costello, Deep Dish and Elvis Presley, and so on.

I’ve split the mix into different parts to make it easier to download and find your favourite bits later. You should download all eight parts, then play them in order with no gaps between the tracks in order to get the full effect. If you put them on your iPod or press then to a CD, make sure you don’t have gaps between the tracks!

Shenanigans 01 – Part 1:

Format: mp3

Size: 7.8Mb

Time:8:21

Tracklisting:

Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
Ocean Colour Scene – The Day We Caught The Train
Amerie – Man Up
Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Love Unlimited
M.I.A. – Galang
Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger
Usher – Yeah
AC/DC – Back In Black
Korn – Freak On A Leash
LL Cool J – Phenomenon
Embrace – Save Me
Linkin Park – In The End

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 1″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 2:

Format: mp3

Size: 6.2Mb

Time:6:41

Tracklisting:

Freestylers – B-Boy Stance
Blondie – Rapture
Daft Punk – Da Funk
Syntax – Bliss

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 2″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 3:

Format: mp3

Size: 9.5Mb

Time:10:18

Tracklisting:

Prince – Kiss
Fatboy Slim – Praise You
The Jackson 5 – I Want You Back
Elvis Presley – A Little Less Conversation
Barenaked Ladies – One Week
Michael Grey – Weekend
NERD – She Wants To Move
James – Laid
The Bucketheads – The Bomb!
Lionrock – Fire Up The Shoesaw
Britney Spears – Slave 4U
Thunderbugs – It’s About Time That You Were Mine

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 3″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 4:

Format: mp3

Size: 6.8Mb

Time:7:22

Tracklisting:

Holly Valance – Curious
Gorillaz – Dare
Felix Da Housecat – Silver Screen Shower Scene
Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way?
Audio Bullys – We Don’t Care

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 4″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 5:

Format: mp3

Size: 6.6Mb

Time:7:12

Tracklisting:

Todd Terry – House Sermon
Fanny Pack – Nu Nu Yeah Yeah
Mighty Dub Katz – Magic Carpet Ride
Paul Oakenfold – Faster Kill Pussycat
Deep Dish – Sacramento
Mint Royale – Sexiest Man In Jamaica

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 5″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 6:

Format: mp3

Size: 6.7Mb

Time:7:16

Tracklisting:

The Clash – Rock The Kasbah
David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
Yer Man – Weird Therapy
Miss Kittin – Professional Distortion
Primal Scream – Rocks

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 6″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 7:

Format: mp3

Size: 10.6Mb

Time:7:37

Tracklisting:
Candi Staton – You Got The Love
Men Women & Children – Dance In My Blood
Kush – Bittersweet

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 7″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 8:

Format: mp3

Size: 8.9Mb

Time:9:38

Tracklisting:

Elvis Costello – Pump It Up
ESG – Dance
Nikka Costa – Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter
The Knack – My Sharona
Girls Aloud – No Good Advice

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 8″ here

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