Music Blogs

Rootless Global Cosmopolitans

Whether you're chilling poolside, cruising on Saturday night or simply blasting your iPod on a transcontinental journey, nothing will get you there quicker than a mixtape.

Now "mixtape" means different things to different people, of course. Old schoolers will recall putting together a mix-tape (as in cassette deck) assembled from artists in their CD or vinyl collection, a must to show friends how deep is your love, and your knowledge of musical esoterica. An opening track from a rare Fugazi bootleg bookended by Ken Nordine or Music For Biscuits spoken word followed by a live Radiohead song found only on a limited edition 45? You bet. But that was yesterday.

Today, "mixtape" means a similar concurrence of rare music, but typically of the unreleased kind and often without any label affiliation whatsoever. These mixtapes began in hip-hop hoods and continue now with every thing from Crate and Barrel "lifestyle mix" CDs to guys on the street selling their virgin mixtapes. You can say you knew them when.

Taking the mixtape theme and applying it to what is simply a compilation, record labels hoping for some street cred now call their comps "mixtapes." There's a sucker born every minute don't ya know. But in the hands of some labels -- Six Degrees, Kranky, Big Dada, Warp and Thrill Jockey come to mind - the comp cum mixtape works like nobody's business.

With that in mind, hardy Cali label Nacional Records jumps into the fray with Raul Campos Presents Lotería Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1. Commandeered by Raul Campos' (host of KCRW's influential "Nocturna" show on Los Angeles public radio (KCRW 89.9FM/ KCRW.com)), Loteria Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1 features a killer menu of remixes and homegrown tracks, including acclaimed electronic acts from around the globe like Nortec Collective (Tijuana), The Pinker Tones (Barcelona), Pacha Massive (The Bronx) and Mexican Institute of Sound (Mexico City), as well as rare remixes of Thievery Corporation, David Byrne and Sergio Mendes. Up-and-comers Cuarto Poder, Los Rumbers, and Choc Quib Town show the future of the global mix-mash scene.

Blending freaky electronic tones with earthy Mexican cumbia and equally rustic folk elements, Nortec Collective creates a hallucinatory mix of past and present = future that is rootlessly romantic and brain-stunning. As I wrote in a January 2006 record review for REMIX magazine, "Pepe Mogt, Melo Ruiz, DJ Bostich and their friends, who fill the third installment of the lauded Nortec Collective series, could show U.S. musicians a thing or two. Each track here is a marvel, bursting with clever combinations of native culture, warped programming treatments and diverse, bubbling beats. Mariachi trumpet and car horns fill Bostich's bouncing "Tengo La Voz," followed by the accordion 'n' hip-hop freakiness of Fussible's "Tijuana Makes Me Happy" and Clorofila's Shaft sendup, "Funky Tamazula," which boasts programmed timbales, trumpet and farting bass." Here Nortec Collective cuts it up with "Olvidela Compa," a humorous dance of grouchy accordion, rolling big beat, trumpet and sun refracted memories of good times past.

Nortec Collective always provides drug-free mind-blowing journeys, but Lotería Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1 doesn't stop with my personal favorites. DJ Bitman's "Shine" blips and bleeps with sampled acoustic guitar and piano riffs, and a string sample like something from a Boris Karloff movie. Choc Quib Town's "Somos Pacificos" spins hip-hop on its head with Spanish language raps and glowing melodic piano chords that recall the best of Tribe Called Quest.

Also on tap in this truly excellent taste of global remix culture: Thievery Corporation's "Exilio," Stolen Identity's "Playa De Musica," Los Amigos Invsibles remix of David Byrne's "Like Humans Do," Masters at Work's remix of Sergio Mendes "Mas Que Nada" (featuring Black Eyed Peas), Mexican Institute of Sound's "Cha Cha Cha" and much, much more. Lotería Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1 flows like a monster riding a wave deep into the borderless ocean of sound.

Nortec Collective
"Olvidela Compa" (mp3)
from "Raul Campos Presents Lotería Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1"
(Nacional Records)

More On This Album

DJ Bitman
"Shine" (mp3)
from "Raul Campos Presents Lotería Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1"
(Nacional Records)

More On This Album

Choc Quib Town
"Somos Pacificos" (mp3)
from "Raul Campos Presents Lotería Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1"
(Nacional Records)

More On This Album