LJB April mixtape (Def Jux special)

Partly to celebrate the looong-awaited remastered reissue of one of the greatest rap albums ever, Company Flow's Funcrusher Plus, this month's mixtape is a slightly-less-than-CD-size compendium showcasing the musical brilliance of the Definitive Jux label, firm favourite of rap backpackers everywhere and this blog alike.

i primarily made it for my friend D. Frith, who isn't really familiar with Jux as his main preferences musically are nosebleed drum'n'bass and similar associated styles, but he was curious to get a flavour of The Jux Sound. If you're already familiar with their stuff then it's just a good selection of amateurishly-crossfaded DJX classics to bump in the car.¹

1. Company Flow - Simian Drugs (Feeling Ignorant) feat. Ill Bill
2. Cannibal Ox - Iron Galaxy
3. Aesop Rock - Battery
4. Breezely Brewin, Q-Unique, Godfather Don, J-Treds & MF DOOM - Fondle 'em Fossils (El-P remix)
5. El-P - Stepfather Factory
6. Camu Tao - Hold the Floor
7. Mr. Lif - Heavy Artillery
8. RJD2 - Bus Stop Biddies
9. Mr. Lif - Success feat. Aesop Rock
10. S.A. Smash - The Harvest
11. C-Rayz Walz - Elephant Guns
12. Despot - Homesickness
13. MURS - Walk Like a Man
14. Hangar 18 - Beatslope (Blockhead remix)
15. The Perceptionists - Memorial Day
16. Central Services - Jukie Skate Rock
17. Aesop Rock - Food, Clothes, Medicine
18. Cage - Good Morning NY feat. El-P, Matt Sweeney & James McNew of Yo La Tengo
19. Slow Suicide Stimulus - Say Cheese feat. Yak Ballz
20. Rob Sonic - The Over Under
21. El-P - No Kings

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

Previously:

[january]|[february]|[march]²

¹ Full disclosure: i seem to have mislaid my copies of both DJXP3 and S.A Smash's Smashy Trashy. So the versions of "Homesickness" by Despot and Smash's "The Harvest" here are excerpted from other mixes by, respectively, DJ Big Wiz and DJ Shortrock.
² March just sort of went west, really.

News in brief (scanning thru Beeb website)

Concern over Katona TV appearance
An erratic appearance by former pop star Kerry Katona on ITV1's This Morning caused viewers to call in with concerns about her health.

The singer's slurred words prompted host Phillip Schofield to say: "You don't seem right to me... Your speech is a bit slurred, how are you feeling?"

Katona seemed surprised by the question, but blamed prescription drugs she had taken to help her sleep.

Former pop star does drugs, you say? Gosh, This Morning viewers are an incisive bunch. Still less of a concern, i'd say, than the continued pollution of our screens by tossers like J. Oliver, J. Clarkson, J. Kyle, Heston "Jellyfish and Banana Quiche" Blumenthal* et al.

* (for instance)

Also, Phil Schofield is one smooth bastard. i'm definitely trying out the line "you don't seem right to me" next time i hit the town.

Police 'exaggerate demo numbers'

Police "over-egg" the number of people taking part in demonstrations to justify the amount of cash they have spent, a climate protester has claimed.

Phil McLeish, from Climate Camp, said police used to "downplay" the number of protesters at demonstrations.

But now they were "colluding" with protest groups to make demonstrations appear bigger than they were.

A police source told BBC News: "This is a bit rich. They always criticise us for underestimating the numbers."

That last sentence is like a customer in a restaurant telling the chef that part of his food is still frozen, and the chef replying with "That's a bit rich. You usually criticise me for burning it." The point being, neither are really particularly desirable.

Bad policeman, no doughnut.

Naked man found wedged in chimney
A naked man found wedged in the chimney of a supermarket in Wigan has been arrested on suspicion of burglary.

Police officers discovered him trapped in a chimney breast of a Tesco Express store on Ormskirk Road, Pemberton.

Firefighters were called to rescue the man who had become trapped in the chimney as he tried to get out.

Police said that because the man was naked he was taken to hospital as a precaution but was treated and discharged before being arrested.

A GMP spokeswoman said: "It is believed some of his clothes came off as a result of him struggling to get out of the chimney."

Not a lot to really add to the awesomeness of this one, except i quite like the idea that someone being naked is now considered a sign that precaution should be taken.

And finally, Mohammed al-Fayed may be a child sex offender. Don't worry, i'm sure it'll only be a matter of hours before it turns out to be all a conspiracy to discredit his good name, planned and executed by MI6, Prince Phillip and the Loch Ness Monster.

MP3: Aesop Rock feat. Rob Sonic — "Dark Heart News"