Episode 5 : Def Magnetic

"I love this game."- CormegaThis is the first month I've had to go into my boxes of cassettes to find a particular tune for you, hence the title of this episode! Thanks to the wonders of modern technology I recorded it into my computer and can manipulate the sound with the turntables via Serato - very space age. Ironically, I think this is the first episode which isn't quite short enough to go on one side of a tape...I've got a bit of a bad cold this month, but have tried to do a decent job on the voiceovers - bear with me!Playlist/NotesCount Bass D : JunkiesOne of the best all-round musical talents in Hip-Hop, shout out to Mathmatics for putting me up on him back when the "Dwight Spitz" album came out. Paul Wall : Sittin' Sidewayz (Inst)Yes, this is one of my all-time favourite beats. Most people think immediately of the huge bassline as the main focus but I actually think the track is centred around the little bluesy guitar riff - have a listen and see what you think!The Cool Kids : Black MagsBefore this record, there were acute shortages of Hip-Hop tracks about BMX bikes. Problem solved :o)I was really late on these guys, and while not all of their stuff is to my liking this tune is very heavy - deceptive in its simplicity I think!Massive Attack : Inertia CreepsFrom the "Mezzanine" album. Piece of background trivia, as told by producer Neil Davidge - apparently the guys used to carry tape recorders everywhere and record whatever might be interesting; this track is based around a snatch of a recording from a Turkish (or was it Moroccan?) market - you can hear it bare just before the main beat comes in.Cormega ft. Tragedy Khadafi : No EquivalentI read someone on a message board recently say that Cormega is "too manly for this generation", which made me smile - I think a better way to describe him is "no-frills" - he's steadily worked at his craft for years, doesn't have a gimmick and gives a great interview. This is from the Special Edition pack of "The Realness" and "The True Meaning" - which is a top notch album.Camp Lo : World HeistLow key headnodder from the Bronx slang-editorialising, diamond heisting, 70s dressing duo; from the B-side of their first single "Coolie High" which is of course a classic - run to hear it right now if you never have before!Shyne : More Or Less (Inst)Fierce instrumental, produced by Kanye West in his pre-"College Dropout" years. The original version of this track was called "When I Die" - not sure why it was changed for its appearance on the "Godfather Buried Alive" album but the dubbing over of the hook was pretty weak...Roc Raida : One Man BandRIP Grandmaster Roc Raida. Check out his title-winning performance here.Michael Jackson : Sunset DriverUnreleased track from the "Off The Wall" sessions - I don't know how this didn't make the album, but this offcut is fifty times better than a lot of other peoples' best track.Zapp : I Can Make You DanceIt's true, you know. Just one of Zapp/Roger Troutman's killer dancefloor movers. For a funny sampling of this, check out Compton's Most Wanted's "I Don't Dance." As it happens, that tune is really danceable as well!PS "You dance in the morning when you eat your cornflakes" -  lyrics.Gap Band : Beep A FreakWilson, Wilson & Wilson with a treatise on communication problems in male-female relationships circa 1984.I had to convert this from tape - the version on the "Gap Band VI" vinyl is better sound quality of course but a quite different mix, and the beeper noise runs through the entire song and would have driven a lot of you mad...Orbital : InitiationFrom their 2003 soundtrack to a film called "Octane" - I only found out about this record a few weeks ago myself!Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five : The TruthTaking it old skool for a minute. Note to youngsters - Pete Rock, Biggie, and Tribe are not old skool. This is definitely one of my favourite F5 tracks, tough tough tough! I've never heard anyone else mention it until I found a fellow appreciater on this blog.Eric B & Rakim : I Know You Got SoulOne of their best known tracks of course, playing this one as a special request for the man Mr Mari - enjoy!EPMD : The Big PaybackEPMD (Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, for those who don't know) are without doubt one of the greatest MC duos of all time and this is probably my favourite track from the 1989 "Unfinished Business" album, although "Get The Bozack" is another killer on there which unlike this was never a single.Zero 7 : Light Blue MoversThis was on the vinyl of the single "Somersault" and is just an irresistible head-nodder; that bassline just sticks in your head.Raekwon : Canal StreetFor the Manchester listeners - no, not the Canal Street in the Village...The "Cuban Linx Pt.II" album has barely been out of my car stereo since it was released and this is one of the many gems on it - if I hadn't played this, it would probably have been "Surgical Gloves" which is one of the most relentlessly evil beats I've heard in a long time (courtesy of The Alchemist), with Raekwon on the mic coming off almost MF DOOM-ish. As for this, it feels like it came out of a 70s crime film soundtrack, and in a world of autotune and snap beats, thank goodness someone is making tracks like this!