Stinkmix 18 – Stereoscopic

It’s quite hard to believe that this is from a decade ago now but indeed Stereoscopic is a memento from a rather mighty familiyzing/ketching up and very definitely digging around trip in 2003. This mix is one half of a two part tale that covers (mainly) the pick of the litter from the UK end of the odyssey, which included some harrying and hoohaaing of the London stores as well as fine foraging in Manchester, Birmingham and other locales. The second part Ghetto Gold covers off more off the NYC end and is probably the most commercial Stinkmix of the lot, maybe I’ll fling that up next to get a bit of continuity on the case.
Beginning at the front, the cover is the view from my old mates Mark & Griff’s flat off Holloway Road which was the lair where many of these tunes, and many many others from the mixcds were first fully absorbed, critically rated over various concoctions and such like, and generally aired out after hours of trodding through the streets and under the ground in search of waxy goodness.

Onto the music and the kick off is a scorcher that I almost missed out on. Can’t remember the name of the shop now but it was downstairs in Berwick Street (and not Daddy Kool) and the punter before me had asked to have a listen to the excellent ‘Chapter 1 Dub Mix’ by Tad’s Logic Band. As soon as I heard the first tune, a scorching take on Thomas Dolby’s ‘She Blinded Me With Science’ I knew that record belonged to me but I had to wait an agonizing few minutes while the previous customer decided he didn’t need it and hence I wasn’t going to have to mug him in some Soho alley. I’m not generally big on ‘novelty’ cover versions but trust me this is no novelty and quite exceptional. From then on it’s over the river to Brixton and Blacker Dread’s mighty wee shop and label for some rootsical 45s, and of course just around the corner me old labelmate and mucker Lee ‘Digidub’ Berwick stepping out with JA legend and Specials trombone titan Rico Rodriguez. The reggaematical reckonings continue with another good egg Wayne Bennett (lately of Australia, but not the league gooroo) and a 45 by Est’elle that I had to brand with a couple of Stinky stings as I knew that it would get run on the airwaves etc without credit (and it did… as it remained tough to find till the Heatwave/Soul Jazzers put that right some years later).

There’s a heaping helping of homely hip hop including a firestarter from Keith Lawrence & Mystro, an overlooked gem featuring Ty and even a dash of delightful northern cynicism out of the mighty Chopped Herring camp. One of the other things that I’m not big on alongside gratuitous novelty versions is weakass jazzy blends and what have you, but fortunately the next few tracks have the creme de la creme of the likes of Tru Thoughts Rebtuz series, Raw Fusion and them kind of labels. Paul Murphy’s ‘Soul Call’ is a tune I play to this day and it just never gets old, while Mulatu should need no introduction these days (he kinda did then). Finishing it off is an unassuming beastie from Manchester’s RSL who were much better known for the (also excellent) ‘Wesley Music’ but ‘Stars’ is a fandangling finale that shouldn’t be slept on…..

That just about does it, usual palaver – dl link below and all that. These mixes have been picking up some serious numbers of downloads which is great, but an occasional comment (aside from ones pointing out knackered links) wouldn’t go amiss once in a while….. eh!

Stinkmix 18 – Stereoscopic by Stinkyjim on Mixcloud

Download @ 320 here

01 Science – Tad’s Logic Band
02 Terrorist (Who Done It) – Colour Red
03 Christ Is Black – Colour Red
04 Physically Critically – Eek A Mouse
05 Glorify The Lord – Fred Locks
06 Real Iron Version – Fire House Crew
07 Day One – Digidub Ft Rico Rodriguez
08 Ram Dancehall (Wayne Paul Dub) – Lotek Hifi
09 Uptown Top Ranking – Joni Rewind Ft Estelle
10 Keep On – Bone Idols & Aphletik Ft. Ty
11 Where Did The Sun Go – Foreign Beggars Ft Tommy Evan & Arc
12 Everywhere – Keith Lawrence & Mystro
13 Get A Grip – Staunch Liason
14 Follow Me – Red Astaire
15 Heard It All Before (The Quantic Soul Orchestra Mix) – Sunshine Anderson
16 Something That’s Real (Instrumental) – Quantic Soul Orchestra
17 Gingold’s Jackpot – Damn
18 Soul Call – Paul Murphy
19 Mètché Dershé – Mulatu Astatque
20 Stars – RSL