There aren’t too many DJs out there who can spin a fresh and lively set which seamlessly combines multifaceted genres and artists. But Cape Town’s DJ Ashton Abels is an exception to this reality. His art of mixing both local and international artists into his set list — while tightly jumping around genres — actually holds the crowd’s attention, instead of losing it. I recently saw him mix live at the Smirnoff Johannesburg Experience and his innovative style really impressed me.

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The battle over copyright laws rages on as the old music industry continues to crumble. Copyright Criminals is a thought-provoking documentary tackling the issue via the controversy of hip-hop and DJ culture. I wonder if the people suing sample artists have thought about the fact that DJs are the primary reason why vinyl is still a viable format, not to mention the fact that they are one of the groups of people still dedicated to buying physical copies of music.

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More often than not, internet-only hip hop mix tapes are released by wannabe rappers whose lyrics and delivery are derivative and uninspired, and who’ll never get enough weight behind them for a full length release. 24 year-old Washington MC Wale Folarin is different. Mixed by one of New York’s best hip hop DJs, Nick Catchdubs, and produced by 9th Wonder and Mark Ronson (who signed Wale in 2007 to his Allido label), his latest offering Back To The Feature solidifies Wale as a confident, engaging lyricist with a true talent for cross-genre appropriations.

A third of the way through ‘Back To…’, Wale recalls the hype surrounding his previous release, saying he never intended to make what critics named “the mix tape of the year … the monumental mix tape of the moment”, but just wanted to release his raps. By borrowing other musician’s tunes and making them his own, Wale’s post-modern approach celebrates the wonderful immediacy of online mix tape culture, being the best method for fans to access their favourite artists’ music as quickly as possible without costing anyone a cent.

After collaborations with Jean Grae and Lady Ga Ga, sponsorship deals with Nike, Stussy and 10 Deep, and praise from everyone Rolling Stone Magazine to The New York Times, Wale is one of the shining stars of contemporary independent hip hop whose talent and crossover appeal is sure to rocket him to superstardom.

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On our sister site, My Secret Playlist, we invite our favorite musicians, DJs and producers to write about eight songs that are inspiring them right now. You can hear some of the tunes that the artists select and discover a whole heap of cool music along the way. Some of the musicians to compile a Secret Playlist so far include The Dandy Warhols, The B52s, Donna Summer (disco, baby), Girl Talk, Cold War Kids, Moby, The Presets and The Vines.

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We invited Greg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, who aside from being the DJ of the moment is also the remix whiz behind tracks from Beck, Tokyo Police Club, and Grizzly Bear, to give us a rundown on the songs he’s wearing out right now for our sister site, My Secret Playlist. He started off by propping Beyonce’s anthemic single, Single Ladies [listen below]. Go figure! ‘This is one of my favorite Beyonce tracks ever. It has so much energy, and the chorus gets dark in a great way. The clapping never stops. The video is a flawless execution of a performance style clip. It’s perfect’. Read the rest of Girl Talk’s Secret Playlist.
[audio:http://siik.org/audio/beyonce-single_ladies-siik_remix.mp3]

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This guy is my favorite DJ. He’s the inventor of the mash-up, but his skills go way beyond that. I love to DJ, but when i do, I play a lot of classics. I don’t stick to new stuff because I’m not trying to pull out the top forty banger for the club. That’s what I like about the way Z-Trip plays. He actually inspired me to start DJ-ing in the first place. He mixes hip-hop with classic rock, eighties, and all sorts of weird stuff you wouldn’t think would go together. He’ll have people dancing to Deep Purple, for instance, who would never usually listen to a Deep Purple record. It’s a real skill to be able to entertain and educate at the same time. That’s what I try and do with my art, and that’s what I enjoy about DJ Z-Trip: that ability to slip the cool, lesser known songs in there, which works because of the inertia of the stuff people do know. He understands how to navigate that balance.
[audio:http://djztrip.unknownvariable.com/audio/Z-Trip_Obama_Set_Outtake1.mp3]

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DJ Spooky — That Subliminal Kid — is just about the deepest crate digger around, trawling the barrels of long-lost record stores for choice vinyl to spin in his wickedly dubby sets. He gave us the inside word last week on his eight favourite songs right now via our sister website, My Secret Playlist. This is what he had to say about Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Panic in Babylon: ‘If there’s anything that the twenty-first century has told us, it’s that dub is the real original hip-hop. Lee Scratch even had to make it clear in 1965 by adding “Scratch” to his middle name. Take that, Grandmaster Flash!’ Read the rest of DJ Spooky’s Secret Playlist.

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David Holmes’ fourth solo album has been a long time in the making. The man who is best known for his scoring of films such as Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13, and remixing for bands like U2 and The Manic Street Preachers, took just over ten years to make his latest album. In his own words, he describes the album as beginning the day his mother passed away. ‘I had always wanted to make a record about my life in Belfast and all the things attached to that — family, friends, loss, love and starting a family of my own. All the stuff that shapes the person you become’. The result is a soothing blend of eclectic indie folk, which ranges from the soft and tranquil, to the upbeat and and joyous; an entirely delectable, personal album which touches on the universal trials of human emotion. Listen to the David Holmes track, Holy Pictures.

[audio:http://www.triplejaysus.com/podcasts/05-david_holmes-holy_pictures.mp3]

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The full length debut from the DJ-production duo Black Ghosts follows a string of acclaimed EPs and a very well received mixtape compilation. It was well worth the wait. Features the single Repetition Will Kill You.

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