'The Diary Volume 1.5 (Twenty Years of the Remix)' - VA - Chris Read (free download)

'The Diary (World's Greatest Rap Megamix)' dropped in 2007 and it was a 800+ track mix that really really did what it said on the proverbial cylindrical metal container. If you missed that one, then you can download it for nothing at Music of Substance's downloads page.

As a stop gap between that and the second volume, which is currently being worked on, Chris has put together 'The Diary Volume 1.5 (Twenty Years of the Remix)'. This time the tracks are split and named (an easier task than splitting and naming hundreds of tracks!) and it features Chris Read's own remixes of tracks from Eric B & Rakim, Nice and Smooth, Heavy D, Beatnuts, Jurassic 5, Jay Dee, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Busta Rhymes, Mobb Deep and loads more top quality names.

The idea of this latest work is: "one iconic hip hop track from each of the last 20 years, remixed paying tribute to the prouction style and sampling trends popular at the time of the original release. From the James Brown influenced style of the late 80s, to the jazz sampling trends of the mid '90s, to the iconic and distinct sounds of DJ Premier and Jay Dee, all the cornerstones of the genre's development are touched upon." A mixtape with a great concept!

Beirut - now I do care!

After the boom in page hits when I posted a Beirut remix of Jay-Z I decided to look into this further. I posted some more remix tracks that I already had from Beirut's 'The Remixes Volume 2' and I also managed to find Beirut's myspace page and I brought you all a link to download 'The Remixes Volume 2'. I also recieved an email from Beirut himself, someone had passed him a link to my page (I think through the SOHH message board). Here's some of what he said:

"This is Beirut, the producer from Los Angeles. Someone sent me a link to your blog in which you mentioned some of the remixes I've done. Just wanted to give you a shout to say that I really appreciate the support from yourself and everyone else who heard and dug the remixes through your blog."

So I emailed him back and asked if he could post up a link to 'The Remixes Volume 1' and he did it in super fast time. Thanks Beirut!

My current favourites from this volume are:

Jay-Z - Justify My Thug

Nas - Nastradamus

Rakim - Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em

These tracks are all quality in their own right but the remix production is so tight it sounds like these MC's rhymed over these beats to begin with. I just love the quality samples he uses, keep checking me for further heat from Beirut (and believe me there will be heat on the way) and possibly a little interview.

You can download the whole thing by clicking on this sentence.

Oh yeah, thanks for the anonymous commenter who only proved that people do go on blogs and download anything. If you don't want this quality music interupting your playlist, don't download it. Simple innit? And don't call me a schmuck, that's just lame.