The Signal: EP127 – Exactly 45 minutes of music to accompany an animated, murderous vapor cloud as it haunts hallways. You can download it and listen to it all you want. For as long as the power grid holds.
We’ve got video game-inspired grime from the UK, R&B experimentation, pop punk, cough syrup-infused hip hop from Spain, UK folk and African highlife combined at last, jazz, race cars, Native American bass and more!
The mix will only be available online for a limited time. Maybe, by the time you’re reading this, it’s already too late. Sorry. I don’t put the track listing here. You can right-click on the file itself and read its id3 tags, or you can subscribe to my mailing list, The Tuned In, the recipients of which are granted a full track list, a permanent download URL, and are among the first in the world notified when a new mix goes up.
01. I never played Street Fighter, but I’ve played the heck out of this track, I’m telling you.
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07. I love the production from this Spanish group. There’s a whole collective of them making these vinyl crackle beats.
08. The other track in here I’ve been playing the pants off of. I don’t have much to say about it, really. Just wanted it said, for the record, that they’re amazing.
09. Not sure who the sample vocalist is. Sounds a bit like Tormé, right? This track has been in my collection since 2007. I reached the point in the creation of this mix where I was just clicking on files to remind myself what they sounded like, if the name was unfamiliar. I Googled this artist and Google told me that it was a Star Trek character. That can’t be right. A few more clicks and I found the weblog where I originally found the tracks, which attributed it to a French DJ. How about that?
10. Tarantino dug this track up from obscurity, but I was reminded of it while watching an episode of MST3K that featured the film whose soundtrack it originally belonged to.
11. One good racing tune deserves another.
12. I dunno, it makes me laugh.
13. Not the strongest lyrics, but the production really grabbed me. Not the first time this group has appeared on The Signal, but probably their highest profile single to date, considering the star power of the guest MC.
14. This track samples a Ryuichi Sakamoto track that I’ve known & liked since forever. That makes the track a bit frustrating, as my brain keeps filling in the melody lines that come next right when this track rewinds to the beginning. But it seemed like a nice way to end things.
[image credit: Rhett Hammersmith’s International Haus of Horrors]