The word mixtape has plenty of different interpretations. It used to be that mixtapes were actually DJ sets recorded on cassette tapes, but with the coming of the digital music age, the name remained the same, but the definition expanded. Nowadays, people call mixtapes many different things, some of which are not necessarily mixed and most of which were never taped. Here we try to cover them all. In this column, Juan Data gives you a worthy one every week.
DJ: NTSFRSH
MIXTAPE: Rescaten a las mascotas que quedaron dentro del edificio!!!
Not too long ago I heard somebody talking about “blog music” as in music that’s popular among bloggers and is mainly (or even exclusively) distributed through this medium. Venezuelans NTSFRSH (blog-friendly abbreviation for Not So Fresh) epitomize this concept. A couple of bloggers (Diamantero and Flyback) by day who go out as a DJ duo in Caracas by night and play exactly that type of music that’s post-hipster or über-cool or whatever you wanna call it.
NTSFRSH are also members of the Bink collective of mestizo arts and cofounders of the CocoBass net-labelthat releases plenty of interesting dance-floor-oriented music, the kind that bloggers love, and they recently put out this 42 minute long mixtape where they play many exclusive unreleased tracks from their label’s catalog along with some epilepsy-inducing 3ball guarachero, gravetón and other unpronounseable postmodern genres that thrive in the blogosphere. There’s also some kitsch elements, like the Mexican sonidera intro and an unexpected cameo by Spain’s pop-dance, mega-star Juan Magan, but the glue that sticks it all together is electro-derivative beats.
You think you’re not cool enough to get it? Don’t worry, just download it and play it in front of your friends and if somebody asks what is it, you casually say “I downloaded from a blog” and all of a sudden you’ll experience a raise in your coolness level.
NTSFRSH: RESCATEN A LAS MASCOTAS QUE QUEDARON DENTRO DEL EDIFICIO!!! (mix) by BINK.