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: Pajaritos
MIXTAPE: Malagón En La Mar
We just met this couple of DJs spinning at the booth next to us last week at LAMC. They made us stop working and dance instead, which I guess is a good thing (unless you’re our boss, although I’d argue that dancing to this type of music should be in our job description here at Remezcla).
DJ Riobamba and DJ Malagón, collectively known as Pajaritos, are the ambassadors of the progressive tropical bass scene in Boston, MA, where they throw a monthly party called Picó Picante (Picó is Colombian for mobile sound system).
Here we have Malagón, one half of the duo, selecting a short-but-effective summertime set. Most of his playlists will sound familiar to you if you’ve been listening to other tropi-bass/ñu-cumbia mixtapes that we’ve been featuring on this column. However, Malagón prefers rare remixes over the most popular versions and executes really fast mixes so you don’t have to listen to the whole song to find out what comes next (a great plus, in my book at least). Short and cohesive, in 25 minutes the mixtape manages to take us in many different directions and cover more territory than many other 45-minute long sets. Plus, it closes with a Ramiro Musotto tune that’s one of my all time favorites!