I just heard on the radio that Total Eclipse is playing locally with Evidence from Dilated Peoples. Sounds like a good night to go check out.
Anyway, it reminded me how dope Total Eclipse is, so I went to have a look to see what he's been up to lately.
For anyone who doesn't know, Total Eclipse is a member of New York crew(s) X-ecutioners and Ill Insanity. His juggling chops are incredible - technical, fast and funky as balls! He's probably come up with a billion juggles since I last saw him play live, but to this day, his Who Shot Ya? juggle is one of my all time favourites.
Turns out Total Eclipse has a free mix for download on his MySpace page. I guess it's been there for a while, since know one really checks MySpace anymore (do they?), but you should go download it while it's still there:
Just got an update about this remix in my email. Previously, you could only listen to the track online at bandcamp, but they've made it available as a download now:
Just a quick one, and I know this is kinda old, but to be honest, I only found out you could download this killer A-Trak mix for free a couple of weeks ago.
Anyway, for those of you that copped the first Dirty South Dance, this follows in the same vein - a unique blend of Southern rhymes with dance tracks, all mixed and cut up in A-Trak stylee.
Also cool is #2 features artwork by Obey's Shepard Fairey.
Mike Relm seems like a smart guy. And he's also a very dope DJ. Early on, towards the early stages of following the "turntablist" scene, Mike Relm was better known as Relm (or, DJ Relm?). Relm was part of a Bay Area DJ crew called Supernatural Turntable Artists (STA), which also included Streak, Swift Rock, Doc Rice and Deus. I'm not sure if it was just my impression, but at the time these guys were kinda like the ISP proteges.
I remember buying the "Piklz Live" VHS and seeing the Relm, Streak and Swift Rock spots and thinking they were pretty mean. All of them achieved various levels of success, including Relm who won the 1999 USA ITFs and I think placed second in the World ITFs that year. Funny, I remember hearing from some guys who went over to Hawaii that year for the World ITFs that Relm was a bit of a dick. I know that's not really relevant, but it's the only Relm related tidbit that springs to mind, other than the fact that I've got a copy of his first break record Sperm Boy Breaks in one of my crates somewhere.
Fast forward 10 or so years and it looks like Relm, aka Mike Relm, is still at it and over the years he's begun incorporating video into his repertoire. I remember checking out his site (www.mikerelm.com) a couple of years back and seeing mention of his "VJ" sets, but for some reason never really checked back with any frequency.
Anyway, the other day while I was taking a trip down turntablism's memory lane on YouTube I came across a video remix by Mike Relm. It turns out he's made a bunch of them and he's created a YouTube channel called RelmVision dedicated to his video remixes which are all incredibly dope, and (usually) very funny.
Here's my top three, in no particular order:
Old Spice Remix
Worst Tattoo Customer EVER Remix
S'leb Suit Remix
Check out the rest on RelmVision and put in a request!
One last thing... go download Mike Relm's Radio Fryer Mix from Mix Crate - for free!
Regardless of whether you were introduced to the madness that is Mix Master Mike from his Invisibl Skratch Piklz days, or later when he became the Beastie Boys resident DJ - his sound is not one you could easily forget.
His uniquely raw style allows him to flip songs and samples in a way that rides a fine line between noise and pure genius - turning mistakes and needles skips into deftly funky scratch patterns and riffs.
Although it's been a while since he released Bangzilla, Mix Master Mike has been steadily on the grind and still tours heavily and has three free DJ mixes available to download on his site to keep you satisfied:
Napalm Rockets - Mike brings his unique mix technique to dub step in a skull crushing one hour mix full of sick dub step, hip hop and scratches.
Live Beatdown Vol. 1 - A traditional hip hop mix, ripped up with classic MMM skill, replete with cuts and samples.
Memoirs of a Serial Wax Killer - A trip down memory lane for fans of MMM classic mixes like Neckthrust One, Rescue 916 and The Unidentifried Essential.
Self-proclaimed the "Serial Wax Killer", and dubbed the triple M terrorist by Saafir during a freestyle session in the Wrists of Fury VHS, the free DJ mixes available at mixmastermike.com will cater for all MMM fans from go to woe.
I just heard on the radio that Total Eclipse is playing locally with Evidence from Dilated Peoples. Sounds like a good night to go check out.
