WaterCoolerGossip

Z-Trip and DJ P took the mixtape to another level in 2001 with Uneasy Listening – Against The Grain Vol 1. These two hip hop DJs figured out in the late 90's that a dance party, particularly full of white people, will go bananas for 80s music unexpectedly and seamlessly mixed into their set with another hip-hop beat. This worked particularly well for 80s music since a lot of the drum tracks in that era were electronic anyway. Thus began the life of the mash-up and the death of the scratching, vinyl toting, hip-hop DJ.

Only 1000 copies of this CD mixtape were pressed (a few years later it was repressed on clear vinyl in an edition of 2000) but people kept duplicating the mixtape for friends and the it resurfaced in 2002 on numerous year-end lists like Rolling Stone's" Top Musical Moments" or URB's list of top albums. Both DJs were able to book separate national tours after this, where they eventually sold the rest of those original pressings. This is where I got my copy when DJ P came to perform at my college way back when. The tech at our radio station actually made a recording of this show—speak up if you want to hear it.

The precision in the nearly instant beat matching these guys could do was impressive, technically more impressive than the ADD overlapping of Girl Talk, because they had to adjust the pitch of every record without a computer and without any presets. I pick on Girl Talk even though I like what he does because he is the "it" DJ of the moment. Technology has almost eliminated the need to master this style of mixing—and record digging for that matter—but at the time it was mind blowing. Likewise, I was hooked the first time I heard Uneasy Listening, but all DJ sets are of the moment. Those tracks have become stale to my ears and do not elicit the same excitement as when I first heard the mix. However, their landmark mixtape does capture a snapshot of DJing when all the topcats were still using all vinyl.

Above is a screen capture of the CD in iTunes (click to enlarge). Instead of track names there is a slang-flavored paragraph about them pushing the envelope of DJing through their style of "mixology." It is dated and now funny because they were serious. MP3 track names below correspond to paragraph lines.

DOWNLOAD – A SEGMENT FROM UNEASY LISTENING VOL. 1 (2001)
Z-Trip & DJ P :: No Title (MP3)
Z-Trip & DJ P :: We Think After (MP3)

Z-Trip will be spinning at Studio B this Saturday (click to enlarge). I am curious to see if/how his style has evolved, especially since the last album he made involved guestspots from a bunch of underground rappers that might not go over so well on the dancefloor. Who knows how he has been spending his time since then. I might get excited for a brief throwback to another era, but way back.

UPCOMING SHOW
SAT 2/3 :: Z-Trip, Plastic Little, The Bangers @ Studio B. $12 tix, $15 door.