Tag Archives: old-school

Trax Classics presents REWIND 1984: Chicago

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traxclassics

Listening to old-school acid house often means listening to scratchy old recordings ripped from 20-25 year old mixtapes.  Not this time!  Back in 2000, Underground Construction, a Chicago house label known for releasing literally hundreds of great 12 inches, compiled and released an excellent compilation of hits from the Trax Records vaults.  For those not familar with Trax, here’s a little history from Discogs:

Trax is one of the two original Chicago house-music labels (the other being D.J. International Records). Founded in the early 1980s by Larry Sherman, Screamin’ Rachael, Jesse Saunders, and Vince Lawrence. Responsible for the release of “Acid Tracks” by Phuture, “Move Your Body” by Marshall Jefferson, and many other records that shaped the Chicago and acid house sounds through the 80’s  until the early 1990’s.

Mixed by DJ Rick Garcia, this is a journey through twenty-four of Trax Records’ most famous and beloved anthems.  These songs shaped the future of house music and techno, with their haunting synths and acid 303 lines, as well as soulful vocals by Darryl Pandy and Xavier Gold.  Essential and timeless.

Listen now:

Download here (right click and “save as”)

time: 61:02 /// 114 mb /// 256 kbps .mp3

Tracklist after the jump… Continue reading →

SPD Shoe 2010 buyer’s guide Pt. 1 – Casual Shoes

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Following up on my last post, I recognize that not everyone wants to make their own SPD-compatible shoes.  So what are your “off the shelf ” options?  Well, I’ve done a lot of research and here is the first installment of my two-part “2010 buyer’s guide” based on the coolest shoes I have seen that are currently for sale.  My criteria here is to list shoes that would look and feel good at a casual office or social occasion, the kind of shoes you can wear all day, anywhere, without looking like a total bike dork.  This first list is of leather low-profile shoes that have a European style.  Part Two of the buyer’s guide will focus on sneakers that are SPD-compatible.

Check out the rest of the 2010 buyer’s guide after the jump: Continue reading →

Vintage Colnago Super Pista

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Scoooooooooooooore!  Scooped this beautiful Colnago Super Pista from a gentleman up in Harlem yesterday.  I’m still unsure of the exact year and model, but I believe it to be a late 70’s – early 80’s Super Pista, probably one of the Colnago Mexico series.  It has a Campagnolo C-Record gruppo; 165mm Pista crankset, hubs, headset, seatpost, and bars.   Rims are Mavic sew-ups with Wolber tubular tires.

Overall the bike is very clean considering its age and the fact that the previous owner rode it often.  My only complaint is that some dummy drilled the fork for a brake (arrgh!).   I am planning on giving it a complete disassembly, cleaning, polishing, and lubing.   And some fresh bar tape, of course.   The stem is a Nitto Jaguar that I will probably replace with a period-correct 3TTT Colnago pantographed stem, and I plan swapping the saddle for an official vintage Colnago one, and maybe even splurging on some vintage C-Record track pedals.  This is a truly rare bike and I’m kind of in awe of it.   It will likely take me a few weeks (maybe months) before I accumulate all the correct parts, but I can’t wait to post the “after” pics when I’m done.

Check out more photos after the jump!

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Kilo TT OS – retro fixed on a budget

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I just saw this new “experimental” frame from the folks at Bikesdirect / Bikeisland.  They added a second top tube to their popular Kilo TT bike frame, and widened the front fork and rear triangle to accept 700×38 wheels.  It’s based on the vintage designs of the early 20th century, sometimes referred to as “scorchers.”

Looks like a lot of fun to ride offroad, in the snow, etc.  Or perhaps re-paint it and make a modern-retro townie to match your tweed jackets.  It should be available for sale by the end of this week, a limited run of full bikes at Bikesdirect for $450 and framesets for $250 at BikeIsland. Sizes available are Small – 53c C-T, Medium – 56c C-T, and Large – 59c C-T.

Catnap – Pimp Fiction 1998

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Here’s the second mix I unearthed in my dusty backups, a mixtape I made with my friend Zakee on a summer afternoon in 1998.  “Pimp Fiction” is a mash of good stuff, from 60’s and 70’s soul, blues, funk and disco gems to 90’s acid jazz, triphop, and rap.  It’s reassuring to hear such tight selection and I’m glad to be able to add it to this archive.

Listen now:

Download here (right click and “save as”)

time: 70:34 /// 165mb /// 256kbps .mp3

Tracklist after the jump… Continue reading →

Kenny Dope – Hip Hop Forever

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hiphopforever

This will be the last Kenny Dope mix to post for a while, but also the best of all.  There have been many, many DJ mixes that blend these classic tracks, but Kenny’s version will always be one of my most favorites because he lets the tracks play out, smoothly beat mixing from one to the next without lots of juggling and scratching.  This is a tribute to the original songs, not an attempt to show off DJ skills or flip the tracks with new beats, and yet it is utterly perfect in the mixing and track selection.  DJ Jazzy Jeff attempted to put together a second and third volume of this series, but in my opinion they just don’t hold up, for exactly the same reason; too many cuts, juggles, and rough blends break up the flow.  Stick with this one, the original, the best…

Listen now:

Download here (right click and “save as”)

Time: 65:29 /// 119mb /// 256kbps .mp3

Track list after the jump… Continue reading →

Kenny Dope – Break Beats

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More old-school goodness from Mr. Dope.  In the words of DJ Ayres:

This Breakbeats CD is a reissued classic in the Bronx tradition of doubling hard funk, disco & early rap breaks with precision. The production is impeccable, and manages a lot of multitracking to keep it interesting, without sacrificing a live feel. But that’s just one level of appreciation; it’s a digging tape too. Everything is on here, from obvious “my first breakbeat” records (James Brown, Headhunters, Meters) to that james flames rare shit that djs like Language and Roctakon cream their panties over. And apparently he’s only rocking original copies, scratching the shit out of $200+ 12″ singles. 37 tracks total, with a couple of extended live remixes at the end and a lot of composition throughout (39 records are listed on the back, but I would guess he used more like 70-80 joints total). I know we hype a lot of music up in our reviews, but honestly, this is a desert island pick.

Listen now: [audio:http://www.djcatnap.com/myoozick/KennyDope-BreakBeats2004.mp3]

Download here (right click and “save as”)

Time: 72:20 /// 99.3mb /// 192kbps .mp3

Track list after the jump… Continue reading →