Here’s the score…. You’re in the crappest of moods. Your car failed its MOT, your trains are delayed, your other half has kicked your cat. Whatever. You’re in a bad mood and NOTHING will sort it out. Well, maybe one or two things will. Like music. What tunes would you play? This week we’re asking the one and only Jumping Jack Frost!
Fresh from mixing Chronic’s latest speaker smasher Big Bad & Heavy 3, he doesn’t need any tunes to put him in a positive mood. In fact he’s buzzing over his ultra special VIP mix of his seminal jungle smasher Leviticus VIP.
“It was great to get my teeth stuck into the mix,” he tells us. “I wanted to put my own stamp on it. Where I’m coming from. My identity. That’s really important. So I made the VIP especially for the mix. It wasn’t easy to put a new twist on it but I’m happy with how we did it. To be honest I never wanted to return to it again but I wanted to do something special for the project. We came up with the final version, I tried it at a party and people were astonished! That will never, ever, ever come out. Ever. It’s important to have something completely exclusive for the mix.”
You heard the big man. This will never see the light of day unless you check it on the mix. In a time of free online mixes and podcasts, it’s a pretty savvy marketing move. As is his latest venture in the fashion game. Make way for Team Frost merchandise!
“Big up Team Frost!” he laughs. “We’ve been working on it for a while now. You’ve got to nail this first time, work out exactly what you want. People are wearing this stuff, it’s got to be perfect.”
Grab the swag, and a whole load of ace mixes, right here on his brand new site. And you can check out Big Bad & Heavy 3 right here. Then once you’ve done that, get down with these three fine positive vibes… The final choice is lesson in rave and funk history.
James Mason – Sweet Power
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_BQLsiZp80
“This is one of my all time favourite funk tunes. It sums up the music I grew up on and became inspired by. It sounded so futuristic! So ahead of its time. I honestly think is one of the greatest tunes ever made and it’s definitely responsible for everything else that has followed in my life. If you’ve never heard it, check it now.”
Kraftwerk – Robots
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYwV1TA7Et0
“Listen to the whole album this is from. Again, so ahead of its time. This set the agenda for all electronic music that followed. Their live show, their attitude, their delivery. Everything about them just blew me away and still does now if I’m honest. How did they even come up with this back then? The way they put everything together. They’ve inspired every generation since. And other than Bob James they must be one of the most sampled acts in history.”
Foxy – Mademoiselle
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfT5jnJSTqs
“This is where I got my sample for Leviticus! It always puts a smile to my face. A lot of people didn’t know this record existed. I’d always get asked ‘where did you get that sample mate? It’s a cool sample’ This is where it came from. And I still love hearing it now. It was quite easy to clear, sample-wise. A lot harder than other samples. We had to pay Barry Manilow money once when we sampled a little bit of Coco Cabana on a tune. Once we’d sold so many copies his people were straight on the phone. You know you’ve arrived when Barry Manilow is asking you for money. I hated it at the time but looking back it’s pretty cool…”