Greetings! The Mint Collective is a group of people from different beats all using their blessings to promote, market & increase visibility for creative endeavors.
We ♥ music, art, creativity, traveling, technology, food and drink, love, life, laughing and lots more. Its fun, really, sometimes even splendid.
Alternative radio network, Brooklyn Radio, has been holding it down with music from and compiled by the best international and local djs since early 2006. With show’s like San Francisco’s own Beat Sauce Radio, Bastard Jazz Radio and The Rub, Brooklyn Radio has given visibility to many artists in the movement and for that we should be thankful.
Please please check out the latest Unfoldshow with new music from LEMS, MDCL w/ Rahel, Massive Attack and more.
“Fresh out of Brighton, UK, Tru Thoughts Records Presents Unfold. Hosted by label boss and DJ Robert Luis, Unfold brings an eclectic mix of Tru Thoughts gems and remixes, along with other UK treats and musical genres from around the globe. As head of A&R for Tru Thoughts, Robert Luis is a tastemaker who has that certain knack for discovering dope jams in funk, soul, jazz, broken beat, hip-hop, reggae, house, and dubstep…just to name a few.”
“Belleruche are perfectly described as handmade hip hop blues soul, like Sarah Vaughan, Django Reinhardt and Cut Chemist stuck in a lift with Russian beer and a sampler”.
Recorded in their newly put together Hackney (just outside of London) studio fueled on rum and coffee,Kathrin deBoer, Ricky Fabulous and DJ Modest are back at it creating “Turntable Soul”. Watch out for “The Liberty EP”, out on March 30th, with a first ever release for two stunning new tracks from the latest sessions.
Listen to this beautiful track “You’re Listening To The Worlds” (Asthmatic Astronaut Remix).
Making serious waves on the international music scene since 2006, Names You Can Trust a.k.a. NYC Trustis back at it releasing a full remix project. With collaborations from TM Juke, The Fulanos Band and DJ DRM of Bastard Jazz, the remixes are set to rock dancefloors worldwide. Tru Thoughts artist, TM Juke, dude who has previously teamed up with Alice Russell and then some has reworked the cumbia classic “Tabaco Y Ron” which you can download free below (click on down arrow :) ).
“Benedic Lamden is a musician, engineer and producer. He has produced a string of LP’s as Nostalgia 77 for Tru Thoughts; he also produces all the releases for his own record label, Impossible Ark. His hard work and prolific creation process has led to the release of many outstanding projects, containing a diverse and varied fusion of stylesand influences of mellow and moody offerings, to more upbeat, heavy funk, jazz, and african; mixed with psych bits and pieces.
The Skeletons; a uniquely inspired African-Jazz album, is the latest project from Benedic Lamdin. The album will be released on Impossible Ark Records on March 23rd. VInyl junkies - 300 fresh, individually hand printed LPs will also be available.”
This project is absolutely genius and nostalgic. Here is a sneak peak of “Gravel” off of Skeletons.
Get ready for an another amazingly dope Tru Thoughts label compilation, ‘Shapes 10:01’, out on April 6th - a 2 CD collection showcasing the great array of quality music currently emanating from Tru Thoughts towers with a healthy dose of exclusives and remixes for good measure. Below is a taste of what to expect on this comp from Azaxx and trust us it is minty freshness to the fullest.
Brooklyn’s longstanding record labelBastard Jazz Recordingsis proud to bring you their next 12” from San Francisco based DJ, artist, and producerMophono, akaDJ Centipede.
Mophono’s resume is a long one – he’s released a short string of incredibly successful 7”s on his ownCB Recordsimprint, including theGaslamp Killer’s“My Troubled Mind”vinyl, and Mophono’s“The Edge”7” (which sat at the very top ofTurntablelab’s bestseller list for an astounding number of weeks) , and is the man behind the groundbreaking weekly “Change the Beat”party in San Francisco, an absolute institution for beat-heads, crate diggers, trainspotters, and degenerates of all types. Mophono has also performed live with Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder Festivaland opened forAmon Tobin,DJ Food,DJ Krush,Dabrye, andDe La Soulwith his Skip on Beat records, drum machines and moogs.
Now, working with Bastard Jazz under the guise ofMophono’s Halftone Society, Benji has delivered an astounding EP that beautifully manages to toe the line between past & future, organic & electronic, dancefloor & heady. Things start off with“Hunger”, a funk fueled stomper with a monster break, horn stabs, tinkling pianos and deep moog undertones.“Bumps”is a 103 BPM chugger that sounds like an unholy meeting between DJ Shadow, Fela Kuti and Pepper Adams - with a chopped, dusty drum break, and filthy Baritone sax lines weaving in and out.“Sinicism”furthur explores Mophono’s penchant for chopping and splicing the breaks, with more larger than life Baritone sax, and an absolutley brilliant mid-song change-up to a hypnotic exploration of the “Post-Dilla” sound championed by artists like Hudson Mohawke, Ras G, Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, etc… – complete with flutes, sax, and a skittish, recessed break. Lastly,Tru Thoughts’recording artistNatural Selfdelivers a crushing dancefloor remix of “Sinicism” with an alternately droning and bubbling bassline, synth squiggles, big drums, tribal percussion and more chops & tricks than you can shake a stick at. Also included on the 12” is a bonus beats “drum edit” of both “Hunger” and “Sinicism”.
William Holland The dood who brought you Quantic, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Quantic y Su Combo Barbaro is back at it with the some of freshest sounds on planet with a new project -> Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno.
“With the Flowering Inferno, Will ‘Quantic’ Holland brings dub and reggae flavours to the Latin American and African sounds that he has been chasing round the globe since he first started collecting records. He introduced this project to the world with 2008’s stunning and highly acclaimed Death Of The Revolution, and considers this follow-up album a more cohesive whole – a deeper and more intrinsic fusion of these varying musical strands. An album inspired by soundsystem culture but widened out far beyond just reggae and dancehall styles Dog With A Rope is a Tropical soundclash - encompassing a heavy bass and reggae aesthetic alongside the Tropical dance-orientated music from Cuba, Puerto Rico and Colombia. While lots of DJs are currently playing both classic and obscure old reggae, funk and Cumbia, Holland noted that not many people are currently making new music of this type and building on these styles in a modern way, so with his signature combination of faith in the past and hunger to push forward, with this album he strove to make the connection. He recorded the album in his Sonido Del Valle studio in Cali, Colombia, the city he has called home since his relocation in 2007.
As well as the straight up reverb reggae of the lush, instrumental title track, the “Dog With A Rope” single also brings you “Dog With A Rope (Dub)”, a killer deep dub version exclusive to this single. You can also feast your ears on “Dub Y Guaguanco”, a steadily building mix of reggae piano stylings from Alfredito Linares and the Colombian rhythm Guaguanco, with a vocal coro from Colombian singers Orlando and Virgilio Hurtado (who also provided the vocals to “Mambo Los Quantic” on Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro’s highly lauded ‘Tradition In Transition’ LP, trivia fans).” -Jazz
Listen to the wonderful interview by Jeremy Soleon KCRW, as him and Quantic rap about the recording process, growing up in the UK, commonalities between Latin and Reggae music, and how this new record has married the two styles. CLICK HERE.
The “Dog On A Rope” single drops June 8 on with the full Dog On A Rope album releasing July 13 on the world-renowned Tru Thoughts imprint. Enjoy a couple previews from the new album below :)
Check out this really nice sampling of music from some independent labels we love! Our good friend + music lover-spreader, Miss Jazz, threw this comp together showcasing some amazing music!
” Label Love is an eclectic yet unified bundle of unique sounds compiled simply for the love of sharing them with the universe - each track plucked and presented by label heads from Bastard Jazz, ESL, Fania, Now Again, Plug Research, Tru Thoughts and Ubiquity.
Each label evokes it’s own signature swagger giving this collection a diversified and interesting flow of genres. Label Love consists of nostalgic classics, fresh unreleased gems and other dope selections with the goal of expanding minds to new styles, vibrations and colors.” -Miss Jazz
With the release of Quantic’s latest project Dog On A Rope via Tru Thoughts this week, KCRW’s Jeremy Sole has compiled a fresh mixtape that uniquely travels through the many sounds of Quantic. Download here.
Bigups XLR8R for images, Mochilla for being dope and Jazz for putting us on!
Just got linked with a fresh new promo mix from the upcoming Natural SelfMy Heart Beats remixes and versions EP out Aug 16 on Tru Thoughts with sounds from kidkanevil, Jeremy Sole, Eliphino, Yult and Prince Fatty. Really lookin’ forward to this one, the promo mix is off the chain! Download for free here.
Good gawd! Alice Russell continues to blow me away. This video nearly made me shed a tear (seriously). Watch this video captured by Sef Diggy at Yoshi’s San Francisco last week of Alice performing her hit “Tired Little One” off Under The Munka Moon (2004). Ben Schwier on piano & Steve Wyreman on guitar. Amazing. -jm
William Holland is a musical mastermind. His diverse sounds across the global landscape have been influential for over a decade. It’s possible you may have heard of one or several of his projects such as Quantic, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Quantic & The Flowering Inferno or Quantic & His Combo Barbaro? With roots in the UK and now planted in Cali, Colombia, Mr. Holland is poised to make his next move sharing along the way many musical treasures and maybe even his homemade lemon curd!
We recently caught up with Will to rap about cumbia mashups, “Trees & Seas”, what makes music palatable and what he has in store. Enjoy and don’t forget to download a little Dub Y Guaguanco by clicking the down arrow on the track below :)
What are the first 5 words that come to mind that you might use to describe the music you create?
Saw you absolutely kill the Do Over a couple months ago with your Cali [fornia]-centric cumbia mashups like “Ain’t Nuthin’ But a G Thang”. How have you been able to hone in on such unique sounds making them into one seamless, danceable song?
Well, that came about from making a version originally of J Dilla, after that I got interested in covering other songs. The lines between hiphop and North American Black Music are slowly blurring with Tropical sounds like Cumbia, so it seemed fitting to try and ‘version’ some of these songs. I’ve been learning accordion in Colombia for a couple of years now so making specials like this are a chance for me to get better on the instrument and experiment with rhythms.
After a “bakers dozen” or so of releases what is one piece of musical equipment you couldn’t live without?
Well, I’d like to put it down to a fantastic piece of old equipment or eccentric piece of British sound engineering equipment. But in reality, I couldn’t live without a Mac Powerbook, since the first one I bought (and believe me I’ve got through a lot of them over the years!!!) its been an invaluable part of my production process. Its allowed me to travel the world fairly lightly and record all over Latin America & the States.
I have to ask what was going on when you created “Trees & Seas” and the whole Mishaps Happening album - it’s genius. It’s got the whole simple loopy hip hop, chill, melodic, cinematic vibe infused in it.
I made Mishaps Happening and particularly ‘Trees and Seas’ whilst living in Brighton, England. I’m not sure what was going through my mind. I’ve always enjoyed working with a loop aesthetic and building up the vibe slowly. I had started renting a small room in a shared studio complex in the centre of the city, I’d often stay there till the early morning making songs. I’d always leave the warm confines of the studio and listen to the songs I had made on the walk back home. I remember vividly listening to this song on completion, walking up the hill to my house in the Brighton mist at 3 in the morning.
Your music is so palatable to really any type of listener. P.s. my dad loves “Dub Y Guaguanco”. Is this a conscious effort?
Mmm… well I’m really into trying to make music as universal as possible. The only danger with this is that you risk softening up or watering down the music in the process. I’m trying always to tread carefully and make each song live up to its full potential. Some songs are more universal than others, and a style Reggae is one of the most universal there is.
Heard you play Ana Tijoux (who we love) on both the Soundwaves Radio show in LA last month and the Tropicalismo mix w/ the Mochilla cats & Sabo. What other female emcees/vocalists are you into at the moment?
I’m not sure why but I’ve always preferred listening to female rappers than male. I grew up with two sisters and a mother who were always singing so maybe that has something to do with it. Its also maybe that I’m not super into Macho Hiphop styles. Ana is great, very talented and definitely pushing things forward. I also like Goyo from Colombia’s Chocquibtown.
You’re based in Colombia and originally from the UK, where do you think you’ll live and dig for sounds next?
I really want to do something in Trinidad, a calypso orientated project of some kind. I’ve also been trying to get to Angola for years, hoping to get round to that this summer. Colombia has been very good to me and I enjoy living here dearly, but let’s see where life takes me.
Best show you’ve played, ever?
Oh god that’s a hard one. One of favourite DJ shows was in Sicily, in the yard of an old Wine Factory with Blossom falling from the trees onto the turntables. With the Combo Barbaro we recently played a fantastic show at the Worldwide festival in Sete, France, that was magnificent as the stage was set in an Amphitheater up on the cliffs looking over the sea.
Something most people don’t know about you?
I make a good Lemon Curd.
What are you looking forward to?
I’ m looking forward to performing at the Shock Awards in Colombia this week. I’ m also off to my family home in Dec, so looking forward to a good cider and English cheddar (two things Colombia just cannot supply me).
-J Marie
Just wanted to thank Will and Jasmine at Tru Thoughts for making this interview happen. This is a huge honor for me, I have been a Quantic fan for a musical lifetime. ♥♥♥ xx-jm
