The Vinyl Adventure, Episode IV: The Godfather

The Vinyl Adventure, Episode IV: The Godfather

This is obviously not happening on the regular by any means. I do have a lot of procrastinating to do now, so maybe I'm wrong and it'll happen more often. I'm sure you're really concerned...

_onward

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DJ Z-Trip and DJ P's seminal mix Uneasy Listening Vol.1 is a prized possession in my collection, so the label here is pretty accurate. Have you ever heard music before? I mean like every and all musics... played at the same time? Did you enjoy that experience? Well, then this is right up your alley. I don't know why I'm trying to sell you on this. It's not like I get paid to advertise this mix that's over a decade old at this point. Just know that if you're not really into this, I truly hope you have other redeeming qualities about your personality.

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My first encounters with this were never as a whole. I would hear bits and pieces of it here and there and be like, "WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THIS?!" I think my first endeavours into seeking it out were for the blend of The Eagles's I Can't Tell You Why and The Pharcyde's Y?. The problem was, for some reason, I thought Pat Benatar did I Can't Tell You Why. My searching was super frustrating, especially because the blend just before this is Pat Benatar's Love is a Battlefield and The Pharcyde's Passin' Me By. Most of my searches were the same rollercoaster of excitement that would end in disaster. The Eagles/Pharcyde thing isn't even that long of a blend, not even long enough to consider it a full on track, but the Battlefield/Passin' Me By mix is something that could stand alone as a single track.

Because of this, the latter is always what I ended up finding. I would've hated it so much more if it weren't so good. Old hard drives would show just how many mp3s I had of the same wrong mix. I have an EP of snippets from this; each of them not being the bit I was looking for. I'm sure you're thinking, "Why would you keep downloading the same track?" or "Why didn't you just listen to it before you wasted your money?" Questions I answer with: mp3 downloading was different at the time; I'm not a savvy consumer, as in, I just buy lots of possibly good stuff and hope it works out; and I was sure I was right with my formula of "Uneasy Listening by Z-Trip and DJ P + Pharcyde + Pat Benatar". (P.S. You're such a dick for questioning my research methods. Who are you?)

I got around to finding a copy of the whole mix (not this record) somehow and finally heard the bit I was looking for and was pretty relieved to know I was right... sort of. Um... I only realized that The Eagles did I Can't Tell You Why right now as I started writing this. I had totally settled in with my assumptions since I kind of got the answer I was looking for. You'll have to forgive me, but, I mean, the question never was "who sings this song?" it was, "how can I listen to this bomb blend?" Isn't that how it goes? An answer will come up, but, really, need to know the question to ask.

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I just watched Z-Trip's episode of Crate Diggers, which was what led to revisiting this mix. I don't know why I don't listen to this more regularly anymore. It's what set off the mash-up movement, something I was huge on; it pretty much has every record you ever needed in some form; and it still slays to this day. Rhinestone B-Boy, Tom Sawyer, that Brazilian version of Girl from Ipanema: all of it is just so damn good. Nothing will ever touch this mix in its impact and nothing will compare to how it blends such a span of genres and how it does it with such a wink and a smile. This was two DJs' dissertation on how pop music works, how far reaching a beat, a rhythm, or a verse can go. I for sure learned something out of it.



 _adventure complete