Pitchfork

Paul D. Miller-- artist, writer, and DJ Spooky-- has, in the past year, put out an album with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, made a podcast using the sounds of New Orleans for a public radio show, created a "Buddhist hip-hop" mix, cooked up some ringtones, and probably been responsible for more music than you or I will ever produce in our entire lifetimes.

And today, he's releasing a new album, In Fine Style: DJ Spooky Presents: 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records on, yes, Trojan Records. The legendary label opened its vaults to DJ Spooky, allowing him to create a two-disc mix connecting Jamaican music history to the present.

In an essay, "Hell up, Wheel up, Come Back, Rewind: Trojan Records" posted on his website, DJ Spooky writes, "I want you to feel history when you listen to this mix and think about how sampling, making new music from old, came from the idea of versioning. Think about the soundsystem battles of Duke Reid, Sir Coxsone and Prince Buster as a forerunner to MC and DJ battles in hip-hop. Think about Kool Herc's bass enhanced soundsystem as a stepping stone for Afrika Bambaata's Planet Rock. Just think about how strange the world would be if we didn't have this music of the islands. It just makes you remember that this whole planet is just an island too."

Tracklist:

Disc One:

01 Winston "Horseman" Williams - "Sweet Like Candy"
02 The Kingstonians - "Nice Nice"
03 Desmond Dekker - "007 Shanty Town"
04 Dave & Ansel Collins - "Funky, Funky Reggae"
05 Dennis Alcapone - "Shades of Hudson"
06 B.B. Seaton - "Summertime"
07 Lee "Scratch" Perry - "Disco Devil"
08 Sly and Robbie - "Jah Jah Man"
09 Augustus Pablo - "Lama Lava"
10 The Israelites - "Come Together"
11 Ken Booth - "Old Fashion Way"
12 Bruce Ruffin - "Rain"
13 U-Roy - "Your Ace From Outer Space"
14 Tommy McCook & His Band - "The Rooster"
15 Lloyd/Dice/Mum - "The Trial of Pama Dice"
16 Ba Ba Boom - "The Jamaicans"
17 Susan Cadogan - "Fever"
18 Al Barry & the Cimarons - "Morning Sun"

Disc Two:

01 Winston "Horseman" Williams - "DJ's Choice"
02 Big Youth - "Screaming Target"
03 Derrick Morgan - "The Great Musical Battle"
04 Val Bennett - "The Russians Are Coming (Take Five)"
05 The Upsetters - "Popcorn"
06 The Shadows - "Brother Noah"
07 Isaac's All Stars - "Reform Institute"
08 The Blackbeard All Stars - "Bridgeport Dub"
09 King Tubby - "King Tubby's Explosion"
10 U-Roy - "Dynamic Fashion Way"
11 Barrington Levy - "A Yah We Deh"
12 Peter Tosh - "Here Comes the Judge"
13 Dillinger - "Flat Foot Hustling"
14 Dave & Ansel Collis - "Hot Sauce (AKA The Agro Man is Back)"
15 Dandy Livingstone - "Rudy, A Message to You"
16 The Special Beat - "Rough Rider (Live)"

DJ Spooky has a handful of live appearances scheduled for this summer, including a DJ set with punky reggae legend Don Letts as part of theBrooklyn Academy of Music's Afro-Punk weekend.

Dates:

06-27 New York, NY - Apple Store Soho
06-30 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw *
07-06 Barcelona, Spain - The Influencers Festival
07-08 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Bard College #
07-09 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Bard College
07-15 Cleveland, OH - Cleveland Ingenuity Festival %
08-02 New York, NY - Joe's Pub &
08-19 Groningen, Holland - Noorderzon Festival
08-20 Groningen, Holland - Noorderzon Festival
08-21 Groningen, Holland - Noorderzon Festival

* with Don Letts, the Eternals, Shawn Hewitt, Nouveriche
# with Bora Yoon
% with Daniel Bernard Roumain
& with Min Xiao-Fen, Yumiko Tanaka