Société Perrier 14-Month Anniversary DJ Mix: The Herbaliser

Legendary jazz-rap-funk outfit The Herbaliser have been making classic tunes for true hip-hop heads since forming in the '90s. Thankfully there's ain't no stopping these funky gents whose new album, There Were Seven, is out on October 8 via their own Department H label (have a look at the video for their new single, "The Lost Boy," below). The Herbaliser's DJ Ollie has mixed an exclusive 14-track session celebrating our 14-month anniversary. Read his wonderful liner notes about the mix featuring tunes from DJ Format, Third Bass, Dennis Coffey and Afrika Bambaataa and the Jazzy Five, then go with your bad self!

The selection opens with a track by Pablo called "The Story of Sampling." I started with this track because right now I feel very strongly that the important core elements of hip-hop music are getting completely lost in the glorification of rappers and mass commercialization of the genre. This track demonstrates perfectly how exciting the art of sampling can be when used creatively.

It's followed by a recent song by Rasheed Chappell, a great MC who also does hip-hop the proper way. I like to use samples to link tunes together. So I have run "Invocation" into the original song that the drum track is taken from "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss, a classic.

After that comes DJ Format, with the title track from his new album "Statement of Intent." It's a fine piece of work from a great DJ and good friend and once agin representing the preservationist ethic. That goes into "R.A.I.D." by the Quakers, probably my favorite number from what I consider to be one of the top hip-hop albums of 2012.

Once again I do a little sample link, running Gary Wright's "I Can't find the Judge' into 3rd Bass' "Steppin' to the A.M." Then lightening things up with a bit of disco era, we have Tony Camillo's Bazuka with "Dy-No-Mite," a song that has been seeing a lot of action on my turntables recently, it's a real good time classic!

That's closely followed by some real old-school business, "Mount Airy Groove" by Pieces of a Dream with a bit of Herbaliser/Jean Grae acapella floated over it and then continuing with old-school hip-hop classics, Jazzy Five make an appearance with a Steinski mix version of the incredible "Jazzy Sensation" all in the tradition of the Lesson mixes that he performed back in the '80s with Double Dee.

Bringing things toward the end with a bit more Herbaliser acapella over OG breakbeat flavour from Dennis Coffey with Scorpio and finally we close with some brand new UK/US collaborative business from Soundsci, "In a Flash."

— DJ Ollie Teeba from The Herbaliser

Société Perrier 14-Month Anniversary Mix: The Herbaliser

1. Pablo - "The Story of Sampling"
2. Rasheed Chappell - "Invocation"
3. Melvin Bliss - "Synthetic Substitution"
4. DJ Format - "Statement of Intent"
5. Quakers - "R.A.I.D."
6. Gary Wright - "I Can't Find the Judge"
7. Third Bass - "Steppin' to the A.M."
8. Tony Camillo's Bazuka - "Dy-No-Mite"
9. Pieces of a Dream - "Mount Airy Groove" + 10. The Herbaliser - "Tea and Beer" (acapella featuring Jean Grae)
11. Afrika Bambaataa and the Jazzy Five - "Jazzy Sensation" (Steinski's Jazz mix)
12. Dennis Coffey - "Scorpio" (alt 7" version) + 13. The Herbaliser - "Failure's No Option" featuring Cappo
14. Soundsci - "In a Flash"

Image by Matt Humphrey

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