Born Paul D. Miller, That Subliminal Kid has developed over the years into a multifaceted artistic onslaught just short of a movement. Calling any of this guy's music intelligent is as much an understatement as saying Jesus was nice. With degrees in French literature and philosophy in hand, he's been doggedly enforcing the "artist DJ" concept since the early '90s, while staging visual arts exhibits, writing for the Village Voice and Vibe, and producing music theory, intellectual property, and science fiction novels. He's spun reggae, dub, soul, and even easy listening '60s artist Esquivel, as well as pioneering illbient records since 1996's Song Of A Dead Dreamer.
In the vein of all his previous work, Celestial Mechanix is uncommercial, uncompromising, and uniquely Spooky in a sea of cookie cutter DJs. Like Madlib being given the keys to Blue Note's catalogue which he used to produce a hip-hop album, Thirsty Ear gave Spooky license to the Blue Series to make his patented brand of ambient trip-hop turntablism while paying homage to his favourite abstract MCs and free jazz musicians. The first disk features ten such amalgamations, including the best remix of Saul Williams' Martin Luther King Jr. styled "Not In Our Name," all of which are uncut and ideal for use by the resident DJ in your family. But the real winner here is the second track which mixes eight of the first disc remixes with all manner of Antipop Consortium rhymes, EL-P beats, William Parker basslines, the piano of Matthew Shipp, and much more. Thirty-five tracks are boiled down into a tight seventy-nine minute package. His demonstrated understanding of jazz-fusion and the power of beat poetry give The Blue Series Mastermix a timeless quality which will make this last agelessly for years to come, long after you've tossed out all your Hed Kandi CDs. It's a crime against humanity that he isn't as well known as DJ Shadow. Help him out and buy a copy, will ya? You might learn something.
Disc 1: The Remixes
Disc 1: The Remixes
1. Stellar (1,2,3 remix)
2. CD:Dir->Gesture-><-N<-B*la Theory_rmx
3. Travelogue 1- NYC To Hawaii (DJ Wally remixed by Meat Beat Manifesto)
4. Lingua Ex Machina (remix)
5. Nommos Ascending (remix)
6. Maldoror's Gambit (remix)
7. Not In Our Name (remix featuring Saul Williams)
8. Bass Pressure Mix
9. Anansi's Gambit (remix)
10. Ibid/Asphalt - Otikon (remix)
11. Craig Taborn - Shining Through (Val-Inc remix)
Disc 2: The Continuous Mix
1. Unforgettable Journey
2. DJ Spooky - Lingua Ex Machina
3. Meat Beat Manifesto - Travelogue 1- NYC To Hawaii
4. Antipop Consortium - SVP/Mad Professor's Interlude
5. Mike Ladd - Untitled
6. Mike Ladd - Untitled
7. Matthew Shipp - Nu Bop/William Parker - Scrapbook
8. Matthew Shipp - Nu Bop
9. DJ Spooky - Not In Our Name (remix featuring Saul Williams) /Matthew Shipp - Nu Bop
10. Meat Beat Manifesto - Travelogue II- Medley
11. DJ Spooky - Nommos Ascending (remix)
12. DJ Spooky - Bass Pressure Mix
13. David S. Ware - Ananda Rotation (DJ Spooky Remix)
14. Antipop Consortium - Real Is Surreal
15. DJ Spooky - Optometrix (featuring J-Live)
16. Alter Echo's Interlude/Mad Professor's Interlude
17. DJ Wally - Out Of The Blue
18. Lee "Scratch" Perry - Jungle Soldier
19. DJ Spooky - Anansi's Gambit (Remix)
20. Antipop Consortium - Slow Horn
21. Antipop Consortium - SVP
22. William Parker - Scrapbook
23. Matthew Shipp Quartet - Visions
24. The Blue Series Continuum - Urban Shadows
25. Blend - Dementia Absentia (Remix)
26. Nebula Interlude
27. DJ Spooky - CD:Dir->Gesture-><-N<-B*la Theory_rmx
28. Guillermo E. Brown - More And More
29. DJ Spooky - Maldoror's Gambit (Remix)
30. William Parker Quartet - Song Of Hope (featuring Leena Conquest)
31. The Blue Series Continuum - Mist
32. DJ Wally - I Spy
33. Spring Heel Jack - Double Cross
34. Craig Taborn - Golden Age- The Val-Inc Remix
35. Cosmic World
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