Tuesday 13 October 2009

Passenger Mix Tape – DJ Woody vs Body Snatchers

I had a whole different picture of who the Body Snatchers were before getting this release. For some reason I thought they were some lame arse corporate created boy band. So seeing them on a Passenger mix with the likes of Aquasky and Baobinga & ID, mixed by one of the UK's best scratch DJs, DJ Woody, had me really intrigued. Imagine my surprise and delight when instead of a bunch of boys of questionable sexuality harmonising about love, I get a gruff UK hiphop rapping about being tough and how great women with big asses are.

Much of this album is Woody dropping Body Snatchers acapellas over Body Snatchers beats, with some freestyle raps dropped here and there, and scratching thrown in for good measure. According to the tracklisting at any rate, many of the Body Snatchers tunes have been re-worked with different vocals and I suspect given phatter baselines. Most of the mixes are great and work really well together but then again, when you mash up an acapella and instrumental from the same group, it's never quite as interesting as mashing up two completely separate styles. Regardless, the mix slams the bass hard, and the various MCs deliver sound rhymes most of the time.

There are a few rhymes here and there which might leave you scratching you head. "I used to date a girl and her name was Carla / now I've got a Brazilian and her name is Flavia" then something muttered about Shakira… doesn't sound that good on paper and is even worse in verse. However, the rapping over the awesome Monster Cash builds up with the music and is a piece of brilliance which will get your head nodding where ever you're listening to it.

One of my favourite elements of this mix is its sense of fun. A lot of people seem to be so serious in their mixes, yet this one has silly rhymes and shoutouts all the way through it. It has an old school sensibility, with many guests popping up, including BluRum13, Goldmouf, Sirplus, Ragga Twins, and the aforementioned Aquasky and Baobinga & ID. Admittedly you might not know half of these names, but a good mix CD should make you want more from the artists involved, and this album certainly has done that for me.

4 Stars

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