TURNTABLE LAB

Ayres
Drugs CD

Here's comes the crossover! I know The Rub is synonymous with hip hop, reggae, funk and breaks in NY, but now you can add electronic dance tracks to the list. Leave it to the creator of The Rave to follow it up with... Drugs Drugs Drugs Drugs. I know the name is a little obvious, and it's kind of a greatest hits of the last 2 years of NY dance music, but if you're in the dust - get on it bruh! Trends are like seasons here and you don't want to be left in the cold. So put your groove boots away and grab your fluorescent bandanna and Trizzy shades, and bang out to the hype sounds of Soulwax, Justice, Chromeo, brand new unreleased Kid Sister Track (featuring Kanye West), Arman Van Helden, Mylo, Claude Von Stroke, Green Velvet, Booka Shade, Das Glow, the Lab's own Egg Foo Youngstah, and many more!!!
reviewed by C'mish


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Ayres
Electrofied CD

A rare nugget in the long and storied Ayres mixography, Electrofied was originally released a few years back as part of 10 Deep's mixtape series, but it never really made it into wide distribution. We've secured copies from Ayres' personal stash, and we're passing the good fortune along to you in the form of about 40 electro classics. By now you know that Ayres has a golden ear, so his selections are always on point. I'll give you the quick list, but this one's pretty much a no-brainer: Newcleus, Egyptian Lover, Alexander Robotnik, Kraftwerk, Mantronix, Hashim, etc. He even throws in a few newer "electro" acts (Ladytron, Senor Coconut) but not too many – in other words, he doesn't let the new shit bog down the classics. 39 songs; 73 minutes.
reviewed by Chris Lemon-Red


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Ayres
I Like Make Dance EP

Ayres proves once again that he like make dance of all kind with this diverse EP of dance / house remixes and edits. The A-side keeps it more current with Kid Sister's "Pro Nails" vs. Surkin's "Radio Fireworks(1)," Masters At Work's "Work" vs. South Rakkas' Chinkuzi riddim(2) and a drumline remix of Pharrell & Twista's "Give It Up(3)" (a team-up with Canada's Smalltown DJs). The B-side is focused on house classics, including Bmore edits of Lidell Townsell's "Nu Nu(4)" and 4Hero's "Mr. Kirk's Nightmare(5)," and a seriously beautiful club version of Black Box's "Everybody Everybody(6)." Are those sleestaks on the center label? More ammo for your crate from Ayres. Recommended.
reviewed by Larri Byrd

file under:
baltimore - vinyl / house / minimal / techno - reviewer recommended / house / deep house / remixes / reviewer recommended / and more

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Ayres & Cosmo Baker
Baby Loves Disco CD

One Saturday night a month, the Rub crew bangs out their note-perfect party sets at Southpaw in Brooklyn. But at that same spot a few hours earlier, they bust out disco classics for toddlers and their parents at the Baby Loves Disco party (which has been written up in the Times and filmed for various TV news programs - check Cosmo's fro all up in your CNBC). So don't let the bright pink infant on the cover fool you, this mixtape is pretty much what a "The Rub: Disco Heat" CD would sound like. Ayres and Cosmo put together 21 classic and surprisingly cheese-less disco joints--from Cheryl Lynn's mom-tastic "Got To Be Real" to First Choice's soulful "Let No Man Put Asunder"--all seamlessly mixed and dotted with mumbled "COTHMO BAYKEER AND DEEJAY AYRETH" drops from the shorties. Some feel good shit from the specialists.
reviewed by Nick Catchdubs


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Ayres & Cosmo Baker
Hip House #2 CD

The follow-up to Ayres & Cosmo's much-lauded CD from earlier this year finds the BK/Philly duo laying down another party-starting mix of hip-house staples and uptempo hip-hop jams. A large part of the success of the first one was this carefree disregard for the musical Berlin Wall that supposedly divides house music from hip-hop. Lest we forget, hip-hop owes a huge debt to disco music, and it was still considered dance music until Run-DMC came along and slowed things down. Despite Fat Joe's recent insistence that his, uh, colleagues don't dance, there has been a recent resurgence in uptempo hip-hop, led most notably by Missy Elliot and Outkast - "The Way You Move" was, for all intents and purposes, a house record. All that being said, Ayres and Cosmo do a great job of operating from a middle ground between the two genres, equally appeasing house-heads and hip-hoppers alike by casting a wide net in their choice of track selections, ranging from the rare Dimitri From Paris mix of Stetsasonic's "Talking All That Jazz," to the Jungle Brothers' "What You Waitin' For," a requisite remix of Missy's "Lick Shots," and loads of tracks (35 in all) from Tyree, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Twin Hype, Slick Rick, Queen Latifah, NERD, Julien "Jumpin" Perez (Hot Mix 5 represent– Chicago what!) and more. Extra props to the boys for keeping things fresh with leftfield/broken beat joints like the killer Seiji remix of Q-Tip's "Breath & Stop," and the Yam Who rework of "Frontin." Everything's mixed in a proficient and smooth style that keeps things moving. Also includes a free CD recorded live at the monthly Rub party in BK.
reviewed by Language


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Ayres & Tittsworth
Balmer Loosies (Baltimore) CD

Another unmixed, DJ-friendly collection from Mr. Ayres. I don't need to tell you how huge Baltimore shit is right now (just check the Lab's top selling records), and outside of the Unruly dudes, Ayres & Titts & Bamabounce have been making some of the best club remixes around. This CD collects up a grip of rare, unreleased and previously available tracks from the boys, especially handy to CD DJs, Seratonians and those who missed out on the first pressings of Tittsworth's self-released EPs. My favorite track here is still Tittsworth's remix of The Jeffersons theme song(1), but there's other strong contenders: Ayres' Luda-jacking "Broke Ass Home(2)" has quickly become a staple for a lotta DJs and Bamabounce's mixes of Kelis' "Bossy(3)" and Three Six's "Poppin' My Collar(4)" are pretty damn hot too. For goofy Bmore fun, it don't get much better than Tittsworth's ultra-retarded Milli Vanilli remix(5). A bargain and a half right here. 12 tracks in crisp CD quality. (P.S. Look out for a Money Studies release from this pair in the near future…)
reviewed by Chris Lemon-Red


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DJ Ayres
The Roots: Rare Sides CD

This mix was originally pressed and released in 2004 to coincide with the release of the Roots' Tipping Point album, and Ayres was kind enough to grace us with a few extra copies. Definitely great to hear all of the Roots' rare cuts from back before they were Fallon's house band.
reviewed by Hires


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The Rub
It's The Motherfucking Remix #1 CD

DJ Ayres' Brooklyn-based Rub party has turned into one of the longest running and most successful nyc club nights, garnering best club night awards in the local press and featuring top guest djs. For this project, Ayres gathered remixes from the Rub's resident DJs and some of those guests, giving you access to their "secret weapon" sure shot club blends (previously personal CDRs). Key contributions come from Mark Ronson, Diplo, Ayres himself, Cosmo Baker, Eleven, Zeph, DJ Crooked, and others. There's an excellent variation of material with "weird" mixes like Breeders vs. Rah Digga(1), Outkast vs. Franz Ferdinand(2), and "Got It Twisted" vs Ghostbusters(3) to nyc-style straight hip-hop blends like "Stunt 101" over Wu-Tang beats(4), "Bonnie & Clyde 03" vs. Arrested Development(5), and "Oh Sheila" vs the Coolie Dance(6). The 20 tracks plus are mixed by DJ Ayres, and ends up sounding a lot like the tronix kids (in a good way). In addition, each remix is tracked to appear in its entirety for all you CD DJs who actually want to use this for your gigs.
reviewed by the mgmnt

file under:
reviewer recommended / reviewer reccomended / dance - lab recommended

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Tittsworth & DJ Ayres
Old Bay Seasoning (Baltimore) EP

Lab favorites Tittsworth and DJ Ayres have formed a formidable partnership with several high profile Bmore projects in the works (including a future release on Money Studies). This is the first blast, and it's the equivalent of a steaming hot bushel of crabs (translation: fucking awesome). Although there are some heavyweight club versions on the a-side, I'm headed straight for the oldies selections on the flip. First up Titts manhandles the Four Tops(1) for that beautiful type of bmore that Frogman aptly coined as "emo." Next up my favorite: Ayres works over the same Curtis sample that Kanye used in "Touch The Sky.(2)" I was especially impressed by the replayed bass synths in the end (played by Catchdubs, didn't know he could do that, ei?). On the flip, Tittsworth revisits(3) Ayres' mini-hit "Broke Ass Home" with Kenny B and Jinxx. Catch and Ayres come with no brainer banguh, bmorifying "Tell Me When To Go(4)." And finally, Tittsworth slam dunks the set with an adrenaline fueled version of the Pitbull hit "Bojangles(5)." Also includes a wicked bonus beats(6) using the original "Stay Fly" sample. Recommended.
reviewed by the mgmnt

file under:
baltimore - vinyl / reviewer recommended / reviewer reccomended / bmore/dubstep/baile/bass / and more

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V/A
Ghetto Pass (Technics, Tittsworth, DJ Sega) EP

Damn, can you say stacked? Tittsworth and Ayres' T&A label drops another batch of Baltimore club bombs on us, this time from a diverse cast which includes Hollertronix associate DJ Sega, Finland's Top Billin crew, Chi-town's Rob Threezy, and even the club legend himself, DJ Technics. Technics steals the show with two different versions of Radiohead's hazy "Everything In Its Right Place" - I think the "Supa mix(1)" is the best of the bunch, but you can't go wrong with the extended "Beatdown mix(2)" either. Titts gives AC/DC the club treatment on "Thunderstruck(3)," Threezy cuts up LTD's disco staple "Love To The World(4)," and Top Billin gives "In The Ass(5)" some nasty dubstep bass. Recommended.
reviewed by Van Hammersly

file under:
baltimore - vinyl / reviewer recommended / reviewer reccomended / bmore/dubstep/baile/bass / and more

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V/A
The Chedda (Baltimore) EP

Even more club heat from Ayres, Tittsworth & Associates. Do these guys sleep? Titts kicks off the A-side with Bel Biv Devoe's "Poison(1)" chopped up in his signature style, followed by Dave Nada's "I Like Culo(2)" (pause), a blend of "Culo" by Pitbull and "I Like To Move It Move It" which is way better than it has any right to be. Ayres' track is the one that'll have the kids going nuts tho, as he unveils a slick Bmore version of Daft Punk's "One More Time(3)" (with the requisite Lil Jon shouts sprinkled on top). B-side is dominated by newcomers or aliases -- who can tell anymore? -- with Top Billin' (ok, this one is real) "U Don Kno Meh(4)," DJ Dub's hilarious / awesome "Set On You(5)" (George Harrison FTW) and Million Dollar Mano's "Lady(6)." TA-007, if you're counting...
reviewed by Larri Byrd

file under:
baltimore - vinyl / bmore/dubstep/baile/bass

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V/A
The Rub Remixes, Vol.5 (Diplo, Ayres, Catchdubs) EP

Ayres and the gang are back with the 5th volume of remixes taken from the recent Rub Volume 2 mix CD. This is the best 12"effort yet, with some well thought out blends by Ayres, Cosmo, Eleven, Diplo, Crooked, Catchdubs, and Paul Nice. Ayres' Talking Heads(1) and R.Kelly(2) blends are simply magnificent, and give you alternative ammo for your club set. Catchdubs conjures up Bill Withers verses TI(3) while Crooked envisions Jay-Z verses Ah-Ha(4), both big lady pleasers. Diplo drops another exclusive MIA blend(5) this time over "Push It," and Cosmo goes G-Unit megamix(6) again, this time over Death Row. Paul Nice's "Virgo" remix(7) is exclusive to this 12" and sounds like something you'd hear on Gamm; and finishing things off Eleven drops lingering blend of "Hip-Hop(8)" and "Cadillac on 22s." Recommended.
reviewed by the mgmnt

file under:
reviewer recommended / reviewer reccomended / hip-hop vinyl / current hip-hop / and more

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V/A
The Rub Remixes, Vol.6 (A-Trak, Ayres) EP

club mixes and mash-ups

The ever-elusive Smelly Fatso label returns to drop SF-005 (which happens to be #6 in the series of Rub remix EPs) and it's another good'un. DJ Ayres leads off the procession with the first Bmore heat he's committed to record, "Broke Ass Home(1)," which fuses a Luda verse with a cookie-cutter Baltimore break. Cosmo Baker shows folks why he gets to have t-shirts with his face and the words "GET ON MY LEVEL" printed, as he unleashes the monstrous "Papa Applause Remix(2)," which, as you may or may not have pieced together, is the Temptation's classic "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" placed over the Applause riddim (best known as the beat to Sean Paul's "Temperature"). Nick Catchdubs gets the Bangles and Too $hort in a tussle with "Burn Egyptian Rubber(3)" and A-Trak rounds out the A-side with a reworking of Three 6's classic "Sippin' On Da Syrup(4)." Paul Nice kicks off the B-side with an all-new, smooth-as-hell remix of De La Soul & Common's "The Bizness(5)." DJ Eleven throws M.O.P.'s "Ante Up" over a Queen joint(6) and Omega One rounds the whole shebang out real nice with a blend of Ghostface's "Good Times" and Toto's "Africa(7)." (Extra points on that one because rhyming over a Toto song is something Ghost would actually do.) All this AND you get the BPM info on the label. The Rub familia does it again!
reviewed by Chris Lemon-Red

file under:
reviewer recommended / reviewer reccomended / hip-hop vinyl / current hip-hop / and more

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