This year’s Christmas mix was made exclusively for samurai.fm. I went with this theme because over the year I am constantly amazed and continually impressed with every aspect this site. It is a small world and samurai.fm shares it with you. It suits your daily mood; no matter what your taste you can find exactly what you are looking for. Thank you.

In this year’s selection you will find some of my favorite classics, new gems, a little soul, funky root blues and always much of the unknown. No Boney M ever. This year I focused on better delivery than last year’s mixes. I wanted to improve (if only slightly) on this aspect.

So light up the yule log fire. Turn up the festive tunes. Sit back and enjoy long winter evenings of Christmas fuelled nonsense. A very Smurphy Christmas to you and thanks for listening.

If you need some more Xmas music look here:
http://samurai.fm/features/scott-murphy-christmas-mixes

Don-Ray is the producer behind the likes of Lady Alma as well as the abstract remixer for Fertile Ground and Wunmi; among others. He's recorded for several labels including Marauder, Madacy, UJammin, Gotsoul, and Sony Music taking them to new heights with his deep-jazz and future funk productions. He's worked with world renown producers such as Danial Lanois, was credited as having one of the Best Albums of 2005 by Freefall Radio on KUSF, and was nominated for Best
Electronic Album at the Canadian Urban Music Awards in 2001.

His music has been on albums with other notable artists including Roy Ayers, Roni Sze, DKD, Henrik Schwarz, Jerome Sydenham, Mr. V, Pal Joey, Dennis Ferrer, Glen Underground, Thievery Corporation, Mateo & Matos, Tortured Soul, and Osunlade.

On August 31st, he will be DJing alongside Bilal (whose worshippers include Erykah Badu, Q-Tip and Questlove) and Epiphany Tones at Fulton 55 in California, and dedicated this special mix here.

event info: www.fulton55.com/event/51267/

Ahead of Urban Nerds at XOYO Scott Garcia has put together an incredible, hour long exclusive mix of UK garage gems old and new, touching on some well known classics that’ll get the original ravers reminiscing and newer converts skanking in their seats with his bubbly blend of epic anthems, soulful instrumentals and house infused garage!

Scott’s taking to the decks in room 2 as part of a very special squad of DJs and MCs that’s been curated by Rinse FM’s Marcus Nasty, considered by many to be one of the godfathers of the UK funky scene that’s infiltrating all corners of British dance music at rapid speed! Scott Garica is without doubt one of the pioneers of the UK garage scene, known by many for his genre defining 1997 smash ‘It’s a London Thing’ which became London’s unofficial anthem for years to come, breaking into the national charts and selling over 30,000 units. Soon after Scott set up his own label, signing a wealth of music influential scene stalwarts such as Oxide & Neutrino, DJ Luck & MC Neat, Shy Cookie and Genius Cru.

A heads-up from the man himself…“It’s a LIVE mix of old skool & contemporary dub-wise UKG with a twist of vocal and a THOUSAND TONS of bass. ENJOY!” So get your download on and enjoy some of those old skool cuts that can’t help but put a smile on your face!

You can catch Scott Garcia and Marcus Nasty at XOYO on Saturday 26th March alongside Zinc, Newham Generals, Hot City, Engine-Earz Experiment Live, Rattus & Klose and many more!

Urban Nerds @ XOYO, London - March 26, 2011
For tickets & more info check:
www.urban-nerds.com/event/urban-nerds-at-xoyo

Ahead of the release of Scuba's 'Triangulation' (Interpretations) the Hot Flush label boss and Substance promoter provides us with an exclusive Jungle set recorded live at his incredible 2 Years of Substance party held at Berlin's techno mecca, Berghain, back in July.

Scuba, aka Paul Rose, has been at the forefront of the dubstep scene since its birth. Having founded the innovative and influential Hotflush Recordings label in 2003, he has continually brought colour and depth to an advancing genre, expanding its sonic structure and increasing its influence on the wider electronic scene.

Following the first Scuba LP 'A Mutual Antipathy' (2008) which was remixed by Marcel Dettman, Martyn and Surgeon, 'Triangulation' (2010) took the Scuba sound to a new level. The collision of dubstep and techno has produced startling music from a wide range of producers in the last few years, none more than Scuba, and that has been well documented.

For 'Triangulation' (Interpretations), to be released on November 15th, new allure is breathed into Scuba’s originals by the likes of Will Saul & Mike Monday, FaltyDL, Deadbeat, Joe, Deadboy and Scuba himself.

www.myspace.com/paulhotflush
www.hotflushrecordings.com

During this spring tour, Afrika Bambaataa stopped by Vancouver BC and sat down with Straight Goods Radio hosts Jay & Flipout to talk about Hip Hop. What would Hip Hop be without Afrika Bambaataa, one third of the holy trinity of the culture alongside Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc? Bam with the Zulu Nation is the most influential and important organization in Hip Hop culture. Bambaataa spoke with the ease and the confidence of a tribal figure head that he is and declared that in 2010, Hip Hop is alive. I highly suggest you have a pen and pad by your side as you listen because he gives a musical history lesson from a primary source point of view. To put it simply, he was there in the beginning. I'm talking about the very beginning, when Hip Hop was born. He's the Godfather of Hip Hop, Afrika Bambaataa.

Rock it don't stop!

www.zulunation.com/afrika.html