Los Angeles based producer and mobile DJ extraordinaire DJ Axel has released an album that very well may trump his previous. Breakin’ The Law, his latest mix up, made me ask myself, what the hell took so long for someone to do this?
Imagine a multi-purpose CD that is chock full of classic and recent hits by major artists but with a twist. DJ Axel has taken these hits and mixed them together a la Dangermouse's The Grey Album but with more than two artists creating the perfect mash up CD, guaranteed to keep your shindig flowing.
DJ Axel was a music lover all his life. He first started playing the drums for various bands in his hometown of Chicago and soon moved to London in 1995. Aside from playing in an assortment of projects while there including Strange Fruit and breakbeat act Optymus Prime, DJ Axel also lent his live drumming skills to resident DJs. Before long Axel started DJing on his own and would soon create a monthly jungle party called The Blue Note.
He moved back to the states in 1998 where he took the role as the financial controller for OM Records in San Francisco. He still DJs but more so for private parties, corporate events, and exclusive clubs in the Los Angeles area. Currently he is the financial director for New Line Records.
The CD that DJ Axel has mashed up is more of an underground project. Inside the CD insert after his special thanks is a quick little note asking “please don’t sue me”. With the way artists and record companies act when their music is used unauthorized, I am really curious to see if any legal action will be taken. I myself think all of the artists he has sampled should be flattered that their music was mixed in this fun sort of way.
Starting off the fifteen track CD is a mix up I could never have imagined entitled “What You Know About Drop Dead Legs” a mash up between Van Halen and T.I. At first I was not too thrilled about this track and found it a tad strange but after hearing it a couple of times it has grown on me. Hearing a classic 80’s rock mixed with the king of the south seemed almost taboo, but I like it. “Could You Be Kicked, Pushed, & Loved” a blending between Lupe Fiasco and Bob Marley, was another one of those tracks that took me a couple times to enjoy, but now I am hooked. Just hearing the two genres clash seems so forbidden but at the same time satisfying.
Article comments
1 - Erick
anything with guns n roses is great!