Nick Marino

It's been awhile but I'm back with a fresh new Mixtape Mix, this time compiled from my Proton Cannon beats. It's posted over on PodOMatic, so go check it out.

But if you're not on PodOMatic and don't give two shits about the site, it's all gravy cause you can listen to it right here:

But if you do dig that site, you can friend my Nik Furious PodOMatic profile. Hell, while you're at it, go LIKE Nik Furious on Facebook too!

Anyway, back to the music. For those of you who don't already know, Proton Cannon is my rock-themed mixtape, packed with lots of punch and crunch alongside my usual cosmic metronome funk. I think the mix really hits its stride around 12:23.

You can download the entire Proton Cannon mixtape for zilch, zero, NADA! All 13 instrumental songs are free -- get them here: Proton Cannon ZIP (49 MB)

I've posted each track from Proton Cannon individually, and you can check out these links to read a little more about each song:

01. Best
02. Click Clack
03. Get Lifted
04. Gonna Be
05. Got Laid
06. Last Night
07. Proton Cannon
08. Rawk
09. Roll the Dice
10. Shadow Lady
11. Sold Out
12. Torn
13. Trafficlight

Then listen to all the tracks from my 100% original album, Brilliant Shower.

Continuing with the rock theme of Proton Cannon, let's finish this mixtape up right with a sample-free, original performance!!!

But... the song IS a cover (that's why it's on the mixtape, after all!). So who knows the name of the original?

An experimental instrumental song. Somewhere between hip hop, country, and lounge.

Truly a soft rock sample if there ever was one.

SWEET BEAT! It's a simple funky loop. Kind of unusual for me because I usually make my sampled beats with a couple different loops coming from a few different places throughout the song...

But Sold Out is a little bit simpler than my usual production. Well, in theory. But I remember making it years ago, and it took me forever to find the right cymbal crash sound.

And check out my new PodOMatic page! I've got a kickass Superior Tech mix posted.

The sample used here is kickass. It's a hodgepodge stew of sonic bits from the original song, all reordered and spliced together to create a musical Frankenstein. And I think my drums over top of it give it a strong, interesting flavor.

And I love this beat cause it's so different like that, but I sorta hate it cause it's not the type of music I would personally listen to very often. In retrospect, the whole thing is very inspired by the sound of the song Twilight by Frankie Beverly and Maze (even though you might not be able to tell it).

This is one of my more recent beats, something that I'd been working on and had abandoned before returning to it. At that point, the loops didn't need any work... but the structure sure did.

I liked this track so much that I actually went back in and recreated the sample about a year ago. This is the older version including the original sample, but you'll be able to hear the 100% original version of this beat on the new Unlicensed Attorneys at Law album, Public Offenders (coming soon!!!). Not to mention that it'll also be on my own Nik Furious album whenever I get around to releasing the new one...

I feel kind of embarrassed that I don't know the name of the drum fill/roll I used in this song. I wanted to talk about how I thought that particular high-to-low tom roll made the song, but I don't even know what to call it!

Well, whatever. It rocks.

And thus we reach this mixtape's self-titled track. Now just because it's the self-titled track doesn't mean I think it's the best! In fact, I think it's pretty damn repetitive.

But it's still got charm to me. It captures the energy of the original sample while adding some more dance-ready drums to it. And, believe it or not, part of the percussion is inspired the drums from the theme to COPS. Seriously.

I love this beat but damn if it isn't weird! It reminds me of that Elvis "Viva Las Vegas" remix that charted in the early 00s -- the original loops contrast heavily with my digital drums.

This is one of the few times I successfully sampled a song with that 60s r&b sound. It's tough music to cut up, similar to hard rock, because there are rarely peaks and valleys in the sound wave. But I like a challenge!