DJ Spooky Celestial Mechanix: The Blue Series Mastermix

• Words: Luciana Lopez
• Label: Thirsty Ear
• XLR8R Rating: /10

Thirsty Ear's Blue Series has put out so much good music-from pianist Matthew Shipp's avant compositions to the work of the now-defunct (and dearly missed) Antipop Consortium-that it would be hard to screw up a double album that slices and dices from their catalog. The first Celestial Mechanix CD is a series of Spooky's remixes of previous Blue Series work; CD two is a 35-track mix that culls from the label's 29 Blue Series albums. The two discs share an atmospheric, jazzy vibe mixed in with hip-hop rhymes and spoken word appearances. Celestial Mechanix presents a serious education about the influence jazz has upon so much good music.