Lemon Red Mix Series 2005 -2006

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Get nostalgic and revisit the Lemon Red Mix Series from 2005-2006

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Lemon Red Mix Series - June 2005

DJ /rupture

You slept on the MP3!

CD version coming in August.

Looking at Jace Clayton’s credits, you start to understand why that slash is in his stage name. On a given day, DJ /rupture might be DJ/producer, DJ/label-owner, DJ/writer. Seems like “multi-talented” is a term people throw around nowadays to describe anyone who just does a lot of shit, regardless of skill level -- Rupture redefines the phrase by doing it all well.

Appropriate, as redefinitions are his stock in trade. Since early days with drum’n’bass collective Toneburst, Rupture’s had a knack for gap-bridging, seamlessly blending seemingly disparate genres without any of the “Hey, you got your jelly in my peanut butter!” flash of his peers. His now-signature style of alchemy first came to the world’s attention in 2001 with the mind-bending, copyright infringing Gold Teeth Thief mix. (The mix is downloadable in full, free of charge, at Negrophonic.) In 2003, Tigerbeat6 released his Minesweeper Suite, and the name DJ /rupture was in the mouths of hip-hop kids and academics alike. Some hailed it as “the ultimate post-modern music project.” Some as “a political thesis.” UK music mag The WIRE even called it one of the 10 best records of 2003.

In 2004, Rupture graduated with his first artist album. Special Gunpowder found him behind the decks, producing for (and with) exciting artists from across a wide spectrum of styles. Of course, releasing an album with ragga MC’s, sub-bass beats and an Appalachian banjo-folk track did nothing to quash his reputation as the new underground torch-bearer of “world music,” but then, torch-bearing’s never really been the goal.

Complicated but unpretentious, sometimes brutal but always beautiful, Rupture’s muddy footprints bear evidence of travels through a thousand styles. Always travels, though.

Right now!

Read Jace's thoughts on the frequently updated and always thorough Mudd Up! blog.

Catch DJ /rupture at the SONAR Festival in Spain, performing with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra.

Later this summer, Soul Jazz will release a DJ /rupture + Sister Nancy 12"

Somewhere down the line: Rupture & Sindu Zagoren (who appeared on the aforementioned Appalachian track, "Mole in the Ground") are collaborating on an album... !

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Lemon-Red Mix Series - July 2005

Radioclit

(38:02, 34mb)

Tracklist and information coming soon.

In the meantime, check out Radioclit.com

and grab the Clit's downloadable mixes and screwed version of Roll Deep's In At the Deep End.

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Lemon-Red Mix Series - August 2005

Ghislain Poirier

Dirtier Than Clean

(32:45, 29mb)

Tracklist and bonus beats coming soon. (Seriously.)

Montreal beatmaster Ghislain Poirier's music employs bass from all over the world. His new mix, Dirtier Than Clean, is a blistering mix of rap, grime, dancehall and ragga, with exclusive remixes and rare West African tracks to make even the most thorough heads say "DAMN!" His new album BREAKUPDOWN will be released by Chocolate Industries later this year. Ghis has also done music for Shockout and collobarated on DJ/rupture's Special Gunpowder album. He just started his own monthly DJ night in Montreal: La soirée Bounce le gros.

Get all the info on Ghis and Bounce le Gros over at GhislainPoirier.com

Un gros merci to: Mr. Lee G, Mat, Julian, Jace, Dana.

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Lemon-Red Mix Series - September 2005

Caps & Jones

(33:33, 30mb)

Between the blog and conversations with friends & acquaintances, I think I've talked enough about the Illegible DJ Caps & Pandemonium Jones to fill several bio sheets over. This shouldn't come as a great surprise, given bloggers' propensity for gabbing and spouting their opinions (solicited or not) pretty much constantly, but the funny thing has been how the word has kept going. People I know -- and I mean people who don't even like music -- have kept talking, telling their friends about Caps & Jones, playing Moving In Stereo for everyone they come in contact with, bringing folks out to the C&J weekly in Brooklyn. The last mixtape even fell into SPIN magazine's hands somehow, and elicited an "incredible" out of one reviewer.

It used to be I had a hard time understanding why. I mean, the mixes were great, but what was it that gave Caps & Jones the universal appeal, and what made them so addictive? They blend a million different genres - but so what? So does every DJ nowadays. They throw cheeky mashups into wild, hyperactive mixes - but everyone's pretty much over those now, right?

A month or so ago, I was sitting in Caps' apartment, listening to him fuck around on the decks. Mindlessly flipping through a nearby crate, it dawned on me: every record was gold. Everything he was playing, everything I was looking at in the boxes in front of me - it was all great music, plain and simple. I scrolled through the tracklists to Moving In Stereo and Bouillabaisse quickly in my head, and couldn't find a single dud. I thought of the times I'd seen them DJ, and couldn't remember a poor selection. (Okay: they played "Sweet Child O Mine" one time, but it was at the end of the night...)

Caps & Jones' mixes are fucking clever. They're next level, or whatever you want to say. The truth is: they think deeper than your average DJ's and they do it without a lot of flash and fashion. But they're also just music lovers. Their strength is in their selections, and the fact that they're not preoccupied with putting the newest white label joints into a mix before everyone else only speaks to their confidence.

I'm gonna shut up now. It's late, and I don't want any more words standing between you and what the boys have cooked up. I can honestly say that it's been a pleasure getting to know these dudes over the last few months, and it's a complete honor to present to you a mix from my favorite DJ's on earth, the Illegible DJ Caps & Pandemonium Jones...

• 01 - Maceo - "Nextel Chirp"
• 02 - Juelz Santana - "Gun Clap"
• 03 - DJ Assault - "Make That Booty Clap"
• 04 - Capleton - "?"
• 05 - The Beach Boys - "Surfin'"
• 06 - Crucial Conflict - "Hey"
• 07 - Black Sabbath - "A National Acrobat"
• 08 - Young Jeezy - "Bottom of the Map"
• 09 - Esthero & Goodie Mob - "Country Livin' (C&J Timbaland Blend)"
• 10 - Trina feat. Lil Wayne - "Don't Trip (C&J Barrington Remix)"
• 11 - Barrington Levy - "Broader Than Broadway"
• 12 - Lil Kim - "Lighters Up"
• 13 - Styx - "I'm OK"
• 14 - Billy Squier - "The Stroke"
• 15 - Big Noyd feat. Prodigy of Mobb Deep - "Recognize and Realize"
• 16 - Led Zeppelin - "All of My Love"
• 17 - Aerosmith - "Sweet Emotion"
• 18 - Wings - "Band on the Run"
• 19 - Miss Kittin & The Hacker - "The Beach"
• 20 - Slade - "Run Runaway"
• 21 - The Prodigy - "Smack My Bitch Up"
• 22 - Spankrock - "Put That Pussy On Me (C&J 'Stay Fly' Remix)"
• 23 - Tricky D - "Suite 101"
• 24 - MC Luscious - "Boom! I Got Your Boyfriend"
• 25 - Roxy Music - "More Than This (C&J Luscious Remix)"
• 26 - Vassar Clements - "Necropolis" (R.I.P.)

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Lemon Red Mix Series- January 2006

Each month, I ask one of my favorite DJ's
to contribute a 30-40 minute mix of whatever they're feeling at the time.
The mix is posted here as an mp3 download for one month
in the interest of getting good music into ears across the globe for free.
(Some months, CDs will be available
in the interest of getting food into the bellies of good DJ's across the globe.)
Please enjoy, share, burn, copy, whatever.
All my love,
Chris Lemon-Red

P.S. If you're an artist who'd like to contribute a mix…..

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Paul Devro

(30:18, 41.6mb)

Paul Devro is from Canadia.

He's released two volumes in his favela mix series, Toma, with #3 on the way.

His new CD, Mixtapes Are For Losers, is a split with My!Gay!Husband! and is available at S.L.U.M..

His mix is unlike any we've had so far here on Lemon-Red.
I think dude is serious, and know you'll agree.

• 01 - Jakhae - "Tunin'"
• 02 - Squad Abdullah - ???
• 03 - Bharat & Pankaj - "Ghar Se School"
• 04 - E-40 - "Tell Me When To Go (feat. Keak da Sneak)"
• 05 - George Clinton - "Just Barkin' (Acapella)"
• 06 - Barbara Mason - "Another Man"
• 07 - Frank Chickens - "We Are Ninja (Acapella)"
• 08 - Electric Mind - "Zwei (Dub Version)"
• 09 - Carol O'Halloran - "Another One Bites the Dust"
• 10 - Crown Heights Affair - "Dreaming A Dream"
• 11 - Icy J - "It Takes a Real Man"
• 12 - Def Dames - "Set It Off (Dames Mix)"
• 13 - The Mistress & D.J. Madame E - "I Got Your Wild Thang"
• 14 - Sadie - "Stay Here"
• 15 - Frank Chickens - "We Are Frank Chickens"
• 16 - Asha Bhosle - "Aye Naujawan Hai Sab Kuchchyahan"

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Lemon-Red Mix Series - April 2006.

The Riddim Method

(51:50, 78MB)

This month: a mix from a bunch of folks way, way smarter than myself. Peep the mix page for the lowdown on who exactly the Riddim Method is, and where you can see/hear/read more from each of the members. (And I would highly recommend that you do just that.)

Tracklist coming in a hot minute (for real)… check back soon…

The Riddim Method is a collective of DJs, producers, and ass-shaking academics who formed like Voltron to embark on a group-blog experiment. After years of playing together in various configurations -- from Toneburst days to present endeavors in Beat Research -- the Riddim Methodists decided in '05 to share their musico-tricknological discoveries, creations, and conversations on the internert, hoping others might add their two fifty cents.

From bases in Beantown and Oaktown, the six Riddim Methodists play local and link global. There's DJ C, who, with remixes for Kid 606's Shockout Records and for XL Recordings (on MIA's "U.R.A.Q.T.") -- not to mention raggacentric productions for his own Mashit Records -- has been burning up dancefloors on tour and at his weekly residency back in Boston. There's DJ Flack, C's co-host at Beat Research - a multimedia maestro who makes video music when he's not making beats. Then there's Ripley, rootical rallycry-roaring, breakcoring, copyfightin', blog-writin' DJ-slash-activist. There's Kid Kameleon, a smash'n'mash mixmaster, globetrottin' DJ, and music scribe (XLR8R, Grooves, Pitchfork). There's Pace, the vinyl librarian and riddim networkian, a b-school b-boy with deep crates and nothin' but L.O.V.E. And there's Wayne&wax, hip-hop scholar since being knee-high to a duck, prolix mu'fucka, and all-around Boston Jerk.

For their Lemon-Red mix, the Riddim Methodists take turns connecting the dots between dubstep, hip-hop, dancehall, bass, merengue, soca, bmore, rai, dub, electro, doo-wop, ragga house, and boston bounce, among others--a genre-mashing jawn that can work in your earbuds and speakerboxxes alike.

Check the Method.

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Lemon-Red Mix Series: December 2006

Snack & C’mish 

Ladies and gentlemen, children, babies, esteemed guests and degenerates: we are extremely proud to present to you The First Annual Lemon-Red X-Mas Mix, compiled and mixed for its inaugural season by two of my tight comrades from Turntable Lab, Snack & C’mish. These gentlemen drop so many bombs in this special holiday-flavored mix that the national terror alert has been raised to “red & green.” If you’re in the NYC area, be sure to check out one of these dudes’ many DJ apperances, or email Snack or C’mish to book ‘em for yourself.

Here’s the track list:

• Vince Guaraldi Trio - “Christmas Is Coming (C’mish Remix)”
• Jim Jones - “Ballin’ On Xmas”
• Elf Elf & Dok-Im - “My Christmas Bells (Remix)”
• E-40 - “Hope I Don’t Go Back (Instrumental)”
• Instant Funk - “Body Twinkle (Larry Levan Mix)”
• International Music System - “Bonus Gift Single ‘Joke’”
• Chil Fac Tor - “I’ll Satisfy Your Desires”
• Chromeo - “Breathe (Al Dare Edit)”
• Bangles - “Hazy Shade Of Winter (Santa’s Bounce Edit)”
• Yello - “Jingle Bells (Interlude)”
• The Knife - “Reindeer”
• Faze-O - “Santa’s Riding High”
• George McCrae - “I Get Lifted In A Sleigh”
• Black Uhuru - “Chillout New York”
• El Michels Affair - “This One’s For My Baby”
• Binky Griptite - “Stone Soul Christmas”
• Barrington Levy & Trinity - “Flash Your Christmas Dreads”
• Afroman - “O Chronic Tree”
• Kurtis Blow - “Christmas Rappin’”
• Voices In The Dark - “Keep It Warm (Re-Edit)”
• Bodega System - “Silver Bells”
• Freeez - “Southern Freez”
• Only Freak - “Can’t Get Away”
• Vince Guaraldi Trio - “O Tannenbaum”

 

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More Background On Lemon-Red.org

 

Before streaming platforms shaped how people discovered music, a handful of web communities worked to share, remix, and democratize global sounds. Among the most influential was Lemon-Red.org, a short-lived but deeply impactful site that flourished between 2005 and 2006. The centerpiece of the site was the Lemon-Red Mix Series, a monthly release of MP3 mixes curated by forward-thinking DJs across the world.

Founded and curated by Chris Lemon-Red, the project captured a moment when music blogging, DJ culture, and early internet community building overlapped. The mixes—freely downloadable and widely shared—offered a panoramic look at emerging underground genres from grime and dancehall to Baltimore club, dubstep, and global bass.

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The Origins

Lemon-Red.org was created in 2005, operated through 2006, and remained faintly active into 2008. After the domain expired and was repurposed multiple times, a fan reacquired it in 2015 to restore its original archives. This revival turned the site into both a nostalgic monument and a living record of how the early web fostered cultural experimentation.

Each month, a different DJ was invited to create a 30- to 40-minute mix “of whatever they were feeling at the time.” The guiding principle was simple and democratic:

“In the interest of getting good music into ears across the globe for free… please enjoy, share, burn, copy, whatever.”

That spirit of openness reflected a pre-streaming belief that music discovery should be a shared public act, not a proprietary service.

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The Early Mixes

DJ /rupture — June 2005

The inaugural installment came from DJ /rupture (Jace Clayton), who set the tone for everything that followed. Known for his mix Gold Teeth Thief and later for collaborations with global artists, he embodied the series’ emphasis on boundary-breaking creativity. His Lemon-Red set fused ragga, hip-hop, and breakcore into a dense, globe-spanning narrative. The inclusion of an artist so respected in both academia and club culture positioned Lemon-Red as a tastemaker from day one.

Radioclit — July 2005

The second mix, from Radioclit, captured London’s restless DIY mash-up scene. The duo later became known for forming The Very Best with Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya. Their contribution was irreverent, high-energy, and emblematic of the way DJs in that period broke genre lines with a sense of humor and experimentation.

Ghislain Poirier — August 2005

Montreal’s Ghislain Poirier followed with Dirtier Than Clean, a tour de force that combined grime, rap, dancehall, and rare African rhythms. His work foreshadowed the rise of global bass, and his involvement tied Lemon-Red to the North American avant-club circuit that connected Montreal, New York, and London.

Caps & Jones — September 2005

The Brooklyn duo Caps & Jones contributed one of the series’ most celebrated mixes, blending Juelz Santana and DJ Assault with Black Sabbath and The Prodigy. Their mash-up artistry reflected an irreverent intelligence that mirrored Lemon-Red’s own tone—fun, self-aware, and confident. The mix gained recognition in magazines and helped propel their reputation well beyond the blog scene.

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The 2006 Expansion

Paul Devro — January 2006

The first mix of 2006 came from Paul Devro, a Canadian DJ who would later join Mad Decent. His Lemon-Red mix blended Bollywood soundtracks, funk, and hip-hop, capturing the energy of a global dance movement before it had a name. For many listeners, Devro’s entry was the most playful of the series and perfectly symbolized the website’s cross-cultural joy.

The Riddim Method — April 2006

That spring, The Riddim Method collective delivered a sprawling set linking dubstep, dancehall, merengue, soca, and Baltimore club. The group—comprising DJs and scholars such as DJ C, DJ Flack, Kid Kameleon, Ripley, Pace, and Wayne & Wax—embodied the intellectual depth of the blog’s network. Their mix read like a manifesto for global rhythm exchange, uniting academics, activists, and producers in one continuous groove.

Snack & C’mish — December 2006

Closing the year, Snack & C’mish released a holiday-themed mix that combined Vince Guaraldi, Chromeo, Bangles, and Kurtis Blow into a funky Christmas collage. It marked Lemon-Red’s playful side and hinted that the project, though serious in taste, never lost its sense of humor or celebration.

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The Editorial Vision

At the center of it all was Chris Lemon-Red, whose editorial voice balanced deep respect for music with a friendly, conversational tone. His posts were short, genuine, and warm—often closing with lines like “All my love.” The minimalistic layout of the site reflected its purpose: no clutter, no gimmicks, just music and the people making it.

Chris’s vision placed community above commerce. He encouraged DJs and listeners alike to contribute, connect, and share. Lemon-Red’s monthly rhythm gave it consistency without exhaustion; it became appointment listening for a generation of digital diggers.

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The Audience and Popularity

While the site never sought mass attention, its influence was immense. Word spread through forums, early social media, and blogroll exchanges—the hyperlink ecosystems that once powered independent culture. Fans discovered it through links on Turntable Lab, Discogs, and music forums dedicated to mash-ups and experimental hip-hop.

The mp3s circulated widely. Burned onto CDs, traded on college campuses, and uploaded to portable players, they became the soundtrack of a networked subculture that prized discovery over commercial polish. Lemon-Red’s downloads traveled faster than any magazine feature or record label press kit could manage.

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Cultural and Social Significance

The MP3-Blog Movement

Lemon-Red stood at the center of the mid-2000s mp3-blog explosion. Sites like it redefined the relationship between creators and audiences, replacing marketing campaigns with trust and taste. Instead of promoting a single artist, Lemon-Red offered a rotating platform for creative exchange.

Genre Fluidity

At a time when music stores were still divided into rock, rap, and dance aisles, Lemon-Red erased those walls. Its mixes combined Appalachian banjo samples with ragga vocals, grime instrumentals, and electro percussion. What mattered wasn’t origin but emotion and rhythm.

Early Open Culture

The site’s open-sharing philosophy foreshadowed today’s Creative Commons and Bandcamp models. Lemon-Red didn’t gatekeep or monetize; it existed purely to circulate creativity. Its slogan—“share, burn, copy”—felt almost prophetic in hindsight.

Academic and Artistic Crossover

The participation of scholar-DJs like Wayne & Wax and activist artists like Ripley made Lemon-Red one of the first online spaces where academia and nightlife collided. The resulting dialogue helped legitimize DJ culture as both artistic and intellectual practice.

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Press and Community Response

Lemon-Red’s contributors attracted substantial recognition elsewhere. DJ /rupture was praised internationally for his cultural commentary and musical experimentation. Radioclit’s later project, The Very Best, earned features in major publications. Ghislain Poirier became a mainstay at electronic festivals, and Paul Devro’s move to Mad Decent placed him at the heart of global dance music’s next wave.

Though the site itself never pursued publicity, its reputation spread organically through admiration and imitation. Other blogs adopted its format of monthly guest mixes, while online magazines cited its archives as snapshots of a transformative moment.

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The Technology of Sharing

Technically, Lemon-Red was simple—likely built on early Blogger or WordPress frameworks with direct MP3 hosting. Its interface was spare: black text on white background, with minimal graphics. That simplicity served its function perfectly. Low-bandwidth users could access it easily, and each post loaded fast even on slow connections. The emphasis was on accessibility and speed, not aesthetics.

Every post included a short introduction, a tracklist, and a download link. That format became the blueprint for a generation of mix blogs that followed.

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The 2015 Revival

After years of dormancy and domain resales, the site was lovingly restored by a fan in 2015, who sought to recreate its 2005–2006 layout and content using archived pages. The revival was not a rebrand but a reconstruction, preserving the original tone and design.

The new curator shared personal reflections about discovering Lemon-Red’s mixes years earlier—listening to Paul Devro’s set and realizing how the music shaped even mundane experiences. Such stories gave the restored site a museum-like aura: part archive, part love letter.

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The Legacy

Lemon-Red’s impact is visible in the evolution of mix culture. Modern platforms like SoundCloud, Mixcloud, and NTS Radio echo its model—regularly scheduled, freely accessible DJ sets curated with editorial intent. The site helped set the standard for how underground music could travel online without intermediaries.

For the DJs it featured, Lemon-Red was a launchpad. For listeners, it became an education in boundaryless taste. For today’s historians of internet culture, it remains a vital artifact of how independent curation once thrived before algorithms replaced human recommendations.

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Why It Still Resonates

Lemon-Red represents the optimism of the early creative web—a time when artists collaborated across continents with little more than curiosity and a stable connection. It reminds us that digital culture was once a space of generosity rather than enclosure.

Its preservation also highlights the fragility of online history. Without deliberate archiving, countless creative projects vanish. The revived Lemon-Red.org is thus not only a music site but a digital preservation project, proving that cultural memory can survive deletion if someone cares enough to restore it.

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Lemon-Red.org stands as both a cultural artifact and an enduring influence. It documented a moment when bedroom producers, globe-trotting DJs, and passionate listeners coexisted in one shared digital room. It championed creativity over commerce and connection over hierarchy.

Two decades later, its spirit lives on wherever music is shared freely and joyfully. In a landscape dominated by streaming algorithms, Lemon-Red’s archive remains a reminder of the power of human curation—and of how one small website captured the pulse of a global generation of listeners.

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