Brainfreeze is a 1999 live mix album by DJ Shadow

DJ Shadow

Joshua Paul Davis better known as DJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed...

 and Cut Chemist

Cut Chemist

Lucas MacFadden , better known as Cut Chemist, is an American DJ and record producer. He is a former member of the funk Latin band Ozomatli, and of hip hop group Jurassic 5...

. The two tracks of the album are uninterrupted recordings from a live performance where they sampled hit funk, soul, rock and jazz singles from 45 rpm vinyl records. This type of recording was pioneered by the duo Double Dee and Steinski

Double Dee and Steinski

Double Dee and Steinski was a duo of hip hop producers, composed of Doug "Double Dee" DiFranco and Steven "Steinski" Stein. They achieved notoriety in the early 1980s for a series of underground hip-hop sample-based collages known as the "Lessons"....

 through their "Lessons" (the difference being that the "Lessons" cuts were meticulously edited together from snippets of audio tape, rather than performed live using turntables).

History

Brainfreeze was recorded by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist as a practice session for a show in February 1999 at the Future Primitive Soundsession in San Francisco, mixing funk and soul 45's. Initially 1000 copies were made and sold at the shows, and a further 1000 copies were made and distributed to local records stores in California and sold out very quickly. A cease-and-desist letter from 7-Eleven

7-Eleven

7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...

 convenience stores—the whole artwork and styling was based on their logos and uniforms—meant that they stopped and moved on. The album was then bootlegged and it can now be found in popular record shops. http://www.dustystylus.com/mymusic/funk/bf.html

This set was reenacted at the Mayan night club in Los Angeles on May 25, 2006, as part of a benefit concert for DJ Shadow's art director, Keith Tamashiro, in order to offset costs related to a brain aneurysm he suffered early in 2006. http://www.myspace.com/ktgetwell

Brainfreeze was followed up by Product Placement

Product Placement (album)

Product Placement is an album by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. It was released in 2001 on One29 Records.-Comments:The CD was on sale only at gig venues on DJ Shadows tours between about 2001-2003 and was made on an extremely limited run .The cover has a picture of Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow...

, an album of similar content and style.

Comments

While there was no tracklisting given except for some record shots in the inner sleeves, Michael "DOP" Lane put together listing of the tracks (Sixty7 Recordings refers to the number of the records in the mix). The main difference between the original pressing and the bootleg is the quality of the sleeves and the CD (colors look washed out and not as sharp on the bootleg). The original CD on the inner ring has ©1999 Sixty7 Recordings written in red on a clear background. The bootleg does not have a clear bit.
On the back of the CD is Disc Producers inc 2886/Brainfreeze ADC/CA. Some bootlegs have "Slurp CD 001" and a bar code written on them. http://www.dustystylus.com/mymusic/funk/bf.html

The 45s used in the Brainfreeze mix are highly sought after by vinyl collectors, and the term "Brainfreeze" in online auctions often results in increased auction prices for these records.

Mix one

• Lamont Johson Quartet - "Thunder Kick" (trailer to unreleased film)
• The Jules Blattner Group - "2001 - A Soul Odyssey"
• Fried Chicken - "Funky DJ"
• The Mohawks - "The Champ"
• Reuben Bell
  Reuben Bell
  Reuben Bell was an African American soul singer who recorded from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, and is best known for his emotional tenor vocals on the songs "It's Not That Easy" and "I Hear You Knocking "....
  
   - "Superjock"
• Albert King
  Albert King
  Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
  
   - "Cold Feet"
• Ultimate Force - "I'm Not Playing"
• Eddie Bo
  Eddie Bo
  Edwin Joseph Bocage was an American singer and New Orleans-style pianist. Schooled in jazz, he was known for his blues, soul and funk recordings, compositions, productions and arrangements...
  
   and Inez Cheatham - "Lover and a Friend"
• Mack Rice
  Mack Rice
  Mack Rice , is a American songwriter, whose compositions have been performed by many well-known artists, including The Staple Singers, Ike and Tina Turner, Albert King, Johnnie Taylor, Shirley Brown, Rufus Thomas, Etta James, Billy Eckstine, Eddie Floyd, Buddy Guy, The Rascals, Wilson Pickett,...
  
   - "Three People In Love"
• The Nu People - "I'd Be Nowhere Today"
• Nu-Sound Express Ltd - "Ain't It Good Enough"
• Mystic Moods - "Cosmic Sea"
• American Gypsy - "Inside Out"
• Odetta
  Odetta
  Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
  
   - "Hit or Miss"
• The Mar-Keys
  The Mar-Keys
  The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American studio session band for the Stax label from Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the foundation for the early 1960s Stax sound.-Career:...
  
   - "Grab This Thing (Part 2)"
• Rusty Bryant
  Rusty Bryant
  Royal G. "Rusty" Bryant was an American jazz tenor and alto saxophonist....
  
   - "FireEater"
• Simtec and Wylie - "Bootleggin' (Part 2)"
• Wilbur Bascomb and the Zodiac - "Just a Groove In 'G'"
• Eddie Bo and The Soul Finders - "We're Doin' It (Thang) (Part 2)"
• Rufus Thomas
  Rufus Thomas
  Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
  
   - "Sophisticated Sissy"
• The Showmen Inc. - "The Tramp (from Funky Broadway) (Part 1)"
• The Original Soul Senders - "Soul Brother Testify (Part 2)"
• Rufus Thomas - "Itch and Scratch (Part I and II)"
• Alvin Cash
  Alvin Cash
  Alvin Cash was an American pop singer and actor.-Biography:Born Alvin Welch in St. Louis, Missouri, and a graduate of St. Louis's Sumner High School , he and three brothers moved to Chicago, where they sang and danced while in search of a recording contract...
  
   - "Keep On Dancing (Instrumental)"
• Lou Courtney - "Hey Joyce"
• Bummer radio spot

Mix two

• The Singing Principal - "Women's Lib"
• Salt - "Hung Up"
• The Soul Lifters - "Hot, Funky, and Sweaty"
• Frankie Seay and The Soul Riders - "Soul Food"
• The Interpretations - "Jason Pew Mosso (Part 1)"
• Thunder and Lightning - "Bumpin' Bus Stop"
• Billy Garner - "I Got Some"
• Pleasure Web - "Music Man (Part I and II)"
• Gary Byrd - "Soul Travelin' (The G.B.E.)" (Part I)
• Clifton Chenier
  Clifton Chenier
  Clifton Chenier , a Creole French-speaking native of Opelousas, Louisiana, was an eminent performer and recording artist of Zydeco, which arose from Cajun and Creole music, with R&B, jazz, and blues influences. He played the accordion and won a Grammy Award in 1983...
  
   and Grandma Gee Gee - "Just Keep On Scratching"
• "W" radio spot
• Marlena Shaw
  Marlena Shaw
  Marlena Shaw is an American singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in television commercials.-Biography:She was first introduced to music by her uncle Jimmy Burgess, a jazz trumpet player...
  
   - "California Soul"
• The Vibrettes- "Humpty Dump (Part 1)"
• Eddie Bo - "From This Day On"
• 7-Eleven
  7-Eleven
  7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
  
   - "Dance the Slurp"
• Kraftwerk
  Kraftwerk
  Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
  
   - "Numbers"
• Flash and The Five - "Flash It to the Beat"
• Pearly Queen - "Quit Jivin'"
• Tony Alvon and The Belairs - "Sexy Coffee Pot"
• Chuck Mangione
  Chuck Mangione
  Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione is an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good." Mangione has released more than thirty albums since 1960.-Early life and career:...
  
   - "Hill Where the Lord Hides"
• Funka Fize - "No Words"
• Schooly D - "Gucci Time"
• Jurassic 5 - "Unified Rebelution" (a cappella)
• Third Guitar - "Baby Don't Cry"
• Don Pierce - "This Funky Thing"
• Funka Fize - "Because You're Funky"
• The Troubleneck Brothers - "Back to the Hip Hop"
• Stu Gardner - "Devil in a Man"
• Samson and Delilah - "There's a DJ in Your Town"
• Giorgio Moroder
  Giorgio Moroder
  Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
  
  - "Tears"
• Tim and Bill - "Someone"

External links

• Product Placement review - mentions Brainfreeze as "much-admired"
• Article on creators - mentions Brainfreeze as "ultra-cred"