Looks like Dave Nuttycombe wasn’t the only DJ inspired by the cover of last week’s City Paper.

DJ Torkaveli claims to produce “the most controversial mixtape series in the Washington D.C. area,” so it makes sense that he’d take inspiration from the now infamous issue.

The work features the Marion Barry voicemail clips interspersed with “some new underground tracks from some of the DMV’s hottest rappers!”

Whitefolkz, Cal Cutta, Landova Dappa, and many other DMV all-stars appear.

Check it out here.

Sockets, the local record label that has released works by Hume, Little Women, and Extra Life (and, in the interest of full disclosure, myself, albeit a while back), recently posted a Spring mixtape on its freshly redesigned website.

All sorts of good stuff here, most of surprisingly melodious, from Nick Rivetti (aka Ricky Rabbit of Food For Animals) ambient gurgling, to Chris Grier’s (Kohoutek, To Live and Shave in LA, Ultimate VAG) SYR-worthy guitar playing. Most of all, I’m enjoying Excepter’s minimalist remix of Brooklyn’s Zs, which whittles the normally raucous band down to a muted throb.

Here’s the tracklist:

1. Chris Lynn
2. Phat Daughter String Quartet
3. Fly Girlz
4. Nick Rivetti
5. Chris Grier
6. FFFFs
7. ZS (Excepter Remix)
8. Extra Life
9. Layne Garrett

While the recording industry is busy lamenting the death of their business model at the hands of the Internet, a number of local hip-hop artists have found a way turn this market threat into an opportunity. Free download mixtapes (which are neither mixed nor on tape, discuss…) have been catapulting artists such as Wale, Ra the MC, Marky, XO and others into the upper reaches of internets stardom. No more standing on U Street peddling burnt CDs, the free download is the new strategy to burst onto the scene and connect with a new generation of listeners. Its like the indy punk zine for D.C. hip-hop.

Judah, one of the producers behind Wale, Ra the MC, XO and others, summed it like this: “Who cares about the radio, we know that radio doesn’t make or break artists. With the internet, the fans gonna find you.” Here’s some free downloads worth finding:

Ra the MC – A Mixtape About Something. One of DCs finest female MCs shows the boys in the industry she doesn’t play!

Marky – The Drive Thru. Theres something about a 19 year old DC MC rocking over a Citizen Cope track that’s worth checking.

The DMV Mixtape – August 08. Get ready for September’s edition with this fresh installment of the monthly mixtape from the DMV Music Blog Cartel.

XO – The Takeover. We wrote this up a few months back – get a late pass!

Wale – 100 Miles and Running. This is like the OG of the DMV free mixtape ish!