Mixpak Record’s knack for unexpected collaborations might be one of its greatest strengths as a label, from Dre Skull and Vybz Kartel’s recent dancehall crossover album to even stranger pairings such as Dam Funk + Lil Scrappy grooving together on the same track.

Now, fresh off his latest “Rapper Turned Singer” EP on Mixpak, Andy Petr is a producer who’s in tune with this collaborative mindset. The first installment of this collaborative impulse comes in a set of free Mixpak EPs of raw material – first up is this eight track EP brimming with lots of noteable stuff: Synth lines to cause heart palpatations, hazy, almost-placeable hip hop vocals dragged out overtop the tracks, and maybe most importantly, several collaborations with weed-obsessed genius Dro Carey.

Also very much worth your time: a Mixpak interview with Petr himself, in the digital flesh! Don’t sleep.

Andy Petr – FREE EP (APD005) (zip file, direct link)

Mixpak Records is the label that’s going to hands down have the breakout album of 2011. This is referring of course, to the Dre Skull produced upcoming Vybz Kartel collaboration LP , titled “Kingston Story” – the followup to the huge Jamacian smash hit “Yuh Love”.

Dre Skull talks a bit below about the creation of the album and the first single, the horn heavy, Hot 97 ready summer-anthem-to-be “Go, Go, Wine”. You can stream the track below, be on the lookout for when it drops in digital retailers on May 4th, madness.

For the last nine months I’ve been working with Vybz Kartel on a full length album and it’s finally time to let the world hear some music. The album, ‘Kingston Story,’ will be out in June, but the first single, ‘Go Go Wine,’ will be released on May 3rd and Toddla T debuted it on his BBC Radio 1 show last Thursday during a special show on Jamaican music. Listen back to the show which has a bunch of great interviews and music (including a quick interview he did with me last time we were in Kingston). Pitchfork also showed support and debuted a stream of ‘Go Go Wine’ (which has resulted in 80 plus YouTube rips). On Friday, the track got radio support fom Jabba (of Massive B fame) who gave the track multiple spins on Sirius XM and from Max Glazer who dropped the track on his Federation Sound show on EVR.

I want to take a moment to give a special shout out to Mr. Glazer, because I wrote the riddim for ‘Go Go Wine’ in January after I played him a bunch of cuts from the Kartel album and he shared his perspective on what the album had and what it might be missing. Basically, he mentioned that the record could use a real Hot 97 friendly/rhythmic dancehall cut and I took his advice and went back into the studio before my last trip to record with Kartel. Respect for the advice!

Vybz Kartel – Go Go Wine by Mixpak

“Midsummer Tales” is the name of Koyote’s ambitious first installment of a trilogy of EP’s he has set for release on one of my favorite imprints over the last few years, Mixpak Records. Meticulously crafted on hardware synths and drum machines, Koyote pushes beyond his booty/ghetto-tech roots, tapping into a wide ranging set of influences, from Deep Purple to Kenny Larkin.

Packed with inventive analog rhythmic gymnastics, this EP looks back to the glory days of intelligent techno for inspiration but takes the sound further. The term “psychedelic body music” has been thrown around to describe a new breed of producers making tripped out analog music that you can actually dance to. “Midsummer Tales” extrapolates on this idea: it is a record that works both on the dancefloor and the motorway.

Composed during a road-trip around the south of France, this EP is the soundtrack to Koyote’s gallic adventure: overnight trains, August heatwaves, the whir of crickets and napping under bamboo trees. Join him.

Available now from iTunes, Beatport, and Juno.

We’ve also got an exclusive track that’s not on the EP, but one that still conjures up visions of a campfire next to a stream where a bunch of woodland creatures emerge and start shaking their junk.

Koyote – Dragonfly Frenzy

For more summer nostalgia, check out the hugely underrated video for Mixpak boss Dre Skull’s remix of “Wellness is Wild” by Goon & Koyote, and watch Mixpak for an absolutely gigantic Vybz Kartel collaboration album coming up in the near future. You can read an interview with Dre Skull at Soundclash where he talks in detail about the collaboration.

Mixpak continues its growing tradition of superb genre-destroying podcasts with this latest offering from versatile Swiss dancehall producer WILDLIFE!

As a bonus, we’ve also got a reworking of an old Sammy Dread tune that L-Vis 1990 churns up into a tropical cyclone froth of drums and distortion.

WILDLIFE! – ‘M16 vs SLR’ (L-Vis 1990 remix)

Mixpak FM 06: WILDLIFE! (Direct Link)

You can also subscribe to Mixpak FM via iTunes.

Tracklisting after the jump:

01. WILDLIFE! ft. Major Mackerel – Galang So
02. Munchi ft. Mr. Lexx – Shottas (Camo UFO Remix)
03. Wayne Marshall – Careless (WILDLIFE! Edit)
04. Bugle – So Dem Born (WILDLIFE! Edit)
05. Gyptian – Watch Gal (WILDLIFE! Edit)
06. Champion – Motherboard
07. Lil Silva – No Hook
08. Champion – Lighter VIP
09. Toddska – Gal From England
10. Schlachthofbronx ft. Timberlee – Bassdrum
11. Seiji – Whiskey
12. Toddska – Cowboy
13. Kink – Soda Caustic
14. Ciara – Ride (WILDLIFE! Remix)
15. Jamie George – Flying Saucers
16. Melé – Trappin
17. WILDLIFE! – M16 vs. SLR ft. Sammy Dread (L-VIS 1990 Remix)
18. WILDLIFE – Metazoa
19. Untold – Stereo Freeze
20. Shy FX – Raver (MJ Cole Remix)
21. Pablo Gad – Hard Times

araabMUZIK – Whistle (Mediafire)

Kingdom – Hottest In America (Mediafire)

Sean Kingston (ft. Nicki Minaj) – Letting Go (Kingdom Dub) (Mediafire)

PS. Check out a nice write up on Kingdom over here.

Bambounou – Dogon (YSI)

Bambounou – Dogon (drop.io)

Cubic Zirconia – Josephine (Egyptrixx dub) (YSI)

Cubic Zirconia – Josephine (Egyptrixx dub) (zShare)

PS. Egyptrixx just released his new EP “The Only Way Up” on the Night Slugs imprint (that’s more and more looking like a strong contender for label of the year) and on that EP Cubic Zirconia returns the remix favour.

PS 2. Releaseparty for said EP will be held at The Studio/Webster Hall in NYC on saturday April 3rd. It also happens to be the premiere of Kingdoms and Dre Skulls new party Club Infinity and to celebrate the event he’s giving away this remix from the archives.

Ricky Blaze – I Feel Free ft. Ron Browz (Kingdom Remix) (Mediafire)

Party details after the jump.

Kingdom, Dre Skull, and MeanRed Present: The Premiere of CLUB INFINITY

SAT APR 3:

EGYPTRIXX – Live PA + Night Slugs EP Release! (Night Slugs/Vicious Pop)

CUBIC ZIRCONIA (Don’t Cry)
DRE SKULL (Mixpak Records)
KINGDOM (Fool’s Gold/Night Slugs)
JUBILEE (Nightshifters)
+ HARD NYC official after party with T&B Crew

DOORS AT MIDNIGHT
$5 w/ RSVP: http://meanredproductions.com/1136 or $10 without
The Studio At Webster Hall, 125 E.11th St. NYC

This is the new hard hitting single from Juiceboxxx and Dre Skull, it’s called “Hype” and is released by Vicious Pop Records today. The single comes backed with remixes from Dre Skull himself, British hero Sinden and NYC bass phantom Udachi.

Juiceboxxx & Dre Skull – Hype (direct link)

Ravetastic video from Pomp & Clout (who did the Boys Noize “Jeffer” video) for the catchy Dre Skull synth pop track “I Want You”.

The “I Want You” single with remixes from Bobmo, Bok Bok, AC Slater, Alex Gopher and Dre Skull can now be purchased on iTunes.