Bradford Caudle is an American record producer from Richmond, Virginia, widely known as Ohbliv and for his Yellow Gold and Yellow Gold 2 mixtapes with rapper Nickelus F. Since 2009, Caudle, 38, has self-released more than 30 digital beat tapes through Bandcamp, moving from Rugged Tranquility, his first outing, to LewseJoints Number 8, available now. A handful of his tapes have landed on cassette and/or vinyl through labels Thrash Flow and Fat Beats, and sometimes Caudle will shake things up with a new alias like Darktwaine, reserved for his darker, edgier sounds.

Caudle’s musical journey began when he inherited his father’s vast record collection, leading him to abandon his classical background. He’d played trumpet in high school, and had vocal training, but he immersed himself in beats, realizing that his favorite records of today sampled his favorite records of the past. He began creating his own organic, soulful jams, harnessing an improvisational spirit, and offering them out to friends. This led him to his earliest release in 2009, which demonstrated a penchant for ’70s and ’80s soul and funk.

Caudle’s XLR8R podcast is a little different from his other mixtapes. He’s recorded it as Darktwaine and it leans away from his soulful, upbeat sounds towards darker avenues. It’s intended as a reflection of “the plight of humanity at this time,” Caudle says, wading through jazz, trip-hop, funk, and soul, and it includes a handful of unreleased, brooding Darktwaine cuts. But beyond that, it possesses the same on-the-fly spirit, woven together one evening in Caudle’s Richmond studio, comprised of his favorite tracks of the moment.

01. What have you been up to recently?

A lot of exercise, reading, listening, spending time with family. The usual actually.

02. How has lockdown been for you?

I’ve taken it all in stride. If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.

03. What music have you been listening to while locked down?

Diggin’ in my own crates, stuff like James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Sharrock, Jean Carne, Mary Watkins, Funkadelic.

04. What do you miss most about life on the road?

Aside from meeting people, nothing.

05. Where did you record this mix?

In my studio.

06. What setup did you use?

Laptop, SP404, and turntable.

07. How did you select the tracks that you’ve included?

The tracks in this mix are songs I’ve been feeling, and works I wanted to share.

08. How does it compare to what we’d hear you play in a club?

I’ve done a few rare Darktwaine sets so it’s pretty comparable to those cases. But typically I play soulful vibey groove stuff so it is a departure.

09. What’s next on your agenda?

More growth, expansion, change. More music, connections, and love.

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast here.

Editor’s note: there is no tracklisting for this mix.