Another mix for you, this time DJ Rx’s freeform set from last summer’s Freeformation event in the UK. There are plenty of anthems familar to people who know the Finnish scene, but it’s great to see tracks like Android Lime’s remix of Hell Night in there too. I haven’t got an official tracklist, but head over to the Nu-Energy site where you can stream or download the set.
One big drawback on this one is the MC, making it almost unlistenable at times…very glad we don’t often have that sort of thing at Japanese freeform events. Do your best to get past that, though – it’s definitely the kind of quality set you’d expect from Rx.
After double checking with everyone involved, I’ve finally got the all-clear to put the 5th Anniversary mix online! Still no news about the next batch of CDs, but I’m hoping that something’ll be organised before NRGetic Romancer this month.
The mix itself was really hard to put together within the time limit, especially finding the right kind of tracks to show the ‘Hybridize style’, while still being the kind of set that the darker NRGetic Romancer ravers would want to listen to. Eventually I decided to start off with some trancy/melodic freeform, then some twisted NRGetic Romancer style tunes, and finally a mix of the two at about 175bpm. You’ll see that Surendrajit is in there again, but this time it’s a decent mix between it and the other tracks, I hope.
I had a lot of help rounding up the tunes for this one – especially big thanks to Epyx & Cyrez and Grimsoul for their ‘NRGetic Romancer edits’, but also to DJ Swoosh, Shanty, Nomic, Substanced, Jnks, Betwixt & Between and Alabaster. Finally, huge thanks to Guld for giving me the chance to mix the CD in the first place, and for all his work on the design/distribution side of things.
I completely forgot about this, but before my holiday I signed up for a SoundCloud account. I haven’t heard much about it in the freeform scene, but it’s been getting good feedback from other DJs/producers, and so I’ve finally added (almost) all of my mixes.
If you haven’t seen it before, it’s very user-friendly, and allows you to stream a mix before downloading it (complete with a very nice clickable waveform), and even leave comments on certain points of the track or mix that you liked. You can also ‘follow’ interesting artists, that sort of thing, but from what I can tell none of the Finnish guys are using it yet. From now on I’ll be uploading sets there, so I’ll update the Mixes section here ASAP.
One last thing, the Hybridize x NRGetic Romancer set will be uploaded very soon, but I haven’t forgotten about the people who asked for CDs – they haven’t arrived yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.
Here’s the physical version of the Hybridize/NRGetic Romancer promo mix that was handed out last month – sorry I can’t upload it yet though, as a few copies are being sent to Finland and the UK as we speak. For the time being I couldn’t resist at least sneaking a photo up on here – it looks a lot more ‘pro’ than I was expecting, a big kiitos to Guld for all his hard work the week before the event.
Ok, so here’s the other end of the scale from the Sam one/Amini set – Decion’s newest dose of Hard NRG. It’s as well mixed as you’d expect, and the selection is really good…I especially liked the sudden lightening up of the set with the last track, Thrillseeker. Not sure if I’m imagining it, but there seem to be some longer mixes in this one too, with some nice combining of two tracks. A special mention for Alchemiist’s amazing remix of Grimlock – I played an intro edit of Sam one’s original at the last two NRGetic Romancers, and this one has some brilliant sounding synths…it might be my favourite thing from Alchemiist so far.
I’ve given this a listen and really wanted to post it up – as you can see, it’s a set including tunes from Hybridize’s Sam one, but the trouble is I don’t have a tracklist or any other info yet. The style is hard trance with some great melodies and freeform-ish harder synths, but goes into funkier territory as well. It’s nice to hear a melodic-only set for a change (check the next post for the opposite), and this one’s definitely recommended.
Take a look at the Electronica Exposed site and you’ll see that a lot of vinyl and CD releases are being discounted on a pretty huge scale…£2.00 for a CD album?? Definitely worth checking out, and there’s plenty of Finnish/Japanese freeform there too, of course (including Guld’s Solid State Scouter on Kreatrix Evilution Volume 6).
Thanks to Cogi, April’s set at NRGetic Romancer was recorded after all, so there’s actually something new for me to upload – the first time in over a year (!). I’ve given the set a couple of listens, and overall I’m pretty happy with it….
Cogi recorded it through a mic, so although the quality isn’t amazing, you can hear some of the crowd too, which gives a good idea of the atmosphere during the set. You can also hear how knowledgeable the Romancer crowd is – near the end I go from Freeform Mercury to Supriya, and after about 10 seconds of mixing the two basslines Detch (I think) shouts out ‘Alek Szahala!!’ They really know their stuff.
Here’s the tracklist again, anyway:
Nomic – Steradian
Nomic – There Is No Escape
IAF – Kinky
Re-form – Cobra
Kevin Energy vs Proteus – London Helsinki Underground (K Complex remix)
I’m pretty happy with most of the mix combinations, but that There Is No Escape>Kinky mix didn’t sound as good as I was hoping…not too sure what I was thinking there. Brace yourself at the end too – Cogi needed just a couple more minutes to prepare, so I threw in Nomic’s Outro – to tell the truth I forgot it was 190bpm… The speedcore massive (DJ Redd etc) liked it, at least.
Anyway, it’s a good example of the kind of thing I play these days (last weekend was a bit darker, though) – hope you enjoy!
There are a few videos from Konemetsä floating around, but here’s a great one from Substanced’s Live PA. It’s only a short clip, but you can Proteus dancing away in the crowd…surely a sign that this was a good set.
A couple of very nice Hard NRG mixes have appeared lately, and both are definitely worth checking out.
The first is from Mr Hard NRG himself, Decion, and shows his usual very tight mixing and quality track selection. Another great intro track, as always, and if Hard House/Hard NRG are your favourite genres, then this one is a must listen. Even for people like me who prefer the higher bpms, there’s enough darkness and nasty synths in here to keep the interest up right to the end.
1. Rodi Style & Ben Stevens – In Control
2. Defective Audio Bad Guy Smoked
3. Rodi Style – Mood Killer
4. Marc Johnson & Munkjack – Playtime
5. Sam one – Grimlock
6. Firefox & Valex – Jigga Jive
7. Firefox & Wildfire – Floor Eater
8. Twisted Psycho – Enemies (A.M.G & Dan Dyson Remix)
9. Darrell White & Rico – Come And Get It
10. Grimescale – Mugged
11. Grady G – B.M.T
12. Grady G – Impact
13. Michael Smith – Last Orders
Next up is Sweden’s DJ Heathen, and his mix features a strong Japan-influence. Starting off with The Wander of Hesotarou Tankobu, he also covers Guld’s Nightmare Freak and his City of Solitude remix. There are some cracking tunes from Lab 4, Proteus…and a note for Heathen’s own Digital Destruction, a very nice track that shows there could be some quality stuff on the way from him in the future. Aside from a few clashing keys here and there, this one has a great selection and is definitely worth checking out.
1. Betwixt & Between – Wander of Hesotarou Tankobu
2.Paul Maddox – Phaserblade
3. J Nardi & J Dwyer – Evil Genius
4. Adam – Psychopath
5. Heathen – Digital Destruction
6. Lab 4 – The Uprising
7. Guld – Nightmare Freak 2009 (Wonderland)
7. Dj Rx – Hellfire (Proteus remix)
9. Alek Száhala – Iron Squid
10. Betwixt & Between – City of Soltitude (Guld remix)
11. Android Lime – Robot Noize (DJ X remix)
12. Lab 4 – Requiem (Metatron hard mix)
