Mixes

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I’ve decided that for now I won’t be uploading my Lucky Lotus set, as it was intended more as an ‘event set’ that changed things up a lot and introduced folk to some different styles, but will be playing it again tonight for anyone who’s interested/missed it the first time around. I say ‘playing’, but it has crossed my mind to just stream the original mix and have a chat with everyone while we listen – I used 15 or 16 tunes, so would probably be kept too busy preventing trainwrecks to be able to talk that much. Either way, it’ll start at 11pm, provided I remember how to use ustream.

Oh, and the other reason for not uploading the set is that I’m in the early stages of planning my next ‘studio mix’ that’s a bit more consistent in its sound. I’ll hopefully have time to spend on it at the end of summer, but for now I’m focused on Codex tunes.

Here’s a set I’ve wanted to mention for a couple of months now, another stormer from the one like Alderz. A quick look at the tracklist should be all you need, but worth mentioning the variety here, slipping in some UK freeform (of the more aggressively filtered, Finnish sort) in the middle section, bridging the melodic stuff and the nastier, harder finale.

Alderz’s trademark mixing style means there’s hardly time to draw breath before a new tune comes hammering in, it’s a great way to combine a lot of different material and definitely keeps the interest up. A quality set then, and definitely worth a download.

1. Alek Szahala – Dawnstar (Aryx Remix) / Rebuild 
2. Transcend & Lost Soul – 7 Light Cycles / Watchtower 
3. Amini – Fcking Pirates / Rebuild 
4. Substanced & Alchemiist – Facemelt / Finrg 
5. Betwixt & Between – Liberation / CDR 
6. Nomic – Suicide Machine / Smiling Corpse 
7. Endemic – Xen / Watchtower 
8. Transcend – Lament Configuration / Watchtower 
9. Substanced & Alchemiist – Permission To Die / Finrg 
10. Epyx & Cyrez – A Bit Rougher / Watchtower 
11. Marilyn Manson – This Is The New Shit (Nomic Remix – 2013 Edit) / CDR 
12. Kilamorza – Sirius / Freeformatted 008 

I got back from London yesterday afternoon, so it’s about time to settle into the Horse’s saddle and resume normal service. Let’s start with something I really should have found time for before I left – the pre-Munted! spectacular on Krafty Radio from a couple of weeks ago.

I had the honour of starting off the two-hour set, and decided to pillage an unfinished Alek Szahala-only mix I had been planning as a Facebook page gift, combining it with a couple of older mixes that long-time Ustream listeners might remember. In a token effort to be more up-to-date I replaced the old Ustream stalwart of Aurora with Polaris, a nicely uplifting way to end my section and which Midas did a brilliant job of running with. Sorry about the overly-long use of Comet Catcher by the way – originally it was supposed to mix from The Purification but that would have meant overshooting my time limit, sadly ruling out my first use of a UK tune for about 5 years.

Anyway, I’m quite happy with the atmosphere in my set, and with a superb final section from Pearsall that’s very heavy on the Japanese tracks, the two hours have a nicely consistent feel while still showing off the distinctive style of each DJ. Look out too for some amazing variety from Midas and Aryx’s brand new The Golden Chariot.

PlasmaDancer  

01. Alek Szahala – Comet Catcher  
02. Alek Szahala – Pink Magic  
03. Suge – Terrible Oneness  
04. Alek Szahala – Solar Hive  
05. Carbon Based & Nemes – Heaven n’ Hell (Alek Szahala Remix)  
06. Alabaster – Acid Maker  
07. Pain on Creation & DJ Rx – Super Sonic  
08. Aryx – Polaris  

Midas  

09. Substanced & J-Mx – Flawless Victory  
10. Substanced – Signal Lost (Endemic Remix)  
11. Substanced – Seismic Activity (Transcend Remix)  
12. A.B. & Amplitude – Thinking Machine (Douglas Remix)  
13. CLSM – Wicked MC feat. MC Sharkey  
14. Cube::Hard – Hold The Beat  
15. Cube::Hard v CLSM – See You On The Other Side  

Aryx  

16. Aryx – Polaris  
17. Aryx – Celestia  
18. Aryx – Aurora  
19. Aryx – Sylph  
20. Aryx – The Golden Chariot (Unfinished)  
21. Substanced – The End of All Things (Aryx Remix)  

Pearsall  

22. Qygen – Silicon Skies ft Leo Hartley  
23. Dani Delirio – Neo Tokyo  
24. Guld – Castle In The Sky Remix  
25. Substanced – Damage Point  
26. Nomic – Rift  
27. Le Dos-On – Marionette  
28. Penguin Conspiracy – Reality Distortion Field  
29. A.B. & Nick 235 – Future’s Past Feat. Rhona  
30. Le Dos-On – Yksisarvinen  
31. Epyx & Cyrez – Sound Of The Golden Clarion (Le Dos-On Remix)  

Munted! in London was absolutely fantastic by the way – some superb sets and great people made for a top quality night. Some photos and video will hopefully surface at some point, so stay tuned for a proper look back in the nearish future.

Here’s that post I’ve been trying to find the time for – an inspired contribution to the Freeformaniacs show that’s hands down the best freeform set I’ve heard this year. It’s clear right from the start how much effort Cuedy put into this mix, and it flows brilliantly through a lovely selection of TYFTH-friendly melodic freeform and some fantastic, creative connections. For the first time in a long time I found myself enjoying the transitions themselves (very rare, but the way it should be, surely) and really being drawn into the set’s atmosphere. Just when I thought the set might be fading away, the Morokai – Quantum Epiphany combination energises the finale in fine style, while the earlier Chaos Maker – Leadbeater is another real standout.

No time for further comment (and forgive the possibly confusing copy/paste tracklist down below), but hopefully the scene will give this excellent set the praise it deserves – creative, thoughtful and a proper inspiration.

1. Explosive Tendencies Penguin Conspiracy [Freeform Exposed 2/Electrode] 
2. Sound Of The Golden Clarion Epyx & Cyrez [Two Against The Void/Watchtower Records] 
3. The Gatekeeper Eryk Orpheus & Flip [Freeformania/Rebuild Music] 
4. Dilapidated Ikaruga_Nex [Subaru Shu ~Subaru no Tama~/Hukagyaku Hardcore] 
5. 28 Day Later Audio Warfare & Audio Impulse [Free Release/ Soundcloud] 
6. Chaos Maker Nomic [Free Release/ Soundcloud] 
7. Leadbeater Alchemiist & J-Mx [TYFH][Free Release/ Soundcloud] 
8. Sadness & Sorrow (Epyx & Cyrez Remix) Nightforce [Electronic Exclusives 11: Plundered Vaults/Electronica Exposed] 
9. Yabarekabare Suge [Freeformania/Rebuild Music] 
10. Verzweiflung Hommarju [Relentless Digital][Subaru Shu ~Subaru no Tama~/Hukagyaku Hardcore] 
11. Human Hater Horzi [FiNRG][Free Release/ Soundcloud] 
12. Sarcomite Alabaster [Hardcore Syndrome 3/Hardcore Tano*C] 
13. Morokai Aryx [Smiling Corpse CD1/Smiling Corpse] 
14. Quantium Epiphany Qygen [Freeform Exposed 2/Electrode] 
15. Ja Tri Fu Le Dos-On [核-Core-/Solidbox Records] 

Yet more mixes for everyone, this time courtesy of the ever-prolific Midas. The first is episode 21 of his excellent Freeform 101 series, and concentrates entirely on Electronica Exposed’s back catalogue. A glance at the tracklist shows that we’re in classy freeform territory here – the first half is very heavy on the Alek Szahala tracks, but also includes some classic Pain on Creation and Mental Ward, one of my favourite Carbon Based tunes. The second half is a Lost Soul special, so there’s plenty for both the UK and Finnish crew here. Very nicely mixed, as you’d expect, this is highly recommended.

  1. Alek Szahala – Tigris
  2. DOK – Mental ward (carbon Based remix)
  3. Tazz, Shanty and Dodgee – Eidetiker
  4. Pain on Creation – Shine
  5. Alek Szahala – Timiquizqueh
  6. Pain on Creation – Religionx
  7. Alek Szahala – Unicorn Grove
  8. Shanty, Tazz and Devestate – DDR
  9. Lost Soul – Adversaries (insane version)
  10. Lost Soul – Come and get it
  11. Lost Soul – Ragnarok
  12. Lost Soul – Daemons
  13. Lost Soul – Artificial Universe 

Midas also recently put together a set to mark 600 likes on the Munted! Facebook page. This one is more Nu-Energy slanted, including a few of the older tracks I used to play around with in the distant past, while the final section has plenty of Finnish melodies, albeit in remixed form.

  1. K-Complex – Mindwinder 06 (original mix)
  2. Dj Energy – Acid Dawn
  3. Kevin Energy – Crescendo’s of ecstasy (K-Complex remix)
  4. Dave Elizyum – No limit (Arkitech remix)
  5. Kevin Energy – waves of desire (Mark Ashley & K-Complex remix)
  6. Eryk Orpheus – PVC
  7. Mark Ashley & K-complex – Atomic orbital
  8. Cube::Hard – Hold the beat (original mix)
  9. Cube::hard vs clsm – see you on the other side
  10. Visionary – Taste the funk (cube::hard remix)
  11. Kevin energy, K-Complex & sharkey – Anna (cube::hard remix)
  12. K-Complex feat Scarlett Belle – Chennai
  13. Alek Szahala – Alanamra (Arkitech remix)
  14. Carbon Based – Cyclone
  15. Carbon based – Anger Ball (kevin energy remix)
  16. Alek Szahala – Lumi (kevin energy remix)
  17. Lost soul feat Dark Angel – Taking Over me
  18. Kevin Energy & K-Complex – filling me with desire (endemic remix) 

I’m having a break from all-out freeform listening right now, so indulge me while we check out another wonderful Bukem set from the archives. Recorded live at Dance Paradise in (I think) 1994, this is right up there with his seminal Rebirth mix of 1996 as an example of structuring a set, creating new atmospheres inside the mix connections, and just flat-out technical excellence.

Bukem runs through a huge number of my all-time favourites here, and absolutely nails the contrast between deep, futuristic melancholy and aggressive amens that made 94-96 the era for intelligent drum and bass. Check out the final moments of the Drift to the Centre – The Western transition, as the drums stop and the ‘Drift…to the centre’ vocal plays over PFM’s trademark intro – just one example of the winning combination of Photek (in his various guises) and PFM that forms the backbone of the set. Another favourite moment might be Heavy Vibes into Horizons, a genuinely beautiful mix that sums up why Bukem is my main DJing inspiration.

In a perfect world Bukem’s older mixes would be required listening for anyone wondering how to incorporate deeper sounds into a high-bpm club set – get past the MCs (easier said than done, I know) and see what you think.

‘Two hours of new freeform mixed by Pearsall’ should be enough for any Horser to hit the download button, and once again this is a top quality set from the man himself. As always, checking out Pearsall’s original Sonicrampage post will explain all, but this is a set made up of recent digital releases, covering everything from FINRG to UK freeform via Le Dos-on and Qygen. The tunes don’t stick around for long before the next comes mixing in, making this a pacy, breathless couple of hours that focuses almost totally on TYFTH-friendly sounds. You could make a case that the set has fewer inspired connections than Rampage Turbo 10, but it makes up for that with excellent selection and structure (including Amini’s Lost Elegy – much obliged!).

Great stuff then – here’s hoping that Pearsall continues to explore more of the newer releases in future sets.

01. DJ Rx – Code Of Silence (Le Dos-On Remix) (Finrg)  
02. Alek Szahala – Deimos (Finrg)  
03. Aryx – Sylph (ReBuild Music)  
04. Yuki Kajiura – Memaze (Nomic Bootleg Remix) (Unreleased)  
05. Proteus – Get Fire! (Watchtower)  
06. Qygen – Temporal Temple (Watchtwower)  
07. Wyrm – Can’t You See It? (Electrode)  
08. Lost Soul – Twisted Dream (Watchtower)  
09. Amini – Guitarian (Smiling Corpse)  
10. Substanced – Crank Cleopatra 2012 (Finrg)  
11. Endemic – Hurricane (Watchtower)  
12. Aryx – Chaldea (DJ Fury Remix) (ReBuild Music)  
13. Epyx & Cyrez – Prelude (Penguin Conspiracy Remix) (Electrode)  
14. Substanced & Alchemiist – Permission To Die (Finrg)  
15. Douglas & Remane – Disorder (A.B.’s London Techno Remix) (Stamina)  
16. Transcend – The Calling (ReBuild Music)  
17. Transcend & Dyzphazia – Tormenting Flames (Relentless)  
18. Ionosphere – PYLAAM (Electrode)  
19. Lost Soul – Sacrifice Feat. Dark Angel (Endemic Remix) (Watchtower)  
20. Penguin Conspiracy – Tripswitch (Electrode)  
21. Substanced – Ghost Of The Future (Watchtwower)  
22. Substanced – Stockholm Syndrome (Smiling Corpse)  
23. Substanced – Shadows Of Tomorrow (Finrg)  
24. Amini – Lost Elegy (Thank You For The Horse)  
25. Nomad – Lose It (Transcend Remix) (ReBuild Music)  
26. A.B. – Escapia (Stamina)  
27. Eryk Orpheus – Benodihydrochloridebenzylex (Eryk Orpheus)  
28. Le Dos-On – Flame  
29. Alchemiist – Fate (Finrg)  
30. Le Dos-On – Unelma (Relentless)  
31. Substanced – Reptile Zoo (Finrg)  
32. Aran – Taranis (Qygen Bootleg) (Qygen)     

It’s been a while since we featured a raqhow mix on TYFTH, but I’m more than happy to give this excellent set a shout. This is one of those rare things, a ‘dark freeform’ set that actually lives up to the name, with some quality atmosphere and raqhow’s usual solid mixing. The set gets into its stride from Metaphysical Redemption, and the sequence all the way through to Fking Pirates is very nicely done. Everyone’s probably familiar with the tunes here, but Izanami still gets a big recommend.   

1.Epyx & Cyrez – Why 
2.Substanced & Grimsoul – Harder Than U Think 
3.Nightforce – Metaphysical Redemption 
4.Twisted Freq – Death From Above 
5.Micken – Change The Past 
6.Micken – The Channeler 
7.Substanced – Acid World 
8.Alchemiist – Anthrax Injection 
9.Amini – Fking Pirates 
10.Nightforce – Symphony For The Devil (The Virus Escaped) 
11.Betwixt & Between – Inexistenz 

This one jumped to the head of my mix-listening queue recently for obvious reasons, and thankfully Mysterave has come up with the goods again – this is a planned-with-care set that does both Aryx and Alek justice. The mix mainly concentrates on the lighter side of their sound, and it’s actually the first time for me to hear tunes like Aryx’s lovely rework of Dawnstar and Alek’s Lagash 2012. With other new tracks like Deimos and Celestia, it’s a set with a very fresh feel, before finishing with some welcome darkness in the ever-anthemic Man Eaten and Desagoon Juniper.

Connection of the set for me has to be from Unicorn Grove to The End of All Things, a superb transition that could even have overlapped a little more without any problems, and that echo of UG‘s melody that you hear in TEoAT‘s first mini-break is just wonderful. Top, top work there.

An excellent set then, and maybe the first in a series…?

  1. Alek Szahala – Dawnstar (Aryx remix)
  2. Alek Szahala – Astraia
  3. Aryx – Celestia
  4. Alek Szahala – Deimos
  5. Aryx – Aurora
  6. Alek Szahala – Tigris
  7. Aryx – Nephila
  8. Alek Szahala – Unicorn Grove
  9. Substanced – End of All Things (Aryx remix)
  10. Alek Szahala – Lagash 2012
  11. Aryx – Chaldea
  12. Alek Szahala – Man Eaten
  13. Alek Szahala – Desagoon Juniper 

Download here

I’ve already seen some photos from this weekend’s FINRG & FUTURISTICS in Tampere, and at the time of writing you’ve still got a chance to download Epyx & Cyrez’s mix to tie in with the event.

This is one of those rare sets that I haven’t listened to all the way through before posting, but from my quick check of the connections it was sounding fantastic – heavy on the NRG and a transition from Alek Szahala’s Mageslayer that’s really top level. Grab it while you can!