Mixes

Electrode – Freeform Exposed

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 24, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, Releases, UK. 1 comment

Great news came from Electronica Exposed a couple of days ago, re. the launch of the new free label, Electrode. To mark the event Shanty has come up with a typically comprehensive release, a very tasty looking 3 parter of brand new material.

Some of the tracks I’ve heard (or even played, in the case of Unohdetut), but the vast majority are new to me, including tracks from Wyrm and Olly Addictive & TTE that I just can’t wait to hear. The showcase set from Shanty is already downloadable, with the DJ-friendly separate tracks on the way soon. This is one of those rare times when I’m posting about a set I haven’t listened through yet, so any opinions/feedback from the comment section crew would be great.

The current page on the EE site seems to be a placeholder – personally I agree with Shanty that even if the music’s free it should be presented properly/professionally, so I’m very much looking forward to the new site design, too.

Munted! Monthly!

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 20, 2012
Posted in: Drum & Bass, Events, Mixes, UK. 2 comments

Something I’ve been meaning to check out for a while is the Munted! Monthly! blog/website, but I finally got around to it while catching part of last Saturday’s show. It looks like Dyzphazia/Chip’s doing a fine job on the updates so far, and there’ll soon be MM5 links for the non-facebook crew. The other sets are also archived there, including the very interesting MM4 (which is top of my ‘to listen’ list at the moment).

BEEZEE – The Canticle of the Monomyth

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 17, 2012
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 3 comments

Now it’s Beezee’s turn to demonstrate the power of the Horse with his set for Pearsall’s Sonicrampage. From the moment this set kicks in there’s no mistaking the Beezee selection, with classic FINRG filters from beginning to end – not that I’m complaining. In between are trancier sounds with tunes like I’ll Bring the Storm, Nephila and Moment of Wonder (excellent use of I’ll Bring the Storm’s long intro, by the way), and even a bit of Lab 4 in the nastier, more experimental section towards the end.

Pearsall has even included a great interview with the man himself – we’ve mentioned this before, but it’s always nice to hear a DJ talk at length about his/her own mixing style, influences etc. Hopefully this and his recent Freeformaniacs sets will give Beez a bit more exposure and the chance of showing off his style in a few more mixes here and there.

1. Pain On Creation – Pain control
2. Grimsoul – I’ll Bring the Storm
3. DJ RX – Frozen Flame
4. Epilim – Plasma
5. Alek Szahala – Pink Magic
6. Substanced – Geneva pt 2
7. Furyan – Galaxias Glaciere
8. Grimsoul – Moment Of Wonder
9. Ephexis, RX, Carbon Based – Decimator
10. Ephexis – Elements
11. Endemic – Hurricane
12. Substanced – Shadows Of Tomorrow
13. Aryx – Nephila
14. Grimsoul – Bad Boy
15. Lab 4 – Uprising
16. Betwixt + Between – Phase 6
17 Epyx + Cyrez – Polar Energy
18. Substanced + Alchemist – Skullcrush

Alderz – Heavy Hearted

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 17, 2012
Posted in: Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 5 comments

Thanks to Alderz for pointing me in the direction of his most recent set, excellently titled Heavy Hearted. It has to be one of his best mixes for quite a while, with a very nice selection of darker tunes and some inspired oldies. I really liked the use of Ziggurat from the halfway point – as nice a track as it is, the intro does drag on a bit, and this way the set starts off with plenty of energy.

Other good selections include Galaxias Glaciere (which I’ve been playing a lot in practice recently, too) and the amazing Entangled to finish things off. Plus points too for the Dragon Form – Skullcrush mix, really rough and effective, that one. Many will have heard this set already, but if you haven’t the less common choices, quality mixing and general nastiness really make it a good one to check out.

Pearsall – Rampage Turbo 10

Posted by PlasmaDancer on April 11, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. 8 comments

Right then, here we go – I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so as well as bits and pieces from my trip I’ll be posting up some of the other great stuff that’s been going on for the past month.

First up is Pearsall’s incredible tribute to FINRG, timed to coincide with the 10 year anniversary. Being a vinyl-only man, Pearsall has done a wonderful job of mixing up the old anthems with some less well-known classics, and I’d go as far as to say the opening sequence of 6 or 7 tunes is one of the best I’ve ever heard in a freeform mix. I’m often banging on to anyone that’ll listen that we DJs in the freeform scene should really step up a level to match some of the stuff going on in other genres, but here’s a set that could easily go toe-to-toe with anything I’ve heard for a long while.

It would impossible to maintain the level of that first section (especially for 2 hours), but the rest of the set is still excellent, with some lovely transitions through the sounds of Nomic, Pain on Creation anf Re-form, as well as another surge at the end with Superstition and Man Eaten. A worthy successor to E-NRG’s seminal Welcome to FINRG mix, then, and a must-listen if you haven’t already.

Here’s the tracklist, but check Pearsall’s original post for the download link and all sorts of reminiscences from his own trip to Finland.

01. Carbon Based – Kraateri (Finrg)
02. The Mexican – The Land Of The Pharaohs (Carbon Based Remix) (Electrolysis)
03. Carbon Based – The Choice (Electrolysis)
04. Carbon Based & Nemes – Heaven N Hell (Electrolysis)
05. Proteus & Carbon Based – Heavy Fusion (Finrg)
06. DJ Proteus – Metal (Teflon Bullet)
07. Paocala – Starfall (Electronic)
08. Carbon Based & E-NRG – Illuminate (Electrolysis)
09. Carbon Based, E-NRG & Nemes – Prologue (Electrolysis)
10. DJ Rx – Hellfire (Finrg Hard)
11. Re-Form – Extremely Dangerous (RFU)
12. Nemes & Blender – Without Fear (Camel)
13. Alek Szahala – Dryad Machine (Finrg Hard)
14. Alek Szahala – Unicorn Grove (Electroplates)
15. DJ Rx – Killer Instinct (Finrg Hard)
16. Carbon Based – Underworld Species (Electroplates)
17. Carbon Based – Anger Ball (Nu Energy)
18. Pain On Creation – Mortality (Electronic)
19. Pain On Creation – Lush (Carbon Based Remix) (Finrg Hard)
20. DJ Proteus – Venla (Teflon Bullet)
21. Alek Szahala – Lumi (Nu Energy)
22. Re-Form – Schizophrenic (Electroplates)
23. Re-Form – Blackmailer (Hard NRG Mix) (Electronic)
24. Carbon Based – Fatal Flashback (Electronic)
25. Nomic & Pain On Creation – Make Me Real (Camel)
26. Alek Szahala – Invitation (Finrg Hard)
27. Nomic – You Have A Dream (Nu Energy)
28. Carbon Based – Ultimate Protection (Electronic)
29. DOK – Mental Ward (Carbon Based Remix) (Electroplates)
30. Carbon Based – Cyclone (Electronic)
31. Alek Szahala – Superstition (Electronic)
32. Alek Szahala – Man Eaten (Finrg Hard)

Substanced – FINRG X Mix

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 28, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. Leave a Comment

In case you haven’t heard it yet, here’s Substanced’s fabulous Anniversary set – the perfect warm up for this weekend, and now with added tracklist.

  1. Dave 202 & Dumonde – Singularity (Substanced Remix)
  2. Transcend – For The Reaper
  3. Lukozade – Concorde
  4. Nomic & Pain On Creation – Make Me Real
  5. Substanced – Geneva Part II
  6. RAF – Evilution
  7. Devastate – Mood Music (Oli G Remix)
  8. Substanced – The End Of All Things (Aryx Remix)
  9. Substanced – Exodus
  10. Carbon Based – Anger Ball
  11. Endemic – Loki
  12. Substanced – Stockholm Syndrome
  13. Lost Soul – The Answer
  14. Alek Szahala – Man Eaten

Alderz – Harder Than Hitler

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 28, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 2 comments

Just time for a couple of posts tonight – first of all is a long-awaited next mix from Alderz! Just a glance at the tracklist shows this is well worth a listen, a great combination of old and new.

  1. Alek Szahala – Sunray
  2. Betwixt & Between – The Wander of Hesotarou Tankobu
  3. Substanced & Grimsoul – Harder Than You Think
  4. Carbon Based & DJ Rx – Titor Quantum Theory
  5. Lab 4 – Requiem (DJ X’s Heart of Darkness remix)
  6. Substanced – El Orfanato
  7. Grimsoul – Moment of Wonder
  8. E-NRG & Carbon Based – Jerk Awake
  9. Alek Szahala – Solar Hive
  10. Betwixt & Between – Zusammengehorigkeit
  11. Rank 1 – Airwave (Betwixt & Between bootleg remix)
  12. Aryx – Chaldea
  13. Alek Szahala – Last of the Mohicans

Well done to Aldz on a great set. Incidentally, make sure to keep an eye on Pearsall’s Sonic Rampage, as there’s a very exciting all-vinyl FINRG Anniversary set on the way!

Experience! Vol.3, 18th February

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 26, 2012
Posted in: Events, Finnish, Japanese, Mixes, UK. 1 comment

Last weekend I managed to head along to Experience!, and even remembered to take a few videos. It was an excellent event that gives me hope that there might be a future for freeform at Tokyo hardcore events after all, especially with producers of the quality of the outstanding Le Dos-on and up-and-coming DJs like raqhow and Nrgray.

It was great to meet both raq and Le Dos-on (as well as ikaruga) for the first time, and their b2b set was just phenomenal. Le Dos-on’s production is coming on at an amazing rate, and his newest material is sounding like a powerful mix of FINRG, Hybridize and Betwixt & Between. Raqhow also came up with some quality selections – the combination of an artist playing his own stuff while a DJ responds with tracks from around the scene was amazingly effective, I’d love to see that happen more often. Here are the two videos from their set, click below for a quick look at what else was going on.

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Oldskool Mix Marathon IV

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 9, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes, UK. 3 comments

Towards the end of last year Meke let me know about this fantastic looking radio event, and now the recordings are all online courtesy of Pearsall at Sonicrampage. As you can imagine, I haven’t got a huge amount of time for set-listening at the moment, but I recently checked out the Proteus and Meke sets, while Pearsall’s Rampage Turbo 9 is next on my list.

Proteus’ set is a mix of oldskool hard trance and rave tunes, recorded at an event in Helsinki. Old-timers will surely recognise a few tunes, and I especially enjoyed the progression in the second half. Meke’s Happy New Yearave, meanwhile, is a fabulous hour of rave/gabber that wouldn’t sound out of place at the very best Tokyo Hardcore Constructions. Really well mixed, it was great to hear so many old favourites like Pessa Pessa (or at least the Buzz Fuzz remix) and guilty pleasure Everybody’s Free.

The other sets span everything from acid trance to gabber, so there’s plenty to be getting on with. I’m especially looking forward to Ciriliox’s makina set, after getting a recommendation from Pearsall himself. Harder dance genres were in closer contact with each other back in the 90s, so no matter what you were into there’ll probably be some memories stirred by this collection of sets, as well a chance to catch all the stuff you missed the first time around.

Pearsall (admirably) doesn’t do things by halves, so once again there are discog links to all the tunes, full tracklists, and cue files for the CD burning crew. Check out the full post over at Sonicrampage.

Decion – Fueled Up

Posted by PlasmaDancer on February 9, 2012
Posted in: Finnish, Mixes. 1 comment

Something a bit different here from Decion, a hard house set that might be a nice diversion if you’re in need of a break from the higher bpms (in that case the next post might also be keeping you busy for the foreseeable future).

It all starts off with a Linkin Park remix (that I can’t deny had me reaching for the mute button), but after that there are just enough filters and harder sounding synths to keep most NRG fans interested, as well as the solid mixing you’d expect from Decion. It’s always interesting to hear DJs take on a different genre, and this set brought back fond memories of past Hell’s Gate events with its mix of hard(ish) and uplifting tunes.

  1. Linkin Park – In The End (Random But Raw Remix) [CD-R]
  2. John Geary & Dave Owens – Custard Ganned (Equinox Remix) [Digital Cohesion]
  3. Dave Curtis & Defective Audio – Hurt Me [Encoded NRG]
  4. ATB – Lost In Love (James Gibson Remix) [CD-R]
  5. Ross Homson – Mutt Strut [Stereodays Recordings]
  6. Dr Tre – RTZ [Stereodays Recordings]
  7. Matt Pickup & Dave The Elf & Riggsy – Elevate [Rise Up Digital]
  8. Dr Tre – 9MM [Stereodays Recordings]
  9. Matt R – Source [Piston Records]
  10. Rodi Style – B2R [CD-R]
  11. Michael Smith – Massacre [Spin Hard Recordings]

Download here (kuuntele, of course)