A new post at last – but this one’s worth the wait, I hope. Cogi’s set at last week’s NRGetic Romancer was Dark Psy once again, and he’s already made the file available for download. I don’t have a tracklist yet, so I’ll try to sort that out as soon as I can, but have a listen in the meantime anyway. It’s a brilliant set, expertly mixed, and 100% ‘Cogi style’.
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:
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!
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)
For anyone who missed the Android Lime and DJ -X vs BRK sets last week, they are now both downloadable. I’ve already given Android’s mix a couple of listens, and it’s great stuff once again. Starting off with hard dance, things get more and more frantic towards the end – my favourite section is probably the mix from DJ Rx’s In Memoriam to Android’s own remix of Hell Night, followed by the Jody 6 remix of Hatral.
I haven’t had a chance to check the DJ -X vs BRK set yet, but I’ll be doing so tomorrow – until then, everyone else can download it from here, too.
So Konemetsä has been and gone, and a lot of the FINRG/Hybridize artists were playing there. I hope we’ll get to hear a few recorded sets, and to start us off here’s one from Substanced. As you can see, it’s full-on freeform all the way with a really high BPM (just as it should be), and runs through a lot of Substanced’s classic older tunes plus Harder Than U Think, Freeform Mercury, that kind of thing. It would have been great to be there for this one…I wonder if anyone took some video during the set?
I know, this is a drum and bass mix, but it includes a great sequence of 3 or 4 tunes that are a perfect example of telling a ‘story’. Anyone familiar with drum and bass will know Doc Scott, one of the early pioneers with the ambient/intelligent jungle sound back in the mid-90s, and this set does a pretty good job of rounding up some ‘deep’ modern tunes. First of all, take a look at the tracklist.
ASC and Blu Mar Ten are names from back in the good old days too, and the three tracks in bold make up the sequence that caught my attention. Dead Rising is almost dubstep style (it might even be dubstep, I’m not really familiar with it), and is one of those tunes that is really made by a well chosen sample – “Two news agencies are reporting accounts of the dead returning to life”. The pace of the sequence builds up with a rolling drumbeat and ominous bassline in Deadlock, before the vocal and more melodic style of Believe Me shifts the atmosphere again…it’s quite a beautiful tune, but sounds slightly disturbing/melancholy when matched up with the other two tracks.
I’m usually not a fan of modern dnb, and I wasn’t keen on a few of these tunes, but this is an amazing sequence and very inspiring, a dark/melancholy freeform set could definitely try to create the same sort of atmosphere. It shows the kind of ‘journey’ a good DJ can take you on, for sure.
If you fancy a listen after all that, download from here.
A quick heads up for this coming Wednesday, Android Lime’s first mix as a resident will be broadcast on Live Sets Online Radio, with plenty of dark and nasty NRG in store (don’t ask me how I know, I just know). Show some support and give it a listen if you can, and don’t forget that DJ X (Lab 4) is also a resident, so definitely worth catching his sets too. If you’re after more info, be sure to check out Android Lime’s resident page here, and DJ X here.
Here are two new mixes from Finland that are well worth checking out – the first is Hybridize artist Sam One’s latest tune showcase. His previous sets were absolute quality, and this one doesn’t disappoint either, with a hardtrance feel that gradually ups the bpm into freeform territory towards the end. Some of the melodies in here really are fantastic (check out the breakdown in S.O.S, for example), and the set finishes with one of my favourite tunes of last year, Fear of Reality.
Next is Decion’s Soul Redemption, another storming Hard NRG set. This one features some very nice mixing, and continues the same pounding style of the last couple of Decion sets. I don’t listen to that much UK-style Hard NRG, but Decion’s selection is always impressive and definitely creates a dark atmosphere. Highly recommended once again.
1. Intro
2. Weazal – The Avenger
3. Andy K & Lee Mills – Bring It (Grady G Remix)
4. Weazal – Bin Juice (Michael Smith Remix)
5. Firefox – Oz (NARC Remix)
6. The Punisher – Fire In The Sky (Random But Raw Remix)
7. Tom Urwin & Prohibited – Raw To The Point
8. Grady G – Sever Trauma
9. Wylie – Down Under
10. Eufex & Jay B – Vacuum Packed (Grady G Remix)
11. Base Graffiti – The Hulk
12. Firefox – The Devil’s Work (2007 Remix)
13. Grady G – Bezerk
14. Grady G – Broken
Thanks again for about the millionth time to Decion, this time for letting me know about a nice mix of freeform from around the world that includes a few Japanese tunes. It starts off with Eternal Cannon….it’s tough to find anything to follow that, but the set has a lot of energy and would definitely be a good one to hear live.
Decion found it in a thread on the Hullabaloo forums, which also very kindly bigs up my mixes and Decion’s Metaform.
RaverRoseTF – Eternal Cannon
Dok & Ponder – Ribcage (Oli G Remix)
Nomic – Holocaust
MINAMOTOYA – Miss You
Betwixt & Between – GENSHI KURAGE
Mark Smith – Bring On The Noize
Oli G – Cordelia
Ephexis & Seventy-7 – Psymbiosis (Blistering Breaks Mix)
EFM-7 – Dream Machine
Kevin Energy & K Complex – Suck My Rock
Tazz vs. Digital Anarchy – Kickin It Ruff
EFM-7 – Pulse 2
Addiction – Senselessness NRG
Oli G – Gir (Arkitech Remix)
Ephexis – Nan Chuan
Teranoid vs Betwixt & Between – AYAKASHI
Time for another mix round-up, I think. My own mix is very very slowly coming together, but I won’t be setting a date for it….picking the first two tunes has taken me about a week (!).
Anyway, first up is Decion’s newest Hard NRG set, Scum of the Earth. Dark and nasty NRG is the thing here, with a fantastic intro that is genuinely one of the best I’ve heard for a long time. It might be Decion’s best Hard NRG set so far, so make sure to download it here, right away (clicking on kuuntele, as usual).
Next is Meke’s Japanese freeform-themed set, Freeformed. This one is really impressive, with some quality selection and nice mixing. The set has the atmosphere of a Japanese event from a couple of years ago, as the sound has changed quite a lot since Invoker and Nightmare Freak were getting regular play. A lot of people here miss some of those retro tunes though, so this was definitely a nice listen. Download here.
Finally we have Kuruption’s Get Finergized Vol 4. His previous sets have been quality, and this one mainly focuses on Hybridize releases. Hell’s Gate and NRGetic Romancer ravers will have heard a lot of these tracks before (especially from the second half of the set), but for anyone else who wants to hear a good selection of the recently released tunes, then this is the mix to go for. Download here.
Click for the tracklists to each set> Continue Reading