A couple of months back Cogi and I were having a bit of a talk about mixing/constructing sets, and how difficult/exciting it is to create a particular atmosphere. Anyway, Cogi recommended that I check out Shoko F’s fabulously-titled I’m Normal Technomania, a classic NRG mix from way back in 1997, as an example of how it should be done. Apparently Shoko F had an entire ‘story’ in mind while mixing, and imagined an epic journey through a Europe-style fantasy land – forging through a dark forest, emerging to find a huge castle, and so on. With this background info, listening to the mix is extremely impressive – not only is it nigh-on seamless, but the ebb and flow/structure of the set is superb, and a real inspiration. Of course, as an NRG/Hard Trance set, the mixing style is somewhat different to modern freeform, but the philosophy is applicable to all genres, I reckon – it’s definitely given me a lot of ideas for future mixes.
This mix is also fantastic for those (like me) who weren’t too involved with harder trance/NRG in the mid/late 90s. A particular favourite of Cogi and Guld is Accelerator, and now I know why – it’s definitely one of those ‘way ahead of its time’ tracks, and ripe for a 21st century remix, for sure. Just in case you haven’t heard it either, I’ve included it at the top of this post, and here too is the full tracklist:
- Black Acid – Six Minutes of Mayhem
- DJ Choci & Injector – Nothing
- Black Acid – Stargate
- Nuclear Hyde – Accelerator
- Rebel Yelle – Mizbehavinit
- Hydro – Liquid Prayers
- Chris Liberator – Spectrum
- Chase – Reject
- Legacy – All Out of Bubble Gum
- Dr. Bass – Don’t Stop
- DJ Choci – Can You Feel the Force
- Scope – Beyond Gravity
- Bi Boy Action Squad – Got To Learn
- Cores – Babylon
- Tripswitch – TIC TAC
- Yoji Biomehanica – Rendezvous de Telepathy
Now the bad news – it might be difficult to get hold of this mix these days, but while writing this post I stumbled across Shoko F’s MySpace page, which might be a start. There are some dark and nasty techno tunes up there as well, and definitely worth checking out.