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.
I must have been looking forward to the Bootek event so much that this completely passed me by – but next week sees ATOM hosting the next of the Dance or Die vs Hell’s Gate events. Happily I’m on semi-summer holiday from the end of next week, and so the midnight on Thursday (!) start time doesn’t worry me too much. It’d definitely be nice to catch some of the Hell’s crew before the next event at Studio Cube, too. Not too sure about the other DJs, but Zio will be playing a Tech Dance/NRG set…sounds good.
Dance or Die vs HELL’s GATE ＠ATOM
OPEN 24:00
Dance or Die DJ:
OZAWA
TOMOYUKI
HELLS GATE DJ:
YOSHIMASA
ZIO
A2C
MKT
AYAKO
Slightly late with this news, but EE have recently announced another mammoth batch of releases to keep us all busy well into summer. First up is Lost Soul’s debut album, Human Being – I’m really a fan of Dark Angel and Bad Influence, but wasn’t too keen on Nightmare or his London Helsinki Underground remix, so I was wondering which Lost Soul would make an appearance here. The answer, as it turns out, is neither. At least from the samples I’ve heard, there’s a bigger trancecore/hard trance influence than was apparent in the older tracks, and it really sounds promising. Three cheers also for the nutty amens on What The…(Intro), which brought back some fond memories…good old jungle, eh? Finally, I’m sure you’ll agree that the cover artwork is fantastic, as it is on Firefly’s new release. Which leads us nicely on to….
Not sure how much interest this is for the freeform-only fans, but it’s now easier to get hold of Technorch’s tunes, if his special brand of J-Core floats your boat. Three albums are currently available, Boss on Parade Remixes – DJ Technorch meets Xxx, Boss on Parade – Xxx Meets Gabber, and my personal favourite, GOTHIC SYSTEM LITE – Trancecore Meets Gabber.
The next Hell’s Gate isn’t far away at all, and the line up this time around is fantastic – joining regular/organiser Zio is DJ Chucky, making a guest appearance alongside Konny MC – a hint that things are darker/harder than ever for this one (the flyer design gives that impression too, for some reason).
DJ KA->NA is also returning from an epic break, prior to her set at August’s Energy Cocktail, and I’d really like to hear what kind of set she comes up with this time.
All being well, I should be able to make it, but there’s a chance that I’ll be otherwise engaged….After narrowly missing out on the last event, though, it would be great to show some support and wander along if at all possible. We’ll see…
My mp3 player recently survived a deep-sea adventure in the washing machine, so I’ve once again been able to while away the hours on the train by checking out some new (and not-so-new) mixes. I thought it might be worth collecting them all together in one post – and if anyone happens to know of any other ‘must-listens’, maybe you could add a comment? There seems to be a lot of freeform/NRG mixes around at the moment, so maybe this kind of round-up could become a regular thing (or as regular as my slack updating will allow, anyway).
The first mix is Android Lime’s Alien Autopsy Promo, which Guld recommended to me a while ago, and it’s easy to see why – this one’s dark and thumping all the way, and heavily weighted towards Adam Lab 4/DJ X/Proteus-style tracks. Anyway, it progresses really well, and takes a welcome turn for the more melodic towards the end of the mix – a nice touch, I reckon.
The next mix is Sam One’s FINNISH 2008 HARDTRANCE SET (click ‘Kuuntele’ to download). I’ve heard a few of Sami’s tunes on the Finrg Forum, but didn’t realise he’d already got enough for a solo artist mix like this. Even more surprising was the high standard of all the tunes – his melodies are really great in an uplifting-trance-but-still-NRG style.
Here’s a mix I should have posted earlier – DJ Yousuke’s set from this month’s NRGetic Romancer. Definitely one of his best so far; how he gets so much variety into a set, while making it flow so well, I’ll never know.
DJ Rx recently posted up the Rx vs Alek Szahala live set from last year’s Hakkapelitta Tour, and it’s a stormer, as you’d expect. In my too-picky opinion, the set doesn’t flow as well as it might have done with a few different track choices, but then that’s not the point of ‘vs’ sets, is it? Instead, this is a showcase of some of the best tunes that the two of them have to offer, and so you simply must give this one a listen.
Another that I forgot to mention is Girdler Synthetic’s recently posted Energize freeform mix. Some classic oldies on this one are mixed up with newer tunes from Alek Szahala, Epyx & Cyrez, A.M.S etc – well worth checking out, the combinations are very original. The opening few tracks are great choices, too.
(click for tracklists)
Sorry, I’ve been away for quite some time. Now I’m not away, so time to catch up with a few things that have been going on lately. I’ve actually got a couple of very interesting pieces of news….er, which I can’t reveal just yet. Instead, let’s concentrate on two new Full Circle DJ remixes which have just been announced.
The first is a Shanty vs Epyx & Cyrez remix of the fabulous Things Past (yet another of my ‘favourite’ FCDJs tracks), while the second is a remix by Invader of DJ Yousuke and Buzzmasta’s Spiral Life. The original is an awesome tune, so it’ll take something special to top that. No word of a release for either of those – but as the originals still haven’t seen the light of day, it would surely be bit mad for the remixes to appear first..?
I’ll wait for the photos to arrive before I write up the usual NRGetic Romancer piece, but here’s the flyer I picked up on Saturday night – I’d completely forgotten that NRGetic Romancer has been going for a full 4 years now. To celebrate, Guld is bringing over dark NRG supremo DJ X, which should be fantastic. I have to admit I was hoping for some Finnish artists too, but still, this is another great event in the making. As long as the attendance is up from last weekend, that is – but that’s another story…
By the way, no Top Tens for the time being (I’m sure you’ll miss them desperately), as I’m sorting out the tracks for the next mix. Maybe I’ve decided on 60-70% of the tunes so far, but I want to have a bit more of a structure in mind before I start throwing them together…it might be a while until it’s ready, in other words.
edit: I wrote this post a bit too quickly, and forgot to mention that there’s a present waiting for those who make it to August’s NRGetic Romancer – a 4th Anniversary DVD! No details about it yet, but sounds very interesting…
There’s no stopping ALiCE’S EMOTION at the moment – here’s yet another new release, Funny Princess. As far as I can tell, this is an original release, rather than a remix/arrange album, but the twist this time (there has to be something, doesn’t there?) is that every track uses the Vocaloid singing/voice synth software. This is the first I’ve heard of such a thing, and although the cheese factor will probably be off the scale with some of these, I’m looking forward to hearing what the Betwixt & Between and Bezerk + Haste (!) tunes sound like. Sadly, although there is a dedicated page up for the release already, the ‘cram-every-tune-into-a-one-minute-sample’ doesn’t seem to be online right now. Betwixt was actually playing around with a vocal drum and bass remix a few months ago, so he’s not completely new to using lyrics, surprisingly.
Here’s the tracklist in full:
- 01.REDALiCE – North Blue Sky
- 02.未来派 – miku-Jump
- 03.REDALiCE – Are You Hungry?
- 04.源屋 – macrocosm
- 05.REDALiCE – Connects with Me
- 06.nadeco – Dear Explorer…
- 07.REDALiCE – miku you, fxxk you
- 08.Berserk+Haste – くるくるキーキー [Kurukuru kiikii]
- 09.未来派 – ミクマル [Mikumaru] (true mix)
- 10.REDALiCE -そのときめきはハピネス [Sono tokimeki wa happiness]
- 11.Atsushi Ohara – ひだまりのコトバ [Hidamari no kotoba]
- 12.Betwixt & Between – Think of You
I was strolling through Ikebukuro the other night, and stumbled across a night market selling CDs for the princely sum of 20 (!) yen each. Even more miraculously, I managed to come up with the CD single released last year to coincide with the Appleseed Ex Machina anime – the great thing is that the CD is a product of HASYMO, the group formed by one of my musical heroes, the effortlessly cool Ryuichi Sakamoto. Rather than the (interesting, but not really my thing) title track, RESCUE, I was bowled over by Rydeen 79/07 (see above for a live performance of the tune in Yokohama) – a rework of the 1979 Yellow Magic Orchestra original.
I’ve only once had the pleasure of witnessing Sakamoto live (with Carsten Nicolai/Alva Noto in London), and it would be something else to catch HASYMO here in Tokyo (or Yokohama, even). He’s quite an inspiration, that’s for sure.