Smooth ‘n Rough: Summer ‘99

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phonopsia
on August 27, 2008
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This is a mix I recorded some time in the Summer of ‘99. Some of it’s a bit speedy, as many of my mixes at the time were. I reckon that’s an inevitable consequence of mixing with pitched decks (when you increase the range to +/-16). It was also pretty crucial to teaching me how to mix stuff from different genres together. Anyway… I really dig this mix, having not heard it for a good few years. Lots of solid Chicago house and techno. Clocks in at just under an hour. Here you go.

Tracklist
Heiko Laux - … To All Believers [Yoshi Toshi]

Turnstyle Orchestra - Latin Soul (…Not So Latin…Sonic Soul Mix) [Guidance]

Joshua - The Breeze [NRK Sound Division]

Paul Jacobs - Soul Grabber Pt. 3 [Aquarius Recordings]

20:20 Vision - Bob Hopefield (Urban Farmers Mix) [Soma]

Troy Brown - Feel Alright B2 [Aquarius Recordings]

Gemini - How Can I [Cyclo Records]

SunKiss - Tickle [Plastic City America]

Stewart S. Walker - Nave [Tresor]

Various Artists - #6 [Chain Reaction]

Surgeon - Oval [Downwards]

Surgeon - Learning B2 [Dynamic Tension Records]

Ian Pooley - Loopduell [Force Inc. Music Works]

Claude Young - Circumstance 2 [DJax Up Beats]

Infiniti - Electric Circus [Tresor]

Noise on KRUI: 15 February 1997

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phonopsia
on August 27, 2008
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This is another one coming sort-of-by-request, as a recent thread about, “trip hop”, elsewhere on the internets bumped these mixes to the top of the archive pile. But before I get in to the detail I have to apologise for a few mixes on these tapes where I seem to think I can scratch, and hesitantly (thankfully fairly quietly) try to do so. It’s hideous. Never again, I promise.

The first (in two 30-minute segments) is a recording that was played on Noise on 15 February 1997.

Side A
F.S.O.L - Her Face Forms in Summertime [Virgin]

Fila Brazillia - Bulls Dozing [SSR]

Clatterbox - Easy Does It [Clear]

Midnight Funk Association - Code [Mo Wax]

Autechre - 902 Quarter [Warp]

Sun Electric - Stimpak [Apollo]

Side B
Funky Porcini - Long Road [Ninja Tune]

DJ Vadim - Headz Still Ain’t ready [Ninja Tune]

DJ Wally - Space People [Samz Jointz]

Pronoia - E ‘Rotisi (Interrogative Mix) [Groove Attack Productions]

Jaziac Sunflowers - Dazed and Confused [Black On Black Records]

Luke Vibert - Sharp A2 [Mo Wax]

I also found a similar mix, for which I have no date, and I can only assume it was from the same time period, as The Herbaliser album came out in March 1997. It’s one 45-minute segment.

The Herbaliser - Another Mother [Ninja Tune]

David Caron - Easy Afternoon [Eevo Lute Muzique]

Tek 9 - Phat Like A… [SSR]

DJ Wally - Ridiculous Sound [Home Entertainment]

Aloof - Wish You Were Here (David Holmes Instrumental) [EastWest]

DJ Cam - Innervisions [Columbia]

Snooze - The Chase (Fila Brazillia Remix) [SSR]

18 Wheeler - Stay (Dr. Rockit Remix) [Creation Records]

Snooze - The Snooze Theme [SSR]

The Wiseguys - Casino “Sans Pareil” [Wall of Sound]

Impulse - One-Six-Four-Seven (Numbers Rammed Down My Ear Mix By Autechre) [Studio !K7]

Background: Noise on KRUI

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phonopsia
on August 27, 2008
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A few words on my old radio show, so you know what I’m talking about when I refer to this stuff.

KRUI, 89.7 FM, is the University of Iowa’s student radio station where I hosted the weekly dance music show from Autumn 1992 - Spring 1997. For the first year it was called X-Static Radio, then Noise until Vince Woolums and Scott Stone took over as Noise Radio in the Summer of 1997 when I moved to Seattle for a bit.

I was extremely grateful to be able to continue the tradition of quality dance music on KRUI,  pioneered by The Acid Club House, The Foundry and Dance Trax, which were all hugely influential on my musical development. Vince and I would schedule our lives around these shows when we were in high school. I’d often drive around in the car for three hours just so I could ensure uninterrupted signal, as my basement bedroom on the outskirts of town didn’t cut it.

This was my first experience as a DJ. I mostly bought CDs (quality dance music vinyl in Iowa City at the time was rather hard to come by) and pitch adjustable CD players didn’t hit the market until 1994, so most of the material is not beat-matched. I bought Denon CD players and a 3-channel, global 3-band EQ DJ mixer in 1994. I believe my first 1200 came in early 1995, so even the mixes in 1997 were towards the infancy of my beat mixing.

Towards the end of my time at KRUI I would often pre-record mixes to tape and play them on the air, as I was tired of not being able to mix properly in the studio (the decks were pre-1200, with the +/-6 dials that were nearly impossible to hold a mix on and radio mixers do some funny things with compressing low signals). I only explain this last bit so you understand why you won’t hear me talking on those mixes.

Bleep NYE 2002

Published
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phonopsia
on August 27, 2008
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This one’s getting wheeled out by request of Rob Taylor, although I reckon the memories of the night will be better than the experience of listening to it today. The beginning is drift-y (to be kind) and the rest has levels all over, etc. All that said, it was my first proper set in London so it holds some very fond memories. And the tracks are favourites of mine, so here goes!

Note: the file is wma, as that’s the format I originally received it in and I didn’t want to introduce the lossiness of decode and re-encoding. Anyway… I had to log on to the Microsoft site to claim a license to listen to it (shows how long it’s been since I’ve listened to a wma file). Apologies if that causes any problems.

Tracklist
Set starts with the tail end of Plant43’s set

Amp Dog Knight - I’m Doing Fine [Mahogani Music]

Ola Jagun & The Ancestral Rhythms - Oda Oya (The Rebirth Version) [Spiritual Life Music]

Universal Tongues - Prayer for Sun [Natural Resource]

Hipnotic - Naima (Ian O’Brien Mix) [Laws of Motion]

Plutonia - Forever [Visions]

Rednose Distrikt - N.Y. Boom (Domu’s Nose-Beast Mix) [Rushhour Records]

Dom Um Romao - Lake of Perseverance (Opaque Remix) [Head To Toe Records]

Mustang - Twilight (Freedom Soundz re-edit) [Visions]

Needs - Walkin’ Through Circles [Needs Music]

Focus - Marvin Is One [Versatile Records]

Classic Man - Gentle Morning Rain [Natural Resource]

Kuniyuki - Precious Hall (Original Mix) [Natural Resource]

Convextion - Spice Tea [downLow]

Robert Hood - Quartz [Tresor]

Max Duley - Eternal Bleeding [ARC]

Thomas Kufner - Maginus [Kurbel]

The Moderator - Interstate 5 [Keynote]

Infiniti - Flash Flood [Tresor]

Sold Volume II

Published
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phonopsia
on August 25, 2008
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Not sure exactly when I recorded this, but I suspect it was some time between ‘97-’99. It was all mixed from CD to minidisc, although there isn’t a great deal of mixing on this installment. I did three Sold mixes, each of which was a collection of tracks from CDs that I didn’t feel I could justify hanging on to when there was only one or two tracks on them that interested me. This was at a time when almost all of my income was devoted to paying off my music-binge-buying folly circa ‘94-’96. Point being that if I could buy a few new bits from the proceeds of these, then parting with this stuff would be justifiable. The other thing behind this was that I never used my CD players for mixing anymore, so as a DJ the format was fairly useless to me even if I loved the tracks. In principle I would be buying this stuff again on wax in future but was Jonesing for some new bits right away.

The first installment was house and techno, but the mixing was mostly of the intro-over-outro style and many of the tracks look like obvious classics to my audience today, so I’ve opted not to bother with that one. This one is mostly down-tempo, and while it doesn’t actually include many distinct artists, I think it holds together as a mix tape reasonably well. I like the mood of it. Download Sold Volume II.

Tracklist
Two Lone Swordsmen - Azzolini And The Branch Brothers Meet Being [Emissions Audio Output]
Future 3 - Silver M [April Records]
Front 242 - Gripper By Fear (Bunker Mix) [Red Rhino Europe]
Front 242 - Mixed By Fear [Red Rhino Europe]
Orbital - Science Friction [FFRR]
Orbital - Adnan’s [FFRR]
Orbital - I Wish I Had Duck Feet [FFRR]
Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix Of Two Halves) [Heavenly]
Coldcut - Autumn Leaves (Irresistible Force Mix Trip 2) [Waveform]
Woob - Pond Life [em:t]
Woob - Woobed [em:t]
Two Lone Swordsmen - In The Nursery Visit Glenn Street [Emissions Audio Output]

Archives

Published
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phonopsia
on August 23, 2008
in Mixes and Radio
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For quite a few years I’ve been promising to unearth my mix archives. Basically, the mixes on this site have never really stretched back before 1999 (unless some of you recall the Summer in Seattle mix from ‘97, which once lived here in hideously low quality Real Audio). For the most part this has never materialised because I’ve not transferred anything over from tape, but I’ve also missed a few things along the way, so they aren’t all ancient. For a while I thought I’d hold out for a good price on a PlusDeck2c on eBay but they seem to be going up in price if anything, so I decided to crack on and get this thing rolling.

The first herculean hurdle was to align tapes with cases. Far too many of the tapes had no identifiable markings, and quite a few cases with tracklists needed to be filled. This hurdle is now clear, save about ten cases that seem to have no contents, and about twenty radio archives from ‘96-’97 that have no markings or tracklists - but this is miles better than where I started.

I’m now at the point where I’ve got a lot of tapes to encode, then I need to vet them before inflicting them on the public again. I imagine there will be quite a few worth resurrecting, many with painful late-teens/early-twenties geeky radio monologues. On the other hand, I read a mean Public Service Announcement.

Along the way I’ve also been reminded of some later mixes that were kicking around on minidisc and CD. These are fresher in my memory, so I’ll be shipping these out internetwards in the next few days if all goes to plan.

Assuming this plan doesn’t fizzle, this is a taste of what’s to come thereafter.

But in all honesty

Published
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phonopsia
on August 23, 2008
in Uncategorized
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The 101 experience must have made the guy permanently happy. He seems that way anyway. Not bad being part of the best thing ever…

The Gay Guy Didn’t Age Well

Published
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phonopsia
on August 23, 2008
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He Makes Day-Glo clothing! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

No Way!

Published
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phonopsia
on August 23, 2008
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In the 101 flashbacks they reveal that The Horrorist is Oliver Chesler, dude with the spiky hair!

Depeche Mode - 101: Still the best thing ever

Published
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phonopsia
on August 23, 2008
in New/Reviews
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I’M BACK!

As a result of birthday gift certificates, I’ve opted to procure Depeche Mode - 101 on DVD, for a meager sum from Amazon. It was, for most of my late teens, the best thing ever, closely followed by the VHS for Ministry’s In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up LIVE. I’m happy to report that now, more than twice the age of my initial viewing, 101 is still at least as good. It is, without question, the perfect encapsulation of what it was to be completely enamored with Depeche Mode in the late 80s.

We in middle-America (save Chicago and Detroit) had none of the distractions of acid house or techno, so we could religiously focus our devotion on the Essexians that most defined our musical growth (especially when Rick Dees was the most important DJ of my formative years). The Smiths, New Order, Erasure, The Pet Shop Boys, The Cure and more - all these guys were immense, but Depeche Mode, for a guy who grew up less than 20 miles from Pasadena, were always going to be the most important (they had 10,000 people turn up for a record signing, single-handedly causing a traffic jam).

People Are People was #1 locally! This music had its home. The Valley was it. That’s where I grew up. It left a lasting impression, despite my prematurity for it. To make a long story short, for us who were thusly defined, supplemented by120 minutes, Depeche Mode could not be more important, and this DVD captures it all at its peak. I’m actually glad this is recorded pre-Violator, as that would probably be too much for one DVD. And it keeps Violator on its own, as the best album ever, which it is without question.

Next up, the full Live at the Rose Bowl performance, which is disk 2. I can’t wait!