Yeah, mixes, right!? You wait forever in the rain, then *four* of the bastards come along at once!
Errr, or am I talking about buses?
Well, either way – following a rather long absence in which holidays have been taken, records bought, masks made between buying records, then records played wearing masks (yes, its all rather random as usual) - there's finally been some Dining Room action.
Last month marked one year since i inherited PJ's decks, and if that isn't an excuse to spend some money on an 'anniversary present to self' then I don't know what is .. so finally purchased my own mp3 jiggerypokery in the form of Serato Scratch.
(An aside for anyone looking into that sort of software – its not that I had any particular scratching requirements or anything, but a bit of casting around for info revealed it to be the most stable by some way and - since cheap-n-cheerful Torq regularly seems to take objection to my mp3s and bomb out, and I don't particularly want Traktor Scratch bells n whistles - it seemed the safest option. Apparently the customer service is top notch as well, which is useful for the less I.T.-enabled among us!)
The upshot of this of course is that Kid-In-A-Sweetshop-with-50-Quid Effect – ie: a sort of audio vomitfest where loads of good tracks that have been burning a hole in my hard-drive for years have all splurged their way out at once, resulting in the longest solo mix yet.
So you can expect to work your way from a perky start into a darker section, up though some very choonful, laid back stuff and into a full-on funky house attack near the end! (Oh, and then some geezers talking in French, who I'm quite sure might be saying something rude about your mother at one point, but lets not go into that…)
Here's some Mix Pickins:
S1NGULARITY – RETURN OF THE SAVAGE BEAN.
It's pretty special being able to pluck stuff right off myspace and play it now.
If 'Savage Bean' tickled your fancy, you should definitely pay this fella's page a visit and have a listen to 'A Date With the Night' – it is spanking!
He's been here on MySpazzle all of about twenty seconds, so get in there early and show some lurve!
ORBITAL – YOU LOT
Does that still sound fan-fookin'-tastic, or what?
THE SOFT PINK TRUTH – REAL SHOCKS
We all heart Drew Daniel (no, not the Big Brother one..)!
But with no apparent snifter of a new album on the horizon (he's been busy finishing his dissertation apparently!) we'll have to tide ourselves over with
this slightly spooky, vomity, urine-drinking craziness from his
websiteAnd have a listen to
his re-jig of Subtle's 'Mercury Craze' (officially Most Confusing Song To Mix Ever!)
(On a side-note, while you're at it, also take a peek at this
Subtle vid if you've not seen it – great stuff.)
THOSE GUYS – I WALK ALONE [HAJI & EMANUEL DUB]
One to restore your faith in 'bangin' funky house tracks, this one's been burning a hole in my record bag since Smack1, where everybody seemed to want to know what it was.
Its not surprising really – it really manages to keep building up a treat without the usual vocal overkill you tend to associate with this sort of track. It's erm.. punchy, but oooh-soooo dreeeeamy! [insert wet, girly expression]
Altogether now:
"Yaaaaaa-haaaaa,
Yaaaaaa-haaaaa,
Yaaaaa-haaaaaa-aaaaaa-aaaaaaa…"
(Hopefully the overpowering urge to move your feet might distract you from the fact that there's obviously a MASSIVE piece of dirt on the record during the main breakdown – oops!)
REX THE DOG – CIRCULATE
The word that wants to force its way out of my gob when I listen to this is 'sublime' but, since that makes me sound like a right tit, I'll avoid saying it (except I just did, doh.)
Can you think of any other tracks that manage to be sort of kickin' (as the kids say) and mournful at the same time?
And look – there's still some left in stock for some truly *insane* reason – ADDTOCART!!
(yet another great B-side to be had on this one too)
Anyhooo, enough rambling, here be the mix:
Get some moosic for your ears!
Forward-Thinking Tam's Friendly Trainwreck!
And once you;ve finished with that, you'll be pleased to know that Superstar PJ has been getting his hands dirty on Ableton... with sexy results:
..">Herve -> Brodinski -> Chemical Brothers
And finally, after all that rather rousing stuff, you might like to check out some slightly less frantic offerings from Merf's archives, starting with this Takeover Sound mix (including, o'course, his and Agent Foot's peerless 'Together in the Dark')...
...and winding down with...
Rhythm & Sound -> Carl Craig -> Paperclip People
And finally -since folk keep pestering us about it - we are on the case with some mo' live dates and will keep you posted.
Phew! Thats about it, i think.
Hugs, keeeses, and dj kicks,
~Tam