Thursday, November 27, 2008

(mis)representing


ok, few bits and pieces to cover in this post. first of all, get ready for the fengler ssg mix to drop at the end of this week. we've just got it, and all i can say is 'wow'. and to top it off, next week mx15 will be from the lovely ms eli verveine.

next up, pete is too modest, so i'll have to do it: if you haven't already seen it, i strongly recommend heading over to RA and reading his interview with move d. i think RA has had some really excellent features this year, and in my completely biased opinion, this is definitely ranks among the very best.

while on the topic of RA, i have to say something about their latest podcast from some dude called emerson todd. to be honest, i have been participating and involved in the melbourne/australian dance scene since around 1997 and i've never heard of the guy (admittedly he is from sydney, but i thought i knew most of the main djs/crews there, obviously not). he might be a nice guy, he might be a nice dj, but the feeling amongst the ssgs is that this was a disappointing choice as the first australian to do an RA'cast. in our opinion, there are a host of djs from down under that would have been much more appropriate. with our ssg mixes, we've made an effort not to be the slightest bit parochial. our aim, though, is that at some stage in the near future is to get a mix or two from australian artists that we think are really worth listening to.

speaking of (mis)representing, i am really quite dissatisfied with fact magazine's list of the supposedly best 20 mixes of 2008. i've got two issues with it. first, it strikes me as attempting to present itself as a list which goes across genres and is reasonably inclusive of different styles. i cannot comment on the quality of all the mixes mentioned, as i have not heard many of them, but i do not think it is a particularly broad cross-section. some genres are rather over-represented, while techno has only one clear inclusion, and there are no exemplars of the deep house sound that has been so pervasive this year (the closest they get with house are the metro area and prins thomas mixes, but neither of these fit with the deep house sound of '08). my second problem comes down to there being only representative of techno (yeah, optimo is in there but they only 1/2 count) and the inclusion is deetron. if you are going to put a mix in there, you could do much, much better with that. there are so many possibly candidates, but logical places to start would be with the dozzy labyrinth set, the cio d'or modyfier mix, or the berghain 2 cd by herr dettmann. this has been a fantastic year for techno in my books and it is a shame not to see that reflected. anyway, enough complaining. you'll be getting my list at some stage in the coming weeks.

as for good mixes, i've been absolutely drowning in them recently. here is just a small sample:

santiago salazar september 08 mix: santiago is part of the UR crew and lately has a new label, historia y violencia, with ssg favourite silent servant. you can read an interview with them about it here. anyway, like anyone associated with UR, the man can spin.

01. Mad Mike Banks Interview
02. Silent Servant - Violencia (Function Remix) - Sandwell District
03. Silent Servant - Lo Profundo - Historia y Violencia
04. 2 Noisy Heads - String Factory(Noirdegout remix) - Exit Audio
05. Matt Chester - Cut Adrift - Sula Muse
06. Lil Tony - Cosmic Afro Pan - Versatile Records
07. D.P.O.M.B. - VERSION 1 - Innervisions (Ame, Henrik Schwarz, Dixon)
08. Paul Mac - Raw Basics 3 - Stimulus
09. Rolando - Where Were You? - Delsin
10. Underground Resistance - Unreleased
11. M5 - Celestial Highways(the Plan remix) - Unreleased
12. Aroy Dee - Life Of Raw - MOS Recordings
13. Lee Holman - Depart - -Mowar
14. Nomadico - Night Walker - UR
15. C2 - untitled - CDR
16. Stefan Goldmann - Prefecture - Macro
17. Drewsky - Night Games - Nite Life
18. Seldom Seen - Arcade - Macro Promo
19. Scuba - The Upside (Martyn's down mix) - Hotflush
20. Mad Mike Banks Interview
21. Underground Resistance - Blaxplotation - Unreleased

eric cloutier @ down 20/11/08: it burns! it burns! this is one seriously slow burning affair. eric keeps a close lock on the bpms and builds a very cohesive and consistent vibe throughout the set. i love long sets like these. they can really carry you through a day when need be.

01. kris wadsworth - at 11 [static records]
02. adultnapper - tewa (nick chacona remix) [ransom note footnote]
03. joachim spieth - abi '99 b1 [kompakt]
04. round two - new day (dub) [main street records]
05. move.d - lush summer rain [shanti records]
06. edit select - need for more [edit select]
07. samuel l. session - choose one [be as one]
08. lee jones - soon (the mole remix) [aus music]
09. martin landsky - he's gone [pokerflat recordings]
10. holy ghost - hold on (mock's mod mix) [dfa records]
11. dj koze - i want to sleep [international records]
12. submania + ekmoah - funkfahrt [background]
13. peace division - in my mind [tsuba records]
14. andy toth - linwood [people mover productions]
15. alex picone - furby [cadenza]
16. superlova - something on my mind [stir15 recordings]
17. sascha dive - midnight blues [love letters from oslo]
18. guillaume & the coutu dumonts - halleluyah yeah [oslo]
19. melchior productions ltd. - different places [perlon]
20. stephane attias - distant planet [neroli]
21. cobblestone jazz - b2 [itiswhatitis]
22. oleg poliakov - midnight vultures [circus company]
23. 2000 and one - bang bang [bang bang]
24. chaton - catch the beat (agnes remix) [sthlmaudio recordings]
25. hans thalau - lassur [moonpool]
26. iron curtis - ass & cash [unreleased]
27. lil' mark - nonsense [disco 45]
28. sebo k - moved (prosumer stob dub) [mobilee]
29. steve bug - loverboy (reworked by cassy) [pokerflat recordings]
30. arto mwambe - ombala mbembo [brontosaurus]
31. alex picone - floppy [cadenza]
32. johnny d - pako mana [love letters from oslo]
33. seth troxler - love never sleeps (adam marshall's sedition mix) [crosstown rebels]
34. dj t. - before light [pokerflat recordings]
35. dorian paic + chupacabra - dub 17 [raum...musik]
36. david labiej - choose red [sushitech purple]
37. spencer parker - e lucia (federico molinari mix) [tsuba records]
38. martin madhatter - get in time [mighty rider records]
39. a guy called gerald - voodoo ray [warlock records]
40. tomoki tamura + nono - 3 years (manuel tur remix) [four:twenty recordings]
41. willie graff + tuccillo - when the sun goes down [drumpoet community]
42. gipsy family - strangers in all lands [contexterrior]
43. rhythm plate - lean [mantis recordings]
44. swayzak - so cheap [swayzak]
45. snooze - quiet alone (swag's hp dub) [ssr records]
46. africanism - les enfants du bled [yellow productions]
47. dj marley marl - beyond [west end records]
48. franck roger - dub life [real tone records]
49. roland clark - family (nick holder vocal mix) [home recordings]
50. slutbox - backseat driver (jason emsley remix) [siteholder]
51. frankie - hunt (mike shannon's let the hunt begin mix) [frankie]
52. polder - bold orange [intacto]
53. kenlou - the bounce [maw recordings]
54. slam - positive education [soma quality recordings]
55. green velvet - answering machine [music man records]
56. fingers inc. - i'm strong (instrumental mix) [r&s records]

mike huckaby @ betalounge 08/11/08: there are very few things better than a proper betalounge set. unsurprisingly huckaby steps up to the plate and delivers the goods.

i'd also strongly advise paying a visit to infinitestatemachine for their latest guest mix from m50. it's a beauty.

and last, but most certainly not least, pete was a guest on 'to and fro', a show on melbourne's triple r radio station (yes, these still exist it seems). head over here for the tracklisting and download link. as you'd expect, a quality selection from one of the ssgs. go team!

ok, more links will have to come another night. this ssg has to sleep.

24 comments:

  1. broken link on my set. take out the spaces.

    but thanks for the repost and kind words!!!

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  2. s'all good my friend! i just appreciate the shoutout! just wanted to make sure it works, ya know.

    you could probably delete all these...

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  3. Woooooh! Really looking to that eli verveine mix, her carebear mix is so amazing and a real keeper. can't it be the end of this week by now?

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  4. "i love long sets like these. they can really carry you through a day when need be."
    too true - this got me through today's day in the office.

    cheers for the PC radio show too. i'm keen to hear some of those workshop tracks, given that i've completely ignored the label thus far.

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  5. eric's set got me through a 2.5 hour pre-thanksgiving drive turned 4+ hours.

    also, im ttly ghey for him <3

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  6. The Deetron mix was boring boring! I preferred the Shinedoe Fuse (even if that was 2007).

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  7. Good post, look forward to checking the mixes, but I feel the criticism at FACT is a bit misguided.

    "first, it strikes me as attempting to present itself as a list which goes across genres and is reasonably inclusive of different styles."

    Do they explicitly or implicitly say that they're covering all genres? All they say is that the mixes are "of our time". I havent followed FACT very carefully but it seems that these mixes cover their field of interest accurately a wide spectrum of electronic music, more than just house & techno and these mixes do cover a lot of ground.

    While techno has had a strong year and deep house to, so did funky, "wonky", fidget house and dubstep. Even the balaeric and disco scenes have been pretty strong this year it seems (I have limited knowledge of those genres). Most of the mixes they posted are worth mentioning in a "this was 2008" kind of way.

    Your second point just seem to be a difference in taste in techno in particular and music in general. Which is fair enough, but it doesn't mean that the fact list is misleading or misrepresents anything in my opinion

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  8. fair points karl. i may just have a bit of a stick up my ass at the moment...

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  9. wow, excited about the huckaby mix! betalounge forever!

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  10. no worries, maybe its me who has said stick up my backside. I personally agree with you, the list should have had more house and techno. I just think that its a matter of taste and don't think its right to say that they are misrepresenting anything

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  11. really looking forward to the salazar set. historia y violencia's first release was great. i'm pleased to see more releases with a classic techno ethos. in my opinion, records from hYv and sandwell district are the most cutting edge records at this time. chris, is the cio d'or mix you hailed the 21.11.08 OceanClubRadio/22Min Cio D..Or Ornament 11 Mix? if not, would really appreciate the link to the mix if you have time. as always, thanks.

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  12. benjamin, it is a mix called 'vanille 11'. it is a bit older, from 2006 perhaps and really special (like everything she touches). i'll check with cio to see if she's cool with me posting it. and the good news is that she's promised us a ssg mix in the future, so something to look forward to!

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  13. mr huckabys set is warmer as the sun! tracklist? thanks from germany.
    best musicblog ever

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  14. if some Aussie sets are going to be unleashed, can I make a request for one by HMC for all us old-timers?

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  15. he is at the top of our list. trying to get in touch with him at the moment, so cross your fingers!

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  16. excellent, good luck with that!

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  17. amazing selection as ausual, thx mnml ssgs! Especially for the Huckaby set!

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  18. that S2 mix is tremendous. i'm a big fan of pretty much all of the mixes he has presented but this one definitely had some emotional weight with that Mike Banks interview introducing and ending it.

    listening to the Eric Cloutier mix now. tracklist and length is mighty ambitious and so far it sounds solid.

    m50 mix on ISM is a great mix as well.

    so many good mixes available these days, I can't complain.

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  19. listening to the Eric Cloutier mix now. tracklist and length is mighty ambitious and so far it sounds solid.

    ambitious. i like that. its better than "eric, you're fucking nuts for recording this and putting it online." :D

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  20. The Mike Huckaby set is very nice and smoooth...

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  21. re: the 20 best mixes, it's difficult to be an expert on everything. something you guys would do well to acknowledge - house and techno writers in my experience are impressively blinkered and single minded in their enthusiasm

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  22. the eric cloutier mix is just crucial to everything. thankyou for post

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