ssg special - john osborn @ panorama bar

august has accidentally turned into panorama bar month at mnml ssgs. first, a mix from prosumer, now a live recording from the venue, and still one more p-bar related mix to come... given this, it is rather appropriate that i began the month dancing to steffi at panorama bar, and next to me was john osborn, the man responsible for the latest ssg special mix. rather than me trying to explain it, i asked john to say a few words:

"This mix, for me, is special as it loosely represents various streams of my life meeting up in one lake. I've being DJ-ing for over 15 years now, and the most important of those years have been in Berlin. Naturally over the years I have traversed many different sounds and genres. During this time I've developed and changed as a person, and my ‘sound’ has always reflected these life stages. Looking back, I've always leaned to the darker, deeper sounds of electronic dance music -  even in happier times of my life and probably the most prevalent sound has been a dub sound.

Playing at Panorama Bar is always special, and being given the opportunity to play at the Sub:stance second birthday party for 3 hours before SCB is incredible - so I knew I had to get it recorded [1 hour of the SCB is here]. This was the first set I'd ever played knowing it was to be recorded, so I really took my time in the weeks leading up to the gig planning the direction I was going to take. I never wanted to plan this set so meticulously that every track and every mix was irrevocable for the entire three hours - as I like to allow myself the freedom to change direction if it is needed, but I did get on my decks and plan a sketch of the set in a condensed time format of around an hour. Through this sketch I decided to represent as many of the sounds possible that have meant so much to me in a coherent way, without it sounding ‘eclectic’. To do this I used that thread of the dub sound that could be found in all the styles that I have enjoyed.

Unfortunately the recording of the actual night lost approximately the first 30 mins. I started the night off with Sign Of The Dub, HYP001, and slowly took it up to end it with Omar S 004. So the starting point does give a clue to the entire mix idea and some of the vocals that are played in the mix are purposely played in this order to have a meaning. It’s a kind of William Burrows cut and paste thing but in a more subtle flowing audio form. Of course this meaning is very loose and I’m the only one that really knows it is there - but this doesn’t really matter - make out of it want you want, but some clever folk out there may piece it together.

I’d like to thank Paul Spymania & Paul Rose for having faith in me and letting me do this gig, and mnml ssgs for continuing to offer such an invaluable source of inspiration of important dance music and giving this mix a platform."

ssg special - john osborn @ sub:stance 2nd birthday, panorama bar, 9.7.10

if you happen to be in/near berlin this weekend, i would strongly suggest checking out the latest edition of the 'jackoff' parties john organises with elie eidelman. this saturday they've invited two longtime friends of the ssgs: falko is playing live and eli is on the decks. what a great combo! should be a very fun night. definitely get down there!

as john explained, this is a special set for him, so we really appreciate him letting us share it with you all. enjoy, it's a goodie...