2 Featured Dubstep Mixes: DJ Knife & C-Dubs. Guess Which One Has Chainsaws.

Just like the return of Leatherface in every sequel of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the return of the Chainsaw Dubstep series by Boston’s DJ Knife is something that is almost an expectation. You can almost set you watch to the second installment happening right around halloween too.

The Very Best Of Chainsaw Dubstep Vol 2 by d.j.knife

In his descriptin of the mix, Knife says it’s his last (yeah right) in the series which includes some non-dubstep tracks to “ease the abrasiveness”. You’ve got the odd baltimore club track and a few at the beginning such as “Pass The Dutchie” to do just that, but for the most part, this half hour session is out for blood. Don’t get your hopes up on hearing him play any of this stuff at his next gig at the Middlesex or Fresh Produce.

Track Listing: 
1. Intro 
2. Pass The Dutchie - 
3. In Your Eyes - Brookes Brothers and Johnny Osbourne 
4. Chat So Dubstep - Dubstep Mao 
5. Thunder Bay - Hudson Mohawke 
6. Dog Bite - Tremourz 
7. Fuuk! - Funtcase 
8. Broken String - Tek One 
9. Bull Dozer - Dream 
10. Dinosaur - 16 Bit 
11. Skullcrack - 16 Bit 
12. Bass Cannon - Doctor P & Flux Pavillion 
13. Wild Fire - SBTRKT featuring Little Dragon 
14. Confessions Part 2 - Usher 
15. Lights - Ellie Goulding (Bassnectar Remix) 
16. Ho! Riddim - Marco Del Horno (Funtcase Remix) 
17. Teflon - Kelly Dean & Steady (Datsik & Excision Remix) 
18. Love - Borgore 
19. Illygirl - M.I.A. (Borgore Remix) 
20. Pow 2011 - Lethal Bizzle & Grime Allstars (Skream Remix) 
21. Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites - Skrillex 
22.Notorious Thugs - Biggie & Bone thugs (Big Gigantic Remix) 
23. Snake Attack - Nikki Minaj & Joker (Alvin Risk Bootleg Remix) 
24. Boss - Cash 
25. Takyon - Death Grips 
26. Burning Up - Peo De Pitte (Torqux & Twist Remix) 
27. Chainsaw Calligraphy - 16 Bit

And we also have Chris Ward, another person behind an event at Goodlife. Ward’s Bassic night may go down at the same place Knife works at, but don’t expect too many chainsaw or Leatherface masks in this mix session. There are no powertools present here at all…not even circular saws or manual screwdrivers. It’s a heavy mix but goes in much deeper, building quite subtly to the baltimore-dub-juke-jungle-step crafted by Wheez-ie around the 30 minute mark. (Side note: If you want to be on the cutting edge of dance music, you need to be on the lookout for Wheez-ie. This kid has serious skills.) There are plenty of unreleased bits in here, including a few by Addison Groove, Wheez-ie, and AxH (Prodigal Son) to keep the hardcore fans happy. 

C-Dubs :: Too Cool For School :: (October 2011)

Track Listing:
Life Continuum - Kryptic Minds - Osiris
The Roteks - JKenzo - Tempa (tease)
Dark Shadows - AxH - Dubplate
Stomp - JKenzo - Argon
Sicko Cell - ??? - Swamp81
Stabilizer - Lurka - Boxclever
Red Sand - Jack Sparrow - Tectonic
Night to Remember - Addison Groove - Dubplate
Five Fingered Salute - Wheez-ie - Dubplate
Remember the Score - Wheez-ie - Dubplate
Bak It In Wai - Wheez-ie - Dubplate Special
Bad Things - Addison Groove - Dubplate
Just After Sunset - Kryptic Minds - Blackbox
Together - Breakage w/ David Rodigan - Digital Soundboy
The Calling - Cyrus - Deep Medi
The Roteks - JKenzo - Tempa (tease)
20/20 - Benton - Wheel & Deal
The Goat Stare - Loefah - DMZ
Dubmarine (Kryptic Minds rmx) - DJ Madd - Blackbox
Gassin’ - Commodo vs Lurka - Blackbox
Badman - KromeStar - Dubstar (tease)
Clap Trap - Joe - Hessle Audio (Tease)

Featured Mixes: d.Surge Live At Elements, 10.13.11 (Drum & Bass/Multi-Genre)

If you were burning the midnight oil at the office like I was last Thursday, you probably weren’t able to catch Drew Bisset, aka d.Surge, play Elements at the Phoenix Landing. Well good thing he recorded it, so I can live vicariously in my studio. This is one of the best-executed sets that cross multiple genres and BPM’s I’ve heard in a long time. It’s an hour of everything from drum and bass, dubstep, electro, and house. The drum and bass passages are full of energy and successfully juggle the heavier stylings with the more liquid, vocal ones. Lots of intensely arranged synths are the common thread across all of the genres; everything is complimentary here. Expect to hear lots of Noisia, Prolix, NERO, Skrillex, Dirtyphonics, and other big dawgs who are at the top of the game right now. 

Live @ Elements - October 13th, 2011 by d.Surge 

Now all I need to do is get some exhibition soccer posters and a guinness. Then I’ll really feel like I’m at the Phoenix. Like what you hear? Drew will be opening for Pendulum later on this month when the Embrace guys bring them back to Boston at the Middle East.

Featured Mixes: No Single Reason Brings The Bristol Sound to Your Home

The underground culture of Bristol (UK) can be illustrated by the collision of art and music. So it’s probably no coincidence the town’s most prominent graffiti artist, Robert Del Naja, also happened to be the frontman behind one of Bristol’s most successful music outfits: Massive Attack. Much of Del Naja’s art was diverse in subject matter but had two distinctions that held each piece together: strong outlines, and the use of just a few opposing colors to attract the eye. Historically Bristol has been a culturally diverse place as well, making Del Naja’s art the perfect compliment.

Image credit: http://bristolculture.files.wordpress.com/

Whether it is Portishead’s “Dummy” LP, an long lost Nellee Hooper 12” re-rub from the mid 1980s, Tricky’s very underappreciated “Juxtapose” LP, or DJ Krust’s “Soul In Motion”, an iconic piece of minimal drum and bass, there is little question Bristol has been a cutting edge breeding ground for music. A great deal of Bristol’s underground music is very sparse, dark, and VERY heavily sample-based. The synths take a backseat, unless we’re talking about the deep growling underlying bass. The latter is transparent, but when played on a proper system, you will be reminded of the proof. The darkness, yet clear vision in many of these songs are mirrored by Del Naja’s stark colors  and crystal clear outlines in his paintings, respectively.

Genres aside, many Bristol artists tend to use samples that come from all over the place…60s spoken word records, obscure Russian soundtracks, the 14-minute instrumental that went with some French porno flick from 3 years ago, hey why not throw some rockabilly in there too while we’re at it. Portishead, who also happen to be Bristol natives, popularized the whole concept of heavily distorting and processing these samples to give them extra grit (and therefore, a meloncholy feel). Although Bristol may have been out of the mainstream spotlight after the turn of the century, the local music scene continues to thrive there, just like it always has.

No Single Reason BS2 by Nosinglereason on Mixcloud

 

Which leads me to the No Single Reason podcast. (Direct download) This is a DJ mix which provides a very clear picture of the haps in Bristol on an underground level right now. If you were a fan of what was incubating there in the 90s, you will find many of the tracks in this podcast hare much in common with the 90s jams from this town. Samples coming from everywhere, dark riffs yet danceable rhythms, and let’s not forget that omnipresent sub bass lurking in the background. It appears all of the artists on this session all reside in Bristol, and many readers here should already be well familiar with the likes of Appleblim, Samuel Simpson, and Vessel. There is no tracklist, but it’s good music, just realize that.

Be sure to check out more podcasts forthcoming on nosinglereason.com. This mix almost makes me want to pay this fine town a visit someday.

Featured Mixes: FabricLive.58, Breakneck-Speed Soul Handpicked By Goldie

During the past decade, London’s Fabric nightclub has established itself as an institution. And for those not fortunate to be geographically close enough to frequent on a regular basis, you can live vicariously through the Fabric and FabricLive mix CD’s. Drum and bass legend Goldie recently climbed aboard to record a mix for the FabricLive series. The resulting 70-minute session showcases 27 distinctly original and soulful tracks within the genre. And then some.

I have listened to many of Goldie’s mixes over the past fifteen years, from 1999’s “INCredible Sound of Drum & Bass” to 2001’s “Goldie.co.uk”, 2005’s “Drum & Bass Arena Classics”, and 2008’s “Watch The Ride”. Everyone knows Goldie was a groundbreaking producer from the minute he set foot in a studio under his Rufige Kru alias in the early 1990s. However, he admittedly was not amongst the most technical of drum and bass DJ’s during those fledgling years. While many big name producers simply rest on their accolades in the studio by merely playing live sets to collect a paycheck, Goldie made quite a noble attempt to improve his skills behind the wheels of steel during the past decade. 

A listen to each of the mixes I mentioned above not only take a snapshot of what was in vogue in drum and bass at the time each was recorded, but also benchmark Goldie’s own journey to becoming a solid DJ. 

 
In all of his mixes, Goldie plays a balancing act between his early work, vintage releases from his labelmates in the heyday of the 90s, and current day rollers. While historically most of them are evenly split between the old and the new, the FabricLive mix rests almost entirely in the latter district. Critics of FabricLive.58 might argue that it won’t age well because of how heavily rooted in 2011 it is. But it’s important to remember that Goldie is not one to play disposable garbage, and this discipline is something that he’s posessed as a DJ from day one. Even when his mixing wasn’t on par. If quality control wasn’t Goldie’s bag, Metalheadz wouldn’t have made it longer than even the Clinton adminstration (or, Prime Minister John Major, for our U.K. friends). 

So there is little question Goldie picked every track carefully for this compilation. The mindboggingly-funky breaks of D-Bridge’s “Cornered” and beautiful synth work on Marcus Intalex and SPY’s “Celestial Navigation” transcend any date and time stamp. This can also be said of Adam F’s 1997 seminal “Metropolis” and Goldie’s  own “Timeless” from 1994, which explains why they have no problem fitting in with cuts that are a decade-and-a-half apart in age. 

About half of FabricLive.58 includes released and exclusive tracks on Metalheadz. The other half is comprised of carefully pruned, tasteful anthems that are not over-the-top (Fresh’s “Gatekeeper”, A Side’s “One DJ”, and Hazard’s “Proteus” come to mind). There is also a short pit stop near the end that ventures into bass and dubstep territory; as a multi-format DJ myself, I found this break in the action to be refreshing and a welcome change from the ordinary.

Goldie keeps the mixing fairly minimal, yet clean, in order to let the music do the talking on FabricLive.58. With such quality control, it’s no wonder why Metalheadz continues to remain as relevant of a label in drum and bass today as it did over fifteen years ago when they entered the scene with Asylum’s “Bass 2 Dark”. From a technical standpoint, his FabricLive mix is light years beyond the notoriously shaky “INCredible” mix. Chalk that up on the resume in tandem with production, running one of the most successful labels in drum and bass history, acting, painting, graffiti, even conducting an orchestra, and there is little doubt that the Gold one is a true renaissance man in the vast world of dance music.

Order a hard copy of Goldie’s FabricLive.58 mix CD Today. Tracklist below.

01 Rido feat. Thomas Oliver - Twisted [Metalheadz] 

02 Marcus Intalex feat. S.P.Y. - Celestial Navigation [Soul:r] 

03 Lenzman - Lasers [Metalheadz] 

04 Need For Mirrors - Lofar [Metalheadz] 

05 Enei - One Chance VIP [Critical] 

06 Subwave & Enei - The Mines [Metalheadz] 

07 S.I.N. & Mutated Forms - Right Now [Spearhead] 

08 Fresh - The Gatekeeper [Ram] 

09 DJ Hazard - Proteus [Playaz] 

10 Critical Impact - Translation [Metalheadz] 

11 Adam F - Metropolis [Metalheadz] 

12 Mutated Forms - Crowlin [Metalheadz] 

13 Jubei - Patience VIP [Metalheadz] 

14 Rido - Focus [Metalheadz] 

15 Basher feat. Xtrah - Convulsions [Ram] 

16 Mutated Forms - Doubts [Grid] 

17 A Sides - One DJ [ClearSkyz] 

18 Mark System feat. Youngman - Hold It [Digital Soundboy] 

19 Icicle feat. Robert Owens - Redemption (Alix Perez Remix) [Shogun Audio] 

20 Lenzman - Open Page (Subwave Remix) [Metalheadz] 

21 dBridge - Cornered [Exit] 

22 Jubei - Alignment (Boddika Remix) [Metalheadz] 

23 Mikal - Higher Forces [Metalheadz] 

24 Wickaman & RV - Ev’s Dead [Ram] 

25 J Majik & Wickaman - Old Headz [Metalheadz] 

26 Commix - Be True [Metalheadz] 

27 Goldie - Timeless [FFRR]

Featured Mixes: Swagger Jackers Return With 1 Hour of Italo & Nu-Disco

Despite being on opposite sides of the country, the Briggs brothers, who for many years served an integral part of the Providence and New England DJ scenes, continue to collaborate on mix projects to this day. Aaron (Rocksteady) has traditionally been deeply rooted in big room house and tribal, while brother Justin (Bebop) came up through drum and bass. So you can guess what I like most about these guys is they broke out of their shells (to keep the Ninja Turtles references going, heh) to dab in other forms of music aside from what they’ve started out in. 

Justin and Aaron formed their Swagger Jackers project as a duo right around the time I started this blog, and their Disko Arcade electro mix was one of the first I did a write-up on back in the frosty early days of 2009. Since then, every mix this duo has brought to the table has been different from the next. Whether it was baltimore club, dubstep, electro, house, vintage breaks, synth pop, whatever…these guys have gone through it all. It’s like getting a grab bag gift at a family holiday party. You have no idea what type of gift you’ll end up with, but it will probably end up being allright. (even that nut log your great aunt Matilda got you that one year…you might not have eaten it, but I bet your dad did, he had more mature taste in things anyways). 

“The Life Aquatic” is the Swagger Jacker’s most recent foray behind the decks. 65 minutes of tracks you probably won’t hear the next time you head down to your local house or club night. Instead, they opted to hit up the deeper side of the pool, playing some deep Italo/nu-disco at around 100 bpm for the first 40 minutes or so. The beach bar takes precedence over the bass bins, and there are a number of remixes by popular acts such as MGMT and Aeroplane that show up to the party in the Life Aquatic’s early moments. 

Further into the mix we see the tempo rise a little, but not too much, to around 120 bpm. Regardless, the music retains much of the same properties as at the beginning: disco riffs, lots of vocals, and an overall aura of innocence that make this a family friendly listen on a picnic or whatever. Actually, I bet your dad would dig this, remember, his tastes are “mature” (you never know, those nut logs really aren’t that bad, take my word for it). 

Although Aaron is attending university in Montana, Justin remains stationed in Connecticut, so you will surely be seeing these guys at parties soon enough.

The Swagger Jackers - The Life Aquatic by The Swagger Jackers

01. CSLSX - Keep On Shining 
02. Keenhouse - Ari-es (Hemingway’s Starlight Yacht Mix) 
03. Hypnolove - Midnight Cruising (Mickey Moonlight’s Dub) 
04. Gorillaz - Empire Ants (Miami Horror Remix) 
05. MGMT - Congratulations (Erol Alkan Rework) 
06. Aeroplane - Without Lies (Black Van Remix) 
07. Foster The People - Houdini (RAC Remix) 
08. Falcon Punch - Where You’ll Stay 
09. Yacht - Psychic City (Classixx Remix) 
10. Hey Champ - Anything At All 
11. Ted & Francis - Erland (Ted & Francis Remix) 
12. Peter, Bjorn & John - Second Chance (RAC Remix) 
13. Bag Raiders - Snake Charmer 
14. Penguin Prison - Multi-Millionaire (Shook Remix) 
15. Andy Bell - Call On Me (Hey Champ Remix) 
16. World’s End Press - Faithful (G.L.O.V.E.S ‘China White Mix’) 
17. Martin Solvieg - The Night Out 
18. Peter & The Magician - Twist 
19. Miami Horror - Summersun

Featured Mixes: Weekly Doses of House & Electro Courtesy of DJ DuPont

If you’re American, then you have a holiday weekend coming up. And if you’re like me, you are probably traveling to visit the fam or some friends or whatever. You want a soundtrack to accompany you on the journey, or some jams to party to in the background while you’re doing kegstands or watching fireworks. Why not have a listen to some house and electro tidbits mixed by the likes of Justin DuPont (not to be confused with the miracles of science) and Jackie Treehorn (not to be confused with the one who is after the Dude)?

For the better part of a year, DuPont and Treehorn have been freestyling two hours of raw and unscripted party jams. Mainly peak-hour driven, with plenty of anthems and mash-ups for universal appeal, they are taking their podcast series to the Internet, utilizing every social media channel they possibly can. Running a weekly radio show is not easy and requires tremendous discipline; many give up after merely a couple of weeks. To do it thirty weeks in a row is a pretty noble accomplishment.

DuPont is based out of Providence, but makes regular appearances in Boston. His last one being one of the openers for Tittsworth at Goodlife for CreateSpace’s Sweet Shop party several weeks ago. He also plays on the regular at places like Therapy and Viva in Providence, as well as in Fall River, Mass. 

Tuesday Tunez #30 - DJs Justin Dupont & Tony Dispirito by www.TuesdayTunez.com 

Above is DuPont’s thirtieth Tuesday Tunes podcast. Just released a few hours ago, I found it ironic that I was the thirtieth listener! Hopefully with a little bit of time on the front page of this site, these cats will get a couple more streams in. Tony Dispirito is also on the wheels alongside DuPont. This mix is downloadable via their Soundcloud page, where (I believe) they swap their mixes in and out each week, so get grab this before it gets replaced with next weeks installment! Or just go to Tuesdaytunes.com, where the entire series is archived.

Featured Mixes: DEV/NULL 91-92 Rave/Breakbeat Hardcore Mix (May 2011)

So we probably all know by now that many of the crazy sounds that originally came from early 1990s breakbeat hardcore and rave music have returned with a vengeance in a major way. The piano riffs. The sped-up (or as some would say, Chipmunk’d) vocals. The use of breakbeats oftentimes waywardly bumping and grinding with straight beats. I sort of like how it’s all come full circle; the fact that structure and predictability were an option when crafting this sound 2 decades ago is kind of inspiring nowadays. 

What is the one prominent sound of early 90s dance that HASN’T resurged, however? The hoover. AKA the mentasm. I won’t get into the intracacies of what this sounds like, but if you’re curious, here’s a video. Or, think of the vacuum cleaner made by, you guessed it, Hoover. Unfortunately you still have to go back in time to hear this signature sound in action, but don’t fear, Boston DJ & producer Dev/Null makes that possible. One of the most meticulous electronic music record collectors in town, Dev/Null has gotten his hands on hundreds of not only well-known early 90s breakbeat hardcore records, but also extremely rare promos and test presses that you’re not exactly just going to find at your local Best Buy. Or even Discogs.com for that matter. 

Grimey 91-92 Hardcore Mix by DevNull-DJ 

Clocking in at just over a half hour, Dev/Null rams in almost 20 high-energy tracks circa 1991-92. This was at a point where the music wasn’t speeding up to a frenzied jungle tempo just yet, it still remained at a manageable 150bpm. You don’t hear mixes like this everyday, so I can’t help but recommend it. Especially those hoovers, which are everywhere. If you’re interesting in learning more about some of the diamonds in the rough of his record collection, you should head on over to his site, www.blogtotheoldskool.com. There’s PLENTY to listen to over there you won’t find anywhere else!

Featured Mixes: Goth-Trad Live at Goodlife (Together Fest, Hosted by RBMA)

If you weren’t able to make any of the TOGETHER parties last month, don’t fret. Some people managed to record some of the performances. One of the first to surface is Japanese dubstep heavyweight Goth-Trad, thanks to the kind folks at the Red Bull Music Academy. Goth-Trad played at the party co-hosted by Bassic and Dubspot at Goodlife, bonus points for the fact it was on a Friday. Placed was rammed wall to wall, it was a beautiful day out (one of the first of the year), and I actually remember Chris from Bassic saying it was the best turnout they have ever had in the four years throwing parties.

The only thing that gets lost in translation in this hour-long mix of mainly self-produced corkers from Goth-Trad is the magnitude of the BASS. Those subs managed to kick the dust around that basement the entire night; this was definitely a set you could feel on top of listening to. All the lights dimmed sort of added to the vibe of the music too, which was mainly dark, and not at all top-40 friendly (although there was some of that upstairs to keep everyone dancing). 

Stream this mix from Goth-Trad on RBMA’s page. No tracklist at the moment.

TOGETHER Fest: a Bassic Party, a C-Dubs Mix, and a Contest For You

There’s something to be said for a mix that opens with the crackling sound of a vinyl record in motion as it’s about to enter into the opening notes of the first song. It can be safely assumed that the handler behind the decks believes in the music they play to the point where they’re willing to pay up to twelve dollars just for two tracks, a work ethic that is worthy of respect. (Nothing at all against digital/MP3 DJ-ing though, just sayin’!) 

Vinyl-only DJ’s are a rare breed these days, but not only do they still exist, the ones that do are fairly prolific around Boston! Scotch 1, Soul Clap, Grizzly/Prodigal Son, Lenore, Crook, Entropy, and Vice-T are to name but a few. And let’s not forget the man behind BASSIC: Chris “C-Dubs” Ward, who today happened to hit me off with an all plastic fantastic mix of deep dubstep that I’m happy to host exclusively here.

C-Dubs has a few busy but exciting weeks ahead of him: he’s an instrumental part of the upcoming TOGETHER festival, specificly with an event he is hosting on Wednesday (April 20th) at Goodlife. This is a BASSIC party at Goodlife that has managed to squeeze Ramadanman/Pearson Sound, Zed Bias, Moldy, and DJG under one roof on one night. That’s a lot of sub bass compressed into four hours, but the impossible is now possible. As Ward’s signature saying goes, expect this night to get “inappropriate and irresponsible”. Dubspot, Surefire Agency and Izotope are sponsoring it. Facebook event page

And now, a contest. This is one for the trainspotters in the crowd. Have a listen to C-Dubs’ mix; if you’re confident that you know each of the tracks he plays, send him an email at cotecs@gmail.com with as complete of a tracklisting as possible. The first two people to correctly identify all of the songs, OR the two who did the best job ID’ing what Chris plays in this mix get FREE cover to the Bassic event on the 20th. If you’re into the deeper, moodier sound of dubstep, this might be right up your alley…so good luck, and you have one week. The contest closes on Tuesday, April 12th at 12:00pm sharp.

2 caviats: You need to be 21+ to win (as that is what the minimum is at Goodlife), and you must leave a full name and phone number when you email Chris. He will let you know who the winners are, so be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

And without further ado, the mix. Enjoy

C-Dubs :: Bassic Promo Mix, 4.3.2011
(320kbps MP3)

Featured Mixes: Don't Mess With Sharp Objects, Like Chainsaws & DJ Knife

It takes merely two seconds for Boston’s DJ Knife to get his point across in his new dubstep mix. “One thing I won’t put up with…is a chainsaw that always breaks down.” are some of the first lines muttered post-kick off. It’s a good thing we’re not dealing with a crappy, Chinese-manufactured DJ here that will do just that, break down on ya by the time you’re ten minutes into the session. Knife has earned his stripes through his countless hip hop mixes and years of record collecting. Even foraying into a style of music he is less familiar with, he’s still able to navigate his way around with the best of ‘em…with or without that American-built chainsaw.

The Best of Chainsaw Dubstep by d.j.knife 

Knife’s last mix I featured on here, “Strange Brew”, included a jumbalaya concotion of many different styles of music. Oone of the things that struck me was his inclusion of a couple dubstep tunes, such as Doctor P’s “Sweet Shop”. In his new mix, Knife shows his interest (and sense of humor) in dubstep music a little more. It’s a free-for-all 140bpm session, that comes bundled with the following disclaimer:

“WARNING: If you don’t already like dubstep, don’t waste your time listening to this. This release is the result of spinning Top 40 for for far too long. It’s a 30 minute, live mix of some of the most aggressive, chainsaw-sawing-through-your-head dubstep tracks I know, with a few non-dubstep joints to break up the monotony. Shout outs to Will C for mastering and Alfrizzy for the artwork. Enjoy!”

In all honesty, this is a very listenable mix; while some of the songs are abrasive, all of them have a nice dose of energy and catchy hooks to boot. I’ve heard plenty of over-the-top, nail-on-chalkboard style tracks within the genre over the years, you won’t catch any of that nonsense here. Most of the tracks are still quite musical and Knife manages to include dozens of tracks compressed into a very short period of time, like his other forays on the decks.

Oh yeah, if you missed his Fresh Produce party last weekend at Goodlife, I feel very bad for you! But you can live vicariously through a couple of the pics I took there if you want. Sorry, I didn’t get any of the midget clown.

Featured Mixes: Olivetti- Winter 2011 Mix (Deep/Tech House)

His name is Grant Horne, his nickname is Olivetti, he loves quality electronic music, and if you have any doubts on the “quality” thing, a single listen to his most recent mix session should put that to rest quickly. Olivetti is actually a Boston transplant, migrating to here from Philly about five years ago. Down in the city of brotherly love he spent the better part of a decade playing out on a frequent basis at large-scale parties hosted by the likes of Caffeine and 611 Records. Then came a short hiatus behind the decks after moving to the Bean…which ended ABRUPTLY once getting his hands on Traktor (I don’t blame him a bit here!)

Olivetti’s Winter 2011 mix brings to the forefront a small handful of current, deeper tech-house pieces that have been occupying his hard drive over the past few months. We had a chat on Facebook last week, where he admitted that the mix was unplanned and completely off-the-cuff. An average listener wouldn’t be able to tell either way; all of the tracks in here build off eachother quite nicely. What you won’t find here is a selection haphazardly culled from the Beatport Top 100 list either; Olivetti spends a great deal of time digging the digital crates to prune the songs that fit his style. Soundcloud embed and tracklist below.

Olivetti - Winter Mix 2011 - Tech House by olivetti

By Any Means [Paul Loraine Mix] | Jim Rivers | Four:Twenty 
That’s What | Rampa | Kraftek 
Satellite 2008 [Ramon Tapia Mix] | Lutzenkirchen/John Acquaviva | Sound of Cologne 
Tubular Bars | Luke Star | Little Mountain Recordings 
Work This Out | Shekimon ft. Zoe Kidah | Is This 
Bounce For Me [Sven Jaeger Mix] | Mark Bale | Recovery Tech 
Sometimes Always | Tree Elves | Suicide Robot 
Back Down | Olivier Giacomotto | Definitive 
Gangster | Brisboys | Stampgevaar 
616 Seconds [Christian Smith Mix] | Mark Romboy | Herzblut 
U JERK | Freaky Disco | Is This 
Tarekalizer [S&L Mix] | Starskie | Plastic City 
Pong [Ben Klock Mix] | Kerri Chandler | Deeply Rooted House 
No No No [Suedmilch Mix] | Projekt Arlesheim | Miniload 
The Bumbler | Sascha Braemer | Gastspiel 
Butterfly Collector [Ozgur Can Mix] | Pierce | Definitive 
I Like It | Jorge Sanchez | Taux Music 
Big Mama | David Jones | Starlight Unlimited 
Penny Arcade [Jorge Zamacona Mix] | Paul Mac | Adult 
Resonance | Vainqueur and Substance | Scion Versions

Featured Mixes: DJ Knife- Strange Brew (130-140 bpm, Multiple Genres)

One of the first rules a cook learns when preparing a recipe is that the more ingredients it includes, the more prudent they need to be when mixing all of them together. One bad ingredient, or too many of them going on at once can instantly ruin the dish. As an amateur-at-best cook myself, I even know this from watching Top Chef on a regular basis; you can’t play things too safe, but if you take too many risks and your recipe falls flat, you end up being forced to “pack up your knives and go home.”

Speaking of knives, we have a mix by well-known Boston-based wax handler DJ Knife here. Similar to cooking, Knife does not hesitate to bring a MASSIVE variety of flavors into his mix compilations. Sometimes he hits the listener with different classic DJ tricks, including mashing up an 80s pop standard over a Baltimore club break, stopping a tune cold and slamming into another touting a completely different BPM, and working double copies of the same record to create a different rhythm than originally intended by the musician. A few days ago Knife sent me a link to his latest mix, “Strange Brew”, and it’s definitely worthy of a featured spot on here. 

DJ Knife Presents: Strange Brew by d.j.knife

Recording a mix that includes everything from house (Robin S’s “Show Me Love” & Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better”), pop rock (Stevie Nick’s “Stand Back”), new jack swing (Boyz II Men’s “Motownphilly”), early 90’s freestyle (Bizarre Inc’s “I’m Gonna Get You”), baltimore club (Aaron LaCrate’s “Get Um Girl”), dubstep (Doctor P’s “Sweet Shop”), classics (Michael Jackson’s “PYT” and Portrait’s “Here We Go”), to rock (Phoenix’s “Falling”) is NOT an easy task. Very similar to cooking, there is little margin for error; a track that doesn’t fit the framework of the rest of the mix can leave the listener with a bad taste in their, er, ear! Fortunately with well beyond decade of experience playing out around the Bean, this sort of execution comes natural to Knife. 

The mix stays interesting all the way through, and clocks in at a very dancable 130-140 bpm range. He navigates through each track with the quickness (there are easily 40 tracks rolled into this 45 minute compilation). However at no point do I feel like I’m being pulled in too many opposing directions like in a lot of mixes I hear that attempt to include a multitude of songs and styles. It mirrors the style that he plays at his Fresh Produce night at Goodlife. If you haven’t checked out this monthly event which he has co-run with Tommee for over 4 years, then you need to mark the next one on January 29th down on your calendar! It’s a PROPER night that does not cater to fluff music. Just quality no-frills hip hop and house the whole night, with a hyped crowd guaranteed to keep dancefloor real estate to an absolute minimum from start to finish. 

Be sure to follow Knife’s Soundcloud for more mixes, mash-ups, and future updates.

Featured Mixes: Jackmaster Flash (Kristan Goes To Atlanta- 80s-90s House)

This is a series of four mixes that were sent to me earlier this week on Facebook by DJ Jackmaster Funk. What intrigued me from the second I decided to click the download button is the story behind them. All of the tracks from this mix were sourced from a binned cardboard box just sitting on the street outside of a record shop in Portland, Maine.

Not sure if JackMF picked these up himself or if it was one of his friends, but regardless, someone was in the right place at the right time. This is because all records in the box were hardly junk, but instead, old white label promos, test presses, worn down copies, and even full releases, consisting entirely of quality house music. The plates dated from around 1987-1997, and includes everything from well known classics to bits that possibly may have never even been released. 

The entire series is dedicated to his friend Kristan Fucci (who recently moved from Maine to Atlanta) and is inspired by the “Tracy Goes To New York” story. The first two mixes of this series have been on repeat every night around the house, and I have parts 3 and 4 queued up for future listening. You don’t see mixes with this kind of music every day, so I figured this one definitely deserves a post in the Featured Mixes section.

Kristan Goes to Atlanta - 1 (Continuous - Shortened for SoundCloud) by KristanGoestoAtlanta - 1

Kristan Goes to Atlanta - 2 (Continuous - Shortened for SoundCloud) by KristanGoestoAtlanta - 2

Kristan Goes to Atlanta - 3 (Continuous - Shortened for SoundCloud) by KristanGoestoAtlanta - 3

Kristan Goes to Atlanta - 4 (Continuous - Shortened for SoundCloud) by KristanGoestoAtlanta - 4

Featured Mixes: Drew Blood 2010 (Minimal-Style Drum and Bass)

Not sure who this mix is penned by, but the selection on it caught my attention! Many former drum and bass fans are endlessly (paper)chasing dubstep music right now. While I argue that to each their own, they are missing out on a lot of the back-to-basics style drum and bass that has been coming out of the woodwork in 2010. After several years of stagnation, the return to the minimal sound (first visited in the pre-techstep mid-to-late 1990s) is in full force again, as evidenced in this mix entitled “Drew Blood”. I showcased several mixes of this style last year on here, including ones by Blu Mar Ten, Kapsil, and TeeBee. This block of tunage follows in their footsteps.

While the minimal sound was a proof-of-concept last year, in the Drew Blood mix we are starting to see its maturity. The edits are getting more precise, the creative usage of white noise and more non-percussive sounds to compliment the rhythm, and, in the opening piece, edits of amens and other more involved sounds chopped in to act as contrast. Overall this is a well put-together mix that toggles between deeper and more techstep-influenced iterations of the minimal sound. This is not without closing out on several straight-up techstep joints from years gone by, which essentially serve as the full on meat-and-potatoes from which the reduction sauce the remainder of this session were flavored and seasoned by. Download link below!

Drew Blood- 2010 Drum and Bass Mix

Featured Mixes: DJ MA1 September 2010 UK Funky House Mix

When it comes to UK Funky music, DJ MA1 is a name you need to keep on the lookout for. He has only released a few things over the past several years, however every single original and remix he has penned has been of the highest quality. Similar to funky counterparts Roska and Crazy Cousinz, MA1 knows full well that the percussion can make or break a song. The bongos, snares, and kicks set the agenda from start to finish, everything else is secondary. Try imagining a track without a catchy rhythmic section, or even worse, a stiff and sterile beat, and you’ll see why.

If you want a glimpse of what is in store for the future of UK Funky, look no further than MA1’s September 2010 DJ mix, released just a day ago. There isn’t a tracklist, but is it really necessary? The most important thing that you and I need to know is that it’s ass shaking jams from front to back! 

DJ MA1 September 2010 MIX by djma1