This mix somehow got lost in the shuffle; I didn’t even realize until my iTunes started playing it on my computer while I was working yesterday that I had pretty much completely forgotten about it. This was a full-on drum and bass mix I recorded at the very beginning of 2005, right after the holiday week (was this really five years ago already?!) 

It was one of those mixes where I attempted to include pretty much every style of drum and bass, however back then I was still learning how to craft longer sets and it’s nowhere near as cohesive as many of the multi-style dnb mixes that followed it in the years to come. Most of the stuff in here was from late 2004, and many of these tunes are bonafide classics now. Negative one point for including “Jesus Walks” by Kanye; but of course this was before Katrina and before we knew that Dubya apparently “did not care about black people”. A couple of other hip hop bits make appearances too.

Kritikal: Kross Sekktion (January 2005 drum & bass)

intro 
)EIB(: rush hour (sonic & silver rmx) 
teebee & calyx: follow the leader 
break & hydro: troubled soul 
skc & safair: gonzo 
raiden: clone 
break: the compass 
raiden: carpet bommin’ 
equinox: love thy brother 
paul b & subwave: break through 
>> j kwon: tipsy acapella 
stranjah: red desert 
kanye west: jesus walks 
black moon: reality (instrumental) 
>> dillinja: forsaken dreams 
hype: the big 30 
die: play it for me 
juju: sahara run 
st.cal: red light 
>> beastie boys: sure shot acapella 
breakage: stoneheart 
die: clear skyz 
noisia: vanishing point 
mathematics: rub-a-dub 
calibre & singing fats: drop it down 
d-bridge & vegas: true romance 
pacific: auto funk 
vector burn: oh boy 
cyantific: little green men 
hyper-on experience: lord of the null lines (total science rmx) 
decoder: dead calm 
total science: three sugars 
drumsound & simon bassline smith: the odyssey 
skeptic: tear

So I was thinking to myself last week how long it’s been since I’ve recorded a straight-up drum and bass mix. Not unlike, um, pretty much everyone, it’s been tough for me to focus on dnb lately with the floodgates being open and all of the quality house, dubstep, and baltimore club that’s been spewing out of it. However, I still find it safe to say that drum and bass music isn’t going anywhere; the ideas and production quality of the music continue to evolve and there were plenty of good pieces that were pressed to vinyl this past year within the genre.

I really don’t have much to say about this mix other than the fact that it’s a compilation of my favorite songs from this past year, as well as a host of other bits from the past 15 years or so I’ve always enjoyed. It includes a variety of different styles (although I wasn’t able to get much techstep/neuro in unfortunately) and it changes up several times as it goes on.

This was recorded on 3 decks and afterwards I took the time to master it properly in Ableton and even bust out some cover art. It’s hosted on Soundcloud, but the download is available there in 320kbps as well.

Will be recording a “minimal” style drum and bass mix (think recent ASC, Loxy, BOP, Liquilade, etc) after the holidays too.

Nickdawg-Build It Up, Break It Down (December ‘09 dnb mix) by beantownboogiedown

Subwave: I Need You 
Stranjah: Changed 
Sub Focus: Deep Space 
Spectrasoul: 4 Points 
Dream Team: The V.I.P. 
Cool Hand Flex: Must Feel (Serum remix) 
Tom & Jerry: Maximum Style (Crystal Clear remix) 
Taxman: Sleaze 
Clipz: Push it Up (TC Remix) 
Heist: Spiders Ville 
Bassface Sascha: International Sound 
Jakes: Haters 
Stakka: Griffin 
Serum: Gunshots 
Nolige: Riders Groove 
Kemal & Tech Itch: The Calling 
Tetradin: Amgod 
Drum Crew (Fresh, Ed Rush, Optical & Maldini): Thin Air 
Mason & D-Star: Roots 
D-Kay & DJ Lee: Wax’d 2007 
Sonic & Silver: Hard Times 
Capone: Going In 
Lenzman & Jo-S: Emralds 
Spy: Sunship 
Fresh: Heavyweights 
Matt U & SKC: Monolith 
Deadmau5 & Kascade: I Remember (J Majik & Wickaman remix) 
Nu-Tone: Beliefs 
Doc Scott: NHS (Total Science Remix) 
Equinox: Don’t Wanna Lose You 
Total Science & Conrad: Soul Patrol 
Beta 2 & Lariman: Fool in Your Eyes 
Mouly: Hanging Out the Back

PS- If you like what you hear, help me win some CDJ-2000s from Letsmix.com by voting for it over there! Then I can invite you to my place to play them while I kick my vinyl habit once and for all in the extremely slim chance I do manage to pull it off and win, haha.

Over the course of the past 6-8 months I’ve been buying newer minimal and tech house MP3’s on Beatport and Juno like the world is about to end; the other day I realized that with the speed at which I’m filling up my hard drive with this stuff it’s almost inexcusable not to at least record a mix. 

Now I’m not going to lie, the current breed of minimal and tech house that is out there wasn’t really my cup of tea for a long time. It took me several years to acquire a taste for it, and to this day my favorite incarnations of these styles involves at least some components or influence that derive from the deep, funky, or jackin’ house microcosms. However, despite what the name may imply, there are many different “flavors” of minimal, some of which are more appropriate for playing earlier in the night, as well as tracks geared for prime time that include subtle yet effective build-ups, leads, and a comparable amount of energy to many other forms of dance music out there.

So enter Minimal Minded. I recorded this yesterday and had a lot of fun doing it. I’m using my “Effective Resolution” guise here for the first time which I’ll probably end up going by for all my house-related work for here on out. One cool tidbit: this is the first mix I have ever recorded that does not include a SINGLE piece of vinyl! It was mixed entirely with my Pioneer CDJ’s and ran it through my Roland SRV2000 Reverb console to give it just a small extra touch of atmosphere. And if you can’t identify what the cover is based off of, your hip hop privileges are revoked forever!

Effective Resolution (Nickdawg)-Minimal Minded by beantownboogiedown

Phonic.Lab: Tic Tac 
Rick Pier O’Neil: Leave A Drama (Moonbeam Remix) 
Lauhaus: Neue Welle 
IHEIZ: He Is Hot / She Is Hot 
Dale Howard: Shuffle 
2001: Burning (D’Julz Remix) 
Neuroxyde: Jazzy Stuff 
Seismal D: Not Human 
Wolfgang Gartner: Latin Fever 
Tim Green: Kitch In 
Grumbox: Tombak 
Bisko: Business Track 
Slam: Hot Knives 
Distaff: Bochinche 
DJ T: Shine On 
The Fat DB: Nibble 
Ambivalent: 808 Claps 
Laurent Garnier: The Man With The Red Face

Enjoy! 

So I recorded a new mix earlier this week…as per my usual style I decided to keep the style pretty much all over the place to keep it interesting. Most of the tracks on here are pretty recent with exception for a couple of classic 90’s tunes (Bombscare!) and on much of the last 15 minutes where I decided at the last minute to run down to my basement and grab/dust off a few of my old 4x4 garage records to give them one last hurrah. Recorded in one take but I practiced it a few times before recording. Design also by me- anyone still play Power Hour? A college favorite of mine, of course it took years of training to be able to make it past 40 minutes!

Stay tuned, I’ve got a drum & bass one on the way very shortly!

Nickdawg :: Power Hour

Laidback Luke & Sebastian Ingrosso: 555 [refune]
Rod Lee: Let Me See What U Workin’ With (acapella) [dress2sweat]
Mescal Kid: Magic [toolroom]
Rod Lee: Let The Horns Go [dress2sweat]
Johnny Blaze: Wham Bam [blaze one]
Dave Nada: Kick Out the Jams [t&a]
DJ Sega: Colours [ol’ head]
Al Ripken Jr.: Space Club [call me al]
Aaron Lacarte & Young MC: Know How (Gutter mix) [delicious gutter]
Hot Pink Delorean & Fantastadon: Party Favour [hunnypot]
B.Rich: Can’t Take What I Got [palms out sounds]
Jack Beats & Dynamite MC: What (Boy 8-bit rmx) [cheaper thrills]
Bird Peterson: Throw Me Uptown [solid trunk]
Dem Slackers: The Joker [wearhouse]
Ping & Baz: Busted Loop [ihr]
Tori Amos: Professional Widow (Armand’s JDF dub) [atlantic]
Fukkk Off: Rave Is King (Zodiac Cartel rmx) [coco machete]
Sporty-O: Guestlist (Rico Tubbs remix) [illeven eleven]
Krames: Work This Pussy [kobra kai]
Bird Peterson: Zutopong [cd-r]
Jakes: Rock The Bells [hench]
David Rodigan ft. Breakage: Together [digital soundboy]
Ramsey & Fen: Desire [bug]
$ki: Paradise in London [broken wax]
Nightcrawlers: Push the Feeling On (Qualifide remix) [heathmans acetate]
Qualifide: Badman [qualifide]
Duncan Powell: Pushing (radio edit) [cd-r]
Goldenchild: Twisted [chocolate factory]
Zomby: Where Were You in ‘92? [werk discs]
2 Bad Mice: Bombscare [moving shadow]

At the tail end of 2007, I assembled a compilation that was on my to-do list for quite some time: a DJ mix, continuously beatmatched, that included every style of music that I liked starting from house and working all the way up to drum and bass. It took about a month to sort through which tracks I wanted to include here, and spent several takes practicing all the transitions before actually hitting the record button. I managed to record the entire mix in one shot though.

In my past experience of handing out multi-genre mixes, feedback had always been very mixed (no pun intended). This CD was no exception- some house fans did not like how there was breakbeat hardcore/drum & bass included, and vice versa. Overall I still enjoy the energy of Clutch Shift Gas Go, although I think it has aged a little faster than my other mixes, and overall included way too many songs. (It actually got ripped apart when I posted it on the Discogs board, with people saying that the tracklist alone looked nauseating, that I was trying to “show off”, and that they wouldn’t listen unless I gave them free coke haha). 

However, Monsta did a KILLER job with the cover art, and am glad to see that he has become a well sought after illustrator out in the UK!

Nickdawg :: Clutch, Shift, Gas, Go! (December 2007) 

intro
scotty b & king tut: bucky done gun remix [hollertronix]
trevor rockliffe: get busy [mentor]
tjr: old school [catalyst]
krazy b: hand clap [unruly]
davide squillace: miss giggler (darko esser remix) [luxa flex]
busta rhymes: touch it (acapella) [interscope]
jb3: sound sweet [royal flush]
enur & natasja: calabria 2007 [scorpio data]
trevor rockliffe: visions of you [intec]
misjah: spoonerism [zync]
greg gow: no hockey (preach & marco g remix) [restructured]
aaron lacarte & samir: sirens [milkcrate]
jon skipper trax: chip cat [catalyst]
fast eddie: big ol bootie [ihr]
dave angel: pound for pound [rotation]
claude von stroke: who’s afraid of detroit (kevin saunderson remix) [dirtybird]
martyn: shadowcasting [revolve:r]
three 6 mafia: still fly (acapella) [columbia]
ludacris: fatty girl (acapella) [def jam]
2562: channel one [tectonics]
aquasky, masterblaster & the ragga twins: coffee [shadow cryptic]
wookie: unstable [bingo]
culture shock: asteroids [ram]
some random breaks promo [gonzo]
mako shark: bully boys [stellar music]
baobinga & id: buss dis [hardcore beats]
enzyme & malice: in the groove [nu-basement]
darkus: stray missile [hardcore projectz]
jack smooth: plight of the innovator [basement]
origin unknown: the touch [ram]
cold: delay [erbal essence]
electronic experienced: more iq [basement]
underground software: she’s really gone (tom & jerry remix) [reinforced]
keen: vol. 2 a-side [keen]
mental power: red [formation]
capone: massive [hardleaders]
sonic & silver: boogie nights [science fiction]
break: not enough [revolution]
transit: blowback [pleroma]
t snake & d wolf (the upbeats): mole station [citrus]
everything but the girl: blame (j majik remix) [virgin]
ewun: screw up [lifted]
spor: molehill [subtitles]
lil jon, e-40 & sean paul: snap yo fingaz (acapella) [tvt]
subfocus: druggy [ram]
lenzman & switch: no more tears [phuzion]
chase & status: hurt you [ram]

I was going through some old cd-r’s the other day and came across a liquid mix I recorded a few years ago that I don’t recall really promoting or posting anywhere in Internet land…I may have handed it out at 1 or 2 gigs but probably 50 copies at most. The music on here is really good so I figured I would throw it up on here. Unfortunately I’ve fallen out of the loop with a lot of the liquid stuff coming out nowadays…although I still follow guys like Mutt, Electrosoul System, Zinc and Random Movement who always do it proper, even in an environment nowadays where there is so much of this type of music out there it’s near impossible to stand out and sound original! This mix has a lot of tunes that were from what I consider the heyday of liquid, 2002-05. Rock out.

Nickdawg // Liquidfunk studio mix feb ‘07
deep inc: grand piano
red eyes: leaving this planet
mutt: crazy
do the math: the late late show
bulletproof: collide
influx datum: back for more
total science: zanzibar (beta 2 & zero tolerance remix)
logistics: millionaire
marcus intalex & st files: nightfall
high contrast: savoire faire
stranjah: you got me
mindscape: combine
task horizon: guardian angel
icr: wide awake
kubiks & lomax: wise words
mutt & perpetuum: november
survival: caught on me
john b: take control 

This is a mix I recorded in early 2006 that is mostly jungle/drum and bass, with a little hip hop mixed in towards the beginning. I handed out over 1500 copies of this on CD at parties during 2006-07 throughout all of New England as well as NYC and Upstate New York. It is hands down the highest number of hard copies I have ever handed out promoting a specific mix of mine, and probably will retain that title forever as I shift more towards promotion in the digital realm. Even made about 100 copies on cassette that I gave out (trust me, dubbing tapes is a bitch, I feel sorry for anyone who had to do it back in the 90s!) This was actually done mixtape style anyways where the first half was party joints and the second half consisted of deeper/dark dnb. 3 deck mix with a quick intro. Rock on!

Some side notes- I actually taught myself the basics of how to use Ableton just to make the intro. I wanted to get a copy for cheap so I settled with a second hand copy of version 2.0 (which only had like 10 effects devices and didn’t even have MIDI editing!) Also this is the only mix I ever did that had 2 different covers: the red one I used on most of em, but the very first ones I handed out on cd had the blue/boombox cover, as well as all the cassettes.

Nickdawg :: 8 Miles High (April ‘06)

8 miles high intro
black moon: f@#k it up!!
random movement: morning glory
dr. dre and ll cool j: zoom (acapella)
calibre and fats: neighborhood
zinc: south pacific
digable planets: rebirth of slick
noisia: façade
silent witness: triple seed (part 1)
optiv and ryme tyme: manifest
vicious circle: doom train (optiv remix)
juju, hive and echo: penthouse
high and mighty: b-boy document ‘99 (acapella)
clipse and pharell: blaze of glory
people under the stairs: yield
hochi, infiltrata and mental sharp: hit em hard
tommy boy (tc): back up!
chase and status: come back (feat. top cat)
zinc: steppin’ stones
raiden: chav
trace and tactile: in my brain
ill logic and raf: forever
cartridge: x minus one
halftime
baron: at the drive in
arqer: ago-go
alex perez and specific: love bug
drumajik: ragga soul
tactile: sunreal
chris su and skc: blackout
equinox: unity
breakage: 4me
silent witness: triple seed (part 2)
ewun: gun talk
wu-tang clan: cream (instrumental)
cruel intentionz: divergence
nucleus and paradox: breakdown
hive, gridlok and keaton: california schemin’
gremlinz: gateway
concord dawn: say your words
a-sides: inspirations

This was an off-the-cuff jump up mix I recorded at the very end of Summer ‘08 that I only handed out at one party: Aura in New Haven, CT, the following weekend. It is pretty much entirely dancefloor/wobble drum and bass but does include a few older ragga tracks towards the very beginning and end. 

Nickdawg: Jump-Up 8.30.08

Tracklist:

the interrogator: awareness
shimah: magnetosphere
rebel mc: police in helicopter (ray keith remix)
dj ben: like
terravita: subliminal square dance
soundclash: lockdown
taxman: original ninja
callide: pure dubplate
dope ammo: roots & future (nicol & majistrate remix)
drumsound & simon bassline smith: aquarius
strider: feel no way
noisia: diplodocus
imp & jfm: catch
xample: infamous
heist: ambush
zen: hovercraft
capone: your mind
zinc: steppin stones (zinc & friction remix)
sigma: body baby
the statesmen: 19 drops
total science: gravy girls
just jungle: sky

The inaugural mix for the Boston Beantown blog! I recorded this right before the holiday week this past December, on a friday night so crappy out I couldn’t even see the house across the street, let alone the car in my driveway I spent two hours shoveling out the next day (yay). But at least you can thank the snowstorm for the tunes here; it’s a longer mix (over 100 minutes long) and includes everything from stuff going back to 1993 all the way up to promos I just got in the mail the week I recorded it. Click below for mp3:

Nickdawg: Flurries

Tracklist:

rhyth​m & sound​-​ densi​ty [​rhyth​m & sound​,​ 1999]​
joey dalto​n-​ untit​led nr. 0 [​stupe​ndous​ music​,​ 2008]​
caval​ier-​ ride em [​drump​oet commu​nity,​ 2008]​
dyed sound​orom-​ tapio​ka (​seuil​ ny rehou​se remix​)​ [​tsuba​,​ 2008]​
joshu​a-​ sound​ check​ [​doubl​edown​,​ 2004]​
kelvi​n k- black​ music​ [​nordi​c trax,​ 2005]​
ron trent​-​ piano​ track​ [​subwo​ofer,​ 1995]​
gawro​n paris​-​ don’​t stop dis [​nordi​c trax,​ 2007]​
dj sneak​-​ well well well [​magne​tic,​ 2008]​
la pena-​ not so bad [la pena,​ 2008]​
takay​uki higo-​ big head house​ [wax recor​ds,​ 2004]​
loveb​irds-​ the rat [​freer​ange,​ 2008]​
rubbe​r souls​-​ can u relat​e (​plast​ic aveng​ers deep remix​)​ [​moody​,​ 2001]​
denni​s ferre​r-​ son of raw [​ibada​n,​ 2005]​
david​ durie​z-​ the why [​gourm​et,​ 2001]​
john tejad​a-​ weste​rn starl​and (​domin​ick marti​n/​calib​re remix​)​ [​palet​te,​ 2003]​
dj disci​ple-​ hold me [​muzik​ pushe​rs,​ 1993]​
nuyor​ican soul-​ nervo​us track​ [​nervo​us,​ 1993]​
jedi knigh​ts-​ the ascen​sion [​evolu​tion,​ 1996]​
moody​mann-​ long hot sex night​s [​kdj,​ 1994]​
ron trent​-​ seduc​tion [​subwo​ofer,​ 1995]​
apple​blim & perve​relis​t-​ over here (​brend​on moell​er remix​)​ [​apple​ pips,​ 2008]​
thoma​s heckm​ann-​ silve​rscre​en [​acid fucke​rs unite​,​ 2007]​
lo soul-​ open door [​playg​roup,​ 1995]​

So here it is folks- the VERY FIRST dj mix I ever recorded. Trust me, it’s pretty bad. I had probably about 6 months of experience at the time, and handed out maybe 15-20 copies on cd to friends of mine who were part of the production crew I was involved with in upstate NY. Didn’t promote it much outside of that circle because I knew nothing of how the “scene” worked back then (let alone how to dj haha). I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two in the past 7 years, but with every passing year I get older and wiser! So anyways, a few interesting tidbits on this “mix”:

* This was the only mix I recorded before I got my Technics 1200’s that summer. Back then I had these Numark chrome turntables. Trust me, I don’t miss them.

* I recorded this mix through a minidisc walkman, similar to a few of my other very early mixes. I used to then connect the minidisc player with RCA cables to my Powermac 8500 (which was pushing 8 years back in 2003). Boy that was a great time, especially when the computer would crash literally 90% of the way into capturing the mix, along with all the wonderful pops and artifacts it would leave. Of course being a brokeass college student at the time I sure as hell couldn’t afford a G4, even though I had no qualms whatsoever spending $50 on vinyl a week (and about twice that much on booze)!

* Marcus Intalex & S.T. Files were my favorite producers back then. In fact, I liked them so much their work comprised about a quarter of this mix.

* The second from the last track is by Logistics. Just to set the record straight, this is NOT the Logistics of Hospital Records fame. Apparently there was another person who shared the same name who happened to produce dnb as well; he had two releases in 2001 then disappeared. Just for the record, I like the Logistics from Hospital better.

* There isn’t a single clean transition in this mix, and I didn’t understand the concept of set development back then, however it’s cool to have it up on here anyways for posterity.

* I still play “You Got Me” by Stranjah and “Get On Down” to this day; both were little known tracks in the dnb scene at the time but still classics in my book. Oh yeah, the opening track marked what was very close to the end of the road of one of drum and bass’s best record labels: Hardleaders.

* If you’re even able to get through the whole thing, I salute you…I sure as hell can’t anymore!

Kritikal :: Volume 1 (january 2003)

outfit: love thing
mist: lose control
the insiders: chicago
spirit: sanctified
silver: get on down
mistical: mistical dub
ed rush & optical: shrinkwrap
cam: mellowman
j majik: matchbox
stranjah: you got me
mist: how you make me feel
total science: squash
nasty habits: deep beats
logistics: crazy
digital: come to me