For me, there are two approaches to recording a mix. The first is to take a lot of time in thinking of a smart and coherent concept, to then carefully select the according music and plan its transitions, and later, record the whole thing and make it public. There are plenty of my sets on the internet where I have done exactly that, with quite some variety of styles and ideas, and for a variety of reasons and purposes, too. These mixes are often schooled by the mixtapes I compiled for as long as I can remember (for girlfriends, friends and maybe some yet invisible target audience). My mixes of that kind have gotten more refined over the years. At some point, I started to mix music, and the amount of people such a set finally reaches has grown considerably. But the method, more or less, has stayed the same.
The second approach is to record a set while you’re playing in the club. Of course, the selection and execution in that context is different. I usually bring as many records as possible that I would like to dance to if I would be attending the club that very night, and then I combine them as it makes most sense to me in the given situation of the party. I try to avoid repeating combinations with each gig. For me, the fun part of mixing is to try and test new sequences. This can run the risk of a hit-and-miss in outcome (often depending on how inspired or concentrated I am), but in my mind, the possibility of failure is far less uncomfortable than relying on playlists of which I have already explored or experienced the success or functionality of. In short, I try to stay open to the surprises the music has on offer, and I try to pass that on to the crowd.
As Modifyer asked me for a guest mix, I quickly thought of doing something I had never done before: a combination of the two approaches mentioned above. At the time, there were no concepts left in my mind waiting to be released in a set (and admittedly, I also had so many other things to take care of that I found it difficult to come up with another or a better idea). If such ideas don’t strike you right away, they are mostly not worth being carried out anyway. What I did spend some thought on, however, was the music I wanted to play at Macro’s imminent label residency at Panorama Bar on the 10th of October 2009. I decided to leave the records in my box in the exact order I would play them at the gig, and re-record the set as soon as possible, with the memory of the proceedings still vivid. And thus I did, a day later. Naturally, the way the set now sounds is different to the live situation of the club; the mixing is tighter in parts, probably less frantic, and I could already tell where to mix in from what I could still remember of playing the music as it happened. Still, it was very interesting to repeat the experience, and it was also very interesting to take a second look at the choices I made in the intensity and immediacy of the night.
The night itself was a wonderful experience. We had just released the album “Catholic” by Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras and its accompanying singles. For the occasion, my label partner, Stefan Goldmann, and I invited Serge Verschuur from Clone Records and our friend Hunee to play. We knew that both would deliver the dynamic diversity we had in mind to celebrate what we had worked on for so long. I was due to play the last set, from 8 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. Unfortunately, I had a severe cold resurfacing, so I took some hours rest before arriving at the club at around 4 a.m. I could tell right away that the vibe of the club was a bit different to other nights there. Dubfire was on for Berghain, and judging from the queue I passed on my way to the entrance, the people interested in hearing him play seemed other than the regular crowd. I didn’t mind that at all, but as I made my way through Berghain, I kept running into friends who were telling me that there was more trouble at the door than usual. The music was different, too. I paused to listen to Dubfire’s set. While the monolithic pulse of the techno sound associated with Berghain was there, it somehow lacked the tension and groove that I need to lock me. I went upstairs to Panorama Bar to check what was going on there instead.
Serge was in the midst of a blinding set of classic and contemporary house and techno. The crowd was well into it. Hunee followed suit marvelously, steering the proceedings to more cheerful shores, and adding some classic disco and anthemic vocal moments. There were smiling faces enough, familiar and unfamiliar, to convince me that the night turned out to be what we hoped for, and then some. As I took over, I had the feeling that I should take another direction musically. I felt very tired and numbed by the fever the flu brought along. To start, I thought that I should kick myself into action with the music, hoping that the dancers would follow my way. Picking Heaven 17 to follow up Hunee’s last record, Code 718’s blissful “Equinox”, was admittedly a bit bold and therefore received some confused looks, but then in the course of the set, things quickly fell into line. Flicking through my box, every next record seemed to be waiting in place, already offering its services to make the night one to remember. When I left the club, near Sunday noon, into the same mean cold drizzle I entered from several hours before, the music continued to thump in my head and there were indeed a lot of wonderful memories to keep. On Monday, I refreshed myself, had a good breakfast and then recorded this set right away in one take, in order to not let any of those memories slip away.
Welcome to the final chapter of the Druffalo Rave Chronicles. In sharp contrast to the usual brouhaha surrounding the city’s contributions to club music history there is no particular reason why we conclude the series with Chicago. It’s just the one we still had left for release, and we wanted to stop before we were even tempted to invent rave scenes that don’t really exist (given that all of it was a very subjective D*ruffalo take on the rave phenomenon anyway). So, as sad as it may be, we would like to kiss the rave goodbye with some real Windy City classics, and this is the way we jack the house…
K.A. Posse – Dig This (Underground) Robert Armani – Circus Bells (Dance Mania) The Housefactors – Play It Loud (Black Market International) Armando – We’re On The Move (Warehouse) DJ Pierre- Drive Me In Your Car (Jive) M.D.3. – The Pressure Cooker (Underground) 326 – Falling (Muzique) Brian Harris – H2O (Chicago Underground) Lil’ Louis – Music Takes U away (Dance Mania) Qx-1 – On A Journey (Rhythm Beat) Pizarro – Suelta Mé (Gosa-Lo) Mix Masters – In The Mix (DJ International) Liz Torres – Payback Is A Bitch (Jive) Lil’ Louis – Frequency (Dance Mania) Steve Poindexter – Computer Madness (Muzique) Vitamin B – You Make Me Feel (Rhythm Beat) Two For Soul – The Music’s Taken Over Me (Future Sound) 2 Houss People – Baby Wants To Move You (Gherkin) Myoshi Morris – Muzik (Rockin’ House) Armando – 100% Of Dissin’ You (Warehouse) Steve Poindexter – Work That Motherfucker (Muzique) The Dance Kings – Climb The Walls (Dance Mania) Terry Hunter – Madness (Muzique) Risque 3 – Essence Of A Dream (Stride) Mike Dearborn – New Dimension (Muzique) Ron Trent – The Afterlife (Djax) Da Posse – In The Life (Republic) North/Clybourn – O Ban 1 (Gherkin) Fingers Inc. – Bye Bye (Jack Trax)
Another mix with some record store techno/house finds.
Posthuman – Monsters Exist H.O.D. – Alive And Kicking Moderat – Rusty Nails (Shackleton Mix) DJ Gregory – Head Dubbing Marcel Fengler – Twisted Bleach Wax 20002 – Untitled Hunch – Travel The Earth Agoria – Solarized The Tetrode Sessions – Large Crowd Orlando Voorn – Love Break (Chopped) Prosumer & Murat Tepeli – U & I Hunee – Rare Silk Boo Williams – Home Town Chicago John Beltran – Placid Angles
“Never be ashamed to write a melody that people remember.” (Burt Bacharach)
Mel Tormé – Walk On By Dionne Warwick – Who Is Gonna Love Me Lou Johnson – The Last One To Be Loved Jimmie Rodgers – The Windows Of The World Jackie DeShannon – A Lifetime Of Loneliness Johnny Mathis – Odds And Ends Dionne Warwick – Walkin’ Backwards Down The Road Pitney – Fool Killer Jimmy Radcliffe – (There Goes) The Forgotten Man Burt Bacharach – I’ll Never Fall In Love Again Gene McDaniels – Tower Of Strength Dionne Warwick – Window Wishing The Cyrkle – It Doesn’t Matter Anymore Stephanie Mills – Loneliness Remembers (What Happiness Forgets) Dionne Warwick – Are You There (With Another Girl) Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77 – Walk The Way You Talk Burt Bacharach – And The People Were With Her Stephanie Mills – Living On Plastic Burt Bacharach – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart Dionne Warwick – Do You Know The Way To San José Anita Harris – London Life Dionne Warwick – Looking With My Eyes Burt Bacharach – When Will You Bring Your Sweet Love To Me Dionne Warwick – As Long As There’s An Apple Tree Stephanie Mills – Please Let Go Dionne Warwick – Paper Maché The 5th Dimension – Living Together, Growing Together Burt Bacharach – Something Big Dionne Warwick – I Say A Little Prayer The Searchers – This Empty Place Burt Bacharach – Pacific Coast Highway Burt Bacharach – My Little Red Book Jill O’Hara – Knowing When To Leave Buddy Greco – Always Something There To Remind Me Dionne Warwick – Promises, Promises Burt Bacharach – Monterey Peninsula Burt Bacharach – The Things I Will Not Miss Bobby Vee – Be True To Yourself Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Theme From Casino Royale Burt Bacharach – Freefall Tom Jones – Promise Her Anything Burt Bacharach – Reflections Burt Bacharach – The World Is A Circle Burt Bacharach – The Sundance Kid Burt Bacharach – South American Getaway
“For Burt, the 5th ‘B in no particular order – Beethoven, Brahms, Berlin, Bach and Bacharach.” (Ira Gershwin)
Matt Monro – Alfie Burt Bacharach – No One Remembers My Name Burt Bacharach – I Might Frighten Her Away Stephanie Mills – All The Way To Paradise The Walker Brothers – Make It Easy On Yourself Robin Wilson – A House Is Not Home Burt Bacharach – One Less Bell To Answer Burt Bacharach – Us Burt Bacharach – Wanting Things Tommy Hunt – I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself Herb Alpert – The Guy’s In Love With You Burt Bacharach – Lost Horizon Burt Bacharach – I Took My Strength From You Dionne Warwick – If I Ever Make You Cry Burt Bacharach – The Young Grow Younger Every Day Burt Bacharach – The Balance Of Nature Burt Bacharach – Seconds Herb Alpert – To Wait For Love Dusty Springfield – The Look Of Love Burt Bacharach – I Come To You The Carpenters – (They Long To Be) Close To You Burt Bacharach – Another Spring Will Rise Dionne Warwick – Here I Am Stephanie Mills – The Way I Feel About You Burt Bacharach – Trains And Boats And Planes Al Martino – I’m A Better Man Burt Bacharach – Hassbrook Heights Shirelles – It’s Love That Really Counts (In The Long Run) Jackie De Shannon – Come And Get Me Jack Jones – Wives And Lovers The Drifters – Let The Music Play Chuck Jackson – Any Day Now Burt Bacharach – All Kinds Of People Stephanie Mills – I See You For The First Time Jackie DeShannon – What The World Needs Now Is Love Burt Bacharach – Nikki Nancy Wilson – Reach Out For Me Andy Williams – Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head Roland Shaw & His Orchestra – Let The Love Come Through Dionne Warwick – Any Old Time Of The Day The Stylistics – You’ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) Stephanie Mills – If You Can Learn How To Cry Dionne Warwick – Don’t Make Me Over Cilla Black – Anyone Who Had A Heart Burt Bacharach – Long Ago Tomorrow
Mix with some German house music favourites, compiled and mixed for Motion FM radio.
Whirlpool Productions – The Cold Song (Ladomat 2000) Tiefschwarz Feat. Oezlem – Never (Four Music) Cassy – Night to Remember (Perlon) Sensorama – Quarzzeit (Ladomat 2000) DJ Linus – Pleasure (Freudenhouse) Losoul – Sunbeams And The Rain (Playhouse) Dntel – (This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan (Superpitcher Kompakt Remix) (Plug Research) Superpitcher – Happiness (Kompakt) Blumfeld – Tausend Tränen Tief (Loverboy Mix) (Rough Trade) Round Two – New Day (Main Street) Blumfeld – Neuer Morgen (Vredus Remix) (Wea) Jürgen Paape – So Weit Wie Noch Nie (Kompakt) Commercial Breakup – Walking Back Home (Ladomat 2000)
1948 In the years after WWII the idea of a ‘European Community’ emerged to secure peace and economic cooperation
1957 Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands club together and create the European Economic Community (EEC)
1973 Denmark, Ireland and UK join the EEC
1979 The first European Parliament elections take place and the Single European Currency Unit was introduced (later to become the Euro)
1981 Greece joins EEC
1986 Portugal and Spain join the EEC
1991 the EEC is renamed the European Union (EU)
1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU
2002 The Euro is introduced in 12 of the EU member states
2004 On May 1st 10 new member states join the EU. On June 10th, European Parliament elections take place in the UK
2005 UK takes its turn as President of the European Council of Ministers
2007 Bulgaria and Romania set to join the EU
2009 Druffmix 34 – The D.H.S. Rave Chronicles: Continental Europe
Greyhouse – New Beats The House (R&S) B-Sides – The Darkness Revisited (Music Man) Radical Rob – Monkey Wah (R&S) House Of Venus – Dish And Tell (Champion) Rebel MC – Tribal Base (Euro Mix) (Desire) Sunday Adams – Oohh Ohh Ah Ha I Wann Feel It (Container) 2000 And One – Mono Bass (Eevo Lute) Exposure – Love Quest (Stealth) Terrace – Seventh City (Djax-Up-Beats) Tune – Extra Sensory (R&S) Speedy J – Rise (Plus 8) Format #1 – Solid Session (ESP) Mental Overdrive – Theme Of St. Baafs (R&S) Complex – Dream World (Fragile) Wladimir M – Evil (Eevo Lute) Fortune & Fame – Is This Your Life (Stealth) Diamonds & Pearls – Perspective (Stealth) Terrace – Round Up (Djax-Up-Beats) The Morning Glory Seeds – Feels Like Heaven (Djax-Up-Beats) Choice – Acid Eiffel (Fragile) Metro Dade – The Andor Voyage (Music Man) Speedy J – Journey (Plus 8) DJ Le Roy – Yo Te Quiero (Palmares) Sueno Latino – Sueno Latino (BCM)
Mix with current record store finds and some old favourites. Pretty much what I was playing in clubs around that time.
Africans With Mainframes – Micro-Electronique Daniel Wang – On The Moon RV Feat. Los Updates – Baile Prostitune – Lotions DFA – Cause Of Suffering $tinkworx – MKB Pépé Bradock – Path Of Most Resistance The Foster Kidz – Butterscotch Jack Peñate – Tonight’s Today Afefe Iku – Mirror Dance Terre’s Neu Wuss Fusion – A Crippled Left Wing Soars With The Right Bang The Party – Bang Bang You’re Mine Johnny Dangerous – How Deep / Deep Mental Marcello Napoletano – A Prescription Of Love Chez Damier – Sometimes I Feel Like Danell Dixon – Dance Dance Portable – Ok Then DJ Sprinkles – Grand Central Pt. 1 (MCDE Bassline Dub) Newworldaquarium – Trespassers (541 Dub) Obsolete Music Technology – My Neurosis Cabin Fever Trax- Don’t You Know Tony Lionni – Found A Place Yukihiro Fukutomi – Open Our Eyes Rolando – The Afterlife
Theo Parrish – Space Station Bocca Grande – Bremen Orchestra Allen Wright – Talking Heads Sneaky Tim – Mental Kombat Freaks – Mindless Funk Levon Vincent – Solemn Days DJ Qu – Air’s Force Peverelist – Funktion (Shed Remix) Millie & Andrea – Temper Tantrum Intrinsic – Dream Express In Sync – Storm Lil Louis & The World – I Called U (Why’d U Fall) Mind Control Music – M.C.M. Steve Poindexter – Feen For Rhythm Traxx – Mysterio Jody Fingers Finch – Jack Your Big Booty Marvin Dash – MD Dolby A – Knack Armando – Don’t Take It Mutant Beat Dance – In A Daze Steve Poindexter Presents Andreas Gehm – My So Called Robot Life The Circle Jerks – 2 Far Gone Junior Rafael – 4 All Da Men In My Life Millsart – Inner-Self DJ Bone – Circus World Omar S – Blown Valvetrane Kissing The Pink – The Last Film (Medusa Edit)
The Druffalo rave saga continues. This time round the Druffalo Hit Squad travels back to the classic sound of Motor City. No, we didn’t ask for permission.
Never On Sunday – The Journey (Retroactive) Constant Ritual – Hard Way To Come (Network) Psyche – Elements (Planet E) R Tyme – R Theme (Transmat) Mia Hesterley – Spark (Ten) Intercity – Out Of Control (KMS) Neal Howard – Perpetual Motion (Future Sound) Vice – Mindmelt (430 West) Suburban Knight – The Worlds (Transmat) Reese – Bassline (Fragile) H&M – Sleepchamber (Axis) M5003MB – The Cosmic Courier (Metroplex) Open House Feat. Placid Angles – Aquatic (Retroactive) Octave One – Octivate (430 West) Mayday – Nude Photo 88 (Kool Kat) Model 500 – Electronic (Metroplex) Blake Baxter – Forever And A Day (Ten) Esser – Forces (KMS) 69 – My Machines (Planet E) E Dancer – Feel The Mood (Incognito) Octave One – I Believe (Transmat) Underground Resistance – Hi Tech Jazz (Underground Resistance) Pod – Vanguard (Buzz) Inner City – Praise (Ten) Alien FM – Art Of Illusion (430 West) Psyche – Crackdown (Buzz) Paris Grey – Don’t Lead Me (Network) Never On Sunday – Urban Rains (430 West) New Birth – Don’t Blame The Young Folks (For The Drug Society)
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