Again a mix displaying a personal preference for techno with a decidedly funky groove, with some added prototypes from the 80s, before techno was called techno. I have no idea why I ended the mix with this particular Specials song, as the business was not yet called business techno then. But what a song!
Telex – Moskow Diskow (Carl Craig Remix) The Back Room – Definition Of A Track Altern 8 – Objective 326 – Falling (Mike’s Mix) Risque III – Risque Madness Kikrokos – Life’s A Jungle Reese – Bassline Abe Duque – What Happened? Larry Heard – Lamentation Cabaret Voltaire – Crackdown The House Factors – Play It Loud Mr. Lee – House This House Yvette – Pump Me (Derrick May Mix) Blake Baxter – Club Fantasy Yello – La Habanera (Carl Craig Remix) Speedy J – Rise Kraftwerk – House Phone C & M Connection – Bio Rhythms Heaven 17 – Let’s All Make A Bomb The Specials – International Jet Set
Mix containing some spaced out deep house/techno gems. For my standards the flow is quite gentle. For the chill moods in life. My secret weapon of choice on display here: the instrumental mix of Electribe 101’s else quite disturbing stalker tune “You’re Walking”, which is just sublime.
Larry Heard – DNA RNA Electribe 101 – You’re Walking Model 500 – The Passage Kerri Chandler – Digital Love Affair A Guy Called Gerald – Eyes Of Sorrow Maurizio – Domina Morris Brown – Past Subway Ground Master – Marble Arch Blak Beat Niks – I’ll Be There Solar House – Peace Of Mind Lovechild – Sweet Ambience A Bitch Called Johanna – Love Is My Bass Agent X – Urban Paradise Callisto – The Cimmerian R Tyme – Use Me Urban Culture – The Wonders Of Wishing
This mix contains a diverse set of club tunes, all united by their direct connection to dub/reggae influences. Particularly house is so great because it is able to absorb so many styles. And among those styles I consider dub/reggae as royalty. By the way, it is a crying shame that Skacid died so young. Bring it back, you revivalists!
Pepe Bradock | 100% Coton Moody Boys – Jammin KLF – 3 A.M. Eternal Ballistic Brothers – Prophecy Reveal DJ Delite – Music For The People Beatmasters – Ska Train Longsy D’s House Sound – This Is Ska Freedom Authority – My Sound Hustlers Vol. 2 – Unity Reel 2 Real – Conway Rockers HiFi – Push Push Ragga Twins – Hooligan 69 Scottland Yard – Reggae House Rebel MC – Comin’ On Strong Studio 2 – Travelling Man Dee Patten – Who’s The Badman Mutabaruka – Dis Poem ‘99 Ph-7 – Better Place Dreamhouse Feat. Ceasar – Jump And Prance Colourbox – Baby I Love You So
A mix with some early house favorites. I recorded it for a mix tournament initiated in the early anarchic phase of the Discogs message board, where I met some fine people I am still friends with today (ok, and some people who probably still hate me). So it was judged by brutal judges and I had fierce competition. And this mix won, which means at least the playlist and its jack factor was ok. Cheers to DJs Klaus Stockhausen and Boris Dlugosch, who who schooled me in this category. The picture is from a young local photographer who wanted to do a book about DJs. I forgot his name but the book never happened anyway.
Hercules – 7 Ways To Jack Farley Jackmaster Funk – U Ain’t Really House Risque III – More Than Just A Dance Mickey Oliver – In-Ten-Si-T Ralphi Rosario – I Want You Adonis – No Way Back Steve Silk Hurley – Jack Your Body 2 House People – Trax My Body Rocky Jones – Choice Of A New Generation J.M. Silk – I Can’t Turn Around Farley Jackmaster Funk Feat. Darryl Pandy – Love Can’t Turn Around Frankie Hollywood And Ricky D. – Feel The Fire Housemaster Boyz – House Nation Mario Reyes – Whatever Turns You On Raz – Amour Puerto Riqueno The Children – Freedom Christian Alexander – Body & Spirit
I must admit that I am definitely not as knowledgeable with jazz as with other music. I am not proud of it. But I often like jazz samples. The idea behind this mix was to assemble some tunes that do not try to be jazzy in terms of musicianship, but worked with jazz samples in an original way, and they are still properly kicking house tracks. Please try to no judge this as an example of my ignorance, but maybe as an indirect tribute to something I really have to catch up with.
Was (Not Was) – The Sky’s Ablaze Whirlpool Feat. Mel Tormé – Fly Hi Pal Joey – So Fine Shades Of Sound – Drunk Horn The Underground Crew – Page Street Fast Eddie Feat. Nesha – The Nite Life Black Orchid – Rockin N Rhythm Phortune – Ramsey’s Jazz House 2 House – Everybody Get Up Endangered Music – Ping Pong R2bling2 – Eskimo X Lazyboy – Believe It Twenty Twelve – The Cool Rebellion 3 Play – Summer Breezz Nature Boy – Tobago The Sindecut – Simple Jealousy Stacy Kidd Pres. The Underground Elements – Jazz Impressions The People Movers – C Lime Woman Mondo Grosso – Souffles H Johnny Walker – The Ghetto I.C.3. – Poverty K OS – Superstarr Pt. Zero Soho – Hot Music Stetsasonic – Talkin’All That Jazz Frank Cunimundo Trio – We’ve Only Just Begun
Recording during a hot August night in Berlin, but no summer vibes in there. I often like electronic music that is a bit dark, melancholic and tripping. The tracks I used here are all over the place in terms of origin, but apparently I was aiming at a certain nocturnal state of mind. I still love all these tracks but the really interesting odd one out: the remix of 4th Measure Men’s The Need by Johnny D and Nicky P aka Johnick, better known for slightly psychedelic disco house. But this tune is really someting else. Nearly psychotic, and pitch black.
Rhythm Workshop – R U Ready Johnny Dangerous – I Can’t Handle It (How Deep) Schatrax – I Hold You Precious Psyche – From Beyond Tronikhouse – Smooth Groove Suburban Knight – The Groove Intercity – Out Of Control Mr. Lee – I Can’t Forget Nature Boy – I’m On Fire Twenty Twelve – The Cool Rebellion 4th Measure Men – The Need Logarhythm – The Jungle Callisto – Breezin’ The Parallax Corporation – Anti-Social Tendencies The Wolfgang Press – Time Xon – Midnight Express Paris Grey – Don’t Lead Me Never On Sunday – Urban Rains Talking Heads – Drugs
Mix with moody Detroit techno sounds, with a few detours to early UK breakbeat techno and 80s electronics. This was most likely not meant for daytime use. The vibe is quite noir. Funky though!
DJ Dozia – Drum Attack Induceve – Papillon Yello – Heavy Whispers Vice – Mindmelt Low Res – Amuck Suburban Knight – Echo Location Blake Baxter – When A Thought Becomes U Black Odyssey – Sweat Outlander – Vamp (Remix) LFO – Probe Human League – Seconds Rhythm Invention – Chronoclasm Shut Up And Dance – Autobiography Of A Crackhead Shut Up And Dance – Derek Went Mad Suburban Knight – The Worlds Schatrax – Strings KGB – Stark Laurie Anderson – O Superman
The sad truth about going out in the 80s in a small coastal town: Even if you read all the right magazines, had knowledgeable and smilarly enthusiastic friends, and kept on digging all the time. It just did not mean that you could actually dance in a club to what you just discovered. That does not mean the DJs were bad, but a lot of them were a bit lazy. If a sequence of songs worked, it was repeated for quite a while. And music was played in topical blocks. You had an italo disco round, then maybe a goth round, new wave, 2 tone, synthpop. If you came in and you just missed your preference you had to wait. Thankfully a lot of music at the time was good and interesting enough to make that bearable. But there was so much incredible music coming out, it was just frustrating that you could only hear a fraction of it in the clubs you had most frequent access to. I must admit I compensated that for many years, playing as much different music on the same occasion as I could, and often it did not make much sense. In any case a lot of mixes I did were some kind of ideal party that rarely happened, for a particular style of music or several at once. This mix is a good example, even if at the time I recorded it my situation in those aspects had already changed quite a bit. But it seems I could still remember…
Pere Ubu – The Modern Dance The Flying Lizards – Her Story Hot Gossip – Geisha Boys And Temple Girls Telex – Raised By Snakes The Bollock Brothers – The President And The Showgirl New Order – The Perfect Kiss Strawberry Switchblade – Since Yesterday Holger Czukay/Jah Wobble/Jaki Liebezeit – How Much Are They? The Fun Boy Three – Life In General Visage – Anvil (Night Club School) The Residents – Diskomo The Stickmen – Do Get Down Devo – Freedom Of Choice Yello – Base For Alec Human League – The Sound Of The Crowd Heaven 17 – (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang Matia Bazar – Elettrochoc Cabaret Voltaire – Nag Nag Nag Tuxedomoon – No Tears Suicide – Dream Baby Dream John Cale – I Keep A Close Watch
I really have to ask myself why I recorded so many mixes with old music in this period. Actually I was buying new records all the time. And compared to later phases the early 00s felt less generic and stale. But if I take a look at this playlist a common denominator is funk. I love techno that is funky. Funky basslines, funky grooves, funky ideas. I remember when I started working at Hard Wax a few years later we were hearing the daily news on the store pa, and DJ Pete, with whom I was working with mostly, said about some techno records that there was just not enough music in it. I still think about that regularly. DJ Tools are fine, and needed. But musicality is an important aspect.
Adonis – Lost In The Sound Chez Damier – Untitled The Closer – Strong Meets The Weak Vitamin B – You Make Me Feel Seven Grand Housing Authority – Love’s Got Me High Pet Shop Boys – Go West Inner City – Praise Induceve – Monolevel Orlando Voorn – Dream World Sluts ‘N’ Strings & 909 – Past The Gates Trackman – Don’t Stop Hardlife – Hardlife Minimal Man – Treatment Feel Minimal Man – Outside The Window KC Flightt – Voices Chaser – Sides Of Iron Psyance – Motion Octave One – Octivate Octave One – I Believe Black Dog – Erb The New Birth – Don’t Blame The Young Folks (For The Drug Society)
I’ve been to countless clubs in my life, but Front Club in Hamburg, which ran from 1983 to 1997, is still the best club I ever had the privilege to witness. This mix contains some personal faves played there in the late 80s to early 90s, a period I particularly loved. I was young, fresh in love and the music might have been called house, might have been called techno. In fact, nobody really cared.
The photo depicts the sign from the club’s ladies room. Front started out as a gay club, later women were tolerated, but the ladies room was still mostly occupied by men. Again, nobody really cared.
One morning after dancing there all night long, I woke up lying on the floor of a friend’s appartment, and the sign was stuck on the front of my t-shirt. I had no idea whatsoever how it ended up there. I will post some more background on the club at a later point, but this incident sums up the place quite adequately.
101 – Rock To The Beat Foremost Poets – Reasons To Be Dismal? Jam To It Again – Aquarius Kenny Dope – Jam The Mace House Of Venus – Dish And Tell No Way – Sound In The Air Royal House – I Can’t Quite Understand Rhythm Warfare – Two Notches Cybersonik – Technarchy Mental Mayhem – Joey’s Riot The Untouchables – Trippin’ Armando – 100% Of Dissin’ You 33 1/3 Queen – Searchin’ Steve Poindexter –Work That Motherfucker Outlander – Vamp Sound Factory – Cuban Gigolo Bizarre Inc – Playing With Knives Steve Poindexter – Computer Madness N-Joi – Malfunction Bobby Konders – Let There Be House Brian Harris – H2O Earth People – Reach Up To Mars
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