a few posts back I mentioned my old friend Brian Neckel from Detroit (now living in Louisville), with whom I occasionally collaborate on some music (I’m still waiting for that up-tempo Bobbins Remix by the way). I thought now might be a good time to offer up a link to one of his mixes!
so here it is, a minimal techno mix called MNML 502. You’ll note there is a free download link on the page, so snag it and stick it in your rotation!
a couple of posts ago I made an offhand reference to Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music. I suppose this is a “re-link” but it’s definitely worth pointing out; Ishkur’s Guide is a valiant attempt to make sense of how electronic music has evolved through the past decades, and what the “electronic music map” looks like today.
it should also be mentioned that Kenneth John Taylor, the lone gunman behind the site (and a Canadian I might add, as indicated by the site’s wiki page), is pretty opinionated about certain forms of electronic music (for example, check out what he has to say about Dutch Trance), but his colorful musings only serve to add to the charm of this site. I recommend finding a good chunk of free time and spending a couple of hours clicking your way through this very colorful history of electronic music.
lately I’ve been jamming to some excellent old school house mixes, mixed by DJ Scott Miller, on the Classic House Mixes podcast site. As the site promises, they feature “over 25 deep, soulful, vocal, gospel, classic to fresh quality house music mixes and podcasts”. This is all fine and good, but what it amounts to to me is a journey back to the year 1989, when house music was huge in Chicago and, among other places, Toronto (where I grew up).
I think the mixes are pretty good, though truthfully I was never (and am still not) as into “soulful, vocal house” as I was into the more dance-ready, club-oriented tunes generated by such producers as Steve “Silk” Hurley, Todd Terry Project, Royal House, and so on. Nonetheless, these mixes are definitely worth a listen, and will bring back some excellent memories, if you have them, of one of my favorite eras of music.
P.S. Because I get a lot of searches for this quote, I thought I’d mention here that “What we’re gonna do right here is go back” was featured in the 1988 house music hit Weekend by the Todd Terry Project. The original sample, however, comes from the 1972 song Troglodyte (Cave Man) by the Jimmy Castor Bunch.
P.P.S. For more classic, vocal, acid and hip house, check out this more recent post.
one place I make sure to visit from time to time is New Mixes, a site hosting a variety of DJ mixes of different electronic genres. Lately they’ve been having some difficulties keeping links to their mixes active (as of this writing, only the most recent of mixes are downloadable – but they’re great). I’ve had the Nature One 2009 mixes on repeat at work since they arrived on the site last August. At any rate, highly recommended.
I’ve been studying for a certification lately, so I haven’t been getting at the music, but I’ve still been listening to it. Right now I’m listening to an excellent mix by Pinky Chukkles called Ruminations. This mix takes me back in time to what I feel was an awesome era in dance music – the mid-90s – and features several of my favorite bands from that era, including The Drum Club, The Orb, and The Irresistible Force. How can anyone not like “Fish Dances”?
I must admit I’ve listened to this mix many many times. I find it to be a great airport journey mix… the kind you can listen to while camped out in a terminal with your laptop with a big cup of coffee steaming on the table beside you.
