And now for something completely different, peeps — 80’s megamix, arranged and mixed 100% in Ableton Live.
Turntables > Jog Wheels > Neither
It was very interesting to experiment with such a different approach to reach the same result. No decks, no tracks. Just clips that I can chop, loop and arrange as I want. Fun workflow to add to the live-on-the-decks experience, looking forward to learning more ways to enhance the arsenal with such a versatile program.
Track Listing:
The Pointer Sisters - Automatic
Swing Out Sister - Breakout (Rockin’ mix)
Scritti Politti - Wood Beez
Level 42 - Lessons in Love (Shep Pettibone remix)
Miko Mission - How Old are You
Modern Talking - You’re my Heart, You’re my Soul
Human League - Love Action
Wham - Everything She Wants
Pet Shop Boys - Heart
Corey Hart - Sunglasses at Night
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Culture Club - Miss Me Blind
ABC - Tears are Not Enough
Blind Date - Your Heart Keeps Burning
Baltimora - Tarzan Boy
Howard Jones - Things Can Only Get Better
Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel
Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)
Ready for the World - Oh Shiela
The Bangles - Manic Monday
New Order - True Faith
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
Yazoo - Situation
Icehouse - No Promises (club mix)
Japan - Quiet Life
courtesy of underwoodpix.com
Couldn’t quite decide which direction to go, so here are both of the evening’s recordings — an indie one and a clubby one. Was running a bit blind, having just tagged a bunch of new tracks this week. Like making a christmas wish list and then looking in the toy store window and forgetting all about it…
Ok, enough blabber. Here they are.
Track Listing:
Hot Chip - Over and Over (Maurice Fulton Remix)
1gnition - Secret Sunday Lover (Greg Wilson Edit)
Indeep - Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
Gonzales - Let’s Ride (U-GO-B’s Disco Dj Friendly Edit)
Lenka - Trouble is a Friend (Eli Escobar Mix)
Lullatone - Hello Kitty Makes A Band
The Units - High Pressure Days (Headman Rework)
Metric - Help Im Alive (The Twelves Remix)
Little Boots - New In Town (Fred Falke Remix)
Steve Kotey & Max Essa - 1974
Curses! - The Deep End (Holy Ghost! Remix)
Teenager - Alone Again feat. Ladyhawke
Track Listing:
Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow (Excel Loves Fergie Edit)
Bangers & Cash - B.O.O.T.A.Y. (Krames Edit)
Mujava - Township Funk (DJ Rob 3 remix)
N.W.A. - Something 2 Dance 2
Aquasky - Have A Good Time feat. Acafool (The Count & Sinden Remix)
EPMD - Run It (Sinden Remix)
MSTRKRFT - Bounce feat. NORE (A-Trak Remix)
Chelley vs. Mr Oizo - I Took The Night (DJ Ayres Flatbeat Mix)
Bonde Do Role - Gasolina (Fake Blood Mix)
N.A.S.A. - Money (The Count Of Monte Cristal ‘Dungeon’ Remix)
Edu K - Sexomatic (Chesus and Rodski Refix)
DJ Ayres - Broke Ass Home
Daft Punk - Make Love (Chew Fu and Substantial Small Room Sax Fix)
Track listing:
Force Of Nature - To The Brain
Ben Mono - Jesus Was a B-Boy (Shir Khan Remix)
Dynasty - Strokin’
Steve Yanko - Prostitute Pink feat. Antena
Mark Ronson - Hi Feat. Aya
Groove Armada - Drop The Tough (The Twelves B-Live Remix)
Pase Rock - So Fucking Disco (Ruckus Roboticus Remix Ft. Vitamin E)
Louis La Roche - Sunshine Hotel
Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer (Aeroplane ‘Italo 84′ Remix)
Kanye West - Love Locked Down (Ruckus Roboticus Extended Remix)
Metro Area - Dance Reaction
Hercules And Love Affair - Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix)
Tittsworth - Drunk As Fuck (Meterhead Dark Disco Mix)
Kurtis Blow - The Breaks (vocal version)
U-Tern - Gwen Guthrie vs. Daft Punk (Club Version)
Freeez - I.O.U.
Look who’s back! And I’m coming out guns blazing with this electro house banger. Couldn’t keep myself off the decks any longer, and I think I even got a little misty from all the pent up endorphins. Felt good, and was less shaky on the fx than I was expecting. Love that Soulwax-style flanger!
Back into study hibernation for another week, but up next we have a soulful down-tempo collaboration with the now moustached winner for most FHBD miles logged. Another hipster disco mix in process as well. Maybe that 80s megamix, too. Get ready to be spammed like hell this summer, folks.
Track listing:
Franz Ferdinand - Kiss Me (Dances With White Girls remix)
VHS or Beta - Burn It All Down (Fred Falke remix)
The Presets - Yippyo-Ay
Studio - West Side (Klumpfisk remix)
Deadmau5 vs. Shapeshifters - Lola’s Ghost (The Young Punx mashup)
Mariah Carey - I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time (Designer Drugs remix)
Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy (GRUM remix)
Bag Raiders - Turbo Love
Hot Chip - Touch Too Much (Fakeblood remix)
Wrecker - Tear the Roof Off
Digitalism - Jupiter Room
Etienne De Crecy & Monsieur Jo - Hanukkah (Beni’s Swap Mix)
Brazilian Girls - Jique (MSTRKRFT remix)
Scott Cooper & Andy George - Jump & Twist (Jokers of the Scene remix)
Dance Area - AA 24/7 (Noob remix)
Simian Mobile Disco - I Got This Down
(That’s right, there’s a Mariah Carey track in there. I won’t make a habit of it.)
Now that I can time warp old tracks that my software couldn’t quite handle before, I have been determined to explore some of the not-quite-so EDM music that I have been collecting and filing away in favor of the latest electro remix of the week. It’s liberating to feel like I can mix anything now, so things are likely to get pretty eclectic for a minute while I venture down some different directions.
This disco/house/funk session spans more than three decades of groovy vibes, and I wanted to weave the classic dance tracks together with the modern stuff to see how not far things have come over the years.
On a side note, why doesn’t disco get more respect? It’s brilliant. As a registered house head, I always had reverence for my ancestors, but it wasn’t until I got the album A Night at the Playboy Mansion by Dimitri from Paris back in college that it really clicked for me. All the things people profess to not like about disco are precisely why it’s so great…
Maximum respect to Disco Delicious btw, where I got pretty much all of the smooth house jams below. One of the most reliably solid music blogs if house is your bag.
Track Listing:
Chic - Hangin’ 1982
Sumy - Funkin’ in Your Mind 1982
David Rubato - Circuit (Siriusmo remix) 2009
Alicia Keys - No One (Pierce remix) 2008
Pierce - Good Friends 2008
Deodato - Keep on Movin’ 1982
Donna Summer - Bad Girls 1979
Chateau Flight - Prism 2000
Con Funk Shun - Fun 1977
Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood (12″ version) 1981
Holy Ghost! - Hold On (Mock & Toof remix) 2008
The Rapture - Sister Savior (DFA dub) 2004
[Scenario Rock - Skitzo Dancer (Justice remix), a cappella]
Zongamin - Painless 2003
Cansei De Ser Sexy - Let’s Make Love and Listen Death from Above 2006
Jamiroquai - Feel So Good 2001
Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer (A-Trak Main mix) 2009
Another pre-planned playlist that was great on the ipod but frustrating to implement on the decks, and I lately I’ve been hell-bent on learning new Torq bells and whistles like effect snapshots. So when my head was sufficiently sore it finally occurred to me to get back to basics with some of the good ol’ indie vibes that have been neglected as of late in favor of bangers.
Key word here: smooth. I had separated the indie genus into ‘dance indie’ and ’synth indie’ species, so I tried to weave those together. I also had a theory brewing that indie beats would blend well with french house, so I tossed in a couple tracks to test. Theory proved!
Track Listing:
Miami Horror - Make You Mine
Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire (Polygon Palace Remix)
Klaxons - As Above, So Below (Justice Remix)
The Rapture - First Gear
Chromeo - Tenderoni
Askine - Black Lips
Death From Above 1979 - Romantic Rights (Girls Are Short Remix)
The Virgins - Rich Girls (Tyler Fedchuk’s 1/2ALIVE easy disco edit)
Wonky Pop AllStars - Digital Love (Daft Punk cover)
The Young Punx & Super Mal - Bigger Than Fire
Mylo - Otto’s Journey
Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
Ok, the special Election Edition podcast is finally finished! Doesn’t look like he needs any help from me though. Pretty different from the usual electro beats — very old school for the most part and tried to keep things tied to the motif.
Special thanks to Palms Out for pulling my chain on the Soulwax Kids remix, since it brought the gloriously cheesy Rick Astley track back onto my radar.
Out of Controller - Unofficial Obama Mixtape
Track Listing:
Barak Obama - This Mixtape is About You
Pleasure - Let’s Dance
Mr. Oizo - Cut Dick
Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul - (I Got) So Much Trouble in my Mind
Jackson Sisters - I Believe in Miracles
Cheryl Lynn - Got to be Real
James Brown - Dead on It (U-tern disco edit)
McFadden & Whitehead - Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Starpoint - Wanting You (Romeo Erotic remix)
Daft Punk - Something about Us (EASTAR remix)
Kool & The Gang vs. Stardust - Music Sounds Better with a Celebration
Daft Punk - AerObama (Adam Freeland remix)
Muse - Knights of Cydonia
Everytime I walk over for a session, I still can’t past how slimmed down it is compared to the huge coffin and sprawling L-stands. Like trading in the Hummer for a Mini. But as different as it looks, the coolest part is that it hasn’t actually been much of an adjustment. All the controls that I’m used to using are laid out so intuitively that I just do my thing.
Here’s a mini mix that I recorded over the weekend. How badass is that Smashing Pumpkins re-edit???
I started getting way ahead of myself with crazy visions of the future, contemplating some different controllers after watching this Richie Hawtin interview where he walks through his digital setup. So it was great to hop back on ye olde xponent and feel right at home. I can recognize when I’m just having gear lust, but still. Four decks plus those Allen & Heath controllers is pretty hot.
Track Listing:
MSTRKRFT - Bounce (Mansion remix)
Audio Bullys - Flickery Vision (Extended mix)
N.A.S.A. - N.A.S.A. Music (LA Riots remix)
Lief - Limbs (Ian Johnson remix)
Le Castle Vania - Zero Machine (Smashing Pumpkins)
Public Enemy - Harder than You Think (NeOn remix)
Young MC - Bust a Move (Don Rimini Ravekid remix)
Kylie Minogue - Wow (MSTRKRFT remix)
Frank Sinatra - New York New York (Chew Fu fix)
Now that I have been using the xponent, I can finally use the internal record function within Torq to send the digital tracks straight into a digital recording. So I have been recording the recent sessions, this one turned out a’ight
The mix is rather varied, from house to club tracks to electro. Still getting used to using jog wheels instead of the trusty 1210s, but they sure are handy for backspins!
Track Listing:
Surkin - Chrome Knight feat. Chromeo
The Young Punx - Fire (Phonat remix)
U-God - Ugodzilla (Yuksek remix)
Switch - Just Bounce 2 This
Copyright - In Da Club feat. Mr. V & Miss Patty (Jimpster remix)
ESTAW - Break it Down feat. J-Cast
Tiga - Sunglasses at Night (Brodinski & Yuksek remix)
Britney Spears - Radar (Hot Pink Delorean remix)
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor (LA Riots remix)
Larry Tee - I Love U (Bart B More dub)
Dead Prez - Hell Yeah (Audiostalkers remix) [Salmon Dance acapella]
Skepta - Rolex Sweep (Vandalism remix)
MSTRKRFT - Easy Love
T2 - Heartbroken (The Count remix)
Stardust - Music Sounds Better with You (TLGB remix)
Sweat.X - Jack (Purple Crush remix)
Sinden & Count of Monte Cristal - Beeper (Fake Blood remix)
Duke Dumont - Feltham (the Borstal Beat)
The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl (Soulwax remix)
New Young Pony Club - The Bomb (Villains remix)
I’m not posting individual tracks on this one since most are from prior BTs anyway. Email me if you want something and can’t find it.
Finally found some time to spend in the “studio” amidst my heavy touring schedule… hahaha. Two months is quite the hiatus, but I like to think that the BlogTrolls have been holding things down in the interim. Sharing the tracks that are going into my crate hopefully preserves the OoC sound in between mixes, so the podcasts should be “more of the same” for readers that enjoy the weekly offerings.
There are so many different sounds that I enjoy, so it’s fun to explore the tracks that aren’t quite bumping enough for the dancefloor in mixtapes. But with the big HIPSTER TWISTER party coming up next month, I wanted to capture more of what I would play for a banging live set–electro, of course!
BTW, the fellow nerds out there may recognize the Alex Gopher track from its radio airplay in Liberty City. Purely coincidence, I swear.
Track Listing:
Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To? (Erol Alkan remix)
The Rapture - First Gear
Theatre of Disco - COA (The Twelves remix)
Alex Gopher - Brain Leech (Bugged Mind remix)
The Presets - This Boys in Love (KIM remix)
Alex Metric - In Your Machine
Mystery Jets - Diamonds in the Dark (LA Riots remix)
Revolte - Ironical Sexism (Blanche Duboise remix)
Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Guns N Bombs remix)
Flou - Les Gens Pour Ce Qui’ls Sont (Designer Drugs remix)
The Cars - Let the Good Times Roll (Mike Genius remix)