DSZ / Futureboogie Mixtape
July 28
Disc Shop Zero in Tokyo is a physical manifestation of the way music can create links across cultural and geographical divides. The owner, Naoki, is an ardent supporter of all things Bristol-based, both as a shop owner (stocking pretty much everything Bristol puts out musically) and as a fan - for example, he often lets us know that he's tuned in to www.panhead.co.uk at 8am local time.
This kind of dedication and enthusiasm is a wonderful counterpoint to the often-prevailing air of cynicism that can surround the industry, and so I was honoured to be asked to do an exclusive mix for DSZ to coincide with the launch of Joint Ventures. At this point, I'd done a bunch of DJ mixes showing my dancefloor sound, so I decided to go for a bit more of a 'mixtape' feel, in the vein of something you might record to tape and give to a mate at school, back in the day. Anyways, after DSZ had had the mix exclusively for a while, Futureboogie asked if they could give the mix an airing on their Samurai FM show, and so its online for all now :)
When I started putting the mix together, I wanted to try and squeeze pretty much all my influences into a CD's worth of music, but as I got going, I found myself focussing more on creating a vibe and building something that would hang together as a start-to-finish listen. So ideally, a mixtape representing my influences would have a lot more Pixies, it would definitely have most of the first Wu Tang album, and there would be a large amount of DJ Zinc - particularly his breakstep / garage stuff as Jammin' on Bingo. However, I am really happy with how this mixtape has come together - it represents a fair few of my major influences, and I think it hangs together pretty well. Hope you enjoy!
2. Pixies - Ana
4. PJ Harvey ft Tricky - Broken Homes
5. Rhythm & Sound - Never Tell You (Version)
6. King Tubby - King Tubby's In Fine Style
7. Slam ft Tyrone 'Visionary' Palmer - Lifetimes
8. Moving Fusion - Atlantis (Bad Company RMX)
9. Aaliyah - Try Again
10. D'Angelo ft Method Man & Redman - Left & Right
11. Funk D'Void - Diabla
12. Bjork - Joga
13. Fila Brazillia - Soft Music Under Stars
1. My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes
I love 'wall of sound' type effects - music you can immerse yourself into. I also love the way that MBV have beautiful melodies and hooks, buried beneath walls of guitar noise - you have to work a bit for the pay-off. I listened back to 'Decks, FX and 909s' and the same thing applies there - very often, there's a catchy hook or vocal sample hidden behind the layers of drum loops. You need to pay attention to get everything out of the music.
2. Pixies - Ana
A friend gave me a copy of Doolittle on a scratchy old tape when I was about 14, and I was instantly hooked. The Pixies have so much to keep going back to - whether it's in terms of interesting song structures (they often set up 3 or 5 bar loops, rather than standard 4 bar sequences), strangely evocative lyrics or just the sense of being lifted into a very different world. I first heard 'Ana' when I was living in China, and I didn't know who it was by, but the atmosphere and unusual chord progression made a massive impression on me. Pretty much all Pixies songs take me back to a specific time of my life.
3. Faultline - Closer Colder
I don't know too much about Faultline, and to be honest the rest of the album doesn't do a lot for me, but I think I heard the late John Peel play this on a show once and the simple beauty of the piano line stuck with me. Again, an amazing atmosphere to this, and great use of contrasting moods and sounds - the plaintive cello against the harsh Dennis Hopper sample for example.
4. PJ Harvey ft Tricky - Broken Homes
I bought the CD single of this when it first came out in the mid-90s, but I think my Mum threw it away... Wonderfully woozy production on the backing track, while PJ Harvey glides over the top with a melancholy detachment. The addition of the gospel choir is genius and brings another level of intensity and meaning to the whole thing. Again, I think the immersive quality of this record really appeals to me.
5. Rhythm & Sound - Never Tell You (Version)
I only knew about Rhythm & Sound from hearing this as the last track on Richie Hawtin's 'Decks EFX & 909', which I would still class as perhaps the best mix ever recorded. I love the way he gradually winds down from a peak of percussive intensity to the melancholy simplicity of Never Tell You. Again, a tune to get lost in, as the subtle shifts and changes of hiss, filter and delay somehow do just enough to maintain interest, without ever losing that sense of hypnosis. Eventually, I found out about Maurizio and Basic Channel, and nowadays if I find myself in a record shop and want to treat myself, I'll pick a Rhythm & Sound 10".
6. King Tubby - King Tubby's In Fine Style
When I first went to University to study music production, I picked up a couple of samplers from Blood & Fire, the Manchester-based reggae and dub reissue label, and they had a massive impact on me, as dub does on most people who make dance music. Everything I was interested in was here - using the studio as an instrument, taking 'real' performances and twisting them into something bordering on the abstract, the use of effects and delay to add ear-candy over a dancefloor groove, and of course, massively heavy bass.
7. Slam ft Tyrone 'Visionary' Palmer - Lifetimes
I properly started going clubbing around the turn of the century, and loopy techno was big in Manchester. Again, the hypnotic quality of the repetitive loops really worked for me, but what I really loved was when people took that template and made something big, epic and with plenty of bass! I absolutely adore the amazingly chunky bass sound Slam used here, and the vocal, despite some quite dodgy lyrics, helps to absolutely nail that sense of 'melancholy euphoria' - the final breakdown still makes the hairs on the back of my next stand up.
8. Moving Fusion - Atlantis (Bad Company RMX)
I was massively into drum and bass from the late 90s to the mid 2000s. Looking back I can see how by this time, most of the girls had left the scene to go to garage, but for sheer kinetic excitement, tunes like this are hard to beat. Pure dark energy.
9. Aaliyah - Try Again
I think being a self labelled 'Drum & Bass' head made me quite wary of RnB, or indeed anything with a decent melody and a desire to express an emotion other than 'raaahhhh', but it was impossible to ignore the next-level qualities of this Timbaland production. I don't think I really knew anything about acid, other than Josh Wink 'Higher State', but the wiggly-worm qualities of the hook in this jumped out at me.
10. D'Angelo ft Method Man & Redman - Left & Right
I think I bought this album almost out of a sense of duty - I'd heard it was really good, but was pretty sure I wasn't going to like it... Until I got it home and heard how good the drums were! And then once I'd been blown away by the drums (I'm a percussion-obsessive) the funk, sex and swagger of everything else got under my skin. Nowadays I have no problems listening to The Dream or Tre Songz, but at the time, this was me going out on a limb!
11. Funk D'Void - Diabla
A bit indulgent including this as well as the Slam tune, as they kind of do pretty similar things, but for a long time this was the tune I wished I had written. Funk D'Void repeated this template a little too often after this release, but he really nailed it here - the sound of crystalline flight, reflected in vocodered chords, shimmering 909 rides and one of the best Reece basslines outside of DnB.
12. Bjork - Joga
Bjork is a genius, and Joga has pretty much everything I could want from music - experimental elements to the production that never sound forced or gratuitous, dramatic musical ideas (particularly the strings) and a killer vocal that totally avoids any elements of cliche. I could easily have chosen Hyperballad for the same reason - again, both songs still send shivers down my spine.
13. Fila Brazillia - Soft Music Under Stars
I grew up in Hull, a small and pretty depressed (not to mention depressing) town in the north of England. For a brief period in the 90s, it seemed like something was bubbling under in town - I think someone opened a streetwear shop that sold Stussy, and local label Pork were putting out stuff like Fila Brazillia. This track was on the album 'Mess', which still holds up pretty well today - great drums and plenty of atmosphere. I think I wrote to the band asking if I could become their drummer; luckily for everyone involved, they said no.
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Posted by bassmusic
