Mamilo mix

I recorded a mix back before Christmas for the mix site mamilo.org, which is run by the Portuguese DJs António Alves & Ka§par, with the help of various guests. My particular favourite from their archives is #19 by Francisco Coelho, which introduced me to the near-mythical Inner Sunset label and somehow had me enjoying a Jimpster remix (of Osunlade of all people – who knew?).

That was two and a half years ago so, having followed the site quite religiously since then, it was a huge pleasure to contribute my own mix:

JOE DELON – MAMILO #34

Paul Mix & Freddie Fresh – Sockapella (Analog UK)
Kate Simko – Soltera (Spectral Sound)
James S Taylor – Vegetables (Volt Musik)
Swayzak vs Roger 23 – Out Of The Planet (Volt Musik)
The Wise Caucasian – Theme (Memory Foundation Remix) (Mosaic)
Pile – Perlipop (Perlon)
Killer Loop – Someone (Juan Atkins Remix) (End)
Furry Phreaks feat. Terra Deva – Want Me (Like Water) (Herbert’s Tension Dub) (Peacefrog)
Savvas Ysatis – Bubblin (Tresor)
Deanne Day – The Long First Friday (Emissions Audio Output)
Rhythm Plate – Prospect Drive (Atjazz Remix) (Mantis)
Boo Williams – Eternal Mind (Rush Hour)
Chris Gray – Yoruba (Fragmented)

The vibe is meant to be slow and smooth – no bleep records here I’m afraid – but then again you can’t deny the hard bottom end in ‘Perlipop’ nor the way Boo Williams manages to be totally banging even at his most cosmic.

I’d like someone to please explain to me how the remix of Killer Loop’s ‘Someone’ can possibly have been made by Juan Atkins (surely something amiss here). And a special thanks goes to Amsterdam’s Distortion Records, whose 1€ bargain bins yielded that stunning Mosaic 12″.

One last note for any Swayzak fans out there not completely put off by Brun whining all over facebook these past few days: download this old track by them on soundcloud. Swayzak basstones in full effect.

---

RPR @ fabric

My unpublished review for RA:

I reckon there are only a handful of DJs that even come close to exploiting the full potential of the fabric room 1 sound system – i.e. the Ricardos and Zips of this world. After Saturday I can add to this handful three more in the fresh-faced shape of RPR Sound, who, from our arrival at 3am to our departure 7 hours later, showed that they have horizons broad enough to carve out a niche alongside their forebears.

They certainly had a lot to make up for: a search bordering on molestation at the door (bouncer with hands down my jeans:‘what’s that?’ uh…); the sad realisation that the music in room 3 wasn’t even that good, despite Tama Sumo being behind the decks – she must have brought a special set of ‘fabric-ready’ records, the effect of which was that at times room 3 sounded almost as repetitive as room 1; and the even sadder re-realisation that no matter how good the music is in room 3, it will be flattened beyond recognition by the beaten up sound system, viz. Kelli Hand’s tremendous Project 5 EP somehow managing to be a chore to listen to. It’s an ongoing disappointment to me that proper house DJs rarely get booked in room 1, because ever since I heard ‘Baby Wants To Ride’ in there I know that this is a serious opportunity going begging.

Of course a lot of boring music also gets played in room 1, and RPR Sound at first seemed only happy to oblige – yes it sounded nice, but it didn’t do anything for over 10 minutes at a time. But from 6am or so the basslines became more exploratory, the drums groovier and the layers of detail on top (as clear as ever) more and more outré – even ‘Duso’ got an airing. By the time 9am rolled around they had entered Baby Ford territory, the kind of music that never sounds as good again once you’ve heard it in here. At this time of night, too, the dancefloor becomes less of a cattle market, the sweetspot in the centre more readily accessible for those who like to listen and move.

Allowing that there are three of them, it’s still an endorsement of their collective stamina that the mixing remained as tight at the end as it had been earlier on – call it unexciting, but with music like this you don’t want to be distracted by the DJ. One has to admire their evident dedication to a style that many have little time for, which is groovy minimal house that requires patience and attention to detail. This kind of experience borders on the avant garde – it’s clear that Pedro for one is more austere with every release – and it’s certainly not for everyone, but get in the right mood in the right place like on Saturday and the hours fly by.

---

Dance Sister #8

Last night’s show turned out rather unexpectedly to be just like all the others, though I’d planned it otherwise. An hour of pop, disco and soul followed by an hour of sloppily-mixed house. The first track from Grace Jones is a new favourite and I have to admit to playing a couple of tracks off CD…which explains the long bit of dead air immediately after Grace (technology fail). Lisa Lisa I finally picked up in Rat Records last week after months of waiting to find it.

Surprise surprise that ‘Solitary Flight’ is my favourite Theo track. What I fail to explain properly on the show is the reason I played it: the Postmodernism exhibition at the V&A features a clip of Blade Runner, which Theo sampled for this track. The Herbert one is off a great 2xLP on Phono which I got last week – there are about 4 timeless Herbert classics on there – and the Random Factor one comes from a look through the 20:20 Vision catalogue for the 5 or 6 bangers that they released. Full credit to Santiago Salazar for the Chez Damier/Metro Area mash-up, which blows my mind every time I try it.

JOE DELON – DANCE SISTER #8, 10/01/12

Grace Jones – Done It Again – Island
Róisín Murphy – The Closing Of The Doors – Echo
Switch – Forever My Love – Total Experience
Santa Esmeralda – Gloria – Philips
First Choice – Dr Love – Charly
Destiny’s Child – So Good – Columbia
Colonel Abrams – Speculation – MCA
Michael Jackson – Burn This Disco Out – Epic
Donna Summer – Winter Melody – Casablanca
Shalamar – I Can Make You Feel Good – Solar
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam With Full Force – I Wonder If I Take You Home – CBS
Theo Parrish – Solitary Flight – Sound Signature
Balil – Nort Route (R&S Remix) – R&S
Lerosa – Lovers_Bleed – Millions Of Moments
Gadgets – Reset – Gadgets
Move D – Sisters & Brothers – Uzuri
Herbert – Go With The Beat – Phono
Random Factor – On The Air – 20:20 Vision
Derek Carr – Dancefloor – Geek
Johnick – A Summer Fling – Henry Street
Inland Knights – 12 ’till 8 – Drop
Mood II Swing – Ooh – Groove On
Paula Abdul – Crazy Cool (Bad Boy Bill’s House Mix) – Virgin
Chez Damier – Untitled – KMS
Metro Area – Proton Candy – Environ
Bim Marx – Stronger – Stilove4music

---

Wilde Katz

I have to keep this simple. Though not a replacement for the Botley parties of the past 3 years, my new year DJing in Saarbrücken managed to get 2012 off to a fabulous start. I could never have predicted that I would be spending this time being cared for by friendly people who wanted me to play records for them, let alone were receptive to me playing a huge range of my favourite things – from Avondale Music Society to The Martian, from Paris Grey to Steve O’Sullivan.

In fact, being a believer in cheesy track title choices, I intentionally started my set with Steve’s ‘Composure‘, though I had already been suitably relaxed by the disarmingly warm reception from my host, Roger 23 (it’s amazing how a couple of minutes of easy conversation will make up for 24 hours of quietly shitting yourself). Sadly I rather undid the good message of ‘Composure’ by then playing ‘Hardly Breathe‘ by Andrew Weatherall. So much for planning. I got lots of classics in – Cobblestone Jazz’s ‘W‘ and ‘Sean‘ from Klockworks 02 – plus a few personal favourite oddities like Luke Slater’s ‘Are You There?‘ and one particularly harsh track by Cari Lekebusch. Such was the demand from the crowd for banging techno (if not drum n bass) that even during Model 500′s unparalleled ‘Interference Mix 2‘ they were demanding more, faster, harder.

I finished my own set with the Fuse mix of ‘Loop‘, a piece of self-indulgence I do not regret in the slightest. Later, from 6am, I got to play a 2-hour back-to-back set with Roger, which afforded me the opportunity of playing harder than I think I ever have in company before (Zodiac Trax, Spacetime Continuum’s ‘Drug #6‘, Mesak’s ‘Stitch Seq‘ and so on). The icing on the cake was finishing with Kraftwerk’s ‘The Telephone Call‘, in honour of just such a call I’d received from G earlier in the evening, ‘you’re so close yet far away’ the most incontrovertibly happy-sad line of the night.

Hugs all round at 9am, then, and a long and winding return to London, which was sunk under a dirt-brown cloud and seemingly drowning in its own damp emissions. But just as last year my dazed return to London (to stare vacantly at my sitting room all afternoon) couldn’t dissipate the contented memory I had of dancing around at 8am to brilliant music in the company of best friends, so my return in 2012 couldn’t obscure the feeling that I have already achieved to excess in just a few short hours what I have fantasised about doing for a long time: playing records I like for people who like them the same – and getting paid for it.

Who knows if I’ll get to do it more often, but to be able to do it even once is something to remember with great fondness.

---