This past Sunday I released a playlist I had kicking around my iTunes for nearly three years, in the form of a two hour mix. The "Early Influences Mix" is just that, it is a collage of some of my earliest loves from the world of EDM, created to imitate my favourite radio program and greatest influence BBC Radio 1's "Essential Mix." It ranges in styles from DNB, House, Tech-House, Dubstep, Trance, Bass and downright beautiful melodic tracks such as my favourite at the time, Erol Alkan's rework of Forever Dolphin Love.
This mix is the conflagration of all that influenced me into becoming more involved in the EDM world, and eventually pushed me into joining CFBU and becoming a radio DJ. I most certainly have changed immensely since this time as I would no longer be comfortable playing any Alesso track. The times have shown that he is not deserving of my respect (at least at the level of DJing, see his "faked" live sets). Nor would I feel comfortable playing many of Skrillex's tracks; although I do respect a certain number of his tracks, I find that because of his now worldwide success and fame, his productions have taken a downturn and people are too enamoured to think critically towards him. Apart from these few exceptions of artists I can no longer support, the rest of the artists, specifically Boy 8-Bit, Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, Gesaffelstein, Clouds, Tiga & ZZT, Alex Metric and the now sadly defunct Carte Blanche, I still continue to love and have immense respect for their productions and artistry.
Unfortunately or not I decided to stick with the original form of the playlist I created so long ago (which at the time I felt to be my "best of" or "Essential Mix") which resulted in perhaps some unfavourable transitions, and playing out of some tracks in their entirety for mere ease of mixing. I justified this quality of mixing through something that resonated with me that Alex Metric said in his essential mix in 2011 that it is music first, an "anything goes ethos...no genres, just good music." This is not to say that Alex's mix had poor transitions, as it is entirely the opposite, the emphasis ought to be on the artistry of the tracks and not myself, although I am showcasing myself through the tracks I chose. One such artist I could compare the transitions and mixing style to is that of Deadmau5 as he is no DJ, he is all producer; I do not think this is a slight towards the mau5, he too agrees that his role is that of producer and does not care for DJing. My thoughts are if Joel can get away with it I don't see why I cannot.
Regardless, this is truly my first attempt (from long ago) at creating an essential style mix and I intend to do more in the future as I am beginning to miss my weekly platform and the pile of new and great music continues to grow. Stay tuned to this page (as well as my twitter @OggieJames) for more information on upcoming mixes and more.
I now leave you with the link to my now DOWNLOADABLE "Early Influences Mix" and tracklist below:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/77z9miqbk68tv4x/Early%20Influences%20Mix.mp3?dl=0
ENJOY & KEEP THING PLURNT, LOVE OGGIE
1. More Than Parallax (Rynecologist Mix) -Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music vs Shadow Dancer
2. My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix) - Feist
3. Madrigal - Boy 8-Bit
4. Zzafrika (Gesaffelstein Remix) - ZZT
5. Jeffer - Boys Noize
6. I <3 U SO (Bowski Remix) - Cassius
7. Promiscuous Gyal - Dark Sky
8. Carl Lewis (Boy 8-Bit Dub) - Les Gillettes
9. Tonic - Russ Chimes
10. Bugle - Djedjotronic
11. Sucker - Clouds
12. Never Stop (Erol Alkan Rework) - Chilly Gonzales
13. Bronx Brooklyn Queens - Carte Blanche
14. Lemonade - Erol Alkan & Boys Noize
15. Black Satanic Mysticism - Boy 8-Bit
16. Armed 3 - Tommy Four Seven
17. Numbers - Clouds
18. Hatred - Gesaffelstein
19. Phase IV - Boy 8-Bit
20. Jookie - Foamo
21. Images (Les Gillettes Remix) - Norman Palm
22. With You (f Alexis Taylor) - Carte Blanche
23. Fire Extinguisher - Boy 8-Bit
24. Rapture (Tristan Garner Elevation Remix) - Nadia Ali
25. Zzafrika (Sound Of Stereo Remix) - ZZT
26. Hold On (f Amber Coffman)[Sub Focus Remix] - Rusko
27. The Disco Rangers Bus (Knows How To Rock N Roll) - Skrillex
28. All Alone (Alex Metric Remix) - Splittr
29. Heiress Of Valentina (Alesso Remix) - Dune
30. I Can Change (Tiga Remix) - LCD Soundsystem
31. Keep Up With You (Lifelike Remix) - Teenage Bad Girl
32. Sun & Moon (f Richard Bedford)[Club Mix] - Above & Beyond
33. Forever Dolphin Love (Erol Alkan Rework) - Connan Mockasin
34. Black Sky - Infadels