Classic Mix Compilations

[hint]

That said, I'd dispute the idea that non-live is would win most of the time in a blind test. Live mixes - like all live performance - tend to be great when the deejay/artist/whatever has started to feed off the crowd (and vice versa)..

...but, in the case of a DJ mix, it's a crowd that you're not part of, who were in an environment that is totally different to any real-world listening environment. The DJ isn't reacting to your mood or needs. Sure, you can shut your eyes and imagine you're in The Warehouse or whatever, I suppose... Good "studio" DJ mixes take advantage of the fact that there isn't a clubbing crowd to keep entertained.

The only watertight case against officially released mixes is the fact that you're at the mercy of copyright clearance etc. and as a result the DJ very often ends up with a mix that is compromised and several steps away from his / her original concept.

 

[dominic]

you guys forget that "live" mixes typically have emcee chatter over the top, plus sometimesr the crowd is audible, and all the stops and pauses for popular uproar, etc

and the poorer sound quality -- as a grainy tape has been converted to mp3

so you can indeed tell the difference b/w a "live" product and a studio recording

 

[DigitalDjigit]

Yeah, the crowd noise and the weird stops where the mc's ask for new needles or someone is passed out definitely add a lot to the vibe.

However I think we meant "live" in a sense of being mixed in real-time.

 

[hint]

you guys forget that "live" mixes typically have emcee chatter over the top, plus sometimesr the crowd is audible, and all the stops and pauses for popular uproar, etc

and the poorer sound quality -- as a grainy tape has been converted to mp3

so you can indeed tell the difference b/w a "live" product and a studio recording

I don't think that anyone's claiming that you can't hear a difference.

I guess d'n'b / rave mixes provide a good example of the point I was trying to put across.

Whilst I eagerly bought and repeatedly listened to tape packs when I was was younger, it was mainly because it was exciting to hear all this upfront music - DJs would concentrate on the freshest stuff because that's what the crowds demanded.

But here and now, if I revisit those tapes, I find they're mostly packed with fillers, with the occasional timeless gem shining through. So something like DigitalDjigit's mix is, in my opinion, better because it concentrates on what DigitalDjigits considers to be the best bits of the best tracks from a certain period.

If you listen to a rave recording, you're gonna hear a load of exclusive dubs that the DJ forked out to get cut that week, most of which may not seem quite so exciting once they're 10 years old.

 

[DigitalDjigit]

But here and now, if I revisit those tapes, I find they're mostly packed with fillers, with the occasional timeless gem shining through. So something like DigitalDjigit's mix is, in my opinion, better because it concentrates on what DigitalDjigits considers to be the best bits of the best tracks from a certain period.

Hahaha...that wasn't my intent at all. In fact it was the opposite. I mostly took the tracks that I didn't like, stuff that I never listened to and tried to extract the best bits to make something listenable. Eventually I did come around on some of those tracks but many of those I still wouldn't listen to on their own.

 

[hint]

heh - fair enough... anyway... it's a good mix, only made possible (in fact, only made worthwhile) through the magic of studio witchcraft™

 

[blunt]

...but, in the case of a DJ mix, it's a crowd that you're not part of, who were in an environment that is totally different to any real-world listening environment. The DJ isn't reacting to your mood or needs.

Oh yeah, I agree; that's why I said that the experience of listening to a recording can never match that of actually being there.

What I meant was that the existence of an interlocutor - in this case, the audience - will for the most part push the artist - here, the DJ - to make decisions and take risks that they might not ordinarily take. And I think that can make the set itself superior, regardless of whether or not it's accompanied by shout-outs, crowd noise or any other signifiers for the "live" set.

I'm not proposing a golden rule, of course. But I do think that exemplaray live sets tend to have a little something over the best studio sets

 

[dominic]

The DJ isn't reacting to your mood or needs.

again, i don't think the question turns on whether the dj is "reacting your mood or needs"

he might just as well adhere to a plan == play certain records in a prescribed order

what matters, rather, is the total situation -- the music, the crowd, the vibe, the energy in the room, etc

the actual mixing is for me relatively unimportant -- so long as it's not a complete car accident when one record gives way to the next

record selection (i.e., is the dj playing good records???), pacing, the dj's own charisma -- far more important

plus the crowd that turns up for that dj

the "magic" of the night -- things that lie far beyond the dj's own power

and just to clarify: i don't deny the importance of the dj -- rather, i use much different criteria to assess djs than most of the people on this thread seem to

again, mixing schmixing!!!

 

[dominic]

on a conciliatory note . . . .

i'll endorse these mixes off the "hardcore will never die" site

all from 1992 --

the simon bassline smith mix

grooverider at universe (2-sided mix)

carl cox at amnesia house (2-sided mix)

 

[DigitalDjigit]

dominic: may be we disagree because of how we listen to music. I get the impression that you like to share the experience with other people or pretend that you are.

I don't like listening to music with other people. I don't know what is going through their head and a lot of the time I do not think they "get" it. I can't really relate. So for me this whole "live" thing doesnt' really matter that much because music is a personal communication for me. It all happens in my head.

 

[xero]

dominic: may be we disagree because of how we listen to music. I get the impression that you like to share the experience with other people or pretend that you are.

I don't like listening to music with other people. I don't know what is going through their head and a lot of the time I do not think they "get" it. I can't really relate. So for me this whole "live" thing doesnt' really matter that much because music is a personal communication for me. It all happens in my head.

This seems to be a strange thing to say in a thread about mix compilations. Mixes are almost exclusively a phenomenon of dance music and that is music which is largely made for and consumed within an environment where people are gathered together and sharing the experience of listening to and dancing to music.

In my opinion this scenario is at its best when people are not so much 'dancing with each other' as just doing their own thing, having their own relationship with the music but still, the presence of and interaction with other people is a massive part of the equation otherwise nightclubs would be enjoyable if you were the only punter which I don't think anyone would really agree with (go on then )

That said, one of my favourite mix CDs has to be Harvey's sarcastic study masters vol.2 which is more of a listening thing than a dancing thing

also got to third mixed up in the hague, absolutely seminal crate-digging exercise

 

[bassnation]

otherwise nightclubs would be enjoyable if you were the only punter which I don't think anyone would really agree with (go on then )

its an interesting idea. maybe you could do it with a small tent and a portable hi fi with a big queue of people outside waiting to be "in the club". it just might work.

 

[DigitalDjigit]

This seems to be a strange thing to say in a thread about mix compilations. Mixes are almost exclusively a phenomenon of dance music and that is music which is largely made for and consumed within an environment where people are gathered together and sharing the experience of listening to and dancing to music.

In my opinion this scenario is at its best when people are not so much 'dancing with each other' as just doing their own thing, having their own relationship with the music but still, the presence of and interaction with other people is a massive part of the equation otherwise nightclubs would be enjoyable if you were the only punter which I don't think anyone would really agree with (go on then )

Yeah, but I don't like nightclubs. Maybe I've never been to a good one. I went to one event one time and Matthew Dear played and totally ripped shit up as they say. Everyone was just standing around talking. Like, wtf. If you want to talk why not go to a bar or some other place where you do not have to talk at the top of your voice to be heard. I am not sure they are actually "sharing my experience of listening to and dancing to music."

Like in that Swayzak song, I dance alone.

I do like outdoors events but those are pretty rare.

 

[DigitalDjigit]

also got to third mixed up in the hague, absolutely seminal crate-digging exercise

It's not on the CBS website. Where did you find it?

 

[AshRa]

That said, one of my favourite mix CDs has to be Harvey's sarcastic study masters vol.2 which is more of a listening thing than a dancing thing

As i'm getting on a bit (30 gadzooks!) i'm finding that I prefer 'listening' to 'dancing' mixes nowadays.

Maybe it's just that today's 'dance music' is for the most part utterly boring compared to stuff gathered on the classic early 90s mixes that most people have mentioned.

Anybody got any good recommendations (besides Harvey) for 'listening mixes' - the last one that I really enjoyed was kind of a record-hunter's mix by Andy Votel called "Songs In The Key Of Death". Just remembered that bonkers Madlib Japanese mix was good fun too!

Demolitionpumpkinsqueeze - thirded...
Mixed Up In The Hague - fourthed!

 

[xero]

Yeah, but I don't like nightclubs. Maybe I've never been to a good one. I went to one event one time and Matthew Dear played and totally ripped shit up as they say. Everyone was just standing around talking. Like, wtf. If you want to talk why not go to a bar or some other place where you do not have to talk at the top of your voice to be heard. I am not sure they are actually "sharing my experience of listening to and dancing to music.".

mm, doesn'y sound at all like a good nightclub to me!

It's not on the CBS website. Where did you find it?

in case of confusion it's the first mixed up that i was referring to (someone upthread had already seconded the choice so i was thirding it) - came out on cd years ago but i got it via sseek, the second is on the cbs site as far as i know pm me if you want a copy of vol1

btw for london peeps, i-f is playing at the social on aug 18th - anyone else reaching?

 

[xero]

Anybody got any good recommendations (besides Harvey) for 'listening mixes' - the last one that I really enjoyed was kind of a record-hunter's mix by Andy Votel called "Songs In The Key Of Death". Just remembered that bonkers Madlib Japanese mix was good fun too!

liked votel's 'musictowatchgirlscry', have to check 'songs' - bit of a theme in those titles eh? like those mk7 mixes too for listening esp. 'slow blow'

 

[Rambler]

Cybernetic Broadcasting System have been reorganising their pages recently, but the links to their mixes still work:

Mixed up in the Hague vol.1

Not as classic, but still pretty fine:

Mixed up in the Hague vol.2

They've both got a couple of jingles at the start, but nothing too intrusive, and, well, they're free after all...

 

[xero]

the fundamentalalistic ones are good too, if they're still up there - more 80s hip hop and boogie on those

 

[Rambler]

All the CBS mixes are available here:
http://www.cbs.nu/mixage/