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Who are these guys?? Or is it just one person? I don't know, but i am impressed. Both sides are packed with some incredible techno, and the programming could not have been any better. The mixing could use some work, but the tracks and the way they are presented definitely make up for that. Side A (Basis) starts off with a nice sample of the movie "1984", and is a slower tempo than the B side, though only slightly. These guys will be deadly when they perfect their mixing. [bliss]
CLYNE Axmoak Techno from the west coast, weird to hear someone out there spinning techno. Nice minimal stuff; i can recognize some of these tracks from Drumcode and the likes, but he pitchs them down i believe.. or i just pitch them up higher than the average human. This guy is really smooth, i heard no slips at all. Just nice smooth fading side to side... no backspins or really any sort of tricks at all.. just really solid and smooth. tracks: B+ mixing: A [Paulie]
D.JE ROME Electrobionics (Pittsburgh) Electro freakout time! This tape has literally convinced me to start buying some electro records to play with. Awesome selections, some on the technoey side of electro, some a bit more funky, some kinda industrial, some acidic. All totally righteous!
The mixing is really solid throughout... a couple of tiny slips, but they're fixed so quickly you're not even sure they happened. This tape has been played dozens and dozens of times since I got it -- if you're into breaks, give it a try. If you're into techno, give it a try. And well, if yer into electro -- duh! [pezboy]
DREAD Revolution (VR Prod., CT) Comrade Dread back again with a new tape. The mixing is even tighter than the last one, someone who understands how to mix trance properly. There is no quick mix-outs and cross-fader slams here. Each mix is nice and long, the sounds from the previous track morphing nicely into the next one; the way it's supposed to be. The only thing is some tracks are played out a long time. But it does give that somber feeling of being in Russia, which is probably the point judging by the Prolekult-esque cover design and tape title. [bliss]
THE DREAM TEAM - D-TOX AND AQUANAUN Motivation 2 (FL) This is a tag team effort from 2 Pensacola, Florida lads, and this time they keep it on that progressive trance and house tip that Florida is known for, nice smooth mixing. Some tracks are really nice; everytime I am in a car with someone when this tape is on they always shout out, "Sasha plays that track," or "Tom Wax plays that track" and they do it very well just like Mr. Wax and Sasha do. But, they are domestic; if you wanna claim Florida that is (I know I don't, haha). Anyway, a really good tape. These guys have been making quite a name for themselves on the Gulf Coast, they really keep a crowd moving and party pumping. tracks: B mixing: A
[Paulie]
DJ DYAL Eastern Technology This guy really explores about every style he could get his hands on for this tape, starts off with some techno tracks.. moves in to breaks.. moves in house.. moves in to techno again.. and then moves into jungle.. mixing was great.. not too thrilled on some of the tracks.. but damn he really put this tape together well, i don't even hear any slips in the mixing... tracks: C+ mixing: A+
DYLAN DRAZEN Level 1 (NYC) DYLAN DRAZEN "Velvet Rope" and "I Am Focused" (NYC)
First let's start with "Velvet Rope." And you thought Dylan was just about techno! Actually, it turns out that he has a big thing for groovy deep house. But this isn't the cheesy, boring stuff you may be thinking of. These tracks are soulful, funky, and jazzy, and are just the thing for those "I just wanna groove out!" moods even us rager techno-heads get into from time to time. "I Am Focused" is Dylan's latest techno release, and by far his best yet. The track selection is really excellent-- Dylan's taste in hard, yet really deep and mental techno is top notch. The mixing is awesome, lots of stuff going on, but it's all kept subtle so as to not snap you out of your trance. Mad EQ fun, also some work on the efx box. Get both of these tapes!
FREQUENCY M Sonic Experiments 2 Now this is a great tape, very hard hitting techno, the way it was meant to be: harsh, abrasive, weird tracks, and if it was like the first tape, it is on 3 tables as well... mixing is very clean... does do a few backspins.. one which i wish he didn't do.. but his tracks are awesome, anytime this tape plays my friends and i freak out.. he just pumps you so full of energy with this hard shit. it is amazing.. get this guy.. he rocks too hard to believe. tracks: A+++++ mixing: A- [Paulie]
MIKE GEIGER Lift (Detroit) Interesting jazzy house.. but not like i have heard from other people... so in a way, i actually liked it... didn't sound like every other house tape i have heard.. again, another dj doing long mixes, which is good, shows talent and skill. He used to be a hip hop and electro DJ which he shows with some really impressive scratching, and ends the tape with about 3 electro tracks. Only one slip on this tape.. only off for 1 beat... sounds like it was meant to show it wasn't mixed on a 4 track. tracks: B+ mixing: A- [Paulie]
HEATHER HEART Eastbound Underground 01 (Sonic Groove, NY) The first lady of techno, Heather Heart, with one of her rare mixtape releases makes you wish she put more out. Her mixing is FLAWLESS, save for one mix that obviously had a hairball under the needle and made it keep skipping in a mix. And this is LIVE. Wow. Those who know what's up know Heather's skills are at the top of the heap, so if you don't know that yet i suggest you go get this tape and hear for yourself. If you do know already, then i know getting this tape is already on your list. She kinda lets a lot of the tracks play out a long time, however. [bliss]
HI OCTANE Obey (DC/MD) MAJOR improvement from his last tape! Not that that one was bad, but this one is Ilya's full transition to techno. The programming on Obey is incredible- the energy doesn't drop too much or jump too high between mixes, and each track sets the next track up. The mixing is VERY much improved from his last tape; the tracks are occassionally played out a bit, which i guess gave him time to cue up a proper mix. Not to fear, though- it wasn't overly minimal techno, so there weren't too many times where you are sitting there willing a mix in. [bliss]
KIKOMAN 2 da Extreme Yup, you've prolly seen this guys shitload of records out. His track on Missile I think everyone and their mother spins, and yes, owns his own label (Deep Fried). Nice Detroit techno tape. Some of the tracks everyone spins, like the Jeff Mills Purpose Maker EP, to show he is a techno dj who is "down with Detroit". Very well mixed tape, good Detroit techno... tracks: B mixing: B+ [Paulie]
MADKID Midwest Architech Edition 2 (MN) Very nice jungle tape.. very exploring in styles, very smooth mixing, very refreshing tape. But it does have a lot of tracks most jungle djs spin, but also a few i have never heard. It's been a while since i listened to it though. It didn't really blow my mind, but wasn't horrible. It was a very solid effort from an up and comer from Minnesota, don'tcha know? tracks: B mixing: B+ CONTACT: (612) 647.5130 [Paulie]
DJ MIKEE DJ Mikee's Playground Jazzy house... and more jazzy house.. lots and lots of jazzy uplifting progressive house... not really my thing.. but he does do some really nice mixing.. and none of that quick mixing.. nice long mixes.. only a few slips.. flawless otherwise.. he fixes everything very quickly as well.. I've seen him live and he really rocks a crowd.. and flawless.. no slips at all... except when the speakerfreaks bump his tables.. never seen anyone this flawless before.. well.. not anyone that is under a grand to book. tracks: B mixing: A-
NATHAN WADE/MATT McCOY (AZ) A split tape of a wide range of trance. Nathan Wade's side starts off in a progressive manner, builds harder till it ends with "Rozzer's Dog" (Stay Up Forever). The mixing is good, with one iffy mix. Matt McCoy's side is harder, more on the hard, melodic acid trance path (Eve, Time Unlimited, Jinx). I like this side better, definite skills for a trance dj. It appears Matt McCoy is in the same crew as me (Global Energy Musik) and i didn't even know it.
PATRICK MILLER Sound Revival This is a very nice tape... long mixes.. smooth mixes.. my only problem... you can get bored with this tape... simply because all his tracks sound very similar, the tape sounds like one giant just building up and breaking down.. great mixing.. if you honestly didn't know you would think it was just one really long track... tracks: C mixing: A
SCOTCH TAPE (3M Company) This tape gives me mixed feelings. It's uses are almost endless, from temporary to permanent situations you can go on for hours thinking of new ways to use it. You could use it to close the mouths of really annoying people, or you can use it on the gerbils to keep their feet from being free to scratch your ass when you.. well nevermind. Sometimes it sucks though, cause like you'll go to pull a piece off the roll, and it will rip unevenly, forcing you to go through half of the roll to finally get it straight again. And then there are the times where it takes a microscope and women's nails to find the beginning of the strip and peel it off. Pain in the ass. And Scotch tape is also very slutty, and asexual at that. As soon as you get the strip off it tries to mate with itself, and attaches to the other end.. so that piece is fucked and you have to get a new one, thereby increasing the population of tape-babies. But overall, the goods outweigh the bads, and Scotch tape ranks up there with Velcro in sometimes annoying but nontheless needed stickywear. [bliss], with the help of [Dan Efex] at 5am on vrave
SHAPESHIFTER Jigsaw (Miami, soon to be NYC) I'll start by saying that this is definitely the best techno mixtape I have
ever heard. Shapeshifter starts the journey off smooth and deep, and before you realize
it has escalated the energy into all-out rage-fest mode. Before you freak out too
badly, he takes the energy back down to a level where you'll be able to somewhat normally
interract with other people you may have to deal with in your everyday life.
Shapeshifter's mastery of really insane tricks is going to blow your skull... And even when
he drags back a record half a beat in order to deliver the double bpm bass kick to the
head, he keeps it completely smooth. I'm all for tricks, scratching, and whatnot, but it has
to be executed absolutely smoothly in order for me to get off to it. Shapeshifter
accomplishes this without even thinking about it. If you like techno, you owe it to yourself
to buy this tape. And techno DJs, use this tape as an example of how to fuck shit up... It's
all about being creative with your records! Being a techno DJ can be so much more than
simply playing records back to back. Thank ya, Shapeshifter! :) [pezboy]
SCOTT STUBBS Trancefusion III (Synergy, Las Vegas) Joyride of some fresh progressive house, progressive trance and melodic trance. There is enough trance included to keep me happy, as i get sick of people trying to pass off progressive house as trance. The energy flowed up and down, never settling in one mood for long, although a couple mixes killed the momentum. Also, he didn't seem to finish off his mixes all the way too often. But overall the tape was good. I was shocked when i heard the OLD Exit EEE song "Epidemic" that brought back memories. Labels included- Platipus, Red Parrot, Telica, UG, Additive, etc.
THOME TOMATO Lift Off - Bass the Final Frontier A Cali native stuck in the midwest with his latest offering, nice spacey house.. shit you listen to when you just wanna sit back and chill.. or groove to. But don't get used to this tape and expect him to spin this, he went back to spinning hard trance, which i think is good, he definately has that smooth west coast mixing showing through.. The j-card for this is cute- a flier for a party he spun at new years eve in 93... been around a long time, he has been spinning for about 8 years, making a come back.. book him, he's old school and you rave kids love that. tracks: B mixing: A- CONTACT: (502) 897.2348 [Paulie]
TITONTON DUVANTE Double Edged Vol. 2 (Ohio) One side tweaky, groovy tech-house, one side tweaky, freaky techstep and darkside DnB. Titonton's mixing is quite solid, although he kind of gets near the edge with all of his weird scratching. I've heard that most of Titonton's scratching is him using his elbows, chin, butt, whatever... and that's great for live performances -- freaking people out, getting their attention, etc. But it kind of disrupts the energy flow on a mixtape where you have no connection to what the DJ is physically doing. Still, this tape is good, and if you're into both of these styles it might be worth checking out. CONTACT: (614)421.2989 [pezboy]
TRON Doomzdance (Pure Acid Mixtapes, LA) Known for his Bloody Fist label and hardcore sets, Tron throws down a hard techno set befitting the reputation of a hardcore "enthusiast" such as himself. The first side is pretty much the Future Frontier/Subsounds/Adam Beyer vein. Side two starts with Skinny Puppy, and rocks from then on, getting harder and harder and harder. The end is hardcore, i don't care what tempo it is, it's just slow(er) insanity. I love seeing genre-crossing by people who have their own sound already in another style; they bring something to the new style that really adds something. The mixing is dead on, very wicked tape. CONTACT: Tron (718) 376.0725, Pure Acid Mixtapes (310) 793.1021 [bliss]
ZANDER Live at Culture Shock ACID!!! ACID!!! Roaring 303 lines open this tape.. along with Chong saying, "you just ate the most acid i ever seen anyone eat in my life," and,"now that is good acid". How can you go wrong? Unfortunately it can. Some are break tracks.. so it is acid.. and acid breaks.. but also, some nice electro.. something i rarely hear anymore.. some good Detroit electro tracks.. but some that aren't so good. This tape will move you for sure, at least the beginning does. tracks: C+ mixing: B- CONTACT: (847) 604.0579 [Paulie]
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