TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- DJ Promotion
-- ::::::::. **** TA DJ Challenge Series - Genre Challenge 7 (COMPLETE) **** .::::::::
Pages (12): « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 [11] 12 »

I'll be very disappointed if you haven't played Access.

Some of these look really good, I'll try and weigh in with some thoughts from Monday, when I get the net back at home.

I think I'll have to suffer your disappointment, then! In my defense, I was following your dictum of not repeating tracks I've used in previous mixes

And with that last submission (I'll forgive it for being late because Joe moved to another country), this challenge is over! All participants turned in a mix. Another 100% success rate

I can't wait to hear all of these. I'll be back with a review for everyone soon.

So, this is a bit blunt, but honestly the psychill mix just felt like a bunch of random tunes thrown together. As jonmitz pointed out the mixing style was way off and IMO this probably added to the feeling of lack of flow. It was also up/down energy level wise every 2nd track a lot as well. The tunes didn't work together very well either. I dunno if this was harmonically mixed or not, but IMO for this style of music (and for psy generally) you should be paying attention to the moods, energy levels and rythmns first and foremost. If tracks clash too much key wise then there's always the opportunity to change them at the tracks picking and adjusting phase.

It kind've feels like a theme of the mix is to show all the sorts of stuff that's avaliable in the genre. Unfortnately often for mixes there's loads of cool tunes that you want to fit in but you always have to cull a lot because some just don't fit anywhere. Too little variety is often better than too much. With careful attention to rythmns and moods sometimes people can pull off a mix that has loads of variety but it's very difficult and requires a lot of familiarity with the tracks.

quote:

Originally posted by Lews I'll post the tracklist tomorrow or the day after. Hope that doesn't disqualify me from the next one

Emmanuel top?

quote:

Originally posted by Sand Leaper I'm done as well now. This was originally meant to be a fun mixtape-like affair, where I'd go through a bunch of old stuff that has been sampled throughout the years by all genres utilising breakbeats. Then montana messaged me on Facebook and said that wasn't what he meant by funky breaks, but rather "breaks" as pioneered by labels like Skint, Fingerlickin' and Bolshi, which is the type of breaks I was never all that enthusiastic about. So, in the end, I gathered handful of tracks from the mid-late 90s, with a few oddities mixed in for good measure. That's about as fancy as I could be bothered to make the mix this time around. Beatmixing this in Traktor was an absolute nightmare, but it should be tolerable now, after a couple of attempts. What Kinda Breaks You Got There by Sand_Leaper on Mixcloud Sand Leaper - What Kinda Breaks You Got There 300914 Depth Charge - Bounty Killers Indian Ropeman - Indian Ropeman Danny Saber - Indian Summer Stone Players - Taking It Back Mantecao Y Su Combo - Achilifunk (Blackbeard Edit) Quasimoto - Return Of The Loop Digga Blackfeet - Dub Cat Alex Cortiz - Unwrap Me Big Muff - Pornstar (Big C's Groove Armada Mix) Flint - Theme From Flint DJ Mink feat. 2wice The Trouble - Hey! Hey! Can U Relate? Bassbin Twins - Two Turntables And A Crate Of Skint Frankie Dante & Orquesta Flamboyan Con Larry Harlow - My Daddy's Farm Sluts 'n Strings & 909 - Put Me On Tiny Trendies - The Sky Is Not Crying (Swag's Sky High Mix) Whirlpool Productions - Harvest Troubleman - The Otherness

Fucking excellent mix. Dancing around on my deck here. Can I download this from somewhere, please? Shitty mobile data limits here in Oz, so mobile streaming is not my friend, and I'd like this on my phone for listening purposes.

Updated my post with a tracklist.

Stu, any chance you could provide a perma link to some of the sets in here? I can't download anything off Sendspace or Google Drive, annoyingly

quote:

Originally posted by Lews Stu, any chance you could provide a perma link to some of the sets in here? I can't download anything off Sendspace or Google Drive, annoyingly

It might take me a while, but yes, happy to host them.

Ok, I think this is all the Sendspace/Googledocs hosted mixes:


Mr.Mystery:

http://www.sushipunk.net/Mixes/orga...y_corridors.mp3


Bierheld:

http://www.sushipunk.net/Mixes/Ball...Controversy.ogg


lievez:

http://www.sushipunk.net/Mixes/liev...ppose%20Mix.mp3


montana:

http://www.sushipunk.net/Mixes/uncl...ry-20140926.mp3



Everything else should be either on Soundcloud, or a direct link already (except for Sand Leaper's mix on Mixcloud, which I'm hoping to get a download of soon, because it's awesome).

TA is being weird... I have 4 mixes in the above post, but it only seems to show me 3 of them, even though when I edit the post all 4 links are there

Here's Montana's mix:

http://www.sushipunk.net/Mixes/uncl...ry-20140926.mp3

quote:

Originally posted by Sushipunk TA is being weird... I have 4 mixes in the above post, but it only seems to show me 3 of them, even though when I edit the post all 4 links are there Here's Montana's mix: http://www.sushipunk.net/Mixes/uncl...ry-20140926.mp3

You're missing a [/url] at the end of livez's mix in your post.

Here's a DL for mine as well. Speedyshare is the best I can do, as I don't have any better webspace available right now: http://speedy.sh/cB5vT/Sand-Leaper-...here-280914.mp3

quote:

Originally posted by ziptnf You're missing a [/url] at the end of livez's mix in your post.

Ha, well there we go. Fixed.

quote:

Originally posted by Sand Leaper Here's a DL for mine as well. Speedyshare is the best I can do, as I don't have any better webspace available right now: http://speedy.sh/cB5vT/Sand-Leaper-...here-280914.mp3

Thanks I'll put it up on my server for others, once it's done downloading. I was jamming out to this again yesterday, really damn good mix.

Ok, here's Sand Leaper's mix with a proper host:

http://www.sushipunk.net/Mixes/Sand...re%20280914.mp3

Cheers for listening to my mix guys. Like I said before, this kind of music doesn't get me very excited, so I'm happy the mix isn't hampered too much by that.

quote:

Originally posted by jonmitz I was given "Industrial" - which I interpreted as very high level description of types of sounds and feelings or emotions evoked by the music. I have interpreted this genre as a style of music that focuses on dark themes, unnerving sounds, and oftentimes harsh and abrasive tones. Beat structure varies greatly, and some songs even have constantly evolving rhythms, which should give the listener some confusion or, to reuse the word, make them feel a bit unnerved. The general idea, from my perspective, was to make a mix that takes the listener through an, at times, uncomfortable journey, through dark and "mysterious" - and by that, I mean, unnerving passages, with the use of intense sounds, literal industrial (i.e. manufacturing machines) type soundscapes.

This is the big misunderstanding that people have of "industrial music". It doesn't have to be abrasive, dark or distorted to be industrial. Sure, a lot of industrial music was, but a lot of industrial music was also straight up poppy, a satirical reflection of the society it was trying to provoke people in (like, say, DAF or The Normal). Your understanding of the term "industrial" seems to be somewhat superficial. You're too hung up on the aesthetics, and this mix unfortunately reflects that. Sure, it has metallic noises, and mechanical, claustrophobic atmospheres, but does it actually say anything about society, the way industrial musicians always did?

Otherwise, the mix feels far too hyperactive for my tastes. Rifling through genres rapid fire can often work if the overarching theme of a mix is cohesive and sharp enough, but the kind of vague theme and aesthetics you described in your post do not fit those criteria in my book. In the end, it all just becomes a big muddle of ominous pads, basslines and broken beats, and I fail to find much of a red thread, or anything else that would really hook me as a listener.

quote:

Just going to go ahead and say I was called out on another forum for using this word. Apparently the proper definition for these words is something like this: https://soundcloud.com/nachtplan/nachtplan-tanz-vol15 - which I, honest to god, cant listen to for more than 3 seconds without wanting to tear out my eyeballs.

From a genre classification standpoint, this would indeed count as an industrial mix. It's what EBM developed into two decades on. I'm not a fan of this stuff either, however, so I'm happy you at least tried to create your own take on it instead of going for the jugular.

quote:

Originally posted by Sand Leaper Sand Leaper - What Kinda Breaks You Got There 300914 Depth Charge - Bounty Killers Indian Ropeman - Indian Ropeman Danny Saber - Indian Summer Stone Players - Taking It Back Mantecao Y Su Combo - Achilifunk (Blackbeard Edit) Quasimoto - Return Of The Loop Digga Blackfeet - Dub Cat Alex Cortiz - Unwrap Me Big Muff - Pornstar (Big C's Groove Armada Mix) Flint - Theme From Flint DJ Mink feat. 2wice The Trouble - Hey! Hey! Can U Relate? Bassbin Twins - Two Turntables And A Crate Of Skint Frankie Dante & Orquesta Flamboyan Con Larry Harlow - My Daddy's Farm Sluts 'n Strings & 909 - Put Me On Tiny Trendies - The Sky Is Not Crying (Swag's Sky High Mix) Whirlpool Productions - Harvest Troubleman - The Otherness

An unexpected treat this one. It was actually one of the genre's I was dreading getting the most, as I associated it with early drumcomputer funk music and proto-hiphop type affairs.
This is rather far removed from that, more like nu-funk that's bordering on breakcore or something. But yeah, the result is pretty fucking sweet. This is the good stuff when it comes to old-school breaks as far as I'm concerned.
Flow-wise it went a bit apeshit after a while but there was enough going on to keep me interested, and i do not envy the work it must have taken to mix this properly so I won't complain too much about it.

quote:

Originally posted by djdk 01: A Man Called Adam - Easter Song [Other Records] 02: Lemon Jelly - A Tune For Jack [XL] 03: Language Lab - Burning Disaster (Groove Armadas Bedtime Story Mix) [Kahuna Cuts] 04: 4 Wings Penelope (Radio Edit) [Manifesto] 05: Dido - Worthless [BMG] 06: Dusted - Childhood [Go! Beat] 07: Beanfield - Planetary Deadlock [Compost Records] 08: Beats International - Dub Be Good To Me (Accapella) [Go! Discs] 09: Bonobo - The Plug (Quantic Mix) [Tru Thoughts] 10: Lazyboy - Nothing To Be Afraid Of [Sunday Best] 11: Oversoul ft. Gramma Funk - Universal Unfolding [DJMag] 12: Basement Jaxx - Being With You [XL]

Well I'm happy to hear that you've managed to find your swing in there. Music-wise i like my lounge a bit more light-hearted and playful than this but i appreciated it regardless. It felt like some heart went into it, which is why one of the reasons why i picked this as a genre suggestion; You tend to end up with very personal emotion-driven mixes that will carry me through as a listener regardless of whether the music is blowing me away or not, i like to think it gives a bit of an insight into the person behind it.

quote:

Originally posted by wotyzoid Tchau Verão downloadthankstoSTU 01. DJ Cam - Hot [Inflamable] 02. Quasimode - Last Nine Days [Sonar Kollektiv] 03. Jazzanova - Now There Is We feat. Paul Randolph (Metome Remix) [Sonar Kollektiv] 04. DJ Cam - Seven [Inflamable] 05. Ananda Project - Secret Sky [Ananda Project Recordings] 06. Quasimode - Over The Horizon (Soulphiction Remix) [Sonar Kollektiv] 07. Amon Tobin - Easy Muffin [Ninja Tune] 08. Trüby Trio - Carajillo (Jazzanova Remix) [Compost Records] 09. Skalpel - Break In (J's Remix) [Ninja Tune] 10. Nu Tropic - Jessica [Jazzmin Records] 11. Jazztronik - Samurai [Pantone Music] 12. Uyama Hiroto - 81 Summer [Tribe] 13. Hajime Yoshizawa - Verao No Ar [Especial Records] 14. Sleep Walker - Ai-No-Tabi [Especial Records]

A bit disjointed and very eclectic, but man was this ever fun to listen to. My only remark is that i felt it should have ended on something really crazy, the final tunes that are on there now were solid but almost a bit mundane considering the road it took to get there. Still a good mix. Probably my favorite from the challenge so far, although it would have taken a lot for it not to be there considering the assigned genre. I just love that stuff far too much.

quote:

Originally posted by djdk I really enjoyed this actually. Beginning was a lot more stripped down and, hmmm, odd than I was expecting from a garage mix but enjoyable nonetheless. The second half was more what I was expecting (although I am very far from being any kind of expert on this). Highlight was Lets Groove, haven't heard that in quite a while and its a great track, delivered nicely as well. So, yeah, all in all good stuff, had me chair dancing which I think is the ultimate test for any dance music mixes that I listen to at work

Heh, the part were "Let's Groove" came in was actually were I felt I screwed up the most. I really wanted something properly climactic there as i had built up a lot of momentum and "I Can't Stop Going" just screams post-climax material to me. I just didn't have anything that could deliver in that aspect though, LG was the best i had but it's a bit of an awkward fit in my eyes.
In any case, glad you enjoyed it of course. I was mainly just aiming for a simple clubby mix-vibe in the end so it's good to see that it did it's job there.

Awesome, thanks for uploading these, Stu!

Looking forward to giving everyone's mixes a listen in the coming week.

Bierheld, regarding to your comment on Sand Leaper's mix -

quote:

Originally posted by Bierheld Flow-wise it went a bit apeshit after a while

That's a good thing This genre is all about doing that. Big-beat and breaks is all about switching things up, when you least expect it. A big-beat or breaks mix with "perfect flow" would maybe be quite dull. It's the randomness that makes it so much fun, and a LOT of fun to dance to

In the process of writing up my thoughts, as all that remains to listen to is the psychill one. Some great mixing all around, folks, although there were a few that weren't my cup of tea due to genre preferences, some others were really surprising.

Here are my reviews:

NY Tribal/Hard House - The genre I picked for this competition... after all the controversy and debate as to the legitimacy of the genre, it's nice to see a mix that totally nails what I had in mind. Many of the songs were familiar to me, and brought up lots of memories of when I would stay up late on school nights tuning into the local radio stations' afterhours mix shows to hear all of that "underground" (to me) house music. Memories of bike riding to the now-defunct electronics chain "The Wiz" to purchase the "Let Me Go... Release Me" CD single. Receiving a Junior Vasquez mix compilation for Christmas 1998 and caning it while playing Xenogears which I also received that year. I will say that I'm not a fan of "Mo Money, Mo Problems" in either the original or the remix (so overplayed here in NY), and prefer the original RnG remix to the dub of "Unspeakable Joy". And some of the mixing clanged a bit in a few sections. But other than that, nice work, this set would pack out any club on the Island circa 1999.

Industrial - First, I'll state that I don't know much about this genre, sterotypically (and wrongly) associating it with school shooters in trenchcoats. But what I got on this mix was vastly different and much more interesting than Rammstein/Marilyn Manson/etc. The progression was great, with off-kilter, harsh mechanical sounds contrasting with ambient textures. Then we build into some unique rhythmic sections, the track at 41 minutes being a personal favorite, conjuring up memories of NIN. The next part is also great, the techstep and autonomic D&B, fading back into ambient glitch. The mix did a great job of keeping my attention, with a logical structure and a diversity of tracks. I like how you took "industrial" to mean a feeling rather than a codified genre, using songs that you felt captured that feeling well... though I could understand how genre purists might not like that approach. The one mix I thought I'd like the least (and the genre I was most afraid of drawing) ended up being one of my favorites.

Nu-Jazz - One of my favorite things about the genre competition is seeing whether or not the DJ Forum regulars mold their own mixing style/music preferences into their selected genre. And I think you did just that... you definitely got a genre that suited you well, soulful and jazzy music. The music had me bobbing around in my chair quite a bit! The Ananda Project track is probably my favorite, even if its a bit more along the lines of deep house than acid jazz. Though I didn't like that "Jessica" song because it brought up memories of an ex that I'd rather forget :P And it's cool seeing so many Japanese producers dominating the end of the mix, had no idea that this type of music was big with the Japanese, apart from Mondo Grosso of course.

Downtempo Lounge - One thing I noticed about this competition, was that the genre pool was demarcated into more relaxing, chill genres and brash banging genres, not much of a mid-ground. I like playing out this type of music at parties as a 'warm-up', or when people are eating dinner, and it always gets a thumbs-up from the party goers. Maybe next time I will just put this mix on instead! The big standout for me is the mixing... there was a lot of discretion in choosing between beatmatching and fading, depending on the tracks' beat structure, but these choices were all made with the utmost confidence. Good call with ending on the Basement Jaxx track.

Happy Hardcore - The mixing was great, and you definitely captured what the genre is all about. Lots of uplifting pianos, cheery vocals, and pumping, rapid-fire kickdrums. There were a few tracks I recognized from Ishkur's Guide on here too! My only complaint is that the tracks used in the mix don't seem to differentiate all that much, even in spite of the vast age range of the tracks, but that could just be because the genre is so stylistically codified that breaking free of genre tropes would make it a completely different genre entirely. I feel I faced a similar problem when I made my mix, even though my tracks were from a much smaller time period. That said, I could definitely see myself listening to the Tubular Bells-sampling track outside of the context of the mix.

Liquid Funk - A genre I like but one I'm not especially well versed in. That said, here is another genre that I think ended up being a good fit for its recipient. The opening tracks start off subdued and atmospheric, a callout to your love of progressive breaks. Then, we start moving into a slightly more jazzy direction though you can definitely hear that undercurrent of minor-key melodies throughout the mix. The mixing is great, throughout. If I have one criticism, its that I (possibly mistakenly) figured liquid funk to be a more uplifting genre rather than a subdued, introspective one. Though I still loved it, great job!

Funky Breaks - Did a good job of capturing a 'mixtape' aesthetic, with fast paced cut-up mixing and a spastic flow. Very sampledelic, funky and scratch-heavy. As a devout SEGA/Dreamcast fan you bet I loved the Jet Set Radio-sampling (or vice-versa?) song! But then soon after we have the "My Daddy's Farm" song and its grating vocal that makes me want to hit the fast-forward button... but then you quickly recover with a more somber, melodic final stretch ending with the incredible "Otherness".

Acid Techno - While I don't mind acid techno in smaller doses, I felt this mix had the same structural flaw as the happy hardcore one - the genre is so rigidly defined that its tough to add variety without morphing into something else entirely. But you definitely get kudos for making the attempt. I just found the cold, stark beats and relentless acid to wear on me a bit, even more so considering this is one of the longest mixes in the competition. But no hard feelings, Lews... after all, I do love your progressive mixes.

Psychill - So, I'll admit I never heard of this genre before the competition, but what you played here captured what exactly I expected the genre to sound like - Middle Eastern music scales, ethnic chanting, vast soundscapes, those pew-pew psytrance drum kicks but adapted to a slower, breakbeat structure, sci-fi sound effects and voiceovers. It's a little short in terms of length, though... this type of music I feel is made for going on a long journey (with or without the aid of mind-altering substances). Good music even though Shpongle is the only artist I was familiar with beforehand. And funnily enough I found out recently my girlfriend's father is a fan of Shpongle as well, which caught me by surprise... perhaps I should send him this mix to listen to?

Garage - The mix I was most excited to hear, but the one I'm sorry to say I liked the least. Though that's mostly my fault, I expected something far different from what I got... whether it was what Larry Levan caned back at the Paradise Garage, the soulful NY sounds of Todd Edwards and Strictly Rhythm, the speed garage of Tuff Jam and Armand Van Helden, the R&B-tinged 2-step, or even the darker, grime and early-dubstep sounds before the massive revival of "traditional" garage these last few years. The first few tracks of the mix sound almost like proto-tech-house, before moving into more tribal tracks that would be more suited to the NY Hard House mix. Though finally we have "Let's Groove" and "I Can't Stop Going", the 2 tracks that feature most of what I associate with "garage" - the funk, the jumpy, shuffling beats, organ vamps and looped diva samples. Just when I think the mix is starting to kick into gear, we have a misplaced acid house workout from Josh Wink and a blissful ambient fadeout. I can't find technical fault with the mixing (aside from a slight issue with the "I Can't Stop Going" into "Up BW Feeling Good".

Thank you, sir.

Was really busy this week at work, but I did listen to wotyzoid Nu-Jazz mix a couple times. Here are some of my thoughts:


- There are maybe two songs that didn't really fit - they were both in the first half, sorry I didn't identify which tracks they were - they didn't sound very jazz to me. That said every other track was amazing and I loved them. I dip into nu-jazz a little bit on the side here and there, and I recognize a few of the labels and a couple of the artists. I'll have to check out those I don't

- second half was better than the first regarding hitting the genre

- Echoing the sentiment from others that it seemed a bit disjointed track to track. See below.

- Minor trainwreck, you said you recorded it in one shot - maybe a second shot could have cleaned that up? Could have also smoothed out some of the transitions or reordered a couple tracks to make it less disjointed per the above. This is a matter of perfectionism, though


In any case, so far I'm really impressed with what I've heard overall so far.

And so much for posting all my thoughts at once. Will listen to the downtempo lounge and liquid funk mixes next. I'll do my best to listen to the hardstyle mixes but I have this problem where hardstyle makes me want to blow my brains out.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch Nu-Jazz - had no idea that this type of music was big with the Japanese, apart from Mondo Grosso of course.

Ukraine is another big one, too. Japan/Ukraine are releasing a ton of fire on the Electronica/hip hop/nu jazz/trip hop front right now


E:

quote:

I could understand how genre purists might not like that approach

I'm the opposite of a genre purist. I like to focus on themes, ideas, or 'feelings' of music rather than a strict definition. It gives me more artistic freedom (my opinion, obviously), which does come at a cost of sometimes coherency, logical flow (which I have been working on a lot), or as zipnif put it, "hyperactivity", which doesn't work for everyone.

(and before I'm called out... regardless that this was a 'genre' challenge, it was left to everyone to interpret out they wanted!)

Has anyone taken a listen to my mix yet?

quote:

Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch Has anyone taken a listen to my mix yet?

I've been trying to, but I've been working pretty much 24/7 lately so I've only managed to get through about half of it. Gonna go through it and a few others next week.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.