Best Mixes of 2003

let me hear more mixes produced on computers. the allowed detail is fresh!

i'm with you guys on villalobos.

one thing that's made me upset this year has been the lack of good techno comps. no dj hell, no dave clarke - probably because they've been getting their albums together. but no globus mix? no sven vath mix? so in the spirit of brinkmann's "urus martan" mix i'd like to nominate:

chester beatty - a shot of love (tresor)

seventy minutes of mixed tracks from "chester beatty". apparently a man and a woman from japan. in the words of a "Mr. Fonktrain" from discogs, it's "Filtered disco loops together with lots of breaks, effects and bass drops at hard&banging 140 bpm... that's how I like techno!" i am inclined to agree.

Please tell me more about these.

i think on the whole it shoots for a british take on the theo parrish vibe but misses the mark in some undefinable way. i still liked it: 8.5/10.

haha! brilliant!

But the 4 Hero "Life:Styles" one would be in my top 10. Also perhaps the Herbalizer's "Herbal Blend"

(in place of FC Kahuna and Unabombers which I've not heard).

That's the chap. The Document II quietly slipped out a few months ago, pretty much more of the same so if you liked the first one then you'll like the new one. Any mix that starts with Kate Bush's "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" has got something going for it.

i think the track selection is very classy, though a few of the tracks are a little overcompiled at this point.

Not too many of the tracks on Life: Styles are all that widespread, are they? The most popular one on there is the Syreeta tune, and it's not as if it's I Will Survive or Good Times. I'm not surprised it got low grades, though. Not too many people have an ear for mid '70s-to-early '80s jazz-funk/funk/R&B. Gary Bartz -- I've literally seen people gag when hearing some of his stuff. I love him. (I do kinda wonder why that set came in the mixed/unmixed format. It's not like there are any monster two-minute blends on the mixed disc.)

Both of the Chicken Lips mixes are a lot of fun. I prefer the Body Music one 'cause it's less bumpy (DJ Kicks gets quite selector-style) and it's got Feels Good, Bad Times, and a bunch of Environ shit.

The Bugz in the Attic mix smashes Dego's Selector Series in almost every aspect, but if you're into broken beat it has its share of goodness. Not a great place to start with it, though.

I'll probably wet my pants over the mayer mix. HAVE NOT HEARD IT YET WHAT IS MY PROBLEM. Seeing him next tuesday in NYC, though!

And oh the female pressure 2CD mix is hot also. I think I like the Acid Maria side best. RRR Friends is quite nasty and I'm also feeling the Serie Noire 2 comp on news.be but there are many others. Sheesh.

http://www.redrocker.com/audio/sammy_dj_wlup.html

I haven't heard Body Music yet (will soon, I expect), but it looks like it's all new stuff, yes? I like the way they blend in a few new tracks on the DJ Kicks mix, but it's the old ones that really shine--fantastic Larry Levan mix of Gwen Guthrie and that amazing Raincoats thing that sounds like Paradise Garage meets French pop or something being my two favorites.

I generally prefer "selector style," too--changeups usually have a bigger effect than smooth blends. See: the Kanye West mix, too.

And yes, the Jammer mix can be found on Soulseek.

Sven Väth has done a mix CD this year "The Sound Of The Fourth Season", which is excellent, and the Pascal FEOS "Rise & Fall" mix (also on Cocoon) is also fantastic. And I haven't heard all of them, but the new mixes by Villalobos, Cox, Garnier, Joel Mull, Technasia and Laidback Luke all look very good.

If Aphex's set at ATP was commercially released that would be up there also.

tell

I remember seeing the Jon Carter mix on the mag Toby, but I didn't buy it. It's weird that it's so full of hits cos anytime I've seen him recently he just plays boring tribal stuff, he was my favourite DJ once though.

i've tried madly to find the technasia mixes, the last thing i managed to get ahold of was the "future mix". they really take the octave one style new places, don't they?

the laidback luke mix and the garnier box (3 mixed cds!) look wicked but they'll probably never make it to the left coast :(

va - Le Future Le Funk (Hooj)

Felix Da Housecat-Bugged Out was something of a disappointment, it's good but it should be springing to mind and well, it didn't.

Even if dance music is made to be mixed lots of tracks have nice intros and outros, and also it's nice to have a full 8 minutes of something if it's great.

I've been a little let down by both Michael Mayer mixes this year. They're okay, but I hear nothing to warrant of all the raves here, or his Mr. Kompakt stature.

yes! plus

bass breaks and beats 2003 (just for the cd2)

Gaz - Cutlass Supreme came out a couple of months ago on Novamute and is an excellent and unfussy mashup of all yr fave ghetto-tech people, a couple of things from him and Debasser, plus the odd bit of jungle and breaks (Si Begg, people like that). If you don't have any silly ideas about the 'purism' of ghetto tech/booty/whatever, it's quality.