dj tools / functional tracks

^^^^ALL TIME CLASSIC

itll be ok though!

headroom djs - ride the threshold

cant say i dont get it with this one, surely?

aphex twin - SAW

railway function:

http://static.flickr.com/6/11775603_220ee64776.jpg

also near doncaster

What a fuckin great song.

yeah i think these are my favourite kind of tracks as well

i keep playing the first track on this a lot

http://www.discogs.com/Dark-Man-Return/release/11317

it's perfect because it has these filtered white noise sounds that really help to build tension, it doesn't do much else apart from groove perfectly over a basic 808 beat

another favourite is this paul johnson track "playing with a rubberband"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOC8wjYgCRA

it's all about how the kick drops out on this and the flange sound starts rising. when the kick drops again it's pretty immense

pretty fucking cool video for joey beltram "forklift"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yuMKPkBMUQ

here's another good one from jeff mills on one of the purpose maker records, "division de lignes"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV2IZW1h6dw

this mixes with pretty much everything and has a perfect groove, it's so much fun to eq behind another record and bring that main synth loop in and out. just a simple bassline a weird synth noise and a beat

Studio 1 to thread!

i love the idea of one of the dudes from kenlou in the studio tapping out that bongo solo from "sensational beats" on like a roland r8 or something. or maybe they set up some midi bongo pads or something?

i don't really understand what are the characteristics for a track to be called a dj tool? could don williams' "detroit black" or sascha dive's "deep in rhythm" be considered a dj tool? because that's 2 tracks that crossed my mind when i was thinking about some examples of dj tools.

i love this mika vainio track, kind of impossible to mix with at first but once you learn where the downbeat is it sounds devastating in the mix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOTJKCNmVOo

everybody watch that video for joey beltram "forklift", even if you don't like techno. so cool

The Drummer records from Mills fit the bill.

I like Forklift, but I always used play the Luke Slater remix on the other side. It is one of those records that I used to play in my bedroom quite a bit but could never bring out in public because it was too over the top. People used to go batshit to it in dark warehouses, but it doesn't work in front of 50 people in a small bar.

It's funny, I have been playing so much song oriented 80's stuff lately that I haven't touched the tracky stuff in a good long while. I would love to get my hands of some boogie and proto-house drum tracks because some of that stuff is so densely arranged and key oriented that even the breaks are overstuffed.

Is anybody doing that these days?

Didn't Dam Funk put out a bunch of tracks records?

I'm a big fan of the Willesden Dodgers Jive Rhythm Traxand also have a few early house rhythm trax records, mostly from NJ/NY, I think.

Maybe those Baby Oliver records?

Kind of split the difference between electro and boogie influences.

I'm not familiar with the dj argot. What is the difference between 'tools' and 'verbs'? The former I assume are meant as tracks to make smoother transitions between different songs... the latter I have no idea... never seen the term mentioned before in my life... I assume it means proper songs?

Supposing I got the 'tools' definition right... do they exist in other genres asides electronic?

robert hood "rek" has been my go-to tool all week

as for pre-house, check out new musik "24 hours from the culture", really sparse beat with little more than a floaty pad every now and then. unfortunately it's only a few minutes long though so you have to mix quick

i've never found a dub version of a boogie or rnb track or whatever that is tracky enough for this purpose, at least not until you start getting bonus beats