Classic Mixtape Archive
While all this surely feeds our own nostalgia more than anyone else’s, there’s no reason you can’t join in the fun. Got some old DJ tapes? Why not email us and let us add them to the archive?
Mystre - Natural Mystic (1998)
Last modified on 2010-01-30 19:04:30 GMT. 5 comments. Top.
Starting a retrospective of Mystre’s tapes with Natural Mystic is a bit like starting a Star Wars marathon with Empire Strikes Back… Sure, there are some other great ones in the series, but it’s never going to get this good again. But what can I say, I wanted to break out the good stuff early. I couldn’t wait to hear it again.
This tape was on repeat in my Walkman for pretty much the entirety of my freshman year in college which is when I started DJing (I guess I’m dating myself here.) It’s one of those albums I used as my introduction to a new genre, and consequently I own about half the records on the tape. I love the harder songs on side one, the tribal-trance at the beginning of side two, and the last track, “Words” by Paul Van Dyk, was my favorite song in world for a few months there. I only digitized one of the tracks for our Bonus Beats section, but if anyone out there wants more, comment below with the track you’re looking for… there’s a good chance I have it lying around somewhere.
- cor
Natural Mystic Side A (right-click to download)
Natural Mystic Side B (right-click to download)
BONUS BEAT:
Whoosh - Whoosh (Baby Doc Remix) (Second track on side 1)
Oh, and if you like this set so much that you want it on CD, I’m sure F8 would appreciate it if you bought a copy HERE. Update: Or not. Looks like the site is down now.
Happy Kid Marty - Til You Just Can’t Boogie No Mo’ (1998)
Last modified on 2009-05-01 20:21:21 GMT. 4 comments. Top.
While I believe my first true exposure to house music was courtesy of DJ Dan, this tape showed me that electronic music can be fun and silly. A Stevie Wonder remix, some Quincy Jones, lisping voice samples, hell, even howling dogs; the tracks Marty selected for this one are quirky, funny, campy… they just put a smile on your face. It’s a solid dose of ridiculousness for a scene that could stand to take itself a little less seriously.
I’m sorry I don’t have a better copy to record. I would venture a guess that my copy of this tape was eaten by more than one car stereo, and it sounds like it. If you can torque it through the first and last bits of each side, the rest does get better. My apologies. If I manage to find a better copy, I’ll replace it.
Til You Just Can’t Boogie No Mo’ Side A (Right click to download)
Til You Just Can’t Boogie No Mo’ Side B (Right click to download)
BONUS BEAT:
Mighty Dub Katz - Ghetto Girl
Mars - Symphonic Metamorphosis (1996)
Last modified on 2009-05-03 22:34:39 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Well, looky here. A classic Mars tape. I don’t have time to rant about it yet, but I’ll be back to share my thoughts. Enjoy!
Symphonic Metamorphosis - Side A
Symphonic Metamorphosis - Side B
Good news! If you want a high-quality version of this set on CD, you can get one HERE.
Mars Vs. Mystre, Vol. 2 (1998)
Last modified on 2010-05-28 23:58:32 GMT. 3 comments. Top.
Another classic! I’ll be back to share my thoughts about this one later, in the meantime, drop us a comment and let us know who’s side you like better.
Mars Vs. Mystre, Vol. 2 - Mystre Side (right click and “Save as…” to download)
Mars Vs. Mystre, Vol. 2 - Mars Side (right click and “Save as…” to download)
By the way, if you want this on CD, it can be purchased HERE.
DJ Ghost - Acid Breaks (1996)
Last modified on 2009-06-21 21:55:10 GMT. 6 comments. Top.
Ahhhh… I like that. I credit my wife for bringing this mixtape into the relationship; it was a permanent fixture in her car stereo when we first started dating. I also credit this tape for being my introduction to wonderful world of breakbeat (unless you count James Brown, Afrika Bambaataa or other precursors to the modern breaks genre.) It’s crazy to me how different these tracks sound than the aggressive, bass-dominated breaks of today… these beats are looser, the production is thinner, and a simple modulating 303 synth can carry an entire song. Here’s to old skool breaks!
Acid Breaks - Side A (Right click to download)
Acid Breaks - Side B (Right click to download)
BONUS BEAT:
Electroliners - Loose Caboose
Mystre - The Mystery Machine (1997)
Last modified on 2009-06-21 17:43:06 GMT. 3 comments. Top.
Another great Mystre set here. It’s my personal second favorite (after Natty Mystic, of course.) I like the second side in particular, from the third track on it’s all really techy. It conjures images in my head of a busy factory with gears and pistons and conveyor belts; everything moving in perfect unison as they put together some kind of giant war machine, like the AT-AT up there.
This tape also contains one of my “holy grail” tracks… one of the few songs I’ve searched for high and low since I first heard it, but alas, I never found it. The track starts at 23:30 or so on Side A. It’s called “Fenomen” by Helle’N'Cool, and I still love it to this day. I don’t even spin anything close to trance anymore but I’d find a way to bring that back if I could. If you have it, send it to me and I’ll be your friend forever. But you don’t have it. No one has it.
Mystre - The Mystery Machine Side A
Mystre - The Mystery Machine Side B
As with all F-8 tapes, if you’d like a high-quality version of this set, a CD version can be purchased HERE.
Happy Kid Marty - I’m Going To Go Back There Someday (1998)
Last modified on 2009-07-01 21:06:17 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
It’s really a shame Marty didn’t record more mixtapes. His styles are varied, his taste is spot-on, and his mixing is flawless. He was just the kind of DJ I couldn’t wait to hear more from, but alas, after the “red” and “blue” tapes were released simultaneously, we never did.
I remember in the cassette sleeve for this mix (which I’ve long since lost) Marty said that if the red tape was his soul, this tape was his heart. Even without that explanation, it’s easy to hear that he poured himself into this one emotionally, going so far as to include a Kermit the Frog song on the end of one of the sides. While the mix gets a bit cheesy for my taste in spots, it still ranks as one of my all-time favorite mixtapes. In fact, my favorite song from the tape is an exercise in cheesy build-ups, but I love it so much I’ll still spin it from time to time. I’ll post that one too.
I’m Going to Go Back There Someday - Side A (Right click to download)
I’m Going to Go Back There Someday - Side B (Right click to download)
BONUS BEAT:
Full Proof - Sunny
Sasha - Live at Camden Palace (1997ish)
Last modified on 2009-07-24 20:28:18 GMT. 5 comments. Top.
I gotta be honest with you, when I first heard this tape I really wasn’t feeling it. It was in my raving hey-day and if the music didn’t have big banging leads, hard cyber stabs, soaring melodic synths or be going at at least 135 BPM it just wasn’t my thing. Over time though the simple structures of melodic and cyber-trance began to grow a bit monotonous and there was Sasha, live at Camden Palace, welcoming me to a different type of dance music. Like Jazz to The Blues of traditional house or trance, progressive house/trance is geared for those who are looking for a bit more depth in the music; and like Jazz it’s not for everyone. This tape probably won’t wow you rite off the bat, but if you give it a few listens while doing other activites you may find it growing on you. And considering I got this way back in 1997(!), you gotta give Sasha some props for being way ahead of his time. Enjoy!
Sasha - Live at Camden Palace - Side A
Sasha - Live at Camden Palace - Side B
Bonus: See if you can hear where someone bumps into Sasha’s turntable on side B, wrecking his awesome mix. I can’t tell you how frustrating that is… or was… one of the many advantages of not using records anymore is not having to worry about drunk/overzealous dancers wrecking your mixes!
DJ Dan - Weed Wacker (1992)
Last modified on 2010-02-03 15:42:15 GMT. 3 comments. Top.
Whoa nelly, it’s been a minute since we last posted a classic mixtape. Time to get back to it. This one is from 15 goddamn years ago, before Jay or I ever touched a Techniques turntable, back when Bill Clinton was just starting his presidency, and when DJ Dan played progressive house and breakbeat. Even the definitions of those genres have changed since then; these aren’t the deep progressive rhythms and hard nu skool basslines we’re all accustomed to today. So drop the expectations, turn up the headphones, and get ready for a new sound… and by new, I mean really really old.
Mars - The Electric Temple
Last modified on 2010-01-29 15:42:15 GMT. 15 comments. Top.
Alright ladies and gents, ready for another trip in the Waaaaay Back Machine? This week I’m reaching into our digital shoe box* of classic mix tapes and pulling out another F-8 classic, “The Electric Temple” AKA “Mars’s Red Tape”. I’m not sure if this is my favorite overall Mars tape, but it definitely has my favorite side.
* Is there really any better way to keep your tapes than in a shoe box? Literally every tape we’ve digitized here has come out of someone’s shoe box: Cor’s, mine, Ben’s… we were all saddened to here that Alex emptied his shoe box of tapes into the garbage before we had a chance to get at them…
Side A has it’s jams: “Trance Emotions” is a nice starting song when you’re mixing unapologetic trance; the last two tracks are sweeping classics (one of which, the second to last, I still refuse to get rid of on vinyl); and then there’s the track three appearance of what we called “The Egyptian Song”, later discovered to actually be named “Snake Charmer” by Carpe Diem*, which was always caused pandemonium amongst my group of friends when played live, in a car, on a boom box… really playing this song at any time at any volume back in the day would make one of us pee our pants.**
* I’ll feature this tomorrow as our “Bonus Beat”, stay tuned in.
** Yup, that’s all one sentence. I amaze myself.
But it’s side B that’s really the classic. Mars starts us off with some “Infinity” by Guru Josh and just never looks back. Trance hit after trance hit for 40 straight minutes! We got “Out of the Blue”; there’s whatever the song is called that comes in after at about 18:35 that still to this day moves me; then the “Bun BE-dum… bun BI BE BE-dum” song, which should not to be confused with the “BE bun, be-bi-dun-be BE bun…”* track that comes in around 31:10; the violin track; and the list just goes on and on. If I want to hear classic SF melodic/cybertrance from the late 90’s (AKA classic German melodic/cybertrance from a few years earlier) I’m headed straight for side two “The Electric Temple”.
So get your glow sticks out, dust of your ultra baggy pants, candy bracelets and neon tops ’cause we’re about to go a’ravin!
* You know what’s even more ridiculous than trying to sing a trance song for someone? Yeah, trying to type one out.
Mars - “The Electric Temple” - Side A (right click and “Save as..” to download)
Mars - “The Electric Temple” - Side B (right click and “Save as..” to download)
For more from Mars, visit him at his website*
*You know what’s crazy? This seems to be the last official web stronghold of “Cybertrance Communication”. The “Frequency 8″ record label website won’t load and the “F-8 Gear” site that used to have all their mixes available on CD has been taken over by creepy, smiling stock photo girls. Man, now that I can’t get one I really want an F-8 tee shirt! And remember kids: love the music, not the drugs.
