Posted by: Flicker

Well since it appears that I’m the only one NOT on vacation, I’m gonna take it upon myself to post an old mix tape that I found.  It’s Pistachio vs Anonymous, and the tape is red.  That’s all I can tell you.  P & A were a couple of random trance DJs here in SF at one point.   I think that I saw them once at an F-8 party in Oakland, like, 10 years ago or so.

And no, that ISN’T their logo.  It just happens to be the greatest possible match from a Google images search ever.

Pistachio    (right-click and save as to download)

Anonymous     (right-click and save as to download)

Posted by: Derek

before he was professor x, he was charles…before he was magneto, he was….

…oh oops, wrong movie.
So back in the day, I used to DJ under a different name - the incredibly hard to read “fr33st4t3“.
yup, leet. read “freestate”, and yeah I actually did start using it before the mau5 took leet spelling into the mainstream.

I used this alias from when I started out playing deep house (!), and it took me from there to classic prog, breaks, trance, and back to prog again…

Perhaps a bit of nostalgia has hit me, as I’ve dug up a mix from that time that’s got some serious tunage…some of these tracks are old faves of mine.

A bit different than the sheen and hyped production of modern tracks, but they definitely pump.

See what you think for a ride with a different sound…we go through waves of prog, trance and even some boshed UP breaks tunes in here…

fr33st4t3 - tracer (right click and Save As to download)

Tracklist after the jump!

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Posted by: Derek

Oh boy, here we go…I’m off the deep end on this one…

I was originally gonna post a modern set for this week, but I saw Cor’s last podcast description referencing ol skool, rave culture, and classics, and I just had to bust this one out.

This is hard house. No really, not that US hardhouse from NYC, the full on ravey UK kind.
Yes, it has hoovers.
Yes, it has scifi vocals.
Yes, it’s at like 150bpm.

If this doesn’t make you think of dark, dank spaces filled with the sweat of crowds of ravers and the electricity of their chemical buzz, and hoopers and glowstickers going nuts, and that one guy who always has to take his fracking shirt off — then nothing will!

I don’t know what year it was when DJ Morgan whipped this stuff up, but try finding a venue that plays like THIS nowadays! Ha!
Y’all are either gonna love it or hate it - it’s hard to be on the fence on this one.
I think it’s brilliant…

So, bringin you back to the days of the Dungeon undergrounds on Bush and Van Ness….here we go!

DJ Morgan - Sentinel (right-click to download to disk!)

Posted by: Derek

I had the pleasure of meeting LA-based producer Nicholas Bennison when I worked for Looq records back in the day.

Originally from the UK, Nicholas is a killer producer and DJ. He’s a genre chameleon, switching from melodic progressive to trance, tech-trance, and full-on psy, and his sound has gotten the attention of some of the biggest names in the biz, and he’s done original work and remixes for a crap-ton of labels, including legendary Hook Recordings.

He tends to keep it pretty tough and rolling - as reflected in his own sound and also that of his label Propulsion Records.

This set from him from 2004 runs the gamut of sounds, and is chock full of solid tunes. I grabbed it from his website at the time of release back when and it’s been with me ever since! Actually, I remember it from a particular night of it playing in my car while I ferried Jondi and Spesh between gigs on NYE…

It makes killer road music - so burn yourself a copy for the road to Black Rock if you’re going to BM this year — it will definitely keep the journey interesting.

Listen here:

Nicholas Bennison - Energy FM 2004 Mix (right-click to download)

Posted by: Derek

DJ Dara (né Darragh Guilfoyle) should be a familiar name to anyone who’s been into DnB for a while. Originally from Ireland, he emigrated to New York just as the beats were starting to roll, and after making a name for himself in the emerging arena of jungle/drum’n'bass, he started one of the genre’s seminal labels and record shops — Breakbeat Science. Through the label and his own productions and DJ sets, he’s been a pioneer and essential element in the development of DnB as we know it today.

And holy carp, here’s a digitized version of an old mixtape of his from 1997! In some ways it’s crazy old school, but it really showcases Dara as a visionary as well, because it still sounds fresh and solid. And we got both sides of the tape here for ya!

So for those who enjoy a bit of roll n skitter…here we go:

DJ Dara - Beats 97 Side A (right click and Save As.. to download!)

DJ Dara - Beats 97 Side B (right click and Save As.. to download!)

Tracklist after the jump!
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