Alright. Here it is, my rendition of the Marathon challenge. Upon listening to it, it might not seem much of a challenge as it’s mainly 4x4, but this was extremely challenging for me, largely due to the amount of time it took me just to figure out what direction I want to take this in. Let me explain the conundrum I was encountered with. If you're looking for a TLR, head to the bottom of the post and download the 6-part set.
So, I was actually super thrilled this was chosen as the challenge theme as I had plenty of ideas in my head. That was part of the problem – way too many ideas. I first wanted to do a full vinyl mix, but at the end of the day I did not have the motivation to go through all of my records, dust some off, and listen to them for the first time in years. I would then have to clean every record I had selected for the mix, further adding more time. Combined with everything else I have going on with my life right now, going digital, at least partly, looked far more attractive.
So I started out part digital, part vinyl, but I was having trouble marrying up the sound and theme I wanted to take the mix in. I didn’t want to over-rely on one medium or the other if doing a part-mix, and I was already relying too much on the digital medium. Due to the sheer volume of selections I had to choose from in my record collection, along with the near endless supply of tracks digitally, I began to lose even more motivation and stopped really caring for this challenge anyway. That was back in the latter half of 2018.
Fast forward to early 2019, where I figured I did not want to let anyone down, least of all myself, and pretty much forced myself to get going on this mix. I decided that it was going to be full digital for the mix, which might make it boring and studio-like in some parts due to it being pretty much 100% beatmatched, but it is what it is. I started playing around with a few anchor tracks, and built a rough framework of where I wanted to go in the mix and when. I had a few tracks that I was going to DEFINITELY play, but largely a bunch that may fit, may not, very loosely. Sort of the same as when you bring your record case with you to a gig. You have packed up before of a bunch of records you know you’re going to play, some floor bangers, and others to fill up the gaps. That’s pretty much what happened here but to a much larger extent.
Honestly, I couldn’t stop myself. I found myself going through so many genres that I wanted to focus on for the mix. First, I wanted to play out a no-nonsense, 4/4 pound your feet to the floor house set. That changed to a more melodic techno ala Dixon style mix, which then changed to a more driving melodic mix. This then evolved to a more techy progressive mix… and you see where I’m going with this. I had so many change of ideas and feelings that I got de-motivated again. This pretty much caused me to hang up the headphones again.
About a month ago, I pretty much said screw it, I gotta get this done. I was thinking a lot about “back in the day” (which really isn’t that far back, but back enough to my partying days), and the amount of fun I used to have DJing back-to-back with my very close friend. We’re not that close anymore, living in two different cities and me having distanced myself from the clubbing lifestyle, but whenever we get a chance to hang out it’s always a good time.
My close friend used to host these massively long parties, usually on a special occasion (New Years, birthdays, long weekends, etc.). He and I used to always provide the tunes, often times mixing back-to-back on a variety of mediums – Traktor, vinyl, CDs, you name it. We were known for our abnormally long marathon mixes, the longest one I think we ever recorded was about 12-13 hours long. We literally played every electronic genre we could think of. One night, we started off the night at 105 BPM and ended up at 180 BPM if I remember correctly. I thought to myself, “well this would be a good theme for this marathon mix”. Not this crazy in terms of genre and BPM progression, but something of that magnitude in length.
So, that’s where I went with this. In homage to my younger self, and my close friend, I present to you Timeless. It’s a full exploration of a wide variety of genres, but not as eclectic as what we used to play. It’s more of a linear club journey… something that I believe would work well not only in a dark, intimate club that is open for 12 hours, but in a house party for 20-30 close friends. In this mix, I envision a hypothetical 10PM to 10AM club where in some spots of the mix people are coming and going, going for smoke breaks, chat breaks, maybe even leaving at around 5-6AM, but others coming in at 7AM after having slept the night before and waking up for some early morning dancing. Or, it’s a no-nonsense, 12 hour long house party with people filtering in and out throughout the night.
I legitimately sat and stood in front of my DJ mixer and pressed record for 12 hours straight this Saturday. Unfortunately, I don’t have proof that this was done, you’ll just have to take my word for it. But this challenge meant a lot to me and doing it in two or three separate recording sessions just wouldn’t have done it justice.
It was fairly brutal without a live crowd to feed off of, but I managed to get through it. I remember at 4 hours thinking that I was almost done, but then there was that sudden (and painful) realization that I still had an entire 8 hours to go still. Needless to say, at the end of the night I was absolutely exhausted. If there were any rough spots in the mix, they were kept in. No editing this time around. My tracklist is 150 tracks long, but I had about 220 in my “record crate” that I was juggling between. I had several spots in the mix where I knew exactly what couple tracks I was going to play, but for others it was on the fly. Thankfully we have a high table in our apartment and our table chairs are a bit shorter than bar stool height, so I was able to mix some parts just like Frankie Knuckles used to sitting down, may he RIP. If I wasn’t able to sit down at parts of the mix I don’t think my knees would have functioned today lol.
As 12 hours is a massive amount of time, I have separated the mix into 6 chunks which I believe will suit well as individual mixes. However, I challenge you to find 12 hours to listen to this thing fully, if you so dare. It really encapsulates what I would play by some chance I’ve been asked to spin a marathon set at an event, or even at a house party with all of my closest friends. Something that fully lets me explore all of the styles I like to DJ (almost!) – all in one mix.
**Some notes: The last couple of parts are on the trancier side, so my apologies to anyone who isn’t fond of progressive house and/or trance anymore. I also abused Mistique Music a little bit, but meh. Lastly, you also might hear some tunes you’ve heard before. This is because in the last couple of years, I’ve been solely focused on liquid dnb, and frankly haven’t bought a 4x4 track since 2017. My apologies if the majority of tracks are old now and if you’ve heard most of them already. The fact I didn’t dig around for new 4x4 tunes in the past few years might come across as lazy, but I just had too much going on to dig for 200-300 tracks that would have fit my mix’s planned timeframe. I hope you can forgive me.
Mixes:
Part 1 (The Entrance)
Part 2 (The Hike)
Part 3 (The Ascent)
Part 4 (The Peak)
Part 5 (The Expanse)
Part 6 (The Descent)
Tracklist:
Part 1 (The Entrance)
1. Francis Harris - Living Lips (Kate Simko Remix) [Scissor & Thread] [2012]
2. Karol XVII, MB Valence - The Rusty Piano [Loco] [2011]
3. In2Deep & Vadim Yershov - Graffiti [Null] [2012]
4. Satoshi Fumi - 4mm (Iori Wakasa Remix) [Unknown Season] [2013]
5. Joey Negro Presents Akabu - Another World (Andre Lodemann Mix) [Z] [2010]
6. Claptone feat. Jaw - No Eyes [Exploited] [2013]
7. Evren Ulusoy - Dearly Devoted (Gorge's Classic Remix) [I] [2011]
8. Dual T - Rainy Afternoon [Savoir Faire] [2013]
9. Martijn - Noc Noc [Savoir Faire] [2013]
10. Le Vinyl - Organica [I] [2011]
11. Artem Teya - Something (Matematica Remix) [Underground City] [2013]
12. Ilias Katelanos - Freedom Of Choice [EDM Underground] [2013]
13. D.M.P - Non Plus Ultra [Deep Dive] [2013]
14. Flow & Zeo - Surrender (Adryan & Sandrino Remix) [Tropical Beats] [2011]
15. Greg Stainer - Sax Is Back (Karol XVII & MB Valence Mix) [Seamless] [2011]
16. Jamie Woon vs. Dousk - Shoulda Stories (Ricky Ryan Dub Mashup)
17. Greg Gow - Darkest Hour [Restructured] [2013]
18. Flapjackers - Love Shout [Coyote Cuts] [2013]
19. Bicep - Seagulls [Feel My Bicep] [2015]
20. Xosar - The Calling [Rush Hour] [2013]
21. Benjamin Damage - 010x [50 Weapons] [2013]
22. Oniris - Summertime [Traum] [2014]
23. Joris Voorn - Incident (Miyagi) [Rejected] [2011]
24. Jerome Martinez - Valley Of Tears [Hensen] [2014]
25. MGMX - Underground Revolution (Greg Gow's Stripped Rework) [Restructured] [2012]
26. Henrik Jonsson & Joel Alter - Tribunen [Kontra] [2013]
27. Locked Groove - Keep Thorough (Iron Galaxy Remix) [Turbo] [2013]
Part 2 (The Hike)
28. Amethyst, Lenny Lenoks - Cinnamon Sky (Dandy Aka Peter Makto & Gregory S Remix) [Crossfade Sounds] [2013]
29. Berny - I Guess You Know (Dance) (Kruse & Nuernberg Mix) [Seamless] [2010]
30. Markus Homm - Night Shift [Night Drive] [2012]
31. Emmanuel - Trilogy (Sei A Remix) [Monique] [2013]
32. Inkfish - Detroit [Bedrock] [2011]
33. Bicep - Circles [Aus] [2014]
34. Get Serious - 213 [Restructured] [2013]
35. Benjamin Damage - Up [50 Weapons] [2014]
36. Vince Watson - Planet Funk [Poker Flat] [2014]
37. Madben - Promise Land [Hype] [2011]
38. Hardfloor - Acperience 1 (Robert Babicz Spacefunk Mix) [Hardfloor] [2011]
39. Cid Inc. - Crossfire [Tenampa] [2012]
40. Summer (Brendon Collins) - Red Giant [Tulipa] [2011]
41. Khen - Thousand Mirrors [Proton] [2013]
42. Rich Curtis - Hearts & Minds (Santiago Garcia Remix) [Replug] [2012]
43. Lank - Random Condom [AlterImage] [2012]
44. Paul Hazendonk - Slack Tide (Guy Mantzur, Khen Remix) [Hope] [2013]
45. Sound Process, Guille Quero - Denial (Lonya Remix) [Stripped] [2013]
46. Ricky Ryan - Rainbow Bridge (Sezer Uysal Remix) [Outside The Box] [2010]
47. Dibby Dougherty & David Young - Tiger Forest (Ryan Davis Rework) [Bedrock] [2011]
48. John O'Callaghan - One Special Particle (Guy J Remix) [Subculture] [2014]
49. Way Out West - Tuesday Maybe (Guy J Remix) [Anjunadeep] [2017]
50. Gav Fraser - Black Lite (Beat Syndrome Remix) [Balkan Connection] [2013]
51. John Creamer, Stephane K - Forget The World (Mariano Fresh & Vanaheim Remix)
Part 3 (The Ascent)
52. Dido - My Lover's Gone (Santiago Garcia Unofficial Remix)
53. Mindlook - Drowned In The Mood [Baires] [2012]
54. Juan Deminicis - Flashbacks [Perspectives Digital] [2011]
55. Henry Saiz - Of Muses & Slaves (Santi Mossman & Rodrigo Mateo Remix) [Natura Sonoris] [2014]
56. Luis Junior - Deep Dip (King Unique Remix) [Mooseekaa] [2012]
57. Damian Lazarus & Sasha vs. Sabotage & Lady B - Spinnin' @ The End (King Unique Bootleg)
58. Lank - Needless Solution (Silinder Remix) [Proton] [2011]
59. Guy J - Lamur (Henry Saiz Remix) [Bedrock] [2009]
60. Sebastien Leger - Jaguar [Mistakes] [2008]
61. Charles Fenckler - Anklam [Soma] [2014]
62. Future Mode - New World Order (Satoshi Fumi Noa Noa Mix) [Ready Mix] [2009]
63. UNER - BassBoot [Diynamic] [2011]
64. Scuba - Never [K7] [2012]
65. Head High - Hex Factor [Power House] [2014]
66. Anushka vs. Carl Bee - Constantly Maze'd (King Unique Bootleg)
67. Tiga vs. Audion - Let's Go Dancing [Turbo] [2013]
68. Ross Evans - Someday [Cecille Numbers] [2013]
69. Sonic Union, Khen - Introspection (Tommi Oskari Remix + Cid Inc. Remix) [Replug] [2013]
70. James Holden - A Break In The Clouds (Nikko.Z Unofficial Remix)
71. King Unique - Yohkoh (Rodrigo Mateo Remix) [Sudbeat] [2014]
72. Satoshi Fumi - The Messenger (Ian O'Donovan Remix) [Unknown Season] [2013]
73. Rich Curtis - Latitude End (Verve Remix) [FutureForm] [2014]
74. DNYO - Fringe (Tim Penner Remix) [Indigo] [2012]
75. Aphex Twin - Polynomial-C (Maceo Plex Edit)
76. Guy J & Miriam Vaga - Fly [Bedrock] [2011]
77. Michael & Levan Feat. Stiven Rivic - Leap Of Faith [Mistiquemusic] [2011]
Part 4 (The Peak)
78. Gus Gus - David (Luke Chable Remix) [Hussle n Bussle] [2004]
79. Guy J - High [Sudbeat] [2012]
80. Rodskeez - Viviera [Sounds Of Earth] [2012]
81. Bicep - NRG106 [Aus] [2014]
82. Cid Inc. - Refrost [Replug] [2009]
83. Darin Epsilon - Red Matter [Sudbeat] [2013]
84. Omar El Gamal - Groove Culture [Lowbit] [2014]
85. Guy J - Lost And Found (Guy Mantzur & Sahar Z Remix) [Lost & Found] [2012]
86. Eelke Kleijn - Theme For Spliffy (Hernan Cattaneo & Soundexile Remix) [Manual] [2011]
87. Guy J - Azimuth (Kassey Voorn Remix) [Bedrock] [2012]
88. Andy King - Sativa [Perspectives Digital] [2011]
89. Cid Inc. - Blizzard [Replug] [2011]
90. Marst - Nanga [A-traction] [2016]
91. Slam - Azure (DAVI Remix)
92. Luke Chable - The Shepard (Hernan Cattaneo & Martin Garcia Remix) [Vapour] [2011]
93. Kay-D - Beautiful Stranger [Mistique] [2010]
94. Relaunch - From Dark To Light [Mistique] [2012]
95. Napalm, d-phrag - 43 (F-Act Remix) [LuPS] [2012]
96. Cosmithex - Shipment [JOOF] [2012]
97. Airwave vs. Mason - You Are Not Alone In Zen City (Subtara Remix Edit)
98. Whitenite - Memento (Gai Barone Mix) [Navigation] [2008]
99. Timewave - Through The Fire [Mistique] [2012]
100. Stefan Anion - Orion's Belt (The Emissary Remix) [Proton] [2007]
101. Jono Fernandez - Colours of Conscience (Fretwell Remix) [Baroque] [2003]
102. Moshic - False Emotion (Airwave New School Breaks Mix) [Bonzai Progressive] [2013]
103. Trukers - Trocotrace (Timewave Remix) [Mistique] [2012]
Part 5 (The Expanse)
104. Maindave - Lessa La Tenwyy El Hakyy (Kintar Remix)
105. David Granha - Losing All The Time [Stripped] [2011]
106. Vibrasphere - In Control (Chris Micali Dub) [Tribal Vision] [2007]
107. Deep Fog feat. Wi - Fear (Suffused Remix) [Mistique] [2011]
108. Airwave - Amber Sky (Basil O'Glue Remix) [Bonzai Progressive] [2017]
109. Phi Phi & Airwave - A Breeze On The Nile (Relaunch Remix) [Bonzai Progressive] [2014]
110. MSZ - Air Under There (Deep Soul Duo Remix) [Mistique] [2012]
111. Aggressor - Crystal Waves [Old SQL] [2013]
112. Nick Muir - Airtight (Kassey Voorn Epic Interpretation) [Vapour] [2012]
113. Kay-D - Natural Touches (Relaunch Remix) [Mistique] [2013]
114. Hernan Cattaneo, John Tonks - Sirocco [Renaissance] [2006]
115. Michael & Levan feat. Stiven Rivic - Healing [Mistique] [2013]
116. CJ Art - Dyssomnia (Deep Soul Duo Remix) [Mistique] [2012]
117. Manu Riga - Everything Comes To An End (Solar Fields Remix) [Bonzai Progressive] [2012]
118. Incolumis - Tecabrali (Incolumis Calibrated Mix) [JOOF] [2011]
119. Ozgur Ozkan - Only Desire (CJ Art's Tribal Trip To Lublin Remix) [LuPS] [2012]
120. J Michael Kober - Kinetic Stasis [JOOF V.2] [2012]
121. Dousk - Wrist Slap (Kasey Taylor, Karlos Elizondo Edit) [Vapour] [2005]
122. David West & Inkfish Presents De Nada - Rush (Inkfish Remix) [Nervine] [2006]
123. Tilt - I Dream (Tilt's Resurrection Mix) [Hooj] [1999]
124. Michael & Levan & Stiven Rivic - Angel Dream (Kintar Remix) [Liquid Surface] [2010]
125. Kind Of Zero - Favourite Train (Alex Stealthy's Dark & Brooding Mix) [Sog Chrome] [2005]
126. Aggressor - Where Are You (Relaunch Remix) [Mistique] [2011]
127. MSZ - My Voice Is Slipping [Mistique] [2011]
128. MSZ - Formisia [Mistique] [2012]
129. David Granha - Akenathon (David Granha's Imotep 2012 Remix) [Liquid Grooves] [2012]
130. Insert Name - Opus Dei 2.5 [JOOF] [2011]
131. Underworld - Cowgirl (Bedrock Mix) [Junior Boy's Own] [2000]
132. Sasha - Xpander (12" Remastered Version) [Deconstruction] [2009]
Part 6 (The Descent)
133. Derek Howell - I'll Never Forget To Remember (The Emissary Remix) [Polytechnic] [2008]
134. ZB - False News (Loquai Remix) [Mistique] [2011]
135. Ruslan-Set feat. Aelyn - Tabiti (Chiba Remix) [Panda] [2012]
136. Tee-Ex - Chorded [Morphosis] [2014]
137. DJ Noor & Stefan Addo - Distances (Atrium Sun Dirty Breaks Mix) [Mistique] [2013]
138. Kaan Koray - Heart of Africa (Alfoa Epic Breaks Mix) [Suffused] [2013]
139. Blusoul - Eat Dust [Mistique] [2011]
140. Bianco Soleil - The Metro
141. Chad - Artifacts [Officina Sonora] [2011]
142. CJ Peeton - Perfect Memory [Stellar Fountain] [2013]
143. Following Light - Calm (Exoplanet Remix) [Particles] [2014]
144. Textural Being - Nitrogen Music [ZeECc] [2010]
145. Guy J - Whirlpool [Bedrock] [2011]
146. Guy J - Lamur (AM Mix) [Bedrock] [2011]
147. King Unique, Anthony Pappa - Vamoosh (King Unique Kosmische Mix) [Bedrock] [2011]
148. Bicep - Drift [Ninja Tune] [2017]
149. Guy J - My Organ Friend [Bedrock] [2011]
Last edited by on Apr-13-2019 at 13:43
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