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-- ::::::::. **** TA DJ Challenge Series - Theme Mix (completed) **** .::::::::
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The deadline is tomorrow. We have 5 participants that have not yet submitted a mix. Do I need to give one more extension?

I'm putting the finishing touches on the mix, should be ready for tomorrow night but I wouldn't mind a few days extension just in case.

Considering a Science Fiction themed mix, I wanted to go the "Soundtrack to an Imaginary Film" route. While I initially wanted to go in a distinctive dystopian direction, I found myself pushed more and more toward Outer Space. Yep, it's pretty much the basic go-to for Science Fiction, but what can I say? Anyways, I still wanted to go the soundtrack route, telling some type of story. I ended up actually writing a few paragraphs of a plot outline to keep my mix focused, and I'm rather pleased with how it (the mix) turned out.

I started trying to actually image what it would be like to go to space and decided that, as much as I'd love to do so, the actual act would probably give me an anxiety attack. So, I'd probably try to take some type of anxiety medicine before blasting off. In that light, this mix starts off rather idyllic (in my view), before the medicine starts to wear off and the journey goes to unexpected places.

I'm still trying to figure out a couple of the labels and exact remixes I used for some of the songs, so I'll post those on the SoundCloud page when I sort it out - either later tonight or sometime tomorrow. I'd actually recommend listening without looking at the tracklist, for more of a spoiler-free listen, if you will, but people are, of course, free to do as they wish.

The mixing isn't perfect, I admit, as this is actually my first mix in two years [], but hopefully it doesn't detract too much.

Anyways, hope some people enjoy this, and don't find it too clich�d.



I'll start writing reviews for other mixes later this week


Also, I have no idea how to make the SoundCloud widget allow downloads without going to the actual page. Why'd they have to make this so complicated?

So finally, here's my genre mix. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do with this mix... take the "outer space" route with dubby ambient and turn-of-the-century progressive? Go quirky and goofy sci-fi B-movie with obscure moog-synth and theremin pieces? Do a post-apocalyptic themed mix with raw minimal techno and bleak, droning ambient? Instead, I settled on an aesthetic and a style of music I absolutely am enamored with...

This mix is my attempt to convey driving your shiny new Testarossa through a neon-glazed cyberpunk future-that-never-was version of Tokyo... whether it be racing down electrified streets, attempting to outrun the cops in a corporate-fueled police state, or simply going for a leisurely cruise with your woman... this is the soundtrack of your Neo-Tokyo night.

Enjoy!

Tracklist

quote:

1) Tokyo Rose - Vice 2) Converter - Lost Years 3) Nick Force - Faded Love 4) Labtracks - Driver (Domestic Technology's Miami Vice Remix) 5) Mitch Murder feat. EeL - Galaxy Train 1989 6) Lazerhawk - Space Is The Place 7) Perturbator - Miami Disco 8) Power Glove - Motorcycle Cop 9) Kavinsky - 1986 10) Lueur Verte - Night Slasher II (Perturbator Remix) 11) Droid Bishop - Light Years 12) Bestrack - Stamina 13) Anoraak - Nightdrive With You (Grum Mix)

Download

Download Here (Right-Click/Save-As)

My mix is done too. Listening back, however, there are some annoying skips/artifacts in the intro that I don't recall being there when I mixed it. I'll see if I can fix it up a bit when I get home from work this evening. If not, it can't be helped.

I did upload the mix to Speedyshare yesterday evening, as I have no webspace, but the link gets flagged for spyware when I try to download it. I'll get a Mixcloud or something together, as it's probably the best for sharing mixes with people anyway. I really should have set this up in advance, and I apologise for not being able to keep the deadline because of it. It won't happen again.

quote:

Originally posted by djdk 01. Voyager 1 - Sounds Of Jupiter [NASA] 02. Aphex Twin - #5 [Warp] 03. Global Communication - 9:39 [Dedicated] 04. The Orb - Back Side Of The Moon [Universal] 05. Future Sound Of London - Everyone In The World Is Doing Something 06. Without Me [Virgin] 07. Cell - Floating Retention [Ultimae] 08. Future Sound Of London - Vertical Pig [Virgin] 09. Space Manoeuvres - Pentexplorer [Lost Language] 10. Outer Space Alliance - Dea Alba [Holy Feather] 11. James Horner - Aliens OST Main Title [Fox] 12. Antibreak - Planet Eater [Offworld Recordings] 13. Scro & LM1 - Unexpected [Influenza] 14. Voyager - Hypersleep (EZ Rollers Remix) [R&S]

Really enjoyed the first half of this. The tracks really capture the same kind of vast, yet utterly isolated feeling that the idea of suspended animation/stasis gives me, and the transitions from tracks 3 to 5 are tremendous in that sense.

Not quite so keen on the second half, where the more rhythmic tracks are introduced. That's partly because I don't much care for drum n bass these days, and partly because introducing rhythms into the picture kind of breaks the spell of the first half. Personally, I would have preferred staying within the beatless realm, to see what other textures and undercurrents you would have worked your way into.

These are just issues related to my own taste, though. Regarding the theme of the challenge itself, I think this mix does the job very nicely indeed, and makes me wonder what you would have done with more time at your disposal.

Really freaking excited to listen to these mixes. I wish I could have participated

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Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch So finally, here's my genre mix. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do with this mix... take the "outer space" route with dubby ambient and turn-of-the-century progressive? Go quirky and goofy sci-fi B-movie with obscure moog-synth and theremin pieces? Do a post-apocalyptic themed mix with raw minimal techno and bleak, droning ambient? Instead, I settled on an aesthetic and a style of music I absolutely am enamored with... This mix is my attempt to convey driving your shiny new Testarossa through a neon-glazed cyberpunk future-that-never-was version of Tokyo... whether it be racing down electrified streets, attempting to outrun the cops in a corporate-fueled police state, or simply going for a leisurely cruise with your woman... this is the soundtrack of your Neo-Tokyo night. Enjoy! Tracklist Download Download Here (Right-Click/Save-As)

Well, I'm a sucker for catchy synth pop melodies, and seeing as this is basically one hour straight of that, it suits me just fine. Some really nice tunes in here, which led me to discover Aphasia Recs., a label I had only vaguely heard of before via the brilliant Magic Waves on Intergalactic.fm.

Not so sure if it really fits in with the challenge, though. To me, this sounds more like a flashy and decadent 80s throwback rather than anything futuristic (the artwork for a lot of the stuff in this mix seems to back that up as well). But hey, maybe I just haven't watched enough sci fi from back in those days.

Right, finally got things sorted out. It looks like everyone thought everyone else would go the dystopian route, and thus eschewed it for other approaches. That's good for me, because I've truly gone down that particular rabbit hole on this one. The deadline really crept up on me, so I still think the mix doesn't flow quite as effortlessly as I had hoped, but it most definitely represents a handful of the images I wanted to turn into music when the theme was agreed upon. I won't really describe the mix much more beyond that, as it'd make things a bit too obvious.



UR - Words From Atlantis [UR - UGCD-UR2005]
CoH - Boog [Editions Mego � MEGO 055]
Antanas Jasenka - System Zone [Audioactiviste - AA08]
Ryoji Ikeda - Supercodex 03 [Raster-Noton - R-N 150]
Kim Cascone - Zephirum Scan [Sub Rosa ‎- SR200]
KK Null - 0418 [Touch ‎� TO:74]
Oneohtrix Point Never - Free Ride [NNA Tapes - NNA051]
Robert Hampson - Signaux 1 [Editions Mego - eMEGO 148.1]
Christina Kubisch - In Transition [Important - IMPREC328]
Laica - Environs II [Alrealon - ALRN 045]
Mika Vainio - Half Awake Half Asleep [Raster-Noton - R-N 109]
DJ Datch - Dark Factory 01 [NuLabel - NU 024]
D Carbone - Abuse [Dynamic Reflection - DREF012]
Bas Mooy - Nastase (Developer Remix 1) [Audio Assault - AAR041]
Daniel L - Sypher (Iformat Remix) [Gynoid Audio - GYNOIDD012]
Excluded - Absurdity [Local Sound Network - LSNDS005]
Aphex Twin - Phloam [R&S - RS95035DB]
Shadows - Where There Is Only Light [Avian - AVN006]
Death Abyss - Love Is A Weakness (Tomohiko Sagae Remix) [Rodz-Konez - MAK035]
Cristian Vogel - Hearing Things Before They Happen (IQ2) [Magnetic North - MAGNET007]
Clouds - Lot Of Calls From No One (Part 2) [Deep Medi Musik - MEDI046]
Stellar OM Source - Process Vision [MinimalRome - MR 020]
Lizzie Miles - A Good Man Is Hard To Find [Hallmark - ?]
Stellar OM Source - Process Vision [MinimalRome - MR 020]
Frank Sinatra - Dancing On The Ceiling [Capitol - 4 96988 2]
Stellar OM Source - Process Vision [MinimalRome - MR 020]
Goldfrapp - Laurel [Mute - ISTUMM356]
Stellar OM Source - Process Vision [MinimalRome - MR 020]
Anthony Rother - Databank / Nuklearer Winter [Psi49net - PSINET006]
The Exaltics - Between Places [MinimalRome - MR 020]
MagneticNW - Longest Way Down [Echoes From The Abyss ‎- EFTA001]
Red Reflection - While England Slept [Frozen Empire Media ‎- FEM04]
Helm - The Hollow Organ [Pan - PAN 50]
Thomas K�ner - Untitled [Type - TYPE072]
Troum - Crescere [Beta-lactam Ring Records - mt183]

I listened to all of the mixes in full except for Mitztronic's, which I always start and then get interrupted halfway through (I promise I will get to it! Hopefully I'll have a workday without any meetings)...

Anyways, onto the reviews!

Psyshell - Dancing Is Active Meditation

This may be the hardest mix for me to review, as I'm not really a psytrance connoisseur. The genre as a whole seems tailor-made for this competition, with its liberal use of samples from classic sci-fi movies, its kickdrums sounding like a phaser zapping constantly at 140bpm, and its heavily synthesized and inorganic sound.

Since my musical tastes lean to the more housey, mid-tempo side of things, I felt the tracks on here eventually blended into one another and sounded almost... formulaic? Acid lines in middle-eastern musical scales, photon zaps and other alien SFX, a constant BPM rate... That's not saying this was a bad mix, since it fit thematically and you managed to do a decent job with the rapid mixing the genre requires (I tried mixing psytrance for a genre competition and found it pretty tough). I just wish you would've stepped out of your comfort zone a bit more for this challenge, since this is seemingly your primary genre and the genre's innate sci-fi hooks make it almost like a given.

Favorite track was the last song, it takes those middle-eastern musical scales of to their logical conclusion, overlaying them on a slower, more drugged out beat that calls to mind a sleazy futurstic hookah lounge for an inter-species clientele.

I will say, after finishing "Dancing Is Active Meditation", Soundcloud played 4am In Healesville and that one was a bit more suited to my taste.

Lews - Journey Through the Wormhole

I really enjoyed this mix. It's got a great late 90's progressive vibe to it that I'm such a sucker for. The mixing is some of the best I've heard from you, and the track selection is great. There are many tracks which capture the futurist, spacey sci-fi vibe that late 90's progressive was known for and really felt like speeding through an interdimensional portal as the synth melodies and tracks shift and bend at the speed of light. Love the intro tracks which are very reminiscent of Digweed at his best, though they didn't really scream "sci-fi" to me. Ditto for the track at 40 min, the Indian melodies and scrappy tribal beats are much more earthy and grounded in reality, echoing a bustling desert marketplace rather than an odyssey at lightspeed. It's only when the acid starts coming in at 18 min followed by Space Manoeuvers - Stage One where the theme becomes fully apparent.

Favorite tracks are from 47 min to 56 min, it's where the mix really hits its peak both thematically and melodically. Would love a tracklist!

Jack Moss - Human Revolution

Knowing Jack's musical tastes and inspirations, I came into this mix with really high expectations, and although it was a bit different from what I expected, it met those expectations. Truthfully, I was expecting something similar to what Dave provided with his mix.

The liquid funk that kicks off the first half of the mix conjures up images of scientists sequencing DNA, proteins, and amino acids for genetic manipulation, with these molecules spinning around and morphing in time to the music.

Orbital - Know Where To Run is the turning point of the mix, with the mix moving out of the labs of the mega-corporations that rule the dystopian cyberpunk future from their monolithic skyscrapers down to the gritty and dingy streets below. The production quality on the song and its breakbeat structure instantly conjure up the 90's, and it's cyberpunk future by way of The Matrix, Hackers, Deus Ex, Ghost in the Shell and other pop culture icons of the time (My entry into this competition showcased the more uplifting neon-lit Tron, Knight Rider, Wipeout, influenced future). Toward the end of the track, we get our first hands-in-the-air moment... showing that even in such a bleak dystopia, there still exists hope. This track in particular is my personal favorite on the mix.

After Know Where To Run the mix returns to its drum and bass routes, but this time in a more minimal, broken, and almost melancholy way, and then ending with a bit of hard-hitting, grimy drum and bass, and ending with a solemn ambient track. Those drum and bass tunes were in my opinion the most forgettable part of the mix, they were decent songs and fit the mix, but really not too compelling.

Jack mentioned his aim was to echo a movie with his progression and I can kind of see that - the ambient tracks at the beginning establishing the setting, the liquid funk showing the hustle and bustle of the scientists and engineers that manipulate the city, Know Where To Run being the the point where the movie's storyline starts to come together, the grimy drum and bass providing the soundtrack to the clash between hero and villain, and the melancholic ending theme shows that the battle was won, but it was a pyrrhic victory, with a ton of hardship and loss along the way. You nailed the storytelling with this one.

Ziptnf - Encrypted Universe

Seems like drum & bass was quite popular this genre competition! While Jack's mix takes a more subtle, melodic view of the genre, Nick's mix is much more forward and in-your-face. The sci-fi influence is immediately discernable, stomping, robotic and industrial percussion, vast and spacious fills, pulsating phaser beams and crystalline interplanetary melodies dominating the mix. The sinister, growling basslines resemble the sounds of grotesque alien lifeforms digesting their prey...

Taken on their own, a lot of the tunes are really great (favorites are the mind-melding appergios of the track 10 minutes in, the track at 26 minutes which sounds like a neurofunk take on classic Prodigy, and the quirky, euphoric final track), but I grew a bit weary of the relentless aural and SFX assault the by the end. That is no knock against the mix, since the technical aspects are excellent, thematically it fits like a glove, and the track selection is strong. It's more due to my personal taste. Jack was on point when he mentioned your mix can be likened to a SFX-heavy blockbuster movie... and while those movies are technically incredible, they tend to tire me out after a while as well.

Dave King - Hypersleep Dreams

Probably my favorite mix of the competition, so far. The subtle, minimalist ambient that starts the mix (especially #5 and 9:39) makes me draw immediate paralells with those lonely, desolate sci-fi movies like Moon and 2001. As someone who played The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld to death, hearing Back Side of the Moon at a pitched down tempo threw me off a bit. The dubby bongo drums give this point in the mix an air of playfulness... our lone intergalactic traveler getting his first taste of human contact. The FSOL tracks, dripping in operatic sorrow, then continue with the lonesome minimalist theme, and are a personal highlight.

Halfway through the mix, and it gets its first taste of percussion. It starts subtle at first, but subsequent songs increase the prominence of the percussion while keeping the desolate ambiance of the beginning few tracks. While we thought we've been alone in the desolate reaches of outer space for the first 50 minutes, the Aliens theme slowly fades in, showing that there may be something else out there. The inclusion of this song is my biggest complaint with the mix... my mind cannot undo the strong association with the Alien movies, and I would've preferred another song so you could have continued with making this story "your own". Now that the villain has been introduced, the industrial drum and bass beats at the end provide the soundtrack as the prey attempts to outwit and outrun the predator...

The challenge is now over.

It is about 9PM EST, and the only two submissions that did not make it were from Bierheld and PivotTechno. If you two manage to submit your mixes by Thursday, I will still accept them, and you can participate in the Genre Challenge in September. If not, I will not allow you in the next challenge, but the turnout has been quite successful either way.

I've only managed to listen to a couple mixes, but when I listen to them all, I will post a mega-review much like Luke did above. This was a pretty fucking awesome idea, and I think we should do the same idea of a theme challenge next year. This really opened up the creativity floodgates and I'm extremely proud of all of you. Excellent work, everyone! Glad we could breathe some life into this dead forum.

Thank you for listening, Luke! I agree with Jack's assessment with the cult classic/blockbuster analogy, that's a pretty good way to boil it down. As far as relentless energy goes, if you listen to my other mixes, you'll find that is sorta my style It's definitely wearisome for many people so I don't blame you for feeling kinda tired of the blasting full-speed DNB by the end.

I look forward to listening to yours! It looks like quite an interesting take.

If you downloaded my mix, please try again. I had a small skipping error in it that I fixed just now... thanks and enjoy!

OK, so this project didn't go very well for me. I don't know if I just can't do anything creative whilst on a schedule or what, but needless to say these past few weeks have not been very conducive for making mixes for me.
I had plenty of scrambled ideas at the start, but no single idea for the whole thing, and I never had one at any point during it's construction.
So I spend the first few weeks of this challenge doing nothing and listening to other peoples mixes that came in for inspiration, but it didn't help. When I eventually started two weeks or so ago I just flapped together whatever music I had lying around that sounded vaguely alien or futuristic and started experimenting, which lead to a whole hoard of ideas and me wishing I would have done this sooner as I simply didn't have the time anymore to work it all out.
Still, I figured that if my project was ambitious enough, that even if I'd only get 50% of my ideas done I'd still end up with a decent mix...

Yeah it didn't work. There has only been one night that I've spend on it were I was actually feeling creative enough to do these things, the rest was just spend mindlessly rearranging tracks to try and get something listenable out of it.

So when the deadline came I figured I'd just mock something up and upload it anyway, which was kind off the plan from the start. I was supposed to do that last weekend when I had time for it, but other opportunities arrived that I felt were more important for me, especially considering how my mix was looking.
I wanted to drop out, but fortunately Zip seems to have been feeling lenient enough to give me a pass anyway if I'd get it in by Thursday.
And as it happens I've had enough free time today to do a final mixdown and upload it. So here goes:

Science Dysfunction by Bierheld on Mixcloud

quote:

Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch I just wish you would've stepped out of your comfort zone a bit more for this challenge, since this is seemingly your primary genre and the genre's innate sci-fi hooks make it almost like a given. Favorite track was the last song, it takes those middle-eastern musical scales of to their logical conclusion, overlaying them on a slower, more drugged out beat that calls to mind a sleazy futurstic hookah lounge for an inter-species clientele. I will say, after finishing "Dancing Is Active Meditation", Soundcloud played 4am In Healesville and that one was a bit more suited to my taste.

First off thanks for the review. About the comfort zone, as I said a few times earlier in the thread, it's my second mix in 2 years and as I gain a bit more experience I'll be able to be more flexible and confident. In case you didn't see earlier, all the tracks are from 95-98 where psy tended to be a bit more formulaic than it is now. Personally I find it takes a while to transition between listening to older stuff and newer stuff. While the older stuff has more melodies and is great in it's own way it does tend to cover less of a variety of moods and has far worse production values. The formulaic qualities definitely makes it easier to mix but I guess it's not to everyone's preference. If you can be bothered, it's very likely that my next mix will be a progpsy mix (probably melodic stuff from ~2001-2006ish) so it might end up being more up your alley. I'll probably end up listening to your mix some time over the next week. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's mix I haven't listened to yet.

quote:

Originally posted by ziptnf This was a pretty fucking awesome idea, and I think we should do the same idea of a theme challenge next year. This really opened up the creativity floodgates and I'm extremely proud of all of you. Excellent work, everyone! Glad we could breathe some life into this dead forum.

I totally agree. It's nice having a little community gathering with lots of people participating. It seems to be better than making a mix thread every now and then and getting the occasional person commenting. It's nice to have something that's a bit structured. It also makes it a bit easier to be competitive if you're into that. Perhaps some time over the next couple of years I'll have to get into mixing techno so I can make some sets that more people are able to get into.

quote:

Originally posted by Bierheld As for the narrative: "Somewhere, in the distant future. A computer with no concept of what music actually is or what it's supposed to do was instructed to create a mix and failed miserably. The scientists who conducted the experiment were laughing hysterically at it's efforts and called it names. The computer wanted to cry, but couldn't. It had no emotions. The end"

Well I think you should get an award for most innovative take on the theme so far.

quote:

Originally posted by Bierheld DL: http://speedy.sh/m5zDN/Science-Dysfunction.mp3

I can't figure out how to download your mix from speedy.sh.

Click the file name at the top where it says Download: Science Dysfunction in large letters, and ignore everything else on the screen.

Thank you, Jack.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch So finally, here's my genre mix. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do with this mix... take the "outer space" route with dubby ambient and turn-of-the-century progressive? Go quirky and goofy sci-fi B-movie with obscure moog-synth and theremin pieces? Do a post-apocalyptic themed mix with raw minimal techno and bleak, droning ambient? Instead, I settled on an aesthetic and a style of music I absolutely am enamored with... This mix is my attempt to convey driving your shiny new Testarossa through a neon-glazed cyberpunk future-that-never-was version of Tokyo... whether it be racing down electrified streets, attempting to outrun the cops in a corporate-fueled police state, or simply going for a leisurely cruise with your woman... this is the soundtrack of your Neo-Tokyo night. Enjoy! Tracklist Download Download Here (Right-Click/Save-As)

Felt like I was listening to a something between a sci fi video game soundtrack and an 80s revisited set. Like early 90s Nintendo futuristic racing game. Lots of fun tunes, but lack of variety made it boring after about 30mins. I can only take so much synth melody at once... It was noticeable couple of times when you up the bpm, but I suppose it was unavoidable with the low bpm you started with and the tunes you were using.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch Jack mentioned his aim was to echo a movie with his progression and I can kind of see that - the ambient tracks at the beginning establishing the setting, the liquid funk showing the hustle and bustle of the scientists and engineers that manipulate the city, Know Where To Run being the the point where the movie's storyline starts to come together, the grimy drum and bass providing the soundtrack to the clash between hero and villain, and the melancholic ending theme shows that the battle was won, but it was a pyrrhic victory, with a ton of hardship and loss along the way. You nailed the storytelling with this one.

Thanks a lot for the detailed review, it sounds like you completely understood what I was trying to put across here. I'll get round to listening to your mix shortly.

I saw Dave on Saturday and gave him a verbal review so no need to be too in-depth here. It was an enjoyable listen with great music, but because Dave didn't really have time to dig for tunes it's a bit over-familiar for me. The first half is a compilation of five of the biggest ambient albums of the '90s, all of which are so iconic and evocative it's very hard to dissociate the music from its original context, and the Aliens theme is, well, the Aliens theme.

8:36 EST. It's been a busy month capped off by a difficult week. I've had little time to play since the holidays and this weekend was finally in extended set full swing heaven at another Basement Therapy at ours, when the festivities were curtailed by (somewhat rightfully) complainey neighbours. The equivalent of DJ blue balls, this kicked a doozy of a dent in my motivation. Since Sunday, I've been generally tired and deep Winter fed up. When I saw the final extension afforded us laggards though, I had to have one last go, so I could at least say I made an effort to hold up my end of the bargoon. I finished my last treatment of the day, went for a run, changed into my pyjamas, and jammed out for an hour:



Much thanks for being so generous with the deadline.

As with all of my mixes these days, this one was improvised from start to end. I didn't set out to tell a specific story, instead electing to draw from multiple influences which all contribute to my own imagery of Science Fiction as a genre. Admittedly, I'm not a huge Sci-Fi buff - I read Asimov, Scott, Orwell and Heavy Metal as a kid, but was considerably more influenced by movies and television than literature.

I selected tracks that I hoped would invoke feelings of:

- hurtling through the atmospheres of distant planets, landing in the midst of vast, barren landscapes, terraforming and colonisation
- highly intelligent computer and android communications, and the workings of the massive mechanical constructions which they create and helm
- high speed races in floating, hydrogen-powered vehicles
- dystopian society, citizenry fed what to think and believe about themselves and the faceless, largely automated world around them
- weightlessness in deep space, tragedy on a docked space station
- alien signals, breaking the boundaries of time and space in the search for their source

Given the squeeze I was under in making this, I'm pretty content with the end result. The last few tracks feel a tad crowded, and if I could do it again, I'd give the transition from Ben Pest to Anne Clark a different treatment (possibly leaving the latter out altogether), but otherwise I'm happy with the final output. Oh, and you can dance to it, 4 a.m. warehouse styles.

Tracklist:

1. Magnetic - Ben Sims � Primate
2. The Sign - The Exaltics - electronique.it
3. Surface Noise - Planetary Assault Systems - Peacefrog
4. Singularity - DJ Slip � Kanzleramt
5. Paul dB+ - Gigahertz � Cadeaux
6. Electric Mistress - Kamaflarge - Tortured Records
7. Tron - Electric Rescue aka D'Jedi - Aciiieeed!
8. Azimuth � Mateo Murphy � Default
9. Off Transmission � Crackdown � Space Factory
10. Funkineven � Mars � Broadwalk
11. Diphda � Michaelangelo � Labrynth
12. Stargate � Mad Mike � Underground Resistance
13. Signal 1 � Outbreak - Contrast
14. Space Sick - Mark The 909 King � Sex Trax
15. Alien Be-In � Psychic TV � Temple Records
16. The Outermaze � Steve Summers �L.I.E.S.
17. Cern � Monolake - Monolake / Imbalance Computer Music
18. Human (Vector Lovers Mix) � Slam - Soma Quality Recordings
19. Yam Um Sugli � Ben Pest � Don�t
20. Sleeper In Metropolis - Anne Clark With David Harrow � Ink
21. System (v.1.0.) � Force Legato � ZYX
22. Quantum Logic � DMX Krew - Rephlex

Hah! You just barely made it. Mix accepted. Wow, we had a 100% rate in this competition! Impressive showing Thanks for the submission, you and Bierheld can join the genre challenge in September if you want!

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Originally posted by PivotTechno 8:36 EST. It's been a busy month capped off by a difficult week. I've had little time to play since the holidays and this weekend was finally in extended set full swing heaven at another Basement Therapy at ours, when the festivities were curtailed by (somewhat rightfully) complainey neighbours. The equivalent of DJ blue balls, this kicked a doozy of a dent in my motivation. Since Sunday, I've been generally tired and deep Winter fed up. When I saw the final extension afforded us laggards though, I had to have one last go, so I could at least say I made an effort to hold up my end of the bargoon. I finished my last treatment of the day, went for a run, changed into my pyjamas, and jammed out for an hour: Much thanks for being so generous with the deadline. As with all of my mixes these days, this one was improvised from start to end. I didn't set out to tell a specific story, instead electing to draw from multiple influences which all contribute to my own imagery of Science Fiction as a genre. Admittedly, I'm not a huge Sci-Fi buff - I read Asimov, Scott, Orwell and Heavy Metal as a kid, but was considerably more influenced by movies and television than literature. I selected tracks that I hoped would invoke feelings of: - hurtling through the atmospheres of distant planets, landing in the midst of vast, barren landscapes, terraforming and colonisation - highly intelligent computer and android communications, and the workings of the massive mechanical constructions which they create and helm - high speed races in floating, hydrogen-powered vehicles - dystopian society, citizenry fed what to think and believe about themselves and the faceless, largely automated world around them - weightlessness in deep space, tragedy on a docked space station - alien signals, breaking the boundaries of time and space in the search for their source Given the squeeze I was under in making this, I'm pretty content with the end result. The last few tracks feel a tad crowded, and if I could do it again, I'd give the transition from Ben Pest to Anne Clark a different treatment (possibly leaving the latter out altogether), but otherwise I'm happy with the final output. Oh, and you can dance to it, 4 a.m. warehouse styles. Tracklist: 1. Magnetic - Ben Sims � Primate 2. The Sign - The Exaltics - electronique.it 3. Surface Noise - Planetary Assault Systems - Peacefrog 4. Singularity - DJ Slip � Kanzleramt 5. Paul dB+ - Gigahertz � Cadeaux 6. Electric Mistress - Kamaflarge - Tortured Records 7. Tron - Electric Rescue aka D'Jedi - Aciiieeed! 8. Azimuth � Mateo Murphy � Default 9. Off Transmission � Crackdown � Space Factory 10. Funkineven � Mars � Broadwalk 11. Diphda � Michaelangelo � Labrynth 12. Stargate � Mad Mike � Underground Resistance 13. Signal 1 � Outbreak - Contrast 14. Space Sick - Mark The 909 King � Sex Trax 15. Alien Be-In � Psychic TV � Temple Records 16. The Outermaze � Steve Summers �L.I.E.S. 17. Cern � Monolake - Monolake / Imbalance Computer Music 18. Human (Vector Lovers Mix) � Slam - Soma Quality Recordings 19. Yam Um Sugli � Ben Pest � Don�t 20. Sleeper In Metropolis - Anne Clark With David Harrow � Ink 21. System (v.1.0.) � Force Legato � ZYX 22. Quantum Logic � DMX Krew - Rephlex

Interesting mix. Hearing a classic Ben Sims track was a pleasure. Liked quite a few tracks, but I think this mix would have been better if it was arranged to tell more of a story, using the themes you listed above.

I�ve always had a hard time writing good reviews of mixes, but I�ve found lately that stream of consciousness, slightly edited, is much better than trying to be any type of professional about the whole thing. Jack�s review is here, I�ll be posting others as I write them. Probably one every couple days � I�d rather do that then wait till I get through all of them, which will honestly take a couple weeks. I�ll definitely listen to everyone�s though, and give back feedback. Pretty cool that we all came through (with the extensions ). I really liked this theme challenge, more fun than the genre challenge, imo, though I�ll be down for that later in the year, too.


Luke, thanks for the review, man! I updated the SC with an tracklist, albeit with one ID, since I�m really not sure what the track is properly called or who really made it. The track at 40 minutes was supposed to be some type of grounding on a planet, a last minute stop somewhere or at least a flyby, maybe on the edge of the solar system, before the ship went through the wormhole proper. Or at least that�s how I�ve retconned it Really happy to hear you liked it, though



Jack Moss - Human Revolution: Review

I watched a similar, but different movie than Luke while watching Jack�s mix. Beginning of the mix reminds me of an ad, for some reason. Maybe an internal corporate ad? The voice is creepy and mechanical, so not something you�d want to show to the general public, but is touting the great benefits of Kurzweilian modification. After that, starting around 3:30, the music seems rather optimistic. Soaring chords in the background, drums that make me want to dance, it all seems good. Perhaps the first generation of modified people are enjoying their enhancements? The future is grand! Funky, at least. Definitely get images of scientists messing with genes, and other images of humans doing cool stuff impossible for non-modified folk. Future parkour, perhaps, in neo-streets?

At 16:50, the music gets a bit less optimistic, to me. Perhaps some weird side effects of the modifications? At 24, all optimism is gone. Klaxon alarm ringing. Scientists freaking out, trying to figure out what went wrong. Maybe pissed off hackers, who don�t have enough money for modifications, have broken in and are releasing neurotoxin. Something�s not good. But then at 29, back to optimistic grooves. Whatever song this is, it is fucking awesome. Maybe the hackers are stealing modification stuff, now that the scientists are dead, and modifying themselves?

33:30, clearly shit has gone very poorly. Did the hackers release too much neurotoxin, accidently take out some police? People of some sort are rebelling, clearly. Overthrowing the corporate plutocracy, perhaps? Sounds like Antibreak, so I guess the great song was Orbital. I recently discovered that my copy of The Middle of Nowhere was somehow warped and fucked up, so I�ve never actually heard any of the songs properly. Kinda embarrassing, really. Need to buy a new copy and actually listen to it. Antibreak songs bring images of a group of decent folk trying to avoid the rioting, perhaps by traveling through forgotten sewage or tube systems.

Shit picks up at 45. The survivors run into a group of villains. Maybe we have decent authentic folks vs evil modified people. Man versus machine! Or something. Definitely climax-ey. Good versus evil. Last track conjures images of skyscrapers collapsing into urban squalor, dark clouds in the sky, as survivors walk out of the city in groups. Damn humans, with their hubris and technology!

All in all, I greatly enjoyed this. Brought some great images along with it, very sci-fi-ey. I gotta agree with Luke that the latter D&B tracks were my least favorite part. They definitely fit with the theme and the programming was good, and they were good tracks, but I just enjoyed that funky first half so much! Mixing was great throughout, of course. Good stuff.

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Originally posted by Euforix Sandleaper - Erutufon 090214 Since I have heard earlier mixes from you and have tried to listen some tunes you recommend in Music Discussion I sort of knew what to except from your mix. I knew it's going to be full of hit or miss type of obscure tracks (ie. minimal, glitch, abstract, fusion... etc...). Nothing bad about some of them but on the other hand some are just personally unlistenable for me. I was surprised that you included Frank Sinatra there though! The mixing is great, flow was stable and the theme thing kept going on. I have to say this mix had the scifi theme all over it and I enjoyed it. Therefore it is very strong submission in the competition. The duration was a problem here too imo. I think this mix was a bit too long but otherwise well crafted. The later half of this mix was way better than the experimental beginning. That K�ner track at the end was fabolous and made the ending rewarding.

Nice one, thanks a lot for listening! Good to hear that at least one person wasn't completely turned off by the "difficult" first 25 mins or so, as they make up a very important piece of the puzzle for the mix.

Personally, I don't think it's the length of the mix that is the problem, but rather that the flow isn't quite as spot on as I had hoped, like I mentioned in my initial post. I've been very busy over the past few months, and I underestimated just how much time there was left to tinker with the mix before delivery. On the other hand, I try not to fuss too much with the structure of a mix either, as that tends to make things very clinical and not all that fun.

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