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-- DJs whose mixes tell stories..

DJs whose mixes tell stories..

Hi everybody,
I'm looking for DJs whose mixes "tell stories". Mixes, which are well structured and have a fine selection of intelligent tracks (not only the "typical" stuff played by every other DJ), genre should be progressive (-house/trance) and/or (melodic) minimal (I really dig "Kritical Audio - Krupp (Minilogue Remix)). Any DJ out there who could fulfill my expectations?!

Spice

no idea if he counts as prog house but one of the very best at telling a story is satoshi tomiie

Seriously.

Try Afterhours 2 CD 1 mixed by Trafik.

Thats one hell of a mix.

All Dj sets tell a story. Problem is most of the stories are crap.

such a set has not yet been publicated, as you mean it.
most are melodic, and are following a road, but telling a story is entirely different from what all the mixes are.

i tried telling a story with a mix, when it comes to that it happens you have to switch sound and music genres, that sucks, so you have like no chance.

on the other hand you could try playing different years, with getting a meaning into sound, its a brilliant idea indeed, but i am sure to tell a good long story you need to know almost all tunes, ... hell of a project.

sorry, but this can only be done by masters of music understanding and mixing, i dont know who someone like that is :-)

This is what I try to do when I mix. Though I don't mix much anymore. Telling stories is cool, because to me, mixing music isn't just about "DJing" and "DJing" isn't just about playing music to make people dance. It can be used to make people think, dream and also be entertained...kind of like a movie or a book. There's mixes in which I feel can make the listener feel engrossed into it...like Tiesto's "ISOS 3" or Armin van Buuren's "Universal Religion". The same can be said for Sasha's "Inolver" which seems to have a loose story to it, because the tracks are crafted as such that they flow so well together. A lot of the "Global Undergrounds" esp those mixed by Nick Warren...seem to have some kind of story or "theme" to them. It's easy to get "theme" mixed with "story" but I think the idea is to make up a story in your mind, rather than have someone give it to you. That's the beauty of instrumental music IMO.

IMO the best "storytelling" dj set was paul oak on global underground 004. The switching of genres in the set does ALOT to progress the whole idea of it.

quote:

Originally posted by camsr IMO the best "storytelling" dj set was paul oak on global underground 004. The switching of genres in the set does ALOT to progress the whole idea of it.

Oh yeah that was a cool mix too. But telling a story can mean playing different tracks of different moods from within the same genre, not neccessarily meaning playing a variety of genres, although that always helps. You could start off with some chill out or downtempo tracks, work up to energetic and uplifting tracks and then even throwing in some non-dance stuff in the mix. For example, check out Ferry Corsten's "Infinite Euphoria" it seems to be mixed kind of strange, but he scatters non EDM snippets from Enigma, the Romeo & Juliet Balcony Theme (which was actually used in Mark Thornton's "Theme For the Star Crossed Lovers") and his unplugged version of "Cry" among others. It's similar to what Oakenfold did on "Another World".

quote:

Originally posted by MichaelBoogerd! All Dj sets tell a story. Problem is most of the stories are crap.

lol

Well said.

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This thread has really got me thinking about mix and what it means, so I appreciate it. It makes me wonder what good is a DJ if he's just mixing a batch of random tunes...

Like has already been recommended, I immediately thought of the Global Underground series. The particular ones that come to mind are GU 009: San Fransisco, GU 024: Reykjavik, GU 027: Miami, and GU 013: Ibiza. I think the whole point of the GU's is that they tell a story about the place after which they are named, and I definitely got the vibe of each of those places with those mixes. Especially Reykjavik probably.

*cough*

Both Global Underground and Renaissance CD's are excellent for telling stories, I'm guessing the type of music and programming pays a massive part in that. Danny Howells Revelation CD ending on Mothers Pride Nightflight, seriously powerful stuff.

Trance wise, you'd do worse than to check out either:

Gatecrasher Digital Trance - Compiled by Scott Bond has some still unreleased, but beautiful trance works, go more uptempo its wonderful CD.

Also Guy Ornadels Slinky CD, which opens on Sonorous - Glass Garden, a truly mezmerising track and ends on Drax vs. Scott Mac Blue Sun. Fucking love that CD, taking it to my grave.

They're DJs.

They play other people's music.

guys.

quote:

Originally posted by Psy-T *cough*

YOU TOO DEREK!

quote:

Originally posted by distant They're DJs. They play other people's music. guys. YOU TOO DEREK!

...and collage artists use other people's images.
...and painters use other people's colours.
...and colour factories use other people's chemicals.
...
..
.

quote:

Originally posted by distant They're DJs. They play other people's music. guys.

But when making mixed CDs, much more thought should go into it than just "playing other people's music". There's a lot you can do with other people's music, just as there's things you can do with other people's art, movies/movie clips, sound effects, whatever. Sampling is based on taking other people's stuff, and sometimes creating whole music around it. In a sense, someone can completely de-construct what someone else made and create something new, and it can yield new things...ask PvD or Sasha..they do it all the time now. It all deals with being 1. A creative DJ (not just a showman, or jukebox) 2. Able to program a good set that flows. Programming is what it's about..not just simply playing other people's music in a random order with no thought as to how or where things should or could go.

Another really cool CD that kinda has a loose story to it is Jason Dunne's "Sunrise Sessions". It builds really well, and the tracks have a sunny and warm, yet still hypnotic feel to them. One of the best, most underrated trance CDs IMO.

When i'm listening to mixed CDs, I want to be engrossed in it, and to feel it. To simply have a collection of tunes, IMO, is boring and doesn't keep me interested. But if the DJ can seriously put some thought as to what goes where and to build the mix up or bring it down or just be creative..it's much more worth the money for IMO. Live, it doesn't matter as much, but I would think it would make more sense at a festival to do something like this than a club. Most people just go there to dance, and the DJ doesn't have as much time to build a set really, at most club nights nowadays.

Oh and another thing I like about CDs or just DJ sets that flow or are programmed like a story is that you usually don't need to skip tracks. I find those CDs that are just tracks put together....I just listen to it for a few tracks. Even filler tracks in sets or CDs that tell a story in a sense...are more interesting than just a collection of tunes.

For those who remember - what about Paul Oakenfolds "Urban Soundtracks" ?

These sets indeed tell a story - with music creating a great atmosphere to some of the best novels narrated by many famous people.

I just love this concept, it's one of Oakies best projects in my opinion.

Too bad that there aren't any new ones - these sets gave me many hours of fun!

most DJ mixes tell a story of how over hyped they really are.

Paul Oakenfold's Goa Mix

download the mix in my sig

Maybe Balance 005? When I listen to it I have a feeling like whole CD1 is all about PQM - You Are Sleeping.

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