After two retro mixes of basically playing just well known classics, I really got my head down and did some hunting for some lesser known tunes for a second homage to the epic house sub-genre of the mid-90s. The tracks are all from the 1994-1996 period, but there's some lesser known ones in here. I'm quite pleased with the end result: it feels like an actual set, both because I've put it together myself and because it's less anthemic and more about an energy level and a groove. I was also much happier with my mixing this time round: it seemed to be one of those sets where every transition you envisage actually comes together (more or less) when you try it out. I even managed a spot of mixing breaks: I was expecting the result to sound like a bag of clocks falling down a staircase but it actually worked.

The other thing is that it runs at the very strange time of 1:43:26, which is neither a CD mix nor a two hour club mix. I was considering adding a couple more tunes to reach the two hour mark and then I thought: fuck it. It's too long to fit on a CD and why should a set have to work around the club-imposed two hour slot if it isn't being played in a club? The musical narrative I had in my head turned out to be 1:43:26, and I think it'd be harmful to alter it to meet an arbitrary length.

Anyway, enjoy:


The Epic Mix [Vintage Epic House]
Tracklist:

1. Sasha & Marie - Be As One
2. Seal - I'm Alive (BT & Sasha's Atraxion Future Mix)
3. Judy Cheeks - Reach (Quivver Vocal Remix)
4. Blue Amazon - Four Seasons
5. Big C - Daylight (Infallible Clank Mix)
6. Wild Colour - Dreams (BT's Circadian Dream Mix)
7. Bubble - The Bubble (Temple Of Doom Mix)
8. Mozaic - Sing It (The Hallelujah Song) (Quivver's Dirty Dub)
9. Bedrock - Set In Stone
10. Chakra - I Am (Digweed & Muir's Bedrock Mix)
11. Minds of Men - Brand New Day (Dekkard & Dane Meltdown Dub)
12. BT & Tori Amos - Blue Skies (BT's Liquid Oxygen Dub)
13. BT & Tori Amos - Blue Skies (BT's Delphinium Days Mix)

[[ LINK REMOVED ]]

BACK UP LINK

Positive, negative and indifferent feedback welcomed.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Last edited by SYSTEM-J on Apr-12-2008 at 14:29

Loooooooove "Set in Stone" and haven't heard it in years. Downloading this.

Definitely gonna check this out.

One thing that strikes me about older stuff like this is that for the most part the percussion is all so simple -- the focus is put almost entirely on the awesome synth sounds. It's great.

Grabbing this right now. Will report back once I'm done.

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Cmay - November Promo Mix [Prog/Deep/Tech/Electro House]
Cmay - March Promo Mix [Prog/Tech/Electro House + Breaks]
Track ID needed (Luke Fair Sweet Chili)
Track ID needed (James Zabiela Vision Chicago)
Track ID needed (Magda Live @ DC-10)
ID Needed - 90's Deep House Track
Track ID needed (Move D Compost Black Label Party)

Forgot to report back: this mix is awesome. Great work.

Keeping it on my hard drive and putting it on a CD to play in my car.

Thanks a lot.

I hear you about the percussion and the synths. Another thing that strikes me is that these tracks, even the most complex, BT-produced ones, never sound shiny and soulless in their production. There's lots of awesome production here, but it all goes into making elements that complement and elevate the melodies. A lot of tracks today that are extremely well produced seem to take predictable sounds, often presets, and then gloss the hell out of them. It's like comparing unpolished diamond to ultra-polished shit.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Another thing that strikes me is that these tracks, even the most complex, BT-produced ones, never sound shiny and soulless in their production. There's lots of awesome production here, but it all goes into making elements that complement and elevate the melodies. A lot of tracks today that are extremely well produced seem to take predictable sounds, often presets, and then gloss the hell out of them. It's like comparing unpolished diamond to ultra-polished shit.

Yeah.

As far as dance music, I've been listening mostly to early and mid '90s stuff lately, and it seems to have an energy and freshness that most of today's stuff can't touch. I'm not sure what exactly it is. Maybe the fact that people had far fewer fancy tools and glossy effects forced them to focus more on creativity with music and synthesis rather than on giving everything the right sheen to make it sound "release-worthy."

Which leads me to think that if producers were somehow forced to leave all percussion and all special effects (reverb, delay, etc.) until the very last stage of production -- if everyone dealt with just raw synths and a kick until they had all the melodic parts of the track ready -- we'd see a lot more creativity.

I think I might try to do that with the next track I make...

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Which leads me to think that if producers were somehow forced to leave all percussion and all special effects (reverb, delay, etc.) until the very last stage of production -- if everyone dealt with just raw synths and a kick until they had all the melodic parts of the track ready -- we'd see a lot more creativity. I think I might try to do that with the next track I make...

I read a quote by Tod Terry (I think) and he said that when he wrote a track, he'd do all the melodies with just plain pianos, and then later he'd replace them with synths. You can't tart up a crap melody if it's just in piano- it has to sound good. That's the key- taking a good melody and then putting it into a good synth. It's easy to take a crap melody and then put it in a really interesting synth and it sounds quite good- but it isn't really.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I read a quote by Tod Terry (I think) and he said that when he wrote a track, he'd do all the melodies with just plain pianos, and then later he'd replace them with synths. You can't tart up a crap melody if it's just in piano- it has to sound good. That's the key- taking a good melody and then putting it into a good synth. It's easy to take a crap melody and then put it in a really interesting synth and it sounds quite good- but it isn't really.

Yeah, I've thought of that before.

I think I might try that: have just a kick going, then lay down pianos for all the melodic parts and strings for all the "pad" parts.

Then the next stage would be turning the piano melodies and string "pads" into synth parts -- but just using raw synths, getting them to do interesting stuff without the crutch of fancy delays and reverbs.

Then finally add percussion and effects.

Mm.. vintage.. i can almost smell the worn out leather sofa in the lounge and oak barrels in the wine cellar.

Brilliant showcase what today's music is missing for the most part: soul and effort which are strongly present here. This was the first one of your sets i downloaded as it has some tracks i couldn't remember. Great that i did, enjoyed it throughout.

___________________
The walking discography.

quote:

Leslie Nielsen: Doing nothing is very hard to do... you never know when you're finished.