I'm in the throes of a rather deep healing process, unburdening myself from generations of very limiting patterns and conditioning. While these served as reflexive, protective mechanisms early on in life, with adulthood came increasing awareness of their presence and they grew into hindrances, preventing me from realising the potential I'd once envisioned for myself.
Since I started DJing again in 2007 (after a six year hiatus from something that's been in my life since 1984), a major block has come in the form of being unable (or unwilling) to put my mixes up for public scrutiny. There was nothing more painful than playing uplifting and inspiring sets to myself at home, then having to watch all of that vital creative energy turn into an exercise in mental frustration as soon as I'd hit the record button. Three years is a long time to be stuck.
Obviously, getting over this involves recording my sets with increased frequency, and also making them available for other to listen to. I've slowly been developing my three turntable skills since I first endeavoured to up the ante around 1999, with much of the fine tuning having taken place in the last three years. Improvisation has also become a vital aspect of what I do – aside from selecting records that fit my mood, I never plan out my sets, instead preferring to let the symbiotic relationship between the music and my body serve as my guide. Up until now, I've rarely felt comfortable with sharing this process, only releasing intermittent output that often still reflected the lingering stiffness of my persona.
Classics, Hidden Gems and Secret Weapons is an hour-long step in the right direction. Along with regular time spent practising, a combination of yoga, meditation, running, bodywork and attention to diet has proven invaluable in getting me to this point, where I can release a warts-and-all mix that I feel is a decent representation of where I am, and also where I'm headed. I do have to apologise for a few audio glitches that are present – unfortunately, the line in for recording on my laptop is broken, and the inexpensive usb to audio adaptor I'm using seems to pick up radio signal, resulting in a few static-y sections that you'll have to endure, lower the volume on, or skip through altogether. There isn't much new material (hoping to be able to afford current wax again at some point!), there are a couple of wobbly bits (we all have 'em), and one or two near bailouts (those too) – otherwise, this is the kind of deep and dirty business that I endeavour to bring to the dancefloor every time I step into the booth.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope that you enjoy dancing to this mix as much as I did while recording it.
WestsideWax – Classics, Hidden Gems and Secret Weapons
Total time: 58:53
Tracklist:
1. Repeat - Fish Stew - Reflective (1995)
2. The Bushmen - Bushmen's Dub - Black Soul Records (1995)
3. Clubheroes - Da Lost Piano (Kom Mix) - Formaldehyd (1996)
4. Surgeon - Language Barrier - Downwards (1995)
5. Hardrive - Just Believe - Strictly Rhythm (1994)
6. Revolting Cocks - ...On Fire - Wax Trax! (1985)
7. Johannes Heil - P.A.X. Part 1 - Kanzleramt (1998)
8. Tyree Cooper - T.C.X. - Cosmic Records (1995)
9. Retrosweep - Tuesday - Global AMBition (1999)
10. Alchemic Storm - I Wish (PO Special Touch Mix) - DJ Center Records (2002)
11. Scan 7 - Beyond Sound (Tension Remix) - Tresor (1998)
12. Paul Johnson - It's House! - Dust Traxx (1997)
13. Chris McCormack - Fishui - Materials (2001)
14. Nubian Minds - Check Da Vibe - 2000 Black (2001)
15. Dj Sufflemaster - Sunday Morning Madness - Reel Musiq (2003)
16. Outbreak - Signal 2 - Contrast (1998)
17. Untitled - Steve Bicknell - Cosmic Records (1996)
18. D.A.F. - Brothers (Gabi's Mix) - Trance Records (1988)
19. Phuture Pfantasy Club - Spank Spank - Low Fat Vinyl (1988)
20. Adonis - We're Rocking Down The House - Trax Records (1987)
21. Ann Gore - Sunblind - Sheep Records (1998)
22. Culture Clash Dance Party - Love Fever (Fever Mix) - Jive (1988)
23. Schatrax - Mispent Years - Soma Quality Recordings (2003)
24. Karafuto - Funky Squad - Torema Records (1996)
25. Stewart S. Walker - Boring Movies - Tresor (2000)
26. DJ Rush - Look and See - Pro-Jex (1999)
27. Aaron Carl - 4 Types Of People (Message Vox) - Wallshaker Music
montana
right on
Teezdalien
Will have a listen, looks promising. Any chance of a download?
this mix sort of reminds me of jeff mills. but with a twist, i'm going to tell you a story. now back in 2004/2005 or so when i first discovered the discogs forum. i seem to see this highly ratings of jeff 'the three deck wizard' mills. now what people haven't told me was this, while jeff had skills he had a tendancy to not give a on many of nights and trainwreck and not give a .
and i have to say, while the tracklisting is good and mixing and all is ambitious (to sugarcoat it), i cringed so many times i could barely listen to the whole thing.
PivotTechno
Thanks for the feedback. More than aware of the cringe-worthy moments, but it's certainly not because I don't give a - as mentioned, I'm just in an ongoing process of tightening up my game. Will do my best to make my next effort a sharper one.
montana
no, i'm not saying, that you didn't give a . that was jeff mills.
i understand that you had a plan for you mix, just the execution was iffy in the end. but someone like me would have never uploaded this.
PivotTechno
Admittedly, I'm not yet on par with the many 3-deck DJs who've influenced me, but I'm hoping the peeps who peep this notice the 'wow' moments as much as they do the flubs.
Totally understand your perspective, though. Thanks again!
Teezdalien
Thanks for the download.
Well I kind of want to echo montana's thought's on this mix. Kudos to you for being bold and adventurous with you're mixing style, it's something I'd like to see a bit more of from other guys around playing with tech and there were definitely some nice selections here.
However I honestly feel that this kind of style rarely translates well into a recorded mix aimed for repeat listening. While it can work well for a munted crowd on a dancefloor, it's hard to get that impression of all the intricate dj tricks from a recording. While I credit you for trying to improvise and be a bit different, a lot of the tracks just clashed, the flow suffered big time and it all just sounded too noodly for my tastes.
pozz
i agree with the reviews posted by montana and Teez. i liked the tracks, but the mixing work was messy. definitely a cool approach, i wanna learn how to do that stuff too.
PivotTechno
Thanks for all the feedback folks, and I'll take it all into consideration for my next effort.
