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::::::::. **** TA DJ Challenge Series - Theme Mix (completed) **** .:::::::: (pg. 16)
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| Bierheld |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
All that sounds only a step beyond what we've got right now, to be honest. Dystopias tend to be warning shots of what could feasibly go wrong with current society, and the rampant, uneven advancement of technology while social inequality, wealth gaps and class divides widen is hardly science fiction. Although the whole cyberpunk thing basically stems from two texts - Neuromancer and Bladerunner - both from the dawn of the 1980s, and the appeal is really the look and feel of the universe, the gritty tech-noir atmosphere. |
Just to conclude this, I can see why this was a popular and relevant viewpoint for people the 80's, but only because our collective memory is so short. Anything the likes of Reagan and Thatcher managed to pull off pales in comparison to the good old days of 19'th century liberalism. Similar things can be said of the industrialisation period, which compared to now seems like a humanitarian disaster, but we were coming from centuries worth of feudalism for pete's sake. If you look at the big picture things are always improving, minor setbacks aside. It's always good to warn for excesses but a realistic world view for the future it isn't. |
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| djdk |
Cheers for the comments people, I think the criticisms levelled at my mix are pretty much the same as my own thoughts. I might try to expand on this idea in the future when I have some more time to crate dig.
I'm slowly working my way through the mixes, theres some really good music going on in this challenge. Will post some reviews when I have a bit more time! |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Bierheld
If you look at the big picture things are always improving, minor setbacks aside. It's always good to warn for excesses but a realistic world view for the future it isn't. |
A temporary setback in the big picture can still last centuries (see: the Dark Ages). Even a decade is enough to fill your boots with cyberpunk trappings. |
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| Psyshell |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
A temporary setback in the big picture can still last centuries (see: the Dark Ages). Even a decade is enough to fill your boots with cyberpunk trappings. |
The dark ages weren't necessarily actually all that dark in the scheme of things. The roman empire encouraged economic stagnation especially towards the end and new technology wise the dark ages was actually better than the late empire.
PivotTechno's mix: This mix feels a bit too ecletic for my tastes. Some parts would work well live but I don't this'll stand up to repeated listening. I find it hard to listen to this type of techno without a set having strong flow. The second half changes the style of music entirely as well. I'm not really understanding it.
Mr Game's mix: Well first of all, I'm really not a big fan of the style, but I like the mix a fair bit anyway. The flow is pretty good and the progression of moods is nice. |
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| Bierheld |
^There's a lot of things left to be said about the argument he's making, but this is getting wildly off-topic even for my standards so I'll leave it at that.
Anyway, I've done lews' and sandleaper's mix last night. So let start with the former:
It was a cool little mix, I liked it. I was particularly fond of the first half hour, which offered what to me at least sounded like various interpretations of future night-life. I also like the initial development towards more clubby material, although I think it could have done with another change of pace somewhere near the latter parts of the mix as that seemed to be all that really happened in the mix narrative-wise. I guess I was expecting a little more considering the introduction you gave it, but otherwise I don't have any issues with it.
Sandleaper's mix was a different beast altogether. You really seem to have taken the effort to adopt some proper conceptual mixing for this challenge, and seeing all the work and ambition that went into this thing makes me mourn profusely when thinking about what I could have done with my submission if I could have set my mind straight, but that's neither here nor there.
There's really too much content for me to go over completely here, but overall it was a good listen, and although long it had a pretty solid structure with clearly defined sections keeping things going.
I guess it was sort of carried by it's own novelty.
The only part that made me raise my eyebrows was the part were we suddenly warped to 1950's America.
I actually wanted to include something similar in my mix with a more distorted version of such music. Hinting at the idea of some little kid finding an old tape in a cassette player somewhere in the basement and playing it, thereby exposing the massive contrast of were we are now and were we've come from.
What your idea behind this was I'm not quite sure, which is partly why I think this section isn't particularly convincingly executed. Having said that though, the tracks had an interesting synergy with the Stellar OM Source track and after the initial shock it stumbled along smoothly. Other then that there was really nothing that didn't make sense or felt like it wasn't supposed to be there.
The mix carries a lot of intrigue and rewards a good listen, and although it does sound like it lacks polish here and there which is to be expected considering the short time-frame in which this was done, it is still my favourite entry in the competition so far.
Hat's off to you. |
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| Sand Leaper |
| quote: | Originally posted by Bierheld
Sandleaper's mix was a different beast altogether. You really seem to have taken the effort to adopt some proper conceptual mixing for this challenge, and seeing all the work and ambition that went into this thing makes me mourn profusely when thinking about what I could have done with my submission if I could have set my mind straight, but that's neither here nor there.
There's really too much content for me to go over completely here, but overall it was a good listen, and although long it had a pretty solid structure with clearly defined sections keeping things going.
I guess it was sort of carried by it's own novelty.
The only part that made me raise my eyebrows was the part were we suddenly warped to 1950's America.
I actually wanted to include something similar in my mix with a more distorted version of such music. Hinting at the idea of some little kid finding an old tape in a cassette player somewhere in the basement and playing it, thereby exposing the massive contrast of were we are now and were we've come from.
What your idea behind this was I'm not quite sure, which is partly why I think this section isn't particularly convincingly executed. Having said that though, the tracks had an interesting synergy with the Stellar OM Source track and after the initial shock it stumbled along smoothly. Other then that there was really nothing that didn't make sense or felt like it wasn't supposed to be there.
The mix carries a lot of intrigue and rewards a good listen, and although it does sound like it lacks polish here and there which is to be expected considering the short time-frame in which this was done, it is still my favourite entry in the competition so far.
Hat's off to you. |
Thanks, much appreciate the listen. I had a specific idea in mind when I came up with the bit with Stellar OM Source, but I'm not gonna go into what it was in detail, because it's more fun if people let their imaginations run with it unrestrained (even if it won't make sense to some people). It IS a flashy and ambitious bit, and perhaps a bit too flashy and ambitious for a mix I just threw together on my laptop. Maybe it would've slotted in better in the mix if I had an actual studio to tinker with it in (a la FSOL's Essential Mixes), but I still like the way it turned out, and how it breaks with the overall atmosphere and undertone the set has otherwise. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch
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Finally got 'round to listening to this, Luke. This is a tough one because I can certainly understand the particular sci-fi universe you're trying to evoke, but for me this whole style has other connotations. Simply put, it's almost impossible not to think of Drive, Miami Vice and the '80s. To me this music sounds more concerned with recreating a specific era of the past than it does of any future Neo-Tokyo. And I totally understand the sci-fi universe you describe is the sci-fi style of the '80s, but I can't escape the throwback feel. There were some cool tracks on here, quite a lot of staccato basslines I enjoyed, but I'm not hugely into the neon-glo '80s aesthetic.
On a technical level, some of the mixing was obviously pretty basic because you don't have much to work with. I didn't particularly get the feeling of any structure to the mix, and I think most of these tracks are so "songy" it's difficult to use them as DJ tools.
This also reminds me that I never gave you any feedback on your One Night Disco mix from about a year ago, which I did enjoy a lot. |
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| Bierheld |
| ^ I just did that as well. And like the man above me here I didn't really buy into the neo-tokyo vibe. But alas, it's the route you chose and what came out was still a good listen. Though structurally not much more then song after song of relentless synthesizer music, I find it hard to dislike it for that. It was quaint and dreamy. |
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| Bierheld |
Aand I thought what the heck and listened to ziptnf's entry as well last night.
It was indeed a great mix. I do echo some of mr game+watch's sentiments in that the mixing is probably a bit too ad rem for my tastes, would have loved some more breathers here and there to give a momentary escape from the percussion as well as some more room for atmosphere. On the other hand the tracks were full of all sorts of twists and turns by themselves which was enough to keep me interested for the hour.
Right so only one more to go now for me. It's been a blast listening to these so far, good job people. |
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| Mr Game+Watch |
Hey, thanks so much for the comments, guys! I did take a listen to PivotTechno's, Bierheld's and Sand Leaper's, and will write extended reviews of them...
but for now - PivotTechno's wasn't really my particular taste in music, Sand Leaper's is a very challenging mix that I want to explore further and talk about my own interpretation of the part where the appergiated ambient part fading in and out to the standards music. Bierheld's mix, for someone who said he didn't put much effort into, I ended up loving (apart from one annoying IDM track). |
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| Bierheld |
Right, Pivotechno's mix. It's slightly surprising this is the only person that went along the millssian techno path, as it's such an obvious one. In fact I think it's the only techno I've heard this entire challenge barring some more industrial offerings in sand leaper's mix. So there ya go.
It was a good mix as well. Very dancefloor-ish, which is fair enough. It is dance music after all. Initially though I felt there were a few too many moments that were just dry percussion with little in the way of sci-fi atmosphere, doing well at keeping the groove going but lessening the thematic impact of the whole thing. It wasn't crazy enough if you will. Having listened to it again now though I find I've grown to appreciate it more. It's definitely not as in your face as some of the other mixes we've seen throughout this challenge, but it still works really well when you allow for some more abstract displays of atmosphere.
The mixing itself was handled confidently and done well. I like the structure too, starting off with plenty of high paced spacey groovers which over time develop into more indulgent pieces. It was an eventful mix that always had something interesting going on, and I enjoyed it for that. Good entry I say. |
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| Guest |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch
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Really, really, really enjoyed this mix man, as I said on your FB haha. Honestly, I think I might have been the only one here who was feeling the sci-fi vibe from this mix. I definitely thought I was racing through some sort of advanced city on a pod-racer type of vehicle or whatever.
Personally, it reminded me ALOT of the F-Zero series. So, I think you pretty much nailed it in terms of the theme you were going for.
P.S. Mixing this genre is really difficult... In fact it was what I used to DJ back when I first started, like 6 years ago. The Kavinsky et al. stuff. That being said, nothing that could be done with a few of the transitions imo. I feel the overall flow kinda dipped a bit at the end of the track at 32:00, but maybe that was by intention? Kinda like taking the off-ramp on the futuristic speedway into a dark and abandoned part of the Neo-city. |
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