Imaginary Mixing

 

At the moment my house is in a state of disrepair. We have lived here for 14 years, but in all that time had not had any work done on it. That changed in spring this year. We started off by having an annex built in the front garden, followed by a new shed in the back. So far so reality tv home improvements programme. At the beginning of June the big stuff started. We entered the realms of the middle class aspirational lifestyle by having a kitchen extension. The work is still in progress, but should hopefully be finished at the beginning of next month. During all this upheaval, playing music has been difficult because my decks are in the room next to wear all the renovation is taking place. So, apart from playing cassettes, albums, stuff that I can switch on and leave for a while, the permanent stench of disruption has, to a large extent, kept me off the decks. (I should also add that this room is the most comfortable place in the house for my partner to work).

With this in mind, I have been imagining more mixes than ever before. 

Because when all else fails, if I can go out into the world secure in the knowledge that I’ve laid down an hour or two of perfectly synchronised sounds, I feel better. When a mix goes well it does wonders for my mental state. This doesn’t mean that I’m all over the place until that happens, just that I’m uplifted after it does, no matter where I am to start with. What is ironic about my current situation is that I hadn’t been behind the decks much recently, but now that it’s impossible due to circumstances beyond my control, I want to play more than ever. “There shall be no limitations, save those personally placed”. Said no one in particular. And it’s at times like these that I wonder how often the common or garden DJ actually practices his/her craft. There was a thread on Twitter at the beginning of lockdown that expressed surprise that a significant amount of DJs don’t invest in their craft. They don’t own turntables, or balk at the idea of spending money on a pair of CDJS/XDJS. And I know that I’m dealing with different levels of devotion here, but I can remember playing lots of parties with DJs who turned up with the same records again, and again, over a period of years. This wasn’t because they’d hit on a future proofed playlist, I mean theior records weren’t very good anyway. They just didn’t buy records. They didn’t even bring headphones to the gig. You’d be on before them and the first word you’d hear would be “Hi Mate. Is it ok if I borrow your headphones for my set?” These people, with few exceptions, are the worse and can do one. They’re never buying you a drink, you can be sure of that. They’re taking your headphones off you and prematurely ageing them while playing their fixed ensemble of 20 or so records, each of which looks like they’ve been a plate for some fish and chips. 

Anyway, rant over. I’m obsessed with many things, and one of those things is the art of DJing. It doesn’t matter if it’s vinyl or digital, either format is great. When I make my mixes I prefer a blend of the two. I’ve never been arsed about the really technical side of the art though, I lack focus and patience. This is something I will try and sort out however, once I get my space back. Like many, I’m buying far less vinyl now, but am still lucky enough to have quite a bit of digital sent to me. The main problem here though, is that I wouldn’t play much of this in a set. I will listen to a lot of it, and review some of it on these pages, but not play it, except in a radio show, another thing I’d like to re-establish. And I can’t believe that vinyl is still a thing. I mean I think it’s great but, it’s environmentally unsound and backward. Digital is where it’s at and any vinyl I buy from now on is purely based, not just on playability but collectability as well. Who are the best DJs as far as tehcnical skill is concerned? Derrick Carter will always be the first one that comes to mind. I have always been blown away when I‘ve heard him. His energy is second to none and he plays records I might not normally like and bends me to his will. This is his X Factor. Terry Francis and Eddie Richards for sheer grooviness. The skill might not be obvious, but how often have you heard them put a foot wrong? Two other Twitter threads I came across, both from the same day in May this year:

“IMO DJs should stick to one genre... I didn’t come to the club to hear your iPod on shuffle.”

“Do you reckon it’s a disadvantage being a multigenre dj? Do the cons out way the pros?”

The first one is provocative, the second speculative. Both espouse the same general viewpoint and, while I don’t think anyone should be limited by genre, I do agree generally with the first. The reason why is partly because of the sentiments expressed (there’s no way I’m happy with someone I’ve come to hear play a specific type of set go all “eclectic” on me), but also because it doesn’t matter anyway. Any DJ playing within the constraints of a particular genre should be able to add whatever he or she wants to as long as it maintains a groove. James Lavelle was infamous at Bar Rumba in the nineties for throwing anything and everything into the mix. His club night, “That’s How It Is”, that he ran with Gilles Peterson on Monday nights, while seminal, was often, according to some, a little “over eclectic” (whatever that means). There’s no doubt it stood at the crossroads of more than one converging scene, so part and parcel of this approach was already deeply ingrained. I went once, had a great time and don’t remember any wayward DJing.

Aside from that though, is there anything worse than turning up to hear someone play only to find out that they’ve gone down a route that you don’t associate with them and, worse still, something that kills the vibe? Admittedly this doesn’t happen very often, and if it does, it’s normally advertised. If I go to hear one of the Romanian minimalists play, I want to hear a groove that goes on forever, and not drum and bass. These guys often play such long sets that the range of music therein is considerable, often manifesting itself as a potted history of underground deep house and techno (that’s techno at a house tempo, the best sort). These guys are skilled technicians and it’s frustrating that more of their mixes aren’t available online. There’s almost certainly the influence of Villalobos here, who thinks that everybody should come out to hear him play and not have to rely on recordings. The man is out of touch if he thinks even a fraction of those who want to are able to. Although I agree very much with the idea expressed, it is touched by more than a little arrogance and could be related to the mindset of someone who seemingly doesn’t give a second thought about playing a party in Zanzibar at the height of COVID. He’s not the only one, there are many more, as mentioned already within these pages. So it’s at times like these that it’s necessary to state that it’s the music that matters and those who play it are just conduits. I couldn’t give a toss about these cattle in general. Those, who for me, are making the best noises are the multitude of unsung bedroomers. It doesn’t matter if they’ve never played a bar, the results of their efforts are largely indistinguishable from those of their more illustrious peers on blind tests. “No one has better musical taste than me”, and I believe that. I play the music I like in the order I like the way I like. And it’s not predictable. No two mixes are ever the same, even with the same records. However, I’m not up my own arse enough to not realise that there are plenty who do do it incredibly well and have very high artistic standards. At the moment, there’s no one like Eric Cloutier, whose ‘The Arsonist And The Architect’ series is conceptually spot on, and incredibly crafted. Mr Cloutier has raised the bar here, and has blazed a path for others to follow. “It’s mixing Jim, but not as we know it.”