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Recession 3

The 3rd Mix I posted (back in 1999)

Click here to start RECESSION 3 (Real Audio version)

This was the first mix that I included details on how I mixed and why I chose the tunes I played.

I've only got the Real Media version of this right now, but I'll re-make it (if I can dig the records out of the loft) and put it up as an MP3 when I get a chance.

If you don't have Real Player, go to the Real Web Site .

By now, those of you who are familiar with these mixes will know that I don't use all the biggest, greatest new tunes in my mixes - they go out of date too fast. I like to go back to a couple of the less recent ones, and try to give them a new lease of life. On the last night I did this (which is where I recorded this mix) someone pointed out that maybe it should be called "ReGRESSion" instead of Recession - yeah, whatever!

This is the one I'm most pleased of out of all three that I've done, but it could still do with some extra audio work on it. It's been Eq'd for a live PA instead of tape, so it goes a bit iffy now and then. If you'd rather download the mix and listen to it off-line (it's about 12.5Mb though) click HERE

Here is the tracklist.

  1. 1) BT Vs Paul Van Dyk - Remember (Perfecto)
  2. 2) FPI Project - Rich In Paradise
  3. 3) Der Dritte Baum - Halle Bopp (Additive)
  4. 4) Lost Tribe - The Gamesmaster (Hooj Choons)
  5. 5) Paul Van Dyk - Words (MFS)
  6. 6) BT - Godspeed (Renaissance)
  7. 7) Verracocha - Drafting (Tsunami (on the B-side of Cart Blanche))
  8. 8) Mystica - Everest (Perfecto)

1) BT vs PVD - Remember

I've always loved the original of this, and the Sasha remix too (which I may include on the next mix). With PVD's new track "Avenue" out right now, I felt that it was time to wipe the dust off this one. The two sound pretty similar, with that great chord change that happens in it. It's just so deep and (dare I say it) heavy, that I have to pick the right moments to play this tune.

2) FPI Project - Rich In Paradise:-

One of the (relatively) new ones in my box. I've had it for about a month and a half, and really didn't give it much time, as the other 7 mixes on this double pack are completely different. I stick this one on one day when I was thinking of ditching it from my box, and thought "Woah, hold on, that's a nice little hook!!".

I started it from the beginning, pretty low down with the bass cut to about 1/4, dropped it in after the last breakdown in Remember, and let it run underneath it. It's got some nice little effects to it during the intro that, if kept low enough, can spice up the outgoing track. You'll hear the bass in Remember die a bit at one point, which is when I brought this one in full, but with the bass still killed a little. Then after the four bars, swap the bass lines over, and let FPI dominate. Remember keeps going right up to the point that FPI goes into the breakdown. Whip down the fader, lift off the tune, and cue up Halle Bopp!!

3) Der Dritte Baum - Halle Bopp

This is the Nick Warren mix that I'm using here. I love the original one, that's been flying around ever since Sasha's first Global Underground CD, but I like using this one live because of the kick it's got. It's a bit heavy on the Mid range levels, but it'll do nicely thanks!!

Again, I've used a LONG intro to this one. I started this one after the second breakdown of FPI, with the bass down at 1/4 and the mid range in that vicinity too. I missed out the long intro and weak bass drum on this tune, and started it off when it gets into the solid kick drum. I think the initial mix lasts at a low level for around 32 bars (can't remember) where, at this point, there's a drop out in FPI for a bar. Bring up Halle Bopp, with the bass still killed, wait four bars, swap the bass lines, then fade out FPI after 16 more bars - SORTED!!

4) Lost Tribe - Gamesmaster.

Here's anther tune that, though I liked it, didn't really show all its appeal until I heard Oakey play it back in September at the Tunnel in Glasgow. Normally, I think that this kind of vocal "story telling" is a bit dated, but on this one it works damn nice!! I love Hooj Choons, they always release fantastic stuff.

Right, let's see. Halle goes into a breakdown thing, then goes back into its funky little hook. After about four sequences of this, the hook disappears. I brought Lost Tribe in here, right from the beginning, but left it low, with the bass mostly killed for about 4 bars. The meat drops out of Halle at this point, where you bring up Lost Tribe, while swapping the bass attributes. Lost Tribe goes into its meat, kill the mid range a bit on Halle, drop its level a little bit, then fade it out to end after 8 bars. I made a point of trying to include tunes with differing keys in this mix - just to show I'm not one of these people that can't mix two tunes with different keys.

5) Paul Van Dyk - Words

I think I should have renamed this whole mix "The Paul van Dyk and BT mix"!! The two of them seem to dominate my record box. I love everything that PVD does, and only BT's recent one hasn't done it for me. The problem with this tune is that it's been overplayed a little! The treble has lost its sharpness, and it can sound as though you're listening to it through tin foil. Just after the chick in Lost Tribe talks for the second time, there's 8 bars of lead in, followed by another 8 bars of slightly meatier lead in. It's after these 16 bars that I start Words. You might be able to hear the little "doo" that it does through the whole song come in here. I kept it low because it's a slightly different key, and would sound completely out of place at full booda! I just left it running at a low level throughout the main intro, then when it goes into a break between the intro and the meat of the tune, I raised the level, still with the bass killed at around 1/4 (I tend to use that setting when I want to kill the power of the bass but still leave in the bass lines). Words comes out of this small break after 4 bars, at which point the meat happens, you swap the bass's, kill the mid on Lost Tribe a little, and fade out Lost Tribe after 4 bars. Nice key change again here. Although it's different, it still suits the background of Lost Tribe.

6) BT - Godspeed

A lot of people slated this tune because it was so similar to Flaming June. Who gives a crap! It's a great tune that has a nice little vocal sample in it, and a great hook line. I've always loved doing this mix, I just think it goes together with Words SOOOO well!! About half way through Words, it goes into a breakdown of sorts, then takes a good long while to get back into the tune again. It's here that I release BT. Keeping the bass just off the kill point, BT goes straight up to full strength, so you can here the vocal sample, and all the little hooks in it. There's one I love, that goes so well with where Words is, it's a kind of "doom doom doom CHA!" that it does, gives me shivers! I normally took Words out at the point when BT goes into the little hook line, but for some reason, I left the bass from Words running for 8 bars. Don't know why I did it, but I'm glad I did. It works really nice. I guess it was because it was done live, and a 16 bar break wasn't going to keep them bouncing that I did it. It worked HUUGELY as well!!

7) Verracocha - Drafting

Normally a bit too heavy and noisy for my tastes, but I decided to flip over from Carte Blanche because people are getting REALLY sick of hearing that one!! I do like the hook to it, and there's something pretty infectious about the style of bass line. Methinks it'll stay in there for a while!

Ok, second (proper) breakdown in BT. Start Drafting here. Kill the bass to about 1/8th, and keep the fader at 0. After four bars, BT starts to kick back in slightly, bring up Drafting here, with the bass still killed. After four bars of this, the bass drum to BT starts to get really unfriendly. At first I thought that the two bass drums were keying each other out, but after listening to it properly, BT has a kind of edge to its bass drum which only makes it sound this way. Anyway, after four bars of just the Hi-hats in drafting, swap the bass levels of the two tunes, and let them run for another 8 bars. Drafting drops out into its bass line thing, at which point kill out BT's mid range slightly. This leave only the ambient noises and the mid "clap" effect of BT. After 16 bars, where Drafting drops out for only 1 bar, BT has been faded out. The punch back into drafting makes this seem un-noticeable (hopefully!).

8) Mystica - Everest

Not a very friendly tune to mix in, but man do I love the hook in this. I've been waiting a while to play this one - always looking to see how the floor responds to the older tunes. Sometimes it's a "Oh, that's nice, but I'm sick of them - play some new stuff" But on this night, people were loving it, so I saw the opportunity to drop this one. OOOH MAMA!!

Drafting does its breakdown thing, then after (erm) 64 bars (I think) it drops out for one bar. Keep the bass killed on Mystica, bring it in after this little drop out, gradually. There's little hooks in the background of Mystica that you don't want to overwhelm Drafting. At the point when there's a strange mans voice, bring Mystica (with bass still killed) to full, while killing off the treble in Drafting (point of fact, I killed too much here - it's a bit obvious) wait for TWO bars (yeah, I know, but it worked - right!!!) then swap over the bass lines. Wait another 10 bars, and drop out Drafting.

And that's it. If nothing else, it'll show you just how reliant you can become on kill controls!! I'm telling you, the first time I go anywhere that doesn't have kills, I think I'll cry!!!!! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this mix as much as I did making it.

Here's a list of the other mixes on the site