Monthly Archives: July 2010

Mixing on Infinity Tunes

There’s a cool new DJ site at
InfinityTunes.co.uk
It features DJs from the around the world and I’ll be contributing some mixes starting this Friday and mixing live on there in the upcoming weeks.
There’s some very cool sounds there so check it out.

Song of the Day – Phuture – Acid Tracks

There is some disagreement about what the ‘first’ Acid House was. I’ve heard some people say I’ve Lost Control by Sleazy D which did come out long before Phuture and has some weird keyboard sounds, but I certainly wouldn’t call it acid. Land Of Confusion by Armando came out around the same time, but I’m pretty sure that Phuture was the first.
I just saw that Youtube changed their time limit from 10 minutes to 15, so I thought that Acid Tracks would be the best way to celebrate that. At 12:29, all previous versions on Youtube had been cut off before the end.
Enjoy this classic track and it’s B-sides, Phuture Jacks (which I like even better than the A side) and the anti-drug song Your Only Friend.

Phuture – Phuture Jacks
Phuture – Your Only Friend

Lots of vinyl

I spent the last few days reorganizing my record collection. Once you wait enough years, it becomes quite the adventure since you forgot about a lot of the stuff that you have.
Damn – I have a lot of Jesse Saunders stuff.
Yello….remixed by Derrick May?!?!
What is Candy Flip and why did I buy it?
Why on earth do I have two copies of an Erasure song?
I knew I had that Phil N The Blanks album!

Song of the Day – Rhythim Is Rhythim – Strings Of Life

The music that came out of Detroit in the 80s was like a cousin to house music in the family tree. You could see a few similarities but it was completely unique.
And when it comes to classic techno – it doesn’t get much better than Strings Of Life.
Here are four mixes of that song. Two from the original single on Transmat. A remix on Jack Trax. And the ’89 mix done by Juan Atkins. I’m not too fond of the 89 mix. It somehow loses the song’s classic vibe. But at least it came with some wild cover art.
And what does Youtube suggest for tags. House? Ohh, you’re going to upset the purists there, youtube. Olympic Games? Was this song used in some Olympic ceremony? Gangsta? Ok youtube, now you’re just trippin.
I love how it often suggests ‘vinyl’ for my uploads. I think thats their polite way of saying “too much static”.

Flam-Boy-Ant Mix
Jack Trax Exclusive Remix
Strings Of Life ’89 (Juan’s Magic Mix)

Song of the Day – Mickey Oliver – In-Ten-Si-T album

Let’s face it. Most albums are a hit single or two if they are lucky and the rest is just filler. It’s rare to find one that is good from start to finish. The house artists who released albums in the 80s were no different. But there is always an exception or two. A prime example is Mickey Oliver’s first (and I believe only) album – In-Ten-Si-T. Damn good music from start to finish. Although, at 30-something minutes, we might have to call it half an album, but let’s not nitpick.
You have the single In-Ten-Si-T which was a huge hit (if it doesn’t immediately ring any bells, it’s vocals are a Speak And Spell saying – You make me want, you make me cry, you’re the one for me, I like your intensity), and Pump Up The Beat is an interesting Pump Up The Volume tribute?/parody?/ripoff? , but when I would be driving around with my buddies, I think we grooved the most to You Make Me with it’s catchy latin keyboards and percussion.

The vocals on most songs are by Shanna Jae which I just learned from Google is actually Paris Grey – most famous for her work in Inner City. Although I wonder if this is some internet-propagated misinformation since there is a picture of a woman on the back of the album (presumably Shanna Jae) and I’m not sure that it looks like Paris Grey.

(Update – November, 2011) I got curious so I emailed the man himself – Mickey Oliver. Shanna Jae and Paris Grey are the same person. Her real name is Shanna Jackson, she started her career as Shanna Jae and then changed it to Paris Grey. Thanks Mickey!

Shanna Jae

Shanna Jae


Paris Grey

Paris Grey


And one last babble – I don’t think Youtube appreciates Shanna Jae since it suggested the tag ‘instrumental’ for the song Heart On Hold.

The rest of the album:
Track 1 – Never Let Go
Track 2 – You Make Me
Track 4 – Pump Up The Beat
Track 5 – Heart On Hold
Track 6 – I Like It
Track 7 – Mega Mix In