A couple of days ago Rob gave me a a CD containing two wonderfully mixed sets. They are entitled “Twisted XTC” pt1 and pt2. The music straddles a number of house sub-genres. Not quite electo-house, not quite vocal house, not quite progressive house. I have to DJ at a charity auction tonight, so I don’t have time to do a full review right now. Will do so later. In the meantime, please enjoy:
“Twisted XTC pt 1″ - mixed by therobsta
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“Twisted XTC pt 2″ - mixed by therobsta
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Over the next few tracks I build the mood until the groove is firmly established. Anticipation and release is achieved by climbing the music up in mood (higher keys) and then dropping back to more relaxed tracks (in lower keys preferably, but that doesn’t always happen in this case).
Towards the end of the development of the set I take a diversion to an electrohouse sound. As with my last set, this diversion is short-lived and the set’s resolution is then brought about through a return to the disco-house sound but with very smooth, relaxed vocals in the track “I need your loving”.
“Need your lovin” - mixed by Maestro B
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Nice relaxed intro to the set. Upbeat percussion gives us a hint as to where the set will take us, but the laid back keyboard chords keep us relaxed. Around 4:40 an upward progression of chords captures our attention and raises anticipation. The transition to the second track at about 6:40 is wonderfully smooth. Here the relaxed keyboard chords that started the set are replaced by a more pronounced sound.
Ripley continues to build on the sound until around the 18:20 mark, the beat drops out and we are treated to a nice euphoric interlude. Here Ripley has chosen a track that releases the anticipation that was building earlier. The nice interlude continues until we are ready to get back to business, which happens around 21:50. Nice track.
The journey and development of the set continues along the same line. Ripley’s track selection builds anticipation and release. At 56:00 the feel of the set seems to change, which to me signifies the last part of the journey–or the “resolution”. And then at 1:01, Ripley gives us the final track for the set. A good choice, it perfectly closes the set off.
“Contact” - mixed by Ripley
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