We are so proud to contribute to the Modyfier's process series and we would like to thank Rayna for the opportunity. The set below is a recording of a live session that we played one night in our studio. It's dirty, it's not perfect and the sound quality is not "state of the art”...but…this is a real night with Commodity Place's music. This recording is dedicated to all people who still believe in music that is made with the heart.
All tracks are originally composed by Commodity Place. Special thanks to all at Còclea Music Ltd.
Like anyone who has got the nod to man the decks for this wonderful series, I spent more than a little bit of time thinking about what direction my contribution should take. I eventually thought I'd contribute a l mixtape. It's been years since I've made a compilation of this nature, probably the first since I bought my Technics and CDJs. Having said that, the methodology behind this approach isn't too dissimilar from the way I program my radio shows, something that I've been doing for more than five years now in Cambridge, UK.
The records I chose for this mix could have been very different, and I've wrestled with choices ever since I knew I was going to do the mix; but, as is so often the case, everything seemed to be hastily assembled in a matter of moments despite my carefully-laid plans. I've owned some of these records for a long time now and it's no exaggeration to say that some of them are in my head for a time every day, but it's been a while since I've played most of them. Consequently, getting them out of their boxes and laying eyes on them properly was like a reunion with old friends.
So these tracks have definitely been influential on me, but so have many others and they only represent a particular dimension through which I have consumed music. As far as the mix itself is concerned, as said before in spite of having it on my mind ever since I got asked to do it and wanting to plan it with military precision, it pretty much took care of itself once I found myself surrounded by the music. Like a lot of DJs, probably most, I rarely plan what I am going to play when out in a club or a bar, things come together and you react to the crowd. Mixing at home is completely different. I always have a direction in mind and like peaks and troughs, darkness and light. I like my mixes to be a mass of as many contrasts as possible within the house/techno template. It would be wrong to say there's absolutely no spontaneity, but when recording a lot of thought goes into the shape and construction of the finished product. I'm definitely not a "big tune" person in that I don't pepper sets with standout tracks, preferring instead highlights to be patiently built up over a reasonable period of time. Time is also very important. The longer the better, but if operating within strict confines, which is the norm, then I like symmetry and shape. Thankfully, after having done this for a while now it seems to happen quite naturally.
In any case, I threw all of these conventions out when putting this selection together and feel liberated by the experience. It came through a software crash, which would have annoyed me a lot if I'd been mixing more conventionally. Many thanks to Rayna for giving me this opportunity and the idea to reacquaint myself with my past. Oh, and just for the record, every bit of this mix was off vinyl. That's just how it happened.
01. Introduction - Lightnin' Hopkins (Charly) 02. Calling Miss Khadiju - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers (Blue Note) 03. Ja Funni - King Sunny Ade & His African Beats (Island) 04. Degi Degi - Don Cherry (Horizon) 05. A Love Supreme/Acknowledgement - John Coltrane (MCA) 06. Black Satin - Miles Davis (CBS) 07. Last Tango In Paris (Ballad) - Gato Barbieri & His Orchestra (United Artists) 08. Two Sevens Clash - Culture (Joe Gibbs) 09. CB200 - Dillinger (Island) 10. Back To The Old School - Just-Ice (Fresh) 11. Put Your Filas On - Schooly D (Flame) 12. Strong Island - JVC Force (B-Boy) 13. Poetry - Boogie Down Productions (B-Boy) 14. Follow The Leader - Eric B & Rakim (MCA) 15 Mountains - Prince (Warner Bros) 16. Knife Slits Water - A Certain Ratio (Factory) 17. Somewhere Between Distance & The Impossible - Experience Chris Nazuka (Classic) 18. Movement - Ron Trent (Prescription) 19. Jailbreak - Paradox (Ronin) 20. Hard Life - Hard Life (Underground Resistance) 21. Sex In Zero Gravity - Red Planet (Red Planet) 22. Humana - Millsart (Axis) 23. Always Crashing In The Same Car - David Bowie (RCA) 24. You Did It, You Did It - Roland Kirk (Fontana)
First of all I want to say a huge thank you to Rayna and Mackaveli for hooking this up. It’s been a long time thing to do on my list and the process of doing this has really awakened a spirit in me. Sometimes you need a kick up the a*rse to do the things you say you’re going to do. This opportunity and process has really done that. THANKYOU Modyfier and THANKYOU to all the artists and record labels that make it possible for such incredible music to reach my ears. I hope you support them if you like what you hear – go and buy the records or CDs.
I’m thinking of a million things I want to say about the music I’ve included. How to rationalize it, to explain choices and direction etc. but I think ultimately its just the music I listen to most – and I have tried to include pieces from my favourite artists of the past few years. Some old, some new, I just wanted to create that moves between light and dark with a sense of disturbance and menace but also beauty and elegance – all the things that appeal to me most about modern electronic music.
But enough rambling – I’m not the best with words and the music speaks far louder and with more clarity than I ever could. So I’ll leave it there. Hope you enjoy it and please support the artists if you enjoy their music. Go and buy records and CDs from your local independent retailer or online store.
When I was invited to come up with a new "process" for Modyfier, I knew I had to record something special. After much thinking (and even asking some friends for their opinion), I've finally settled upon the following project: to record my first ever Dubstep DJ-mix.
I've been following Dubstep since about 2006. I knew there was potential in this music to fit with my tastes but somehow I couldn't find the artists that would really make me "dive" in the scene and start buying records. This all changed when I heard Burial's first album: I was instantly hooked on the rolling character of his beats and the deeply personal atmosphere that he was able to create. Since then, I've been digging more into Dubstep and I've found some of the most incredible music I've heard in a long time.
Back in the late 90's, I was an avid collector of Drum n' Bass. I thought it was the ultimate form of music, blending together all the genres that I love: Hip-Hop, House, Techno, Jazz and Dub. There was also a very strong "forward" approach: producers where constantly coming up with new techniques and ideas to keep the music fresh, sometimes creating tracks that were on the border of experimental music. I feel this similar hunger for innovation within the Dubstep scene and it's very motivating, as a producer, to hear people who are constantly "breaking sound barriers" (remember Reinforced?).
My aim for this set was to showcase as many of my favourite artists as possible, so I kept a basic rule of 1 track per artist (or project name). It was tough sometimes, particularly for people such as Martyn, 2562 or Pangaea who have released so many wonderful records! Mixing-wise, the selection had to be flowing so I took extra care with the order of the tracks, specially because tempos in Dubstep can go from 125 to 140 BPMs...
This set is very personal and I don't think it can't be taken as an introduction to the scene. However, the mix sheds light to a specific corner within the multi-angled Dubstep room and I hope it will inspire those who are not familiar with the genre to continue exploring the other corners...
01. Martyn - Far Away - 3024 02. A Made Up Sound - Closer - A Made Up Sound 03. F - Phase One - 7even 04. Four Tet - Love cry (Joy Orbison Remix) - Domino
05. Falty DL - Party - Ramp Recordings 06. Untold - Sweat - Hotflush 2 07. Pangaea - Router - Hessle Audio 08. Jus Wan - Action Potential - Apple Pips 09. Instra:Mental - Futurist - Naked Lunch 10. Pearson Sound - So Far Ago - Soul Jazz 11. Burial - Exit Woundz - Hyperdub 12. 2562 - Channel Two - Tectonic 13. Dfrnt - Tripped (Synkro Remix) - On The Edge 14. Peverelist - Infinity Is Now - Tectonic 15. James Blake - Air & Lack Thereof - Hemlock 16. Ghostleigh - Dleep Off - Ghostleighdubz
When Rayna first invited me to contribute a mix for Modyfier, the idea intrigued me as an opportunity to share a different side of my musical interests. So I endeavored to create an iconoclastic mix, something that would display my varied sophistications - but every attempt turned out wrong: overcooked, underdone, you name it; nothing worth serving to friends or family, let alone the general public. It seemed my ambitions had doomed the mix to failure, toppled by the weight of its own concept. As I forged ahead with other projects, it became apparent that I should go in another direction for Rayna's mix - another direction entirely. I abandoned outright the overwrought notions that were hemming me in and headed in the opposite direction...
The resulting mix was recorded live in those very first infant moments of a new decade, spinning on three decks from 0:00 on January 1, 2010 for the CMKY New Year's Eve in Boulder, Colorado - a raucous event not only amplified by the holiday's festivities, but also by the fact that it was the final event to be held at B-Side, a key venue in the area that had nurtured the nascent (now burgeoning) local electronic scene over the past five years. Veering towards potent party tracks in the best tradition of NYE techno, I hope this mix, loose and wild in parts, captures some of the mania of that night - a packed and sweaty room filed with the haze of the past, hope for the future, and the promise of impending novelty just around the corner: intensity, excitement, a fresh moment for all...
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