Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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LUKE SOLOMON

This is a mix I compiled for Clash magazine. The general thought process behind a mix I do doesn't really consist of much. Primarily, I need to be inspired. This entails buying or being sent a record that moves me, or playing a great gig where a record jumps out at me and grabs the audience unexpectedly, or the moon needing to be in the right place. Usually it is a combination of all three.

In this instance it was a combination of all these things. This was actually a second effort. I did an original mix and wasn't happy with the programming or the record selection so I took it back to the drawing board. I had been sent the Glen Underground mix of DJ Pierre and I was so captured by it first, being a great record and second, because it was from two of my old school heroes, who quite honestly had been in a different musical place to me for many years. It’s always great when you look to your peers and they deliver.

Now my usual downfall is that if I set the bar quite high from the outset, I find it hard to keep the pace purely because I play such a wide selection of underground dance music. Normally for me it’s all about the journey. In this instance, I knew I had 40 minutes and that was all. Once I had played the first record it all kind of fell into place. Once the mix was done, I listened back and checked for mistakes and issues (all my mixes are recorded live across three CD players and the occasional turntable). If a mix needs an edit, I don't shy away. In this case it didn't, hooray! I ran the mix through a Neve channel strip and a Precision limiter to boost the levels and add a little character. Then I listened back once in the car, and I was done.


01. Lose Control (Glen Underground remix) - DJ Pierre - Gigolo
02. Its About Time - Layo and Bushwacka - Olmeto
03. Ultrasound - Luke Solomon - Innervisions
04. House - Lil Tony - Innervisions
05. Crimes (Luke Solomon Remix) - Ldoe - Classic
06. Detroit (Carl Craig Remix) - Morgan Geist - Environ
07. Boil - Deadbeat - Wagon Repair