RECREATIONAL CHEMISTRY
(a.k.a. Scott’s Acid Trail Mix, Blend 420)
This is coming late, and sorry for that. Later issues of this segment, dedicated to new and not-so-new dinner specials of Mixology, Cut Chemistry, and Other DJ Madness, will be a little more timely, if not anymore coherent! Compliments and complaints can be sent to this site, but be warned! Hate Mail is acceptable, but proper (and COLORFUL) grammar usage is a must, as well is punctutation and verb tense. YOU WILL BE GRADED! 
On to the mixes!
DJ BRIAN S- Sept. 2007 Mix 5.611
Pros:
Brian S is one of the hottest DJs in the Chicago scene, specializing in the lighter side of club and dance (house, a little acid house, ghetto, club, etc) and this mix is the hottest thing I have heard from so far. His track selection is top-notch club and house fare, a little traditional tunage in the mix changed up with good fades, nice rhythm augmentations (when they’re present), and, when appropriate, good 2nd drops that provide color and trippiness. Highlight: the opening track, “Perculate”, is solid and ass-snapping but I have to warn you now: if the word “motherfucker” offends you, this may not be the song to start with, as the “perculate, motherfucker” loops spin 32 times. If it doesn’t bother you, you’re in for a nice treat.
Unfortunately, I could not secure a track listing for this mix (which happens sometimes) so you’re going to be stuck with “2nd track”, “3rd track”, etc. Moving on: The mix is very strong through the first few selections: not too fast, not too far into the k-hole, very sexy and groovy. The 5th track is an awesome selection that kicks off into a truly inspired mix, though. The 5th track comes on in hyper-house territory: loud, fast, tight and intense remix. (For those who know these songs, it’s the songs directly after the 4th or the one with the awful vocals on it.) This song, however, has powerhouse vocals and shows its trancey roots as well. Fading well into an acid stomper (something about “on drugs”…naww..that shit doesn’t happen in clubs, does it??), the mix turns to a killer remix of the 1983 Tears for Fears’ hit, “Shout.” Seek this version out NOW! Then, for old-skool flavor, “Shout” transitions into Robin M.’s classic “Show Me Love”, whose remix is refreshingly updated for today’s ass but retains enough old-skool booty to please everyone.
Cons: Not many really, although a couple stand out in the mind. “Perculate” is a hot riff but really doesn’t go anywhere. My problem with the tune where the ghetto chicks can’t sing worth crap isn’t Brian’s fault, so I’ll leave that rant out. The last tune of the mix is the weakest of the bunch, in my opinion. While it’s true that at 2:30 a.m., after several Red Bulls and whatever else is floating around, this song will probably sound great, a critical look at it with a little less “elevation” suggests that the song doesn’t match the previous tracks’ brilliance, and for a closer track, that’s a bummer. Also, the track fades out on a what sounds like another good workout…also, kind of a bum-out
Summation: This mix, from the end of last summer, is a great “kick-out-the-blues” ass-shaker. While not essential, it’s a damn sight better than many of the mixes out there that garner instant appeal (the venerable “Now that’s what I call music” series, for one) and is representative of Brian’s power behing the controls.
The Verdugo Brothers- Reflections of a night in Denver 6.091
Whether it’s a well-executed, inventive remix or one of their one acidic creastions, LA’s Verdugo Brothers are simply one of the best American DJ combinations, both in the studio and in the mix. Stay tuned for a look at their upcoming Jesolo Nights EP, which is sure to be an awesome mix.
Pros: Here again, I wasn’t able to procure a set listing, for which I am truly bummed, because there isn’t a turkey in the bunch, and a couple of the mixes are interstellar. Using their trademark combination of funky bass, straight-ahead rhythms and, in the harder acid house selections, expert effects and production, the Brothers also have an incredible nose for material. The mix is 64:36 long, and with that reference, here are the highlights:
There truly are no moments exceptionally weaker than others, so the opening 12 minutes is a tasty mix of acid house, tech-house and progressive house stylings with tasteful and groovy effects, loops, etc. 13:36-19:27: this is where they up the ante with an epic acid mix, peak-style: hard-edged and firmly in the k-hole. 19:28-24:28: After one of many seamless segues, a few of which tricked me they were so flawless, the mix veers into tight and tempting house with a great vocal mix 24:29-28:24: Groovy tech over deft club mix into a kind of electro/techno mix. The resulting acid mix (at 26:00) is slamming. The segue isn’t as smooth but it’s barely noticeable.
33:41-39:34: This is the hottest part of what is truly an incendiary mix. I would appreciate, as with the other tracks in the mix, if someone could tell me the title and artist of this track. The track and resulting mix is absolutely intense: marathon acid house with a techno edge. The Latin touches in the synth elevate the track beyond genre greatness, and the Brothers’ mix is truly head-spinning!
39:34-44:29: Not as intense as its predecessor, but awesome weird-ass house anyway. Not really a standard “start-finish” song but works as good extended transition between the classic 33:41 cut and the superb cut ahead at 48:12, which not only comes in sounding like a dual-disc segue, but stomps through a fantastic progressive trance section. The non-kit sections are beautifully done and the segue is just fucking breathtaking!
53:30(ish): Ish, because I was too lost in the ozone to care what the time was, which says it all. Awesome acid house/trance track, with beauty, booty, breadth and balls for days. Hypnotic latin feels (most likely a gift from the VB) contrast well with the great percussion fx. This mix is seminal (I wish I knew the cut’s title and artist..) and the 3rd drop is killer! The track following it is the closer, and if not as earth-melting as some of the ones before it, the track’s welcome cooldown from the previous track’s tribalistic acid trance is a fitting set-closer and cue to hit the bar for another Vodka Bull.
Cons: THIS is the hard part. The Denver mis is so airtight, thought-out and inspired that airing beefs at this point only comes off as being anal. My only beef with this is NOT knowing who did what, so I could better judge what is original track and what is remix. While it’s not a failing of the mix, and many DJ’s prefer not to release their setlists, it makes it a little dicey to really analze and review the mix. My reasoning for this complaint is that, if the listeners/dancers/whatevers don’t know the tracks that we consider to be fucking epic, then 1) we can’t go out and find copies for ourselves, benefiting us and the artists, and 2) not knowing what the tracks are prevents us from praising the DJ for his/her nose for brilliant material.
Summation: This mix is available on the Verdugo Brother’s MySpace site, and I urge you to download a copy for yourself, or better yet, d/l it and catch their live sets as well. Having been in the business for a decade or longer, this is one duo that desperately needs the exposure that will elevate them to the FBS/Oakenfold/Deepack tier, where they obviously belong.
4 eva blesst- Payin’ Dues 5.7005
God..is there anything EDM this man can’t do? Stellar mixes with Jonny Details, awesome pieces of dark electronic music with J-Dub as well as on his own, substantial remix talent, even a stellar mixer of tracks. While this sounds perilously close to fanboy-style drooling (which is SO not cool from a balding 40-year old haflbreed), it’s hard not to stand in awe of what I’ve come across so far.
The Mix:
Lemon D- Jazz Is
Usual Suspects- Body Count (Cause4Concern mix)
nCode- Spasm
Kriptic Minds & Leon Switch- Gas Chamber
Silent Witness & Break- X-Track
Psidream- Delusional
Technical Itch- Soldiers (V-Bridge VIP)
Ed Rush & Optical- Checkout Time
J-Majik- Solarize (Optical remix)
Evol Intent feat. Blip- Flipside
Dilinja (a.k.a. Capone)- No Food
Pros:
As you can see, the song selection is truly awesome; rather than assembling a sampler of tracks by the generally-acknowledged masters of drum’n'bass, 4 eva intersperses lesser-known talents and tracks with more reocgnizable fare, stitching them together with flawless fades and segues as well as overlapping and dual-discing. Highlights:
“Body Count” signals an instant step up into overdrive territory. The track is, if anything, speedier and edgier than normal and the mix at 7:00 is intense and awesome. Using backbuilds and sequence subtraction, the segue into “Spasm” is excellent. The track’s more eclectic feel, veering from d’n'b into a little dubsteppy groove and back, complements the loud/hard/fast of the previous cut well. The nCoder stomper works nicely into the Krptic/Switch collab,.whose epic groove, pneumatic snare-work and buzzy bass make this one of my new favorites, both stand-alone and in mix form.
The Tech Itch remix was unknown to me before this, and after hearing it and 4 eva’s manipulations, this is one track that is ass-snapping: indescribably essential. 4’s fade into “Soliders” from the Psidream workout (”Delusional”) is masterful. The following Uni Project cut, “Warboyz”, is a great cut by a (at least in my neck of the woods) not-as-known artist and if it’s not as old-skool-meets-new-beats awesome as the Itch cut, it’s still a triumph for artist and for DJ.
“Solarize” and “Flipside”, which come just before the Dilinja/Capone/What’s-His-Name-This-Week closer, are perfect examples of contrasting legendary artists with legendary tracks. J’s track is unmistakably Majik material: d’n'b back in the day when it also shared the scene with hard techno, gabber, and garage, as traces of those genres leak in as well. 4’s production complements the varied genre attack of the track, and expertly fades into “Flipside”, one of d’n'b’s biggest singles. Thanks to the track list, I now know who is responsible for cutting one of my all-time fave EDM tunes. Even if neither Evol Intent nor Blip are instantly recognizable to non-devotees of the genre, “Flipside” is a true diamons: hard and wailing. In this mix, the track is a breathless bridge between “Solarize” and the great but not essential Dilinja track.
Cons:
I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, and the conclusion that I came to is that the inclusion of seminal artists Lemon D and Dilinja (arent they the same person?) not only as part of the mix but as bookend cuts, is not as good of an idea as I initially thought it to be. Both artists have made mind-blowing tracks and contributions to the form, but sadly, neither of these tracks are representative of that. I realize that “No Food” is an older track and has weight on the EDM timeline, but there are others far more dense and/or trippy than this.
My point, I guess, is that their inclusion seems more like an homage to the artists than a true book-ending of what is an iron-clad mix.
Observation 2: It’s not really a con, but more of an idea. Over the years, I have noticed a marked similarity between drum’n'bass and jungle, both referentially (in sample work and vox), atmospherically (in use of effects and montage) and rhythmically (more in the velocity than any distinct rhythm patternization). This sampler, which spans years and tracks deftly, is a classic example of how thin that line of demarcation really can be sometimes. While this mix is 4 “Payin his Dues”, it’s less of a dues-payer than it is a mature and promising omen of things to come, and since it ilustrates the thin line between both styles, how bout “The Thin Line Between”, or something like that
Summation: A truly awesome remix by one of America’s (as-yet) undiscovered talents. I still don’t know he does it, but with an interview in the works, as well as new tracks up for Issue 6, we’re going to damn well find out!
If you’ll excuse me, now, it’s time to piss off the neighbors and pump up the volume: “Soldiers” is on!
Scott Mayfield (a.k.a. Crossfade)
end RC 1 (CG Issue 5)
