First of all, thanks for all the kind words about the mix. It wouldn't have been possible without everyone's submissions. The amount of music I received and the general high quality level meant that I could have done 2 mixes in the end. I tried to get as many people in as I could, but some people did miss out due to sending me tracks in a similar style to the stuff in the first half of the mix, which I felt went on long enough in it's final form. I got a lot of music in that almost tech-house style, which surprised me a bit. Others reasons for missing out included track speed (you know who you are), slightly lower production standards and just some music I wasn't personally into. Sadly, some people missed out with really strong tracks: Vorlis, Barfunkel and Pedro were *this* close to being in, but I dropped their tracks for various reasons (happy to explain why via PM if you guys want to know).
From my point of view this was a much more enjoyable exercise compared to last time. I didn't have to spend hours "mastering" tracks or wondering how I'd jam sections together, it was basically no different to any other planned DJ set with a more limited set of music to choose from. I didn't approach it any differently than I think anyone else would have, I listened to everything blind a couple of times and used the stand-out tracks of each style as something to anchor the rest of the mix around. After a few sessions on the decks with all the tracks it was apparent that this was going to sound pretty coherent as a mix (certainly compared to last time), so making it an actual good mix to listen to became an aim as well, which in turn influenced what other tracks I chose.
Anyway, here's a walk through of each track with some thoughts from me (good and bad) and things I did with each one.
1 Hades - Jeune & Jolie
I was pretty determined to get one of Hades tracks in, he's a bedrock of the forum and was hesitant to send something at first. I actually preferred another track he sent me, but it was just too quiet in comparison to everything else, so I went with Jeune & Jolie. It was going to be 2nd in the mix, but in the end I preferred a slightly more ambient opening to the mix.
2 Koenrahd - Pas mix
Mixing out of Jeune & Jolie was a little tricky because of the kick drum and some of the dissonance not working well with some of the other more melodic tracks. So I decided to loop the intro of Pas mix throughout a large section of Jeune & Jolie so I could have a long, smooth transition into something a little more full on to start to build to the next anchor point in the mix. If I'd have had more time I would've started the whole thing again, as I'm not 100% happy with this mix.
3 Mehta - Kyib
This is great track that kind of got stuck in my head each time I blind listened through the tracks, so I definitely wanted it in somewhere. Thankfully it fit nicely after Pas mix and was an absolute dream to mix into Jordan's track. I love a long transition and the way Kyib and Touch mingle together sounds great to me, it was hard not to have a bit of a wiggle as I was mixing them together.
4 Jordan Louis - Touch
The break-out hit of the member mix! Jordan sent me lots of good music, and I kind of dismissed this one at first, what a mistake that would have been! This is the erection section of the member mix
5 Michal Lovatt - Headshot
This track was a pain in the arse. It's quite slow, so it was difficult to find a place to fit it without having it at +8 (which is something I avoid as I mix with the pitch fader). It's also got a short outro, so I had to set a loop at the end so I could mix it out in my own style. Saying all that, it's a great track that kinda reminds me of my prog house days.
6 Kromasome - Inertia
I like the slightly spooky synth line on this one and I think the transitions between sections are well done. Lovely little groove.
7 Thomas Timusk - 08_93
Sinesnsnares sent me 3 tracks and, to be honest, I could have included any of them. 08_93 fit nicely in this section and was a lot of fun to mix into Tzukenbauer's track, in hindsight perhaps they should have been in the opposite order, but never mind, eh.
8 Tzukenbauer - 050Acid
Another track on the slighly housier end of things, I only included it this late because I enjoyed mixing it into the last track.
9 Pheophyte - Forage
I think 1nfinitezer0 sent me a decent track last time that I didn't included, so I wanted to get this in for him (if not, you've profited from my dodgy memory). The mix into this is the first transition I had to really force and tbh, I wish I could go back and re-do this mix or find something that meshed with the groove in this track better. For me, this track doesn't really get going until the break when the melody comes in properly. I think this track has been mastered professionally, which gives you a good idea of how well everyone else did their home mastering as it's pretty hard to tell.
10 Corrosive - In Flames
This is one of my favourite tracks in the mix, it's just so strong sounding. It was a shame not to receive more music like this and Frarnce's track, I'd have liked to have extended this section of darker material out a bit. This is another track that's been mastered professionally, by Steve no less.
11 Frarnce - Tax
Another really strong sounding track. This one has a strange percussive intro that's really short, so I looped it and kept it in the background of the last track until the end where I fade it right up. Listening back I can't tell where I start mixing this one in, so it's my personal favourite transition in the mix even though it sounds simple if you don't know what I did.
12 Obtuso Music - Planet Prospecting
This is a wonderful track, it would have been nice to build into a bit more, but then again the contrast with Frarnce's track works well (even though it's not the most natural of transitions).
13 Perial - Going Home
Perial makes great music. His track last time was great, this one is also great and would usually be the kind of track I'd finish a mix on. You should post more.
14 Alume - M'saq
This felt like it should have been near the start of a mix rather than the end, but it's muted low end meant it worked ok after Going Home and as a spring board for the last section. I love the percussion work.
15 Planar - Union (Subsekt member mix edit)
Cringe.
16 Merah - Beginners Mind
I'll be honest, I told Merah he could send a track like this to me and it would be OK, I knew what I'd get from him and pretty much always assumed I'd end with his track. I'm not usually a fan of dub-techno stylings and DnB, but this works really, really well imo as it's in half time and keeps that more chilled dub techno vibe. I wish it were a couple of minutes longer, I felt a bit rushed while mixing this into the last track and I couldn't find a decent loop point.
Some final random thoughts:
* Some of you need to take more care over meta-tags in your files. No wonder labels have no idea what some music is they receive when all the tags are empty!
* Lots of people who don't post often sent me music.
* Can't wait to do it again sometime next year!