£50 Note

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:05:12 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 18: The £50 Note Mix
Download (86.7 MB, 192kbps, 1:03:02)

Fuck More (with Madonna intro) by Junkie XL
I Don't Like The Vibe In The VIP (Jack Rokka Club Mix) by ElectroVamp
What Planet You On (Prok And Fitch Vocal) by Bodyrock & Luciana
Seems Like My Fault (Easy L. & Roman F. Mix) by DJ Agent Orange
Let Me Know (Joey Negro's Destination Boogie Club) by Roisin Murphy
Kiss You Off (DJ Delicious Remix) by Scissor Sisters
Razorblade (Play Paul Vocal Club Mix) by Coburn
Destination Calabria (Paul Emanuel Remix) by Alex Gaudin Featuring Crystal Waters
Elektro Loser (Freak Fusion Mix) by Elektrik Haze
Hollaback Boooy (Gwen Stefani vs. Flava Flav) by Robosonic The Hedgehog
Konichiwa Bitches (Trentemoller Remix) by Robyn

"I'll be your schoolgirl dream, I'll shake my peaches & cream..."

So, it's been, like, two months since I recorded a Kiss The Future mix (heh, Two Months Off. See: Underworld). While I've had a number of tracks earmarked, I just wasn't finding the right combination of tracks that excited me...that was, until the night of SugarKRASH. My friend John Rivie, who DJs under the name Luvsik, dropped the remix of Beck's Loser you'll hear in this set, and it was like a multiple orgasm going of in my body. From that point on, everything just gelled. I really love this particular KTF.

I don't have anything else to add - the music totally does the talking.

(Cover model: me, taken February 15, 2008, as I was DJing at SugarKRASH. Photo by Dominic.)

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:00:24 GMT

Most of you are probably wondering where the hell I've been and why I haven't posted a new show in, like, two months.

I've been DJing quite a bit IRL (in real life), along with working a 40-hour a week job. I've also started production on my first album of new music in seven years, and will be posting updates/links here. It's a rather ambitious project (a double album and associated singles/remixes) utilizing a lot of sampling, to the extent that it would be impossible to get clearance for everything. I intend to make the whole thing free.

I have a couple of Kiss The Future mixes in the pipe, along with a set of new remixes of retro songs.

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:25:59 GMT

Just A Band: The £50 Note Rock Mix
Download (97.2 MB, 192kbps, 1:10:39)

Thou Shalt Always Kill (Knifehandchop Remix) by Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
Killing In The Name Of (SebastiAn) by Rage Against The Machine
Immigrant Song (Dirty Funker Remix) by Led Zeppelin
Lithium (Dirty Funker Remix) by Nirvana
All These Things That I've Done (Pink Noise Mix) by The Killers
Proper Education (Pig & Dan Remix) by Eric Prydz vs. Pink Floyd
Welcome To The Machine (Dirty Funker Remix) by Pink Floyd
The Walk (Infusion 12" Remix) by The Cure
Should I Stay Or Should I Go (white label) by The Clash
Blue Orchid (Dirty Funker's Blue Mix) by The White Stripes
Bigmouth Strikes Again (FakeID Mix) by The Smiths
No Love Lost (Joy Division cover) by LCD Soundsystem

Thou shalt not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how great they are or were.

The Beatles - Were just a band.
Led Zeppelin - Just a band.
The Beach Boys - Just a band.
The Sex Pistols - Just a band.
The Clash - Just a band.
Crass - Just a band.
Minor Threat - Just a band.
The Cure - Were just a band.
The Smiths - Just a band.
Nirvana - Just a band.
The Pixies - Just a band.
Oasis - Just a band.
Radiohead - They're just a band.
Bloc Party - Just a band.
The Arctic Monkeys - Just a band.
The next big thing - Just a band!

- Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip

Kiss The Future Vol. 17: The £50 Note Mix

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:25:47 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 17: The £50 Note Mix
Download (79.2 MB, 192kbps, 57:33)

I Used To Dance With My Daddy (Subsource Remix) by Datarock
Whole Lotta Love (Dirty Funker Remix) by Led Zeppelin
Daft Britney (Britney Spears vs. Daft Punk) by Go Home Productions
The Call (Ante Up) by Green Velvet & Jamie Principle
La Musique by Riot In Belgium
Stakker Humanoid (James Talk 2007 Remix) by Stakker
Lights (Luomo Remix) by Scissor Sisters
First Gear by The Rapture
Into A Swan (Weatherall Remix) by Siouxsie
Crocodile (Pete Heller Remix) by Underworld
Cologne Cerrone Houdini by Goldfrapp

"I used to dance with my daddy, yeah!"

Here's my attempt at being topical.

The last few weeks have brought us new albums by Daft Punk, Siouxsie, and Underworld. Goldfrapp's forthcoming album has been leaked. Britney Spears continues to be a pop wreck, with her little sister now joining the team. Led Zeppelin took the stage together for the first time since 1985. Scissor Sisters released a fan-only single limited to 300 copies that subsequently pissed off a lot of the fans. I saw The Rapture in concert twice this year. Green Velvet working with Chicago house legend Jamie Principle makes me very happy.

Buster's presence is helping me make it through the stress of my day job and of the holidays, and when I'm recording a new mix he sits next to my laptop and watches me intently.

(Cover model: Buster)

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:39:26 GMT

Since relocating to San Francisco I've been involved with Kuma|SF's monthly club night called Basket. It's the fourth Saturday of each month at Eight Club on Folsom between 7th and 8th. There are several of us working as DJs in rotation, so I've put together an introduction page on my site to serve as an offshoot of www.kumasf.com.

Meet the Kuma|SF DJs.

There's a mix from me there that hasn't appeared anywhere else, although most of the tracks have appeared in previous installments of Kiss The Future.

Everyone has their own style, so please download and check out the other mixes...and if you're a local, come and dance at Basket!

Kiss The Future Vol. 16: The £50 Note Mix

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:18:55 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 16: The £50 Note Mix
Download (84.5 MB, 192kbps, 1:01:27)

Can I Get Get Get (Guns 'n' Bombs Jak The Tab Remix) by Junior Senior
Party Animal (Vandalism Dirty Remix) by Mark Knight
Ibiza (V&M Remix) by Kloq
Oh My God (Chris Lake Remix) by Mark Ronson Featuring Lily Allen
All These Things That I've Done (Pink Noise Mix) by The Killers
Take Off (Filthy Disco Mix) by Jack Rokka vs. Betty Boo
Saturday Night Sunday Morning (Digital Dog Remix) by T-Empo
Automatic (Extended Mix) by Ultra Nate
The Drugs (Original Mix Version) by Josh Atchley & Trent Cantrelle
Golden Heart (GRN's Golden Glow Remix) by Erasure

"I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier..."

(Cover model: Jeff)

Kiss The Future Vol. 15: The £50 Note Mix

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 23:18:21 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 15: The £50 Note Mix
Download (83.9 MB, 192kbps, 1:01:01)

The Creeps (Fonzerelli Mix) by Camille Jones vs. Fedde Le Grand
Bring The Noise (Ferry Corsten Mix) by Public Enemy
Burnin' by Daft Punk
Yeah Yeah (D. Ramirez Vocal Club Mix) by Bodyrox
Kinda New (Dirty South 07 Remix) by Spektrum
Confusion 2007 (Dirty South Electrofried Remix) by New Order
Soul Heaven (Fonzerelli Remix) by Henrik B.
Get On The Dancefloor (Vandalism Vocal Remix) by Freaks
Computer Love (No Recip Mix) by NSA Featuring RuPaul
With Every Heartbeat (Corenell Remix) by Robyn With Kleerup

"It's a beautiful, beautiful scene; it's a soul, soul heaven"

Fonzerelli is turning into one of my favorite artists. His track Spirit from KTFv14 is something I can listen to over and over again, along with his remix of Soul Heaven presented here. I know it's GAYGAYGAY but I can't help being moved by it - and I hate divas. The big surprise is Ferry Corsten's mix of Bring The Noise, which kicks ass. I lived with a copy of Public Enemy's Fear Of A Black Planet all during my freshman year of college, and I can still rap almost the entire track from memory. As soon as I heard the remix I started hearing Daft Punk's Burnin' paired with it. Dirty South has been remixing everyone and I love their bootleg mix of Confusion, one of New Order's most reworked tracks ('83, '90, '95, '02, and now '07). Finally, NSA and RuPaul will have you laughing with Computer Love, the title of which is a nod to Kraftwerk and with lyrics taken from dirty personal ads on Craigslist (NSFW).

Kiss The Future Vol. 14: The £50 Note Mix

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 01:25:03 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 14: The £50 Note Mix
Download (86.6 MB, 192kbps, 1:02:59)

Breakaway (Chris Fraser Main Mix) by Inaya Day
Beautiful (Michael Gray Remix) by Cicada
Girls On Top (Original Mix) by Scratch Massive
Girl I Told Ya (Trent Cantrelle Mix) by Valeria
A Kick In The Teeth (white label bootleg) by Fischerspooner
Aerodynamik (Hot Chip | Etienne De Crecy mixes) by Kraftwerk
A Cause Des Garcons (Tepr Remix) by Yelle
No More Conversations (Richard X Remix) by Freeform Five
Tell Me Why (Original Mix) by Supermode
Spirit (Vocal Mix) by Fonzerelli

"Want to stay here forever..."

(Cover model: Ai)

Kiss The Future Vol. 13: The £50 Note Mix

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:32:10 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 13: The £50 Note Mix
Download (86.4 MB, 192kbps, 1:02:48)

Till We Meet Again (Quivver Vocal Mix) by Rekelectrik
It's All True (Kris Menace Full Vocal Remix) by Tracey Thorn
Circulate (JBAG Edit) by Rex The Dog
Road To Recovery (Curses! Remix) by Midnight Juggernauts
Jupiter Room (Martian Assault Mix) by Digitalism
All This Love (Radio Edit) by The Similou
Space Travel by The Hacker
Let's Dance (Club Mix) by Hi-Tack/David Bowie
Electric Barbarella by Duran Duran
The Choice by Green Velvet & Jamie Principle
Her (DJ Touche Remix) by Kissy Sell Out
Idealistic Rampage by Digitalism

"On a magical starry night, your beauty shines so bright..."

Volume 13 brings around a meshing of old and new: a reworked Bowie track from '83, a 10-year old track from Duran Duran (requested by Jason), new offerings from Chicago house legend Jamie Principle and from Tracey Thorn, meshed with newer artists like Rex The Dog, Kissy Sell Out, The Hacker, and Digitalism. It's sort of an odd mix because it veers from smooth melodic sounds to the abrasive aesthetic that - unfortunately - is being called "new rave".

Thanks as always to DJ Agent Adam for tipping me off to The Similou...but I found the Hi-Tack track before you played it for me at the Folsom Street Fair, betch! ;)

(Cover model: Brandon)

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:37:18 GMT

I've put together two volumes of Underworld mixes, which you can find here.

I didn't want to drop them in the RSS feed because they total 2.5 hours of music and 200 MB. You'll have to download manually if you're interested.

Includes remixes from the RiverRun series and two songs from the forthcoming album Oblivion, With Bells.

Kiss The Future Vol. 12: The £50 Note Mix

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:14:10 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 12: The £50 Note Mix
Download (88.7 MB, 192kbps, 1:04:24)

Intro taken from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Human After All (SebastiAn Remix) by Daft Punk
Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Destruction Remix) by Rihanna
Bigger Bird (Annie Lennox vs. Super Mal) by Essexboy
D.A.N.C.E. (MSTRKRFT Remix) by Justice
Titties (Largin' It Mix) by The Trucks
The Rejection (Eric Kupper Mix) by Dangerous Muse
Unbelievable (Club Mix) by Luke Doucet
Soft Power (Brendan Long & Loz Remix) by Ladytron
Bigger Than Big (Macca Vocal Mix) by Super Mal featuring Luciana
Get Down (Calvin Harris Remix) by Groove Armada
Element Of Danger (MSTRKRFT Remix) by Services

"This is what you came for, what you came for: Big! Fat! Beat!"

I can't believe it's been 12 weeks since I last posted a mix. I had no intention of letting it go that long, but between packing, relocating 2500 miles, DJ gigs, getting settled, and looking for a day job I just haven't made time to put one together.

However, that means you get three months of new favorites.

With one exception, all of these were in my set at last week's Basket in San Francisco (which also happened to be my birthday). Luvsik, who spun before me, dropped Bigger Than Big and I freaked out. It has that high-energy, squelchy electro sound that drives me nuts so I immediately downloaded it when I got home. I've been listening to it over and over along with the Rihanna track (which was a total surprise).

The intro bit was inspired by seeing Daft Punk in Berkeley about two weeks after I moved.

Other than that, I don't have much to report. I'm glad to be back and I hope to start posting regularly again. I've even got some ideas for hosted shows, and I haven't done one of those in seven months. Expect cameos and co-hosts.

Special thanks go out to Agent Adam, Bundy, Dann Edmonds, Luvsik, Mad Adam, Peter Black, and Tim Bearcub, who either inspired or directly turned me on to the tracks in this mix.

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:31:07 GMT

"Where the hell is Jeb?"

For those of you who don't follow my primary journal, I landed safely in San Fancisco four weeks ago. This weekend I will be setting my DJ gear back up so expect a lot of new mixes in the coming days - I have several laid out already.

Keep £50 Note online!

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:22:10 GMT

I'm coming up on the 2-year anniversary of starting the £50 Note podcast. I've thoroughly enjoyed doing it and I know many of you have enjoyed listening.

The renewal for my web hosting will be due soon and any funds I have available are currently tied up in my move to San Francisco, so I'm asking for your help.

If you've enjoyed the show and feel you could contribute a few dollars to my web hosting please click on the button below to go to PayPal. The total amount of my bill is just a few dollars shy of $200 (for two pre-paid years).

Help me to promote new artists while keeping you entertained! Thanks!

Kiss The Future Vol. 11: The £50 Note Mix

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 02:40:17 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 11: The £50 Note Mix
Download (80.7 MB, 192kbps, 58:40)

Fledermaus Can't Get It (Max Tundra Remix) by Von Sudenfed
You Never Know (The Kloq Remix) by Kloq
Control I'm Here by Sebastian R. Komor & XP8
I Can't Wait (Denny Tsettos Dub) by Dianne Wesley
I'm Gonna Make You Fall In Love With Me (Remix) by Heaven 17
Perspex Sex (Ewan Pearson's Hi-NRG Remix) by Freeform Five
Easy Love by MSTRKRFT
Feels Like Home (Original Mix) by Meck featuring Dino Lenny
Sleeper In Metropolis 3000 (Club Mix) by Anne Clark
Military Fashion Show by And One
Warm Leatherette by Chicks On Speed

"Choose your weapon, time to go...a military fashion show"

The fare here is a little edgier than previous mixes. If you grew up listening to EBM, Wax Trax! and Nettwerk Records you should feel right at home.

This mix was inspired by the And One track, which I'm obsessed with right now. I can has eastern European-sounding technopop with a military theme? Is it the Cold War all over again? Hells yeah! Thanks to Kynt for pointing it out, because I hadn't heard anything by them since their debut single in 1990.

Kloq (a.k.a. Oz Morsley) is currently one of my favorites, and I'm eagerly awaiting his full-length album.

The Heaven 17 single has only been out for a month and it went down a storm when I DJed at Basket in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago.

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 13:40:16 GMT

I may have mentioned before that £50 Note is on MySpace, but now I've actually filled out the profile and started adding friends.

Please add me if you like.

(Yes, I know the site leaves something to be desired, but I've already started corresponding with a couple of my musical heroes. At least it's good for networking.)

Past>Forward Vol. 3: The £50 Note Slower Mix

Thu, 10 May 2007 16:34:15 GMT

Past>Forward Vol. 3: The £50 Note Slower Mix
Download (86.2 MB, 192kbps, 1:02:40)

How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths
Hippychick (Extended) by Soho
I Am Stretched On Your Grave (Apple Brightness Mix) by Sinead O'Connor
Hello (Razormaid! Mix) by The Beloved
Tom's Diner by DNA Featuring Suzanne Vega
Wrote For Luck (Vince Clarke Mix) by Happy Mondays
Mother Universe (Solar Dub) by The Soup Dragons
Peek-A-Boo (Silver Dollar Mix) by Siouxsie & The Banshees
Unbelievable (Cin City Sex Mix) by EMF
Come Alive by Nitzer Ebb
You And Me And Everything by The Shamen
This Is Your Life by Banderas
White Rabbit (Club Mix) by David Diebold & Kim Cataluna

"There's a club if you'd like to go, you could meet somebody who really loves you..."

I have a hard time mixing slower beat per minute tracks.

No, that isn't me in the graphic.

Queen: The £50 Note Mix

Sun, 06 May 2007 20:20:09 GMT

Queen: The £50 Note Mix
Download (78.3 MB, 192kbps, 56:56)

One Vision (Extended Vision)
Stone Cold Crazy (Nine Inch Nails Mix)
The Invisible Man
Under Pressure (Rah Mix) by Queen & David Bowie
Another One Bites The Dust (Cedric Gervais & Second Sun Vocal Mix)
New York At Last by Smash
Love Kills (Sunshine People Club Remix) by Freddie Mercury
Burn Your Radio (Queen vs. John Lydon vs. Public Enemy) by Instamatic
Fat Bottomed Girls (Roman Pushkin Main Mix)
A Kind Of Magic
Flash (Extended Mix) by Queen + Vanguard
I Was Born To Love You (Max Tundra Remix)

"Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin' world go 'round"

Three of these tracks have previously appeared in the Kiss The Future series, making Queen the artist who has appeared the most. I was really surprised once I realized that because I'd have assumed it was New Order, The Knife, Depeche Mode, or anyone else!

New York At Last is essentially a new Queen track in the same way that Free As A Bird was a new Beatles track. It started as one of Freddie's demos, and by carefully sampling and layering guitar, bass, and drum parts from other Queen songs then merging the results with an electro synth line reminiscent of Radio Ga Ga (it is, in fact, the synth line from the remix of Love Kills which follows it) Smash made it made something good enough that it could have been a single.

Past>Forward Vol. 2: The Metro, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:56:41 GMT

Past>Forward Vol. 2: The Metro, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Download (77.3 MB, 192kbps, 56:12)

Walking Away (SMD Mix) by Information Society
Bizarre Love Triangle (12" Version) by New Order
True Faith (Morning Sun Remix) by New Order
The Different Story (Razormaid! Mix) by Peter Schilling
Losing My Mind (Disco Mix) by Pet Shop Boys
Das Omen (Razormaid! Mix) by Mysterious Art
Strangelove (Pain Mix) by Depeche Mode
Join In The Chant (Burn!) by Nitzer Ebb
Theme From S-Express (US 12" Mix) by S-Express
Crucified (The Nuzak Remix) by Army Of Lovers
I Sit On Acid (Mixin' Up The Acid) by Lords Of Acid
Welcome To Paradise/Headhunter (Razormaid! Mix) by Front 242

"DROP THAT GHETTOBLASTER!"

Located at 156 W Main Street in downtown Lexington, The Metro was in operation from roughly 1990 to 1993. It came third in the succession of gay-owned bars (Cafe LMNOP, Great Moments) that appealed to a mixed crowd and played alternative dance music. During regular hours it was a dyke bar but on Friday and Saturday nights from 1:30 to 4:30am DJs Chad and Joe would spin bands like Depeche Mode and New Order for an 18-and-up crowd that was a mixture of gay/straight/male/female/white/black/young/old. During the fall of 1990 it became the first gay club I'd ever set foot in, a full year before I turned 21.

I was already DJing a dance music show on the college radio station which then approached the bar to have me do an industrial music night on Thursdays. I got to know Joe and Chad and within a year I was regularly filling in for them on Saturdays, too.

This is the first of two mixes that capture the sound of those nights. By the tail-end of 1991 James Brown Is Dead came along and suddenly techno wiped away melodic, song-based dance music. I started DJing at The Bar in May of 1992 so my Metro days came to an end.

I hope someone from the old crowd finds this mix; I've not seen any of them in 15 years.

As a side note I'd like to add that I had a lot of trouble recording this mix. I had to do it five or six times due to repeated technical difficulties, and it made me laugh because these are the songs I learned how to DJ with, and it was like my skills had reverted to that beginner level all over again. I should have left a great big train wreck right in the middle of it for old time's sake.

Kiss The Future Vol. 10: The £50 Note Mix

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:12:31 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 10: The £50 Note Mix
Download (86.4 MB, 192kbps, 1:02:46)

Black Gloves (Extended) by Goose
Perfect (Michi Lange Sidekick Remix) by Princess Superstar
Wayfarer by Kavinsky
Number 1 (Alan Braxe And Fred Falke Main Remix) by Goldfrapp
I Could Fall In Love With You (Monteverde Vocal Extended Remix) by Erasure
What Do I Want From You? by Freeform Five
She's Madonna (Kris Menace Vocal Re-interpretation) by Robbie Williams
I Walk Alone (Haji & Emanuel Remix) by Those Guys
AC 775 by Motor
Blue Monday (DJ Dan Remix) by Orgy
She's Good For Business by MSTRKRFT
Je Veux Te Voir by Yelle

"I love you baby, but face it; she's Madonna."

I love the new Erasure single. Vince Clark also shares a co-writing credit on the Freeform Five track which follows it.

I'm almost embarrassed to have Orgy's name up there, but you have to hear the mix. It's an embellished chunk of the original Blue Monday and the only surviving part of Orgy's version is one line of the vocals. Yes, I know it's nine years old.

Speaking of loops, I've finally hit on why it is that I hate 90's dance music so much: the overuse of looped samples. Loops are lazy. It's like "Here's one bar of sampled drums; this will be your rhythm for the entire track." I'm so happy that artists are going back to programming drum machines or just playing the fuckers live.

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:12:28 GMT

On Monday, Tim (Radio Clash), Buster (my cat) and I hijacked an episode of Lee Swan's iMotor Away podcast. It's a part birthday/part Easter show, and thanks to Tim forgetting to mute my microphone during the second half you hear me make a bunch of random outbursts over the music which were my side of the conversation we were having while the songs played.

You can download it here.

6/8: The £50 Note Mix

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:54:06 GMT

6/8: The £50 Note Mix
Download (89.3 MB, 192kbps, 1:04:57)

Cold As Ice by Foreigner
Doctorin' The Tardis (12" Mix) by The Timelords (The KLF)
Personal Jesus (Holier Than Thou) by Depeche Mode
Jesus Is My Personal Trainer (Goldfrapp vs. Depeche Mode) by DJ Earworm
Train (Village Hall Mix) by Goldfrapp
Eat The Music by Kate Bush
Compute (Nite Version) by Soulwax
The Happy One (£50 Note Mix) by New Order
Watching The Wildlife (Hotter) by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Body Language (1991 Remix) by Queen
Assimilate (R23 Mix) by Skinny Puppy
Empire State Human by Marsheaux
Kiss You Off by Scissor Sisters
The Not So Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson

"Pick up the pieces with sticky fingers"

What a weird mix; I don't know anyone else who would put Foreigner, Kate Bush, and Marilyn Manson in the same set.

Not being an expert in musical theory, let me try and explain a 6/8 time signature:

If you went to a dance club nearly all the music would be in 4/4 time which means four beats per measure. If you counted to the music

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

The numbers would follow the bass drum and snare drum

boom - bap - boom - bap

Measures are then strung together and form the structure of the song. The verses, choruses, breaks, and bridges would all be divisible by four. 6/8 time sort of follows that structure. You can still count

1 - 2 - 3 - 4
boom - bap - boom - bap

But instead of each beat being divisible by 4 (16th notes), each beat is a triplet, or divisible by three

1-2-3 - 1-2-3 - 1-2-3 - 1-2-3

The effect is a sort of rolling or bouncing feel to the music. Everything used in this mix is in 6/8 time, and more than one song alludes to (or samples) Gary Glitter's Rock & Roll (Part II) - probably the most famous example of 6/8 time in pop music. Other examples include:

Turn To Stone by ELO
Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum
One Of These Days by Pink Floyd
Clean by Depeche Mode

As for the songs I've used here, Kate Bush's Eat The Music is one of my all-time favorites. It has that unbridled, vaguely latin sexual feel that evokes hot weather to me. Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Watching The Wildlife was their final single as a band - the third from the criminally underrated Liverpool, and Empire State Human is a Human League cover by Greek female duo Marsheaux.

Past>Forward Vol. 1: The £50 Note Mix

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:39:15 GMT

Past>Forward Vol. 1: The £50 Note Mix
Download (81.8 MB, 192kbps, 59:29)

Big Strong Man (Wild Boys Remix) by Tanz Waffen
Cccan't You See (Razormaid! Mix) by Vicious Pink
Always On My Mind (Razormaid! Mix) by Pet Shop Boys
You Think You're A Man (12" Mix) by Divine
Homosapein II (Icon Mix) by Pete Shelley
Give (Dance Mix) by Missing Persons
Knocking On Your Door (Mark Saunders Remix) by Erasure
Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat
Rush Hour (7th Heaven Remix) by Jane Wiedlin
Keep In Touch by Re-Flex

"Well keep in touch, won't you?"

After spending several years doing a dance music show on my college radio station, in 1995 I switched over to an early Saturday morning shift and began Past>Forward which explored the history of electronic music. Beginning with Edgard Varese who is considered the godfather, I sought not to explore just dance but all forms of electronic music. Did you know that in 1967 The Monkees were the first band to use a commercial synthesizer on a pop record? With the success of Wendy Carlos, Gershon Kingley's successful single Popcorn and Kraftwerk's Autobahn the listening public gradually became aware of synthesizers but the watershed moment (for me) would have to be Donna Summer's I Feel Love, created by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte in 1977. The melding of affordable synthesizers and sequencers with disco rhythms would give birth to an explosion of danceable pop bands all through the 80's, which brings me to this new series.

Based on our mutual adoration of Vicious Pink's Cccan't You See, my friend Denny asked me to put together a retro mix for him to listen to at the gym. I thought this would be a good excuse to bring back the Past>Forward name and create a mix series that pays tribute to the music that made me want to be a DJ in the first place. While there may at times be some crossover between this series and Kiss The Future the bulk of Past>Forward will be songs released between 1980-1990. I've also considered doing an all-disco mix (pre-1980), and I'll have a chance to focus on specific labels like San Francisco's Megatone Records which raised the bar for high energy dance music.

Most of you will be familiar with all the artists in this first mix. Re-Flex is the same band that did The Politics Of Dancing, and their only LP (sharing the same title, released in 1983) was a strong early influence on me. Keep In Touch was the last song on the album. The one artist here that almost no one knows is Tanz Waffen. The name is German and translates as "dance weapon" but the band was actually a male/female duo from Austin, Texas. Big Strong Man was their only official single (although other songs were released by the Razormaid! remix service), and they have a MySpace page.

I liberally borrowed "past forward" as a name and concept from a Die Krupps singles compilation released in 1991.

Kiss The Future Vol. 9: The £50 Note Mix

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:56:48 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 9: The £50 Note Mix
Download (83.6 MB, 192kbps, 1:00:44)

Scumpop by Readers Wifes
I Go Hard, I Go Home (Juan Maclean Remix) by The Presets
One Life To Leave by Out Hud
Acceptable In The 80's (Radio Edit) by Calvin Harris
Look On The Floor (Solasso Remix) by Bananarama
Floribunda (Hoxton Whores Electro Fever Remix) by Mothers Pride
Jane Falls Down (Extended) by The Modern
The Pleasure Remains (Wet Fingers Club Mix) by Camouflage
People Are Still Having Sex (2007 Extended Mix) by DKS vs. LaTour
We're Just Physical (Kloq Remix) by Kloq featuring Douglas McCarthy
Don't Cry Out (Jody's Remix) by Shiny Toy Guns
Us vs. Them (Go Home Productions Remix) by LCD Soundsystem

"It was acceptable in the 80's...it was acceptable at the time."

This is the most retro-sounding mix I've done that doesn't actually use music from the 80's. I think everything here was released within the last two years; most of them were released within the last few months. True there are some artists who reached their peak in the 80's - Bananarama, Camouflage, Douglas McCarthy (Nitzer Ebb) - but it's more of a feeling: the drums are louder, the basslines are fatter, the keyboards are older. I hear shades of Talking Heads, Tanz Waffen, and Re-Flex.

Apart from Kiss The Future Vol. 1 this is the closest I've gotten to "Jeb's sound".

£50 Note 65: Como Se Puede Bailar? Es Un Escandalo

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:59:03 GMT

£50 Note 65: Como Se Puede Bailar? Es Un Escandalo
Download (35 MB, 192kbps, 25:25)

Scumpop by Readers Wifes
In These Shoes? by Kirsty MacColl
Grace Kelly by Mika
Nan, You're A Window Shopper by Lily Allen
Heart Of Hearts by !!!
The Guns Of Brixton by The Clash

Kiss The Future Vol. 8: £50 Note vs. Amphiguous

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:13:47 GMT

Kiss The Future Vol. 8: £50 Note vs. Amphiguous
Download (73.5 MB, 192kbps, 53:25)

I Need A Freak (Extended Version) by Sexual Harrassment
Bar Star (In Flagranti's Sleek City Mix) by Kudu
I Don't Care/Gonna Make You Sweat (Dexter vs. Wanda Dee) by Trevor Jackson
Out The Door (Superdiscount Remix) by Who Made Who
Victim Of Change (£50 Note "Remember The Ectomorph" Mix) by Gino Soccio
My Radio (The Mitgang Audio Remix) by Solvent
Zerox Machine (N-Joi Remix) by Client
PPP (Meatmix) by Trippple Nippples
Fat Bottomed Girls (Roman Pushkin Main Mix) by Queen
Genital Blue Room by In Flagranti
In Yr Underwear (Jesper Dahlback Edit) by Fox n' Wolf

"He got a rhinestone rocketship and disco balls, leaves glitter on the sitter when duty calls..."

With one exception all the songs in this mix were suggested to me at different times by Amphiguous, who lives in Vancouver. He does a club night named Uncanny, and I had the privilege recently of DJing alongside him in San Francisco.

Bar Star has become one of my favorite tracks of the past few months, as has Roman Pushkin's remix of Fat Bottomed Girls.

Zerox Machine is a cover of Adam And The Ants' third single.

The one track that wasn't suggested by him is PPP by Trippple Nippples, which came from Mark in Portland. That was a sweet MySpace discovery and fits right in with the rest of the set. Japanese dance music always makes me happy, especially when sung in Engrish.