Fascinated by the differences and analogies between UK’s vararity of genres, I found out for myself that the most amazing thing about all of them is the beat. Based on dub and syncope rhythms, there are always these breaks and preeminent percussions. I think the whole UK Bass music is the closest one to the origins of music at all: Africa!

In this mix I wanted to mix up the variety of a bunch of different styles of Uk’s Bass music (ok, there are two artists from the USA) and tried to show that they have a lot of references. Enjoy the travel through beats, drums and percussions!

Tracklist:

• Kuhn – Slime Beach
•  Sepalcure – Pencil Pimp
•  Kode 9 + The Space Ape – Otherman
•  Ramadanman – Don’t Change For Me
• Joy Orbison – so derobe
• Crazy Bold Heads – First Born
• Machinedrum – Fantastix
• Kuhn – Back n Forth
• DRC Music – Customs (Mux Mool Rmx)
• Shigeto – There is always hope
• Lusine – Gravity
• Sepalcure – See me feel me
• Joy O – Sicko Cell
• Boddika – 2727

I did a little promo mix for the next Swing United party. I am really looking forward to this one: We are celebrating in one of the most beautiful clubs in Cologne, and we got some some nice Electro Swing, Neo Swing and Balkan sounds.

To give you an impression on what kind of music we are playing, here is the mix:

By the way, I recently found out that we have a very cool Electro Swing artist here in Cologne: Alice Francis is playing Electro Swing live, and she is really, really good! I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about her before. I am currently trying to get an interview with her, so keep your fingers crossed!

Tracklist: 

• Goldfish – Get Busy Living (feat. Emily Bruce)
• JFTH – Round And Round (Original Mix)
• Shemian – Old Car (Original Mix)
• Stereo Express – Shadoorack
• Bara Bröst – Madame Mila
• Enzo Siffredi & Jfth – Jungle Dancing (Vocal Mix)
• DJ Quicksilver & Phatt Noize – Peter Gunn Theme (Frank Eikam Remix)
• Crystal Waters, Yolanda Be Cool – Le Bump feat. Crystal Waters (Original)
• Alice Francis – What Are You Made Of? (Remix)
• Inconnu – Piste 02
• Jewdyssee – Fiselekh Tsum Tantsen
• Roman Pushkin – Balkan Beat – Original Mix
• Analog People In A Digital World feat. Vlada Tomova – Izlela Neda
• Alle Farben – Drunken Sailor

I am happy to announce that one of my remixes made it as an official release now: “Kioskvandalen”, a new project from Cologne, just released their debut EP “Unterwegs” (German for “on my way”). My remix is part of the EP, and I am actually quite proud of it.

While the original is a Maximal Electro track, I went in a different direction with my remix: Having spent quite a bit of time in trains last year, I felt that being on your way brings you in a special emotional state. I often felt enthusiastic about where I was going and a little sad about having left my origin at the same time. Travelling forces you to wait for a couple of hours, you are somewhat limited in how you can spend your time, and still it’s always a bit of an adventure. I tried to capture those feelings in my remix.

Here is a snippet of it so you can get an impression:

The full version is available on iTunes, Amazon, Beatport and Juno Download.

The original version sounds like this:

[EE010] Kioskvandalen – Unterwegs from Lukas Hoeh on Vimeo.

From a music nerd’s perspective, Christmas is a mixed bag. Most people enjoy getting presents and spending time with their family, but there are also a couple of things about the holidays that are only tolerable with a lot of goodwill and alcohol (preferably hot wine).

Christmas music

Let’s face it: 99% of all Christmas music sucks. Most of it is cheesy, one-dimensional and you have heard it so often that you can sing along without even liking the song. “Last Christmas”, anyone?

There’s a simple test that proves this: Would you or anyone you know listen to Christmas music at any other time of the year? Probably not.

Would you listen to a song about summer holidays at another time of the year? Sure. Why not?

In my opinion, Christmas music is trying to be very emotional, very harmonic and get you in a certain, well-defined mood. This only works if you stick to a few tried-and-tested patterns, repeat them again and again and leave out anything that could be a distractor. That’s what makes Christmas music so effective – and so annoying.

I have to admit that there are a few songs and tracks that are not that bad. I compiled a few in my Christmas Beats mix, and I can also recommend the 70s disco themed mix by my DJ buddy Discotizer. There are also some nice Jazz recordings that I like listening to – but I wouldn’t listen to any of those at other times of the year.

Going out over Christmas

One might find it surprising, but there are actually quite a few electronic music parties over Christmas – at least here in Cologne. From Techno to Drum&Bass, there is quite a bit going on, and I can imagine that those parties will probably be good parties.

After all, Christmas isn’t a bad time for going out. Most people have time, maybe even some extra cash in their pockets and if you like going out during the rest of the year, why shouldn’t you like going out over Christmas?

I haven’t been clubbing too much over Christmas, but I have been going out to a bar a couple of times, and usually I met a couple of old friends that I don’t see a lot. That was really enjoyable and often better than sitting in front of the TV with my family.

The perfect present

Christmas is about presents, and for a music nerd, this is a great opportunity.

On my wish list, I had a bit of gear this year: A midi keyboard and a small drum pad that I can use for my own productions. Of course, I also like getting new music for Christmas – but most people in my family know me well enough that I am a bit special in this aspect.

However, I do like surprises, and I am actually happy if someone gives me music that he thinks I might like, even though I have never heard of it before.

This is also something that I like to do: Use Christmas as an opportunity to introduce people to new music by giving them a CD or DVD.

A few quiet days

Personally, I will use the next few days to chill and spend some time with my family. The last few weeks were a bit stressful, and I can really use a few quiet days.

 I would like to thank all readers, supporters and DJs who have contributed to Sweet Headache in any way! I wish you all happy holidays!

It’s remarkable that they worked only four weekends together in a studio. The rest of the time, the geographical distance between New York and the island forced them to work over the internet to finish the album. But not for bad! I think these circumstances gave the album a special touch because both artists kept their own styles by working a longer time alone then together and the combination is nevertheless pure harmony. Sometimes one can hear some Machinedrum airs and graces and sometimes Braille elements remind me of Chicago House. For me, this one is a late highlight in 2011!

Read full review of Sepalcure – SEPALCURE on Boomkat.com ©

I always need a bit longer than everybody else to realize that Christmas is coming closer. When I finally realized today that Christmas is next weekend, I thought I’d do a little DJ set that consists only of remixed Christmas songs. This probably isn’t the right soundtrack for your family dinner, but if you plan to go out later, then this is is for you!

Most tracks in this mix are remixes of well-known Christmas classics.

However, the last track (“Haus vom Nikolaus”) is probably more for my German audience. It’s not exactly a Christmas classic, but rather a House/HipHop track where a guy raps about his unusual wish list. Hilarious, if you can understand the lyrics!

Oh, and check out the video – it was done entirely in MS Paint.

Tracklist:

• 4Peace – Cool Yule
• DJ Anastasio Le Prada – Jingle Bells 2011
• Laera – All I Want for Christmas Is You (Nicola Viti De Angelis & Semion Berkovitch Remix)
• Scotty – Christmas in the Caribbean (Splash Bootleg Mix) – http://zajec.blogas.lt/
• Tiniundtus & D.Kingz – Haus Vom Nikolaus (D.Kingz Club Mix)

Image: Chris_J // CC-by-nc-nd

It was about time to break some barriers. I am talking about the barriers in my head: I had been playing too many single-style, single-tempo recently, and this screated a barrier that didn’t let me think about other ways to compile music.

In a way, this mix is about tearing down musical barriers. It’s also about combining rough, diverse sounds into a set that still feels as if those tracks were meant to be played together. From Dubstep to Maximal Electro to Drumstep – this mix is probably one of the most dynamic sets I’ve ever recorded.

This mix kicks off with a Dubstep remix of the (in)famous Nyan Cat. It’s truly amazing how many remixes, mashups and variations there are based on this simple video!

I also used a couple of tracks by Skrillex here. I have to admit I had really underestimated the guy. I though he was just some guy who makes noisy music – but he actually got the rare talent to stay in control of the noise and alternate between sweet melodies and distorted synthesizers.

Tracklist:

• Alex S. – Nyan Cat (Dubstep Remix)
• Skrillex – Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites
• Example – Kickstarts (Bar 9 remix)
• Midnight Conspiracy – Discord (Tolgar Remix)
• Skrillex – First of the Year (Equinox)
• Crookers – No Security (feat. Kelis)
• Nneka – Heartbeat (Chase&Status Remix)
• Fatboy Slim – Ya Mama (Push The Tempo) (Moguai Remix)
• Marteria – Endboss (Deichkind St Pauli RMX)
• Skullee – Fothamucka (Original Mix)
• Atari Teenage Riot – Activ8 (Remix)
• Skrillex – Kill Everybody
• The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl (Far Too Loud Re-fix)
• Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – Boom Shake The Room (Kanji Kinetic Remix)
• Phrenik – Bass Rocker
• Rusko feat. Amber Coffman – Hold On (Sub Focus Remix)

Image: Interaura // CC-by-nc-sa

I wanted to know more about his use of Soul samples and his musical background in general, so I asked him about this.

iO:“ I grew up listening to all kinds of music, but there was a focus on R&B and Soul. I use a lot of acapellas. There is something about female vocals that I really like in my tracks. When I listen to a track, I want to be able to remember it, and a vocal helps a lot.”

In another interview, I had read about him owning a Fender Rhodes - a classic electronic music instrument that was invented in 1942 -and I was curious about how he got this.

iO:“Its the most precious thing i own! I got it when I was 18. I fell in love with that sound. I saved a bit of money, and spent months trying to find the right one. It was used in a recording studio before I bought it, so it was in good condition. Unfortunately, I lost the pedal and the lid in a fire at my house a few years ago, which was a bit of a shame. But yeh, I love using it in tracks.”

iO’s sound can be described as a mix of down-to-earth grooves and spacey sounds. This also reflects in the meaning of his pseudonym iO, which is one of the moons of Jupiter.

iO: “Yeh, its the name of one of Jupiter’s moons. Im a bit into space. (laughs) People have asked me if its a refrence to binary code, or ‘ins and outs’ in production. But the truth is that i just liked the name!“

Talking about computers, iO tells me that the internet plays a big role in his development as an artist. Even his involvement with Diamond&Raw wouldn’t have happened without it:

iO: “Adam from Diamon&Raw got in touch with me via Soundcloud. It sounds crazy, but we have never met in person. The internet is so amazing for connecting people like that.“

iO is quite busy producing sounds right now. Apart from working on his own EP, he has done remixes for Warrior One, Space, Ladies and Labyrinth Ear and collaborations with Kastle and LO:TEK.

iO: “If you want to have a career in music, working hard is what you have to do. I have three jobs right now, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I recently participated in a very interesting debate among DJs in an online forum. The original question was this: What is an adequate salary for a gig? How much should a DJ ask for?

The debate got very heated when some newcomer DJs said they were accepting gigs for free to build a reputation and get connections. This made some of the more experienced DJs really angry, and they accused the newcomers of being responsible for low salaries and bad working conditions.

It became apparent that people had widely varying views on the role and value of a DJ. Is DJing more of a hobby – or is it work? Is a DJ an artist – or just someone who provides a service?

Those are actually very hard questions, and I can only draw my personal conclusions here. However, I would like to shed some light on the various different aspects of those questions – after all, almost all DJs think about those questions at some point.

Art, hobby or service?

One fundamental question that every DJ has to answer for himself is what role he/she plays as a DJ. From the arguments I have heard, there are three main lines of reasoning here:

• Hobby: “DJing is my hobby. I enjoy playing music in front of an audience, and it’s cool to party with my friends and be in charge of the music. I would never call myself a professional, I just enjoy it. If someone wants to give me some money for that, I happily accept it, but I don’t really expect it. I am ok with playing for free drinks and a few bucks for a taxi ride home.”
• Art: “I see DJing as an art form. I have been collecting music for a very long time, and I consider myself an expert for my kind of music. I want to be appreciated as an artist, and I don’t like others to influence me in the way that I perform my art. I used to play for free or very low salaries, but I have reached a certain level as an artist now and my salary reflects that. To play for less would mean to lower my status as an artist, and that is inacceptable.”
• Service: “DJing is a job more or less like anything else. When I am booked for a party, I play whatever the host wants. When I am done, I take my money and leave. I don’t really care about which kind of music I play, but I do want to be professional about how I handle everything. If someone books me, they can expect a certain level of quality, and I can deliver that. I do like my job, but it’s still a job – nothing more, nothing less.”

What is an appropriate price?

Even if you have taken your position on what you are as a DJ, you still have the problem on how to find an appropriate price.
In practice, this depends on various different factors, like size of the venue, length of the set, competition, your own reputation etc..

The bad news here is that there is no right price here. In fact, no thing on earth is created with a price tag. Prices are always something artificial – and they can in fact be very irrational. I don’t want to go too much into detail here, but if this interests you then Dan Ariely’s book “Predictably Irrational” is an excellent read.

Among DJs, a few ways to calculate an appropriate price have developed:

• Pricing by effort: This pricing model is pretty straightforward: You take the length of your set, multiply it with your hourly rate and that’s your price. Most DJs add a fixed base rate to that price to compensate for expenses like getting to the gig, preparing playlists etc.. If the hourly rates don’t vary too much between DJs, this will lead to a relatively narrow range of salaries that still allows to adapt hourly rates based on experience.
• Pricing by status: This model assumes that it’s not so much about how much effort a DJ puts into his set, but more about how many people he attracts. This model can lead to low salaries for newcomers and local DJs and very high salaries for well-known DJs.
• Success salaries: Sometimes, host and DJ negotiate a price model that is based on how well the party goes. For example, the DJ gets a certain amount of money for every guest at the party. This is supposed to encourage the DJ to promote the party more and it can be good for both the host and the DJ. On the other hand, this can also be a bad deal for DJs as it burdens them with a risk they cannot fully control. After all, the host is typically responsible for promoting a party, and a DJ can only support those efforts.
• Fixed pricing: Sometimes, DJs and hosts negotiate a fixed price for an evening – no matter how long the DJs plays. In some clubs, there is also a fixed price that DJs can only accept or reject. This model is fair (everyone gets the same), but it is typically unattractive for more experienced DJs.

What really counts: Know your deal – and how to say “no”

I think it is clear now that there is no way to determine once and for all if DJing is work and much it should be worth in monetary terms.

So how can you tell if you are getting a fair salary as a DJ? How can you avoid being ripped off?

My personal conclusion is this:

On some nights, I am an artist. On others, I am a service provider.
Sometimes, I enjoy the party so much that I hardly notice how long I am playing – and sometimes, 2 hours can feel like a very long time. Some gigs let me meet interesting people that can be useful contacts later. Some gigs are prestigious and help my reputation. And finally, I just cannot refuse if a good friends asks me to play at his party.

All of this influences how much I consider DJing work, art or hobby. All of this influences the price that I ask for – and all of this is part of the deal. However, I have to admit that I do not depend on DJing to make a living, so I have a choice on which role I want to play.

Anyway, this is the important part: If I profit from everything that I get from a gig, then it is a good deal for me. Sometimes, it’s even ok to play for free if I benefit enough emotionally and artistically.

The hard thing is to see is when you get ripped of – and this is something that newcomers often don’t see or see differently. It’s ok to play for free if you are having fun and if you are building a reputation. However, if you played a gig for free and it was neither fun nor good for your reputation, then you got ripped off.

This is the one conclusion that I would like to draw here: It’s not about determining the right price on a rational level. It’s about knowing what you take home from a gig – and it’s important to know when to say “no”.

This mix began with a discovery – a discovery that connected the musical past with the present.  It’s a combination of Big Beat, a genre that originated in the mid-90s, and Glitch Hop, its most recent reincarnation. The ingredients: Banging HipHop beats, distorted synthesizers and lots of sampling.

I used to be a big fan of Big Beat back in the 90s and early 00s. This style just seemed to tear down musical borders and combine the best elements of HipHop, Rock and electronic music. When I discovered Glitch Hop a couple of weeks ago, I immediately noticed the similarities. Glitch Hop seems to be a fresh take on the ideas that I loved about Big Beat – which makes it sound familiar and new at the same time to me.

“Leave Home” by the Chemical Brothers can certainly be considered a classic. It was the first track on their debut album “Exit Planet Dust”, and even though I love this track, I haven’t used it in a DJ set so far. Time to change that! Opiuo from Australia is one of the more recent artists in this mix and also one of my favorites right now.

I also have a couple of great tracks from Pretty Lights, who actually gives most of his music away for free – amazing if you know how good his stuff is!

I am sorry I don’t have much to tell about the artists in this mix right now, but I am still somewhat in the discovery phase for this style. You can see this mix as a document of my progress in discovering this new/old world.

Tracklist:

• The Chemical Brothers – Leave Home
• Bump – Salty (Original Mix)
• Samples – Back in Black (Samples Remix)
• DJ DLG – Rock This (Original Mix)
• K Theory – Glitch & Blues (Original Mix)
• Ray! – Good Thymes (Opiuo Remixx)
• Frost Raven, K Theory – 18th Century Gangster (Original Mix)
• Pretty Lights – I Can See It In Your Face
• Opiuo – Robo Booty (Original Mix)
• The Crystal Method – Divided By Night
• Great Scott – Looking Good (Instrumental)
• The Prodigy – Voodoo People (Chemical Brothers Remix)
• Dadamnphreaknoizphunk – Rhyme Bomb Part 2
• Analog Mc, K+Lab – Wrecked (Opiuo Mix)
• DCarls All In (Original Mix)
• Korn & The Dust Brothers – Kick The P.A.