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PETER VAN HOESEN

the original starting point for this mix was the idea of going back as far as possible into my musical memory. it was to be a search for those first electronic sounds that have somehow influenced me and lead me to the present moment. the resulting selection would then serve as the backbone of the mix.

as it turned out, this was not as easy as i thought it would be. first of all, the first draft of the list (containing about sixty tracks) was decidedly incoherent. an interesting selection it was, but highly unsuitable for mixing purposes. usually i am a stern defender of eclecticism, but it turned out to be impossible to come up with a selection that would made sense to me (let alone to someone else).

so i decided to focus mainly on music with a (direct) relation to the dance floor. this made things easier, as i could then focus the mix towards a clear goal. the final selection is a combination of electronic new wave, early new beat, house and detroit techno. these are the styles that i feel have influenced me more than anything else. the selection stops chronologically in 1994, whereas i originally set out to include 'contemporary' tracks as well. however, i didn't feel like doing a three hour mix, so the remaining part will have to be dealt with another time.

although this mix is mainly about dance music, it's not made with the dance floor in mind. the main approach is one of selection and representation in a much more functional way than i would normally go about when playing for a crowd. no tricks, just the music. at times i felt it was necessary to let the tracks run out completely, leaving the mix to its essential function. the mix is about the tracks, the memories related to them as well as the influence on today's electronic music landscape and my personal musical development. going through my record collection, selecting the tracks, i was transported back to all those particular moments relating to each and every tune. the memory linked to music seems like a very strong and vivid one. places, faces, crowds, clubs, comments, record shops and after parties all came back to mind.

each track has a few lines of additional information, placing it into a (personal) historical perspective. i hope i have all the dates and label info right, if not then please feel free to correct me.

download - peter van hoesen (process part 078)

01 jansen & barbieri: toys, 1985, pan east records
the 'worlds in a small room' album was commisioned by jvc, to accompany a documentary with space shuttle footage. it was originally released in japan only. 'toys' is the second track on the album - dreamy eighties electronic sounds, vaguely vangelis-like (cfr. bladerunner).

02 severed heads: we have come to bless this house, 1986, nettwerk
australian project severed heads remains somewhat obscured within electronic music's rich past. the ep 'dead eyes opened' was released in several formats on different labels, with different tracks each time. 'we have come to bless this house' was released on the 1986 nettwerk version.

03 a split second: flesh, 1986, antler records
for some this track marks the (un)offical start of new beat, an electronic genre that didn't really cross many borders during its few years of existence, but was hugely popular with the belgian club crowd back then. remaining interesting for about two years after its peak, new beat was mainly focused on mixing electronic body music with new wave, synth pop, chicago acid and balearic beats. 'flesh' exemplifies the characteristics of new beat: a slow, grinding beat combined with hypnotic synth lines. an interesting fact is that the original version of 'flesh' was pitched down heavily when played in clubs, thereby creating the bass-heavy kick 'thud' that was so popular back then. this is also how i represented it in this mix.

04 snowy red: euroshima (wardance), 1988, antler records
another new wave/new beat crossover, with the typical elements nicely laid out. the dark, pre-reese bassline made the track stand out at a time when new beat was starting to lose its freshness.

05 public relations: public relations, 1987, another side
the public relations project didn't release much as far as i know, but this track (and the popular 'new beat mind') were solid new beat anthems back then. there's a distinct synth pop influence present in this track, which made it perfect for radio air play. i remember hearing it in shops, bars and on the street - it was everywhere, much like i experienced jungle when i went to london in 1993, hearing those crazy breakbeats all over town.

06 liaisons dangereuses - los niños del parque, 1985, roadrunner
this is a piece of sublime electronic funk with attitude. it's taken from the album 'liaisons dangereuses' on roadrunner. the entire album is worth every penny, presenting a band far ahead of its time.

07 severed heads: dead eyes opened, 1986, nettwerk
by now it will be clear to everyone that i'm a huge severed heads fan. 'dead eyes opened' is one of those tracks appropriated by the new beat movement by pitching it down to a slower, funkier groove than its original intention. it's another fine example of genres and styles meeting and merging.

08 808 state: san fransisco, 1991, ztt
this track is taken from the 'ex:el' album, probably 808 state's opus magnum. this is manchester at its finest, meshing rolling bass lines with exciting breakbeats, crossing styles and coming out on the other side with a big smile.

09 infiniti: techno por favor, 1990, ten records
this track takes this process mix into detroit techno territory, with one of the best tracks on the 'techno 2 - the next generation' compilation. juan atkins (assisted by eddie flashing fowlkes) dashes out a solid dose of machine funk: a hard-hitting detroit bassline, heavy 909 action and a female voice putting techo and its roots in perspective. timeless.

10 mayday: wiggan (re-mix), 1992, buzz
if there's one album i'll be taking with me to that fictional island, it'll be 'relics', released by now-defunct belgian buzz label (fyi, the cd version is much more interesting than the vinyl release). 'wiggan' is another detroit techno classic, there's just so much funk and groove going on with so few elements, it gets to me everytime i hear it. this is derrick may at the top of his game as a producer: raw and refined at the same time.

11 fingers inc: i'm strong, 1987, alleviated/r&s
r&s re-released this in 1990, that's how i picked it up. this larry heard production still stands out when played today, with wild percussion and weird bleeps driving this tune forward. the vocal version features robert owens in excellent shape.

12 blakkat: blakkat medic mix, 1994, bush
this takes us back to the uk, with mark bell in true form. 'blakkat' is a wild-pitch style track that keeps building and grooving along with its excellent sense of composition and production. everything is right there: the beats, the bass, the strobes, the smiles.

13 3mb featuring juan atkins: die kosmischen kuriere, 1993, tresor
deep techno from the detroit-berlin axis. this was the one of the finest moments of the second tresor compilation: lush, jazzy techno, deeply layered, distinctly musical. whenever people tell me that "techno isn't real music" i remain silent, think of this track and smile.

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RQM

Originally I was going to write about a song I recorded with that mad sonic professor known as Milanese, but since the tune is still on the operation table and it's nowhere close to being patched up I chose "Miss Pacman" instead. This 12" is my debut single as a solo artist, and it will be out on DJ Shir Khan's Exploited label on July 14th, so hopefully by the time you read these words you will also be able to listen to the song.

In General
My creativity is driven by compulsion. I create because I have a deep urge to do it and when I am not performing or recording I feel depressed or to say the least unhappy. I suppose it's like this because I interact with life on an emotional level, so apart from storing up images, ideas, pictures and random free associations, I also store up emotional imprints. And once I reach that certain point, where there is no more free space left on my internal slate I wipe it clean by writing and recording.

5 Out of 10
The process of writing a song always starts with the beat. I always tell producers that it takes about 5-10 beats to find the right one for me to write to. I wouldn't say that I'm picky with the instrumentals, but I certainly look for beats that I feel, specifically the ones which create a strong emotional picture in me, and it takes a while to find those. In a way I write the movie to the soundtrack. I create the story to go along with the mood of a song.

Blackout
Once I find the right beat I try to clear my mind and allow the pictures to well up naturally. At this point I also turn up the sound system and just start mumbling to myself to get a feel of the track rhythmically and harmonically. I also start throwing out random phrases until I find the first line of the song, which captures one of the polaroids floating through my mind. Once I get the first line I just allow the words to flow without forcing them, trusting that they will make sense once they hit the paper, and somehow they always do. The term blackout is a good way to describe this because in some way this state of mind is the equivalent of a trance. And I cannot overemphasize how important it is to have the right beat to be able to do this. If you only like the beat and you don't feel it you start forcing the song and by doing so you never hit that peak point. Once I peak I write something like 3-4 verses, a chorus and a c-part. And that's pretty much how a song is born.

Miss Pacman
The idea for this song came from a quote taken from Kristian Wilson, the Vice President of Nintendo that I randomly found somewhere on Myspace: "Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." The thing is I always wanted to write a song about clubbing and this was the exact image I needed to make it happen. Big ups to whomever it was that dug this up and put it on their profile!!!

Constraints
Even before I found the right instrumental I already had an idea for the "main character" of the song - a blue pill popping party girl by the name of Miss Pacman. At this point it was also clear to me that my solo LP will be about love and relationships, a sort of Wong Kar Wai version of the Kieslowski Three Colors film series, so I knew the basic frame I was working with to focus the songs thematically. The song had to be about love or sex.

Weeks later I received a batch of beats from Boris Meinhold of Micatone and they all happened to be on this Neon Ed Bangeresque sort of tip - like an answer to a prayer. I skipped through all of them to see which one had that special something, that feeling to push me to start writing and the instrumental with Eva Be singing on the chorus ("You can't leave without doing this") was the one. Originally the song was arranged for the dance floor and didn't have too much space for vocals so I rearranged it with Boris into a standard verse-chorus-verse song structure.

download: rqm - process part 077 (miss pacman) : jul 14 2008 on exploited

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RADIOACTIVE MAN

The track was originally a 2 Lone Swordsmen track that didn't go on the “Wrong Meeting” albums. Often there are tracks that don’t get released and are forgotten about, but I wasn't letting this one go. It’s got guitar e.bow on it, which I really love using. It’s basically a small, funny shaped thing which sits on the top of one string at a time and causes the string to constantly vibrate, giving a feedback-kind-of effect. Think the riff in “Heroes” by Bowie and you’ve got the e.bow sound. An ace vocal by Mr. Weatherall, crunched up and distorted. It works as an instrumental, too, and I have been playing it in live sets.

download: radioactive man - process part 076 (double dealings instrumental)

gut sense...
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...:::...more and more i think trying to explain a creative process is like trying to describe how to open and close your hand...it’s something you know how to do, but words are lost on the action. perhaps certain activities just don’t translate into thinking? or maybe it is symptomatic of our limitations...that we are bound to linear thoughts (one at a time) and are too slow to process multi-sensory input. as a result, the way we respond ends up happening in the subconscious which is so often indescribable.

jean nouvel (who was recently awarded the pritzker prize for architecture) says of his own work, "every architecture is an opportunity to create what i call the missing pieces of the puzzle. to find how you can create more poetry with the place where you are and the program you have. you research what will be the most emotional, the most perfect, the most natural. the purpose of all this thinking is to arrive at a result that makes gut sense." i leave my head behind. form gives way to formlessness eventually. the practice of anything takes concentration and tenacity. perhaps thinking sharpens the subconscious...exists in a symbiosis with creative instinct...the feral making-mind...

fred sandback is an artist i have been looking at a lot recently. he writes, "i’m full of thoughts (more or less). my work isn’t. it’s not a demonstration of an idea either. it’s an actuality. ideas are also actualities. the notion that there are ideas that then take form, or ideas that can be extracted from the material substratum, doesn’t make any sense. i’ve always balked at writing anything because there is this need that everyone seems to have for the conceptual or verbal validation of art which doesn’t interest me at all...there’s only a certain amount of control that you can have over a situation. i’m interested in working in that area which the mind can no longer hold onto things. the point at which all ideas fall apart.”

i am most curious about that moment, too...in how kinetic memory make things. about observing and experiencing things for what they are and noticing the whirling debris that life purges.

download: 080505-modyfier part01

deepchild – fractures (robert babicz remix) : apr 2008 on beef records
tricksi – move me (phonique remix) : mar 2008 on sonar kollektiv
animaltek – pleasure & pain : mar 2008 on wir
mangelt – komplex (namito remix) : apr 2008 on schneiderei
catrat – freedom (jay haze dub mix) : apr 2008 on sonar kollektiv
m-lito – miss you (liapin & afrilounge remix) : mar 2008 on genowefa recordings
mlle caro & franck garcia – dead souls (radio slave long distance kiss mix) : mar 2008 on buzzin’ fly records
monkey brothers – panico escenica : apr 2008 on regular
mogwai – kick out the jams (manuel tur remix) : apr 2008 on i0 music
baaz – connect : jan 2008 on sthlmaudio
junior boys – no kinda man (chloe remix) : mar 2008 on get physical music
gui boratto – tales from the lab (dirty disco remix by alex bartsch) : mar 2008 on defrag
gabriel ferreira – salmonella (stefan tretau remix) : feb 2008 on miniature records
kowabata – persuasion (serafin’s back to new york re-interpretation) : mar 2008 on drumpoet community
alejandro vivanco – rojo pomodoro (digitaline remix) : apr 2008 on andes music

download: 080505-modyfier part02

kraak & smaak – sqeeze me (a skillz remix) : apr 2008 on jalapeno records
sasha dive – street life (samuel davis dark groove remix) : apr 2008 on deep vibes
lopazz – 24 hours (jochen trappe remix) : apr 2008 on apparillo music
wagon cookin – mallorca (sasse remix) : feb 2008 on compost
milton jackson – randoms : apr 2008 on tronicsole
martinez – burning the midnight oil : mar 2008 on cray1 labworks
juno 6 – salamis (cio d’or remix) : mar 2008 on broque
move d – untitiled a1 feat fragment : apr 2008 on workshop
restless soul – turn me out (vocal mix) : feb 2008 on raw fusion Scandinavia
sebbo – watamu beach (moritz van oswald rework) : mar 2008 on desolate
minilogue & kab – that’s a nice way to give me feedback (wighnomy brothers quintenzirkel remix) : apr 2008 on audiobahn
alexander roland – balungan : mar 2008 on karmarouge
sasha – coma (slam soma coma mix) : apr 2008 on ultra
tolga fidon – for our fathers : mar 2008 on vakant
coalition of the killing – too many machines (argenis brito late night mix) : mar 2008 on auralism records

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ARGENIS BRITO

Normally the first step I take to create a track is to imagine in my head the kind of sound I want, the type of beat and the intention behind it. Once I have a clear idea of what I am looking for, I start by searching for sounds to construct the beat. In general, I prefer more raw and acoustic sounds, even if I want to make something clean and rounded. It’s is very difficult for me to get away from the type of sound I normally use.

I don't have much equipment in my studio. I mainly use my laptop and a couple of machines to make my tracks. I use generally more software than hardware for my productions. It’s not that I don't like hardware, it's just that only now I'm starting to collect gear and use it.

Back to the track. I always try different approaches to begin. Sometimes first it will be the beat, other times the bass or the melodies. This helps to have different results at the end, because when you find a formula or a system to do things, normally the final sound tends to be similar and that can be boring with the time

I use Ableton and Logic as main editors. I start by putting together loops that could work. Lately I haven't been using many external loops whereas before I used to do it very much. Currently, I enjoy making the loops and designing the sounds myself. After I have enough material to build the track I go to the next step which is the arrangement. This is the trickiest part for me (my favorite part is the jamming). The arrangement is hard work and is a very important part because even if you have excellent material, if the arrangement is not dynamic and interesting enough, the track can end up loosing its power.

The arrangement process is the longest in my case, because I like to take my time to listen to it and digest it within a few days. This gives me a more definitive feeling about what the track is going to sound like when ready. I don't finish all the ideas I start. I apply a very strong filter before finishing the ideas and if I consider some are not good enough, I drop them and start from scratch. This way I don't have too much material but the ones I have remaining, I'm satisfied with. I believe in quality before quantity.

In the past two or three years I've been fully dedicated to dance music. I enjoy very much the feeling of making people dance and the feedback between the audience and the person playing the music. In general, I get easily fed up with a sound and need to be evolving continuously in order to keep myself interested. I also have a very strong tendency to Latin sonorities (of course, I'm Venezuelan!) and that's always reflected in my music. At the moment what I'm doing is a mixture of house, techno and elements of Latin music like congas, bongos and percussion. This creates a warmer sound that I mix together with funky-groovy beats that are my main intention: music for dancing, for shaking the body, for stimulating the sex appeal and the eye contact. I sometimes think that electronic music, and more specifically techno, can be very cold and individualistic and that for me doesn't make it.

When I think the arrangement grooves and I'm satisfied with it, then comes the process of mixing it. That means finding the right level and the right effect for each element, then the mastering and compressing, and when all that is done, it comes the next step (very important for me), and that is to get the new track on my live set and play it in front of people. This can be very interesting because many times you have an idea of how the track will work when played, but it can be very different than expected and you get a totally different feedback. I think it is very important to do this because when you are in the studio by yourself and make a track, your opinion can be not impartial enough.

I believe every single person has very specific influences and characteristics. It is only a matter of hard work, like everything else in this life, you need to love what you do and invest a lot of time and energy in order to achieve interesting and satisfying results.

download: argenis brito - process part 075 (naked gravity)

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QUIRKY

My first gigs were 12 hours long. Every Sunday from 1pm to 1am. "Afternoon Tea" it was called - in a bar in Cork called "The Roundy".

That seems like a lifetime ago now. I just became a Dad and barely have time to complete my two hour monthly mix for Proton Radio. I was really looking forward to doing this mix as a kind of "what does music really mean to me kinda" thing. It started off very personal - tunes that aren't even that good but just meant a lot to me - more about times and places than quality. I really enjoyed going through my old precious records and remembering the times when I played this or heard that for the first time. After I snapped out of my nostalgia it made me think more about the here and now, the difference between the two and the choices I've made.

So I made this mix with mostly unreleased or recently released music (except for 1 or 2 tracks, like the DFA & Marathon Men) to show where I am right now. Music is important to me. Very Important. I taught myself how to DJ in order to share music with people. But nothing is more important to me than my wife & son. I guess, in the end, this mix is for them because I wouldn't be where I am without them.

(I wonder if he will like Ame when he grows up.)

download: quirky - process part 074

01. Loco Dice - M train To Brooklyn // Desolat
02. John Daly - Solitaire // International
03. Still Going - Still Going Theme // DFA
04. Marathon Men - Sweet Exorcisr // GAMM
05. Manuel Tur - Deviate // Drumpoet Community
06. The Mole - Smiling & Running // Wagon Repair
07. Soultourist - Coming Soon // Drumpoet Community
08. Robytek - Luna Africana (Roland Appel Mix) // Rebirth
09. Henrik Schwarz - I Exist Because Of You (Dixon Mix) // Innervisions
10. Solomun - Deadman // Four Twenty
11. Gui Boratto - Tales From The Lab (Sian Mix) // Defrag
12. NuFrequency - Go That Deep (Charles Webster Mix) // Rebirth
13. Ame - Doldrums // Innervisions

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DJ RIPLEY

To the Party Members:

Comrades, fellow travelers and committed members of the party, I present to you:

The aftereffects of a sustained indoctrination of my breakcore roots with four-on-the-floor and 125-140 beats. Infiltrators of my brokenbeat, amen-pure mental state included: Donna Summer, Com.a, Passions, DJ Family, David Last, Curses!, Starkey, Bird Peterson, Dj Deeon, Switch and the 2step/UK Garage pirate radio broadcasts that reached me in a weakened state as I returned from squat parties in 1999.

Yes, I confess to you all, I was sucked kicking and screaming back into house music. The inevitability of history (guilty late nights in 1994 at the Paradise gay bar basement in Boston, hopping to Cajmere), and my continuing admiration and uncontrolled body manipulation by the aforementioned characters sent me in that direction: falling backwards from the po-faced dubstep and the skrewface/drooling breakcore, wiggling up from the 2step sounds.. here it is in all its glory. A party manifesto.

It wasn't easy. The melodic charms so much more prevalent in this style, the square beats that encourage smooth tweaking rather than the rough cutting I favor, all of these were obstacles. My tone-arms weakened by 12 years of hard use in the interest of the Party, occasionally sent Serato wonky and resistant. But I soldiered on! The last hurdle: my preference for swung time/triplets mixed with backbeat 2step - a shuddery-juddery boogie that can't be made too clean. Hopefully you all will agree.

Onward the party!

download: dj ripley - process part 073 (to the party members)

01. Mutamassik - We-Do Featuring Cyra Unique
02. Stumble - Wuz Up Break (Sb2 Version)
03. 8 Frozen Modules - Stagnating The Process
04. Frikstailers - Dabadaba 05. RS-232 - Ping
06. Grievous Angel - Move Down Low (feat. Rubi Dan)
07. Bird Peterson - Broke
08. M.I.A. - XR2 (Tigerstyle Remix)
09. Lil Mama - No_Music (Starkey Refix)
10. Rustie - Diwali Boom
11. Monster Zoku Onsomb - Pump It Hottie
12. Bird Peterson - Bring The Noise
13. DJ Donna Summer - Push It (Dj DS Remix)
14. TS7 ft.Tdot - Ding Dong
15. Basement Jaxx - Jump 'N' Shout (Stanton Warriors Remix)
16. Bombaman - Alter Ego (Fuckingham Palace)
17. Cruel Culture - Fuck The Truth
18. Kode9 - Magnet City
19. Timeblind - Buzzed
20. David Last - Track 04
21. Worthy - Crack-el (Justin Martin's Stoopit Crunk-Ill Hyphy Mix)
22. I.Cube and RZA - Deal with that
23. Smalltown Djs - (Mu) Strike a Badman
24. Mz. Thang - Club Muzik
25. Yo Majesty - Club Action (Chris Bagraider's Sailing to Baltimore Edit)
26. [S] Mann - Summer In the City Dub
27. Com.a - Ghetto Magic
28. Mochipet - Hyphee Step Remix
29. Erbs - Mysterious
30. Sunship feat. Warrior Queen - Quits (Sinden Remix)
31. Stuff Sister Label - B2 Lean Wit It
32. Dude n Nem - Watch My Feet (Pop Rawkus Let Me See You Juke Remix)
33. DJ Q - Shottas
34. Math Head - Do Damage (Passions remix)
35. Christina Aguilera - Aint No Other Man (Blaerg Oral Fistfuck Remix)