inspired by my recent hike to the bottom of the grand canyon, i’ve finally pulled my finger out and recorded a new mix of recent and not-so-recent deep-ish housey doings. recorded on 2 x 1210’s, and effects box and a zoom handy recorder h2.

andy grant – lost and found (245 mb / 320 kbps / 105 mins)

track list:

a man called adam – ¿que’ tal america? (the mericana mix) (prescription
manuel tur – vabanque (stimming remix) (freerange)
penner + muder – are you lost (dub version ) (moodmusic)
groovenauts – acacia (original) (tonality)
burnski – .girls (exquisite music)
kerri chandler – light the world (deeply rooted house)
john tejada / arian leviste – fashion avenue (moods & grooves)
rocco – supernova (freerange)
penner + muder – millennium falcon (moodmusic)
chez damier – untitled (kms 049)
chez damier & ron trent – untitled (prescription 107)
deviance – liquid life (touché)
pirahnahead – come together (whaadat music)
art jones ft tshedi – listen with your soul (multi-racial records)
bang bang – rhythm saloon (candy dealers vocal mix) (myna music)
the martinez brothers – where’s mr. brown (objecktivity)
jerome syndenham & dennis ferrer – jehlaz (ibadan)
tony lionni – 5th cycle (aesthetic audio)
sunshine jones – if you wouldn’t mind (tiger stripes acid dub) (nite grooves)
dj marquis – head over heels (stillove4music)

andy grant – shaken not stirred (320kbps mp3 / 228Mb / 100 minutes)

Track list:

ferrer & sydenham inc. – timbuktu (âme beatless mix) (ibadan)
roland clark – sunshine (ron trent remix instrumental) (need2soul)
alicia – p.o.w. (restricted access)
gus gus – very important people (warner bros.)
fresh and low – deep end (west side records)
quentin harris feat. monique bingham – you can’t have new york (clean shelter vox mix) (shelter records)
shotsis – deep desert soundz (multi-racial records)
juke joint feat. yvonne brown – gotta get up (muthafunkaz dub work) (tony records)
roy davis jr. – goodlife (rdj original mix) (mile end records)
d3 – dreamin’ (rurals funk mix) (peng)
rich medina feat. sy smith – can’t hold back (king britt scuba mix) (kindred spirits)
quentin harris – house (unrestricted access)
f12 – go bang! (ibadan)
ferrer & karizma ltd. – the cube (objektivity)
âme – rej (pastaboys dub mix) (defected)
tiger stripes – what was (nite grooves)
jus’dope – deep shit (soul heaven)
marshall jefferson feat. rachel pearson – feel me (usb records)

“it’s a dark winter’s evening, cold enough to chill your soul. warmed by a few pints and the prospect of a night to remember, you drive in convoy up to the big smoke. tonight your whole club tribe are together, and you’re going to make the most of it. it’s been a long week in your dead end job; it’s all been leading up to this. the subs are pounding to a pirate radio mix tape; your heart is pounding with the anticipation of the night ahead. after what seems like an eternity circling the backstreets, you find a parking space and head for the venue. your pace is brisk; the frosty air bites at your skin, but you don’t notice. like a coiled spring, you’re fully loaded and ready to release. arriving at the club, line snakes round the corner. you hear the low end rumble pounding from the door – you’re already locked in. chancers abound, jump the queue, get you sorted, on the list, with the dj. as the queue slowly diminishes, you make small talk with your mates and those around you. there’s a strange camaraderie; people you’ve never met before and will never meet again, all aligned with the same goal – to make it through that door and have a night that will make your hearts sing. the real thing. you make it to the door. the gangster bouncers measure you up. will you get in tonight, or get sent packing? they have the power, and they know it. “where have you all come from?”, “think you’re getting in tonight?”, “don’t like the look of your mate”, “i can’t believe i’m doing this, but just this once i’ll let you in”. wankers. you step past them, feeling their hold over you recede as the still muffled bass washes over you. you pay the door tax to a disinterested tattooed girl, and as you drop your heavy winter coat in the cloak room you feel a great weight has been lifted, both literally and figuratively. through the double doors and into the inner sanctum. the filter is lifted – the dubby tribal rhythms surround you. head for the bar, get the beers in. the dancefloor is empty, save for a few hardy souls on a mission. the smoke machine fills the space, the lighting disorients. the small talk soon disintegrates as feet start tapping with greater frequency. the music steps up a pace, the the tribal rhythms segueing to a more driving beat. the crowd unconsciously drifts towards the dance floor. you can feel it now; it all falls into place. the sound is yours. it’s no longer about dj’s and artists and genres and tunes. the music just is. the flash of the strobe casts animated silhouettes, the room spinning like a giant zoetrope on acid. the latent synesthete is unleashed, senses triggered in unison like an orchestra conducted by the unseen dj. tracks seamlessly blend in to one another, each immediately recognisable, yet simultaneously unknown. you have arrived at your destination, and you hope tomorrow never comes.”

andy grant – strobes & smoke (311MB / 320kbps / 136 minutes)

tracklist:

conjure – pressure release (future vision records)
lars behrenroth – ice on the sun (version remix) (freerange)
junior boys – child like beats (timmy white label)
patrice scott – visions of mantada (aesthetic audio)
kerri chandler – hexadecimal (deeply rooted house)
james curd feat. jdub – buffalo girl (dj sneak’s remix) (greens keepers music)
manuel tur – girardet (freerange)
turntable rocker – all night (club) (compost blacklabel)
faze action – original disco motion (jay shepheard dub mix) (faze action)
halo varga – future (original mix) (siesta music)
+ lil’ louis & the world – i called u (the story continues) (white)
risksoundsystem – the sound is yours (kerri chandler remix) (legato records)
mark knight, adam k & soha – from the speaker (original club mix) (toolroom records)
artist formerly known as… – controversy (purple mix) (white)
tiger stripes – beach buggy (original mix)
western union – around the west (herbal essence)
wheels & disco – funk (white)
mark knight & funkagenda – man with the red face (toolroom records)
+ jungle brothers – i’ll house you (houseappella) (warlock)
dave spoon – 88 (mark knight & funkagenda remix) (toolroom trax)
latour – people are still having sex (lp mix) (smash records)
spincyle – best foot forward (wrong recordings)
finlay quaye – untitled (hoxton whores remix) (white)
tjr – log jamming (catalyst)
tears for fears – shout (karl g mix) (white)
leftfield / lydon – open up (full vocal mix) (hard hands)

in other news, here’s a picture of the rainbow that appeared outside my house this evening:

as promised last week, the new mix is now available for download. named “back in the saddle”, as i genuinely hope to get my act together and start getting some regular output on to the revised dchousegrooves site. i really enjoyed putting this mix together – the tracks really flowed together, and there really wan’t much effort involved. as any of you who are dj’s will know, you should not have to try to do a mix….if you’re having to work on it, then it ain’t going to work out. the best mixes just flow, as if they were meant to be!

this one was the first mix i’ve done on my zoom h2 handy recorder – where has this thing been all my life? so simple to use – no messing about with pc’s or laptops…just record direct to the device and you’ve got your mix in a wav file on an sd card. when i started in this game i was recording to c90 casettes; things have come a long way since then! the only problem i ran into was that i was using an 4gb sdhc card, and my pc card reader clearly can’t read sdhc cards, so I had to transfer over usb cable from the zoom h2. never mind – we got there in the end!

so on to the mix itself; mostly new tracks picked up on a recent trip to dj hut, starting off on a deep kerri chandler tip with a track off his saucy dick dickler ep on max trax, then seguing into his latest relelease Kong on deeply rooted house. from there into a bit of standard west coast deep house from tango and grayhound, until things start getting interesting with jimpster – a hold on your soul and kimouts’ down to earth on buzzin’ fly. Then things get noisy with the drama society remix of tiefschwarz – original. We then journey into some melodic euro deepness from jay shepeard, kimouts (again) and trentemøller before starting to bang up the drummy shit for a few tracks. the eclectic contribution to the proceedings comes courtesy of ray charles and quentin harris, before we go all aciied for the finishers.

i haven’t give this one a full listen back yet, but I certainly had a good time putting it together, so i’m sure it’s be worthwhile. highlights for me are the tiefschwarz > jay shepheard transition and the trentemøller track. I hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed mixing it, and i hope there are plenty more to come from dc house grooves, back in the saddle again.

andy grant – back in the saddle (320kbps / 80 mins / 196mb)

track list (click the links to view the discogs release page):

kerri chandler – the drive (max trax)
kerri chandler – kong (deeply rooted house)
dj rasoul – candlelight affair (greyhound)
kinky movement – safe house (tango)
jimpster – a hold on your soul (freerange)
kimouts – down to earth (mymy monterrey wash remix 1) (buzzin’ fly)
tiefschwarz – original (drama society remix) (souvenir)
jay shepheard – 4nc (compost blacklabel)
kimouts – down to earth (original) (buzzin’ fly)
trentemøller – miss you (trentemøller remix)
soul clap – the giraffe (original mix) (airdrop)
jerome syndenham, texu, romantic couch – ebian (samual l session remix) (ibadan)
jon cutler & matthias heilbronn – 651 (original mix) (distant music)
ray charles – eleanor rigby (quentin harris remix)
jay shepheard – …the party’s upstairs (compost blacklabel)
kurd maverick – the rub (instrumental mix) (cr2 records)

anyway, i digress. here’s another mix to keep things ticking over – lack of focus. this was done over 2 years ago, but many plays later i feel it has stood the test of time. particular highlights on this one are jori hulkonnen’s “the moment” (a true timeless classic) and alonzo savoy’s “life drifts”, although in calling them out i don’t want to downplay the rest.

download:

lack of focus

tracklist:

Loco Dice – Jacuzzi Games (Ovum)
Random Noise Generation – Rock My Soul (Octave One Mix) (430 West)
Jori Hulkkonen – The Moment (F Communications)
Underground Artists United For Life – Most Precious Love (Franck Roger Beats) (King Street Sounds)
32 Project – Rule Of Humanity (Bonus Beats) (Ibadan)
Loco Dice – Menina Brasileira (Ovum)
M.o.D. Moonshine (Acapella) Soulfuric Deep
Urban Soul – Whatever Makes You Happy (Tomo’s Sincere Remix) (King Street Sounds)
Many Velasquez Feat. Clifton King – Family Prayer (Boyd’s Alternate Mix) (Deepa Grooves)
Alonzo Savoy – Life Drifts (Bridge Music)
Mark Farina – Dream Machine (Brett’s Dreaming Dub) (Om Records)
Andy Caldwell – Brand New Day (Peak Time Mix) (Swank Recordings)
Greenskeepers – Man In The House (Land Shark’s Man 2 Man Mix) (Om Records)
Johnny Fiasco Feat. Jackie – All Right (Original Mix) (Tonic Recordings)
Married Men – I’ve Got Hos (Guess Who?)
Hakim Murphy – Circle (Katrinka Records)
Heaven & Earth – Prescription Every Night (Prescription)

so until i get my act together and record a new mix, which will have to wait until i get back from my trip to the uk next week, here’s a repost of an older mix – planet deep, planet soul. this was done in the hey day of the now defunct planetsoul network online radio station, back when my mixing was less rusty…

planet deep, planet soul

Glenn Underground – To the King O.I. (Peacefrog)
Pete Moss – Strive to Live (Alola)
Larry Heard – Guidance (Calm) (Guidance)
Fresh & Low – Love Capsule Deluxe (Vocal Mix One) (Guidance)
Boo Williams – Mars (Headphoniq)
Glenn Underground – Sun, Moon & 12 Stars (Guess Who Mix) (Peacefrog)
Chris Lum – Feelin’ High (Thinking of You) (Nova Scotia’s Player 1 Remix) (Hooj)
Glenn Underground – Musical High (Defender)
The Wayfarers – State of Being (Main Mix) (Hush Hush Recordings)
Mark Grant - Spirit of the Black Ghost (The Black Mix) (Guidance)
Fudge Fingas - Musical Lens (Mike Delgado Remix) (Hush Hush Recordings)
Glenn Underground -House of Blues (Guidance)

oh, and the picture above is the reception area of kloak hairdressing salon in västerås, sweden. no particular reason….just matches the mood of the mix, i guess.