There's a weekly radio show on BBC radio 1 called the Essential Mix, every week a prominent electronic musician plays a commercial free 2 hours of music. In this blog I'll talk about the essential mixes that stand out to me, mixes I feel everyone who enjoys electronic music should take a listen to. A link to the mix along with a brief description of each artist their sets will be accompanied with a sample of featured tracks in spoilers.
DJ mixes are by far my favorite way to listen to music. What I really like is getting a mix that's just one track an hour or two long. The first time I listen to them is always the best, because I don't know what songs are on the mix, but I know the artist and I know the style. There's nothing better than when one song starts to fade out and then I hear a familiar sound mixing in it, it's a song I absolutely love. It's kind of like listening to pandora or other radio programs, but what makes DJ mixes better is the mixing.
So without further ado, in chronological order, Mano's Essential Essential Mixes:
September 16th 2007: Diplo, electro, hip-hop, variety link: http://fiftyonefiftyone.com/2007/09/diplo-essential-mix-91507.html Thomas Wesley Pentz, Diplo, is an American DJ, he's produced tracks for M.I.A. and has a unique view on electronic music. In the mix he flies through songs and genres, hip-hop, electro pop, baile funk, dancehall and more are all present in this mix. It's a bit unfair to post full songs for this one cause you won't hear any full versions in the mix, but here's a few of the songs featured in this mix. + Show Spoiler +
May 24th 2008: MSTRKRFT, "we make dance music but we don't really know what kind of dance music it is anymore" link: http://www.wiredla.com/news/mstrkrft-essential-mix.html Jesse F. Keeler and Al-P are MSTRKRT, a Canadian duo with varying backrounds, Jesse was originally in punk band Death From Above 1979 and Al-P was in the electropop group Girlsareshort, there style is influenced by both and the end result is quite enjoyable. The mix is based on the live set they'd been doing at the time, a relentless mix of house and electro. It's a wild and fidgety 2 hour set that's great for house parties. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBpUbaqrOCM
March 14th 2009: Fake Blood, house link: http://soundcloud.com/fuse-oxford/fake-blood-essential-mix-march-2009 Theo Keating, Fake Blood, is a British DJ, he doesn't have a huge body of work, but his style of house music sets him apart from more traditional artists of the genre. This mix is split into 2 halves, the first is a club set, and the second half is an after party set. The club mix is full of fidgety up beat house tracks. The after party mix has slower more atmospheric sounds but is still housey electronic music. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3lPocF6HuU
January 23rd 2010: Four Tet, minimal techno, idm link: http://er7radio.net/?p=2883 Kieran Hebden, Four Tet, is a British musician with a unique take on electronic music. His essential mix is unlike any other on this list, this mix doesn't have the usual radio interview or any of the inter-weaved reminders or what program you're listening to. Instead the mix is a pure 2 hours of down beat, minimal, and idm tracks, with a very relaxed feel to it. I love this mix for comedowns, hangovers, or just to lay in bed/slump into a chair and immerse myself in the music.
February 20th 1020: Jack Beats, house, dubstep link: http://er7radio.net/?p=2978 Niall Ferguson and Beni G are Jack Beats, a UK duo from turntablist backgrounds. Their style of house is quite different from the traditional four to the floor standard. Extremely heavy, wobbly basslines represent the Jack Beats sound. One of my top 3 favorite artists, a hard feat considering my personal playlist spans tracks from over 5,000 musicians. This mix is a relentless barrage of bass heavy house and dubstep encapsulating the Jack Beats sounds. Featuring their hit songs, their amazing remixes of other tracks and remixes by other people. This mix I recommend above the previous mixes and probably above all the mixes in this blog, a must-listen. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw_rLFGh-XM
July 17th 2010: Pendulum, dubstep, drum & bass link: http://core.thomaslaupstad.com/bbc-radio-1-essential-mix-2010-07-17-pendulum/ Pendulum is an Australian based drum & bass fusion band. Using live instruments in their shows Pendulum plays a very Rock/Metal influenced version of electronic music. Originally they only played dnb but have recently expanded to include dubstep and house sounds in their music. This mix released after their recent Immersion album is very dubstep centric. Their rock and influences can be heard in many of the bridges throughout the mix, at one point even just playing a metal track. Fast paced and heavy as shit, if you can't listen to this mix at loud volume it might not even be worth it, but if you can turn it up it'll knock you on your ass. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeOJDgAu4LE
July 24th 2010: Magnetic Man, dubstep link: http://core.thomaslaupstad.com/bbc-radio-1-essential-mix-2010-07-24-magnetic-man/ Skream, Benga, and Artwork compromise dubstep super-group Magnetic Man, Skream and Benga individually are two of the godfathers of dubstep, and Magnetic Man really represents the feel and sound of UK dubstep, a never ending bassline. 2010 is an insane year for essential mix, this one coming out just a week after the pendulum mix. Sharing a few songs from the previous weeks mix this set is nonetheless in it's on right "bloody mental" as they say in the UK. Magnetic Man tracks and tracks from the individual artists who make up the group fill the majority of this mix along with other of the years biggest dubstep tracks. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxSMV8_1HPI
October 9th 2010: Netsky, drum & bass link: http://core.thomaslaupstad.com/bbc-radio-1-essential-mix-2010-10-09-netsky/ Boris Daenan, Netsky, is a Belgian drum & bass producer with a melodic futuristic sound. Many of his tracks feature full vocal tracks, as opposed to the more common short vocal samples of most dnb. His mix covers a wide array of dnb styles and it's all very danceable. I feel dnb is underrated amongst the general electronic community. I think it's a great genre though, and this mix is really great for people who've never heard much or haven't gotten into dnb. I highly recommend it. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeA6xOkTgng
November 13th 2010: Nero, dubstep, dnb, electro, house link: http://er7radio.net/?p=4007 Daniel Stephens and Joe Ray are Nero, a UK dubstep and dnb duo. Their style revolves around big build ups followed by even bigger drops into extremely bassy beats. If you're a dubstep fan I'd be more surprised if you hadn't heard of them. The mix starts with dubstep and flows through electro, house, dnb, and even more dubstep. Most of Nero's studio tracks and many of their remixes appear on this mix along with skrillex, sub focus, and a handful of french electro. My absolute favorite essential mix and my highest recommendation. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1VLaXoRRdk
December 11th 2010: Avicii, house link: http://core.thomaslaupstad.com/bbc-radio-1-essential-mix-2010-12-11-avicii/ Tim Bergling sometimes known as Tim Berg or Tom Hangs, but best known as Avicii is a Swedish house producer. His popularity has grown quickly over the mere 3 years he's been producing. His set features many of his hits and a lot of dual track songs featuring vocals of one song over the beat of another. It's a great showcase of the house style coming out of Sweden. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbB3z2fZ7PM
June 18th 2011, DJ Shadow, Simian Mobile Disco, Fake Blood, Skrillex, Live from Rockness Hip-Hop, House, Dubstep link: http://er7radio.net/?p=5188 (download is all 4 hours in 1 track, google if you want one set in particular) DJ Shadow is an American DJ (how rare!) and maybe the biggest name in instrumental hip-hop, a pioneer and mainstay of the genre. Simian Mobile Disco, are a British House duo, known for their hit song Hustler and their Justice collaboration We Are Your Friends. Fake Blood has his own review already. Skrillex is America's most famous dubstep producer, and practically defined the American dubstep sound by himself. All these artists have an hour set performed live at the Rockness festival held next to Lochness, Scotland. DJ shadow performs a set of all his own tunes while flexing his finger prowess with some crazy scratching and mixing throughout the set. I prefer this mix to his solo essential mix from 2003(still a great set though), the smaller time frame turns this mix into a fast-paced relentless dose of hip-hop and turntablism, keep an ear out for the exclusive scratching and the hit Organ Donor. Simian Mobile Disco, follows up with their own set of all their own music, a ruckus hour of house featuring many of their recent hits. Just as lovable as the DJ shadow mix, and a perfect addition to this dance addictive mix. Fakeblood picks up with a just as addictive set of house music. A mix of his own tracks and his own selection of the years hottest house tracks. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as the crowd does. The night ends with Skrillex, (who I believe was one of the opening acts, Essential mix be confusing me on this one). Regardless, Skrillex lays down a mix of American dubstep featuring many of his own hits rounded out with other classics, for an hour of hard and heavy bass music. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujLzS2aXDJs
July 23rd 2011: Brookes Brothers, drum & bass link: http://core.thomaslaupstad.com/bbc-radio-1-essential-mix-2011-07-23-brookes-brothers/ Phil and Dan Brookes are the aptly named Brookes Brothers, a UK (what's with all these Brits?) drum & bass duo. Rising to fame over the past few years with some heavy hitters, I expect good things from these two in the near future. Their mix is off the hook, with a huge array of songs spanning over 10 years of music. It starts out hard and heavy, gets housey in the middle and then ends with some dubstep and more dnb. If you're a dnb fan you have to listen to this mix, if you're not a dnb fan you have to listen to this, and if you still don't like dnb then I don't like you. + Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ydw7XAnW7o
That raps it up for the ones I really wanted to talk about and the ones you should definitely listen to if you're into electronic music. If any of the download links I provided don't work just google search the mix, BBC hosts them for free download for a short while after they air, so there's always mirrors floating around the tubes. Honorable mentions: Scratch Perverts, Trentemoller, Justice, High Contrast, Benga, Crookers, Deadmau5, Rusko, Gui Boratto, Sub Focus, Toddla T, Caspa, Major Lazer, Boys Noize, Noisia, Boy 8 Bit, Afrojack, Swedish House Mafia, Basement Jaxx, Magda, and Wolfgang Gartner. Other mix series I suggest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabric_discography especially the FabricLive sets http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_mine a slightly different series featuring more relaxed music for at home after clubbing music, the Faithless and Adam Freeland sets are superb. Tempa label's Dubstep AllStars for any UK dubstep fans. And I've enjoyed the few "Mixmag Presents" sets that I've heard, especially Mixmag presents Kissy Sell Out's Xmas Blowout and Mixmag presents Jack Beats: Bass-bin Bombs!
Fellow TLers recommendations I haven't had a chance to listen to any of these myself Essential Mixes: John "00" Fleming 2010-02-12 Kris Menance & Fred Falke Eric Prydz 2007-03-04 (I'm a Prydz fan, I'll be listening to this soon) The Twelves 2009-12-19 Joris Voorn 2010-09-11 Booka Shade (looking forward to this) John Digweed 10-13-07 Blame 2009-02-28 DJ Marky and XRS 2004-03-21 Sven Vath Ibiza liveset: Annie Mac, Knife Party, Deadmau5, Magnetic Man, Zane Lowe and Skream & Benga Martin Solveig Photek Fatboy Slim and Tula Mark Ronson Maya Jane Coles Paul Van Dyk James Talk 2009-09-19 Tiga 2006-04-09 Dave Clarke 2000-10-29 Above and Beyond 2004-06-06 Sebastian Leger 2010-03-20 DJ Shadow 2003-03-30 Gabriel Ananda 2007-01-21 Richie Hawtin and Ricardo Villalobos 2005-07-10
Mix series suggested by others Global Underground, I've heard a couple of these that are quite good, but I don't know many http://mixes.dabears.ca/main.html from scanning the track lists of these they look promising, I'm going to check some out then I'll give an opinion on them.
Let me know what you think. I'm always happy to suggest more music, not just essential mixes, so let me know if there's a style or genre you're looking to get more into. Now lets all dance and be happy! More write ups coming soon!
The last 30 minutes of the deadmau5 essential mix are priceless and I love the paul van dyk and the wolfgang gartner essential mixes aswell! Great show, much love to BBC Radio 1!
I actually meant to have Wolfgang Gartner on my honorable mentions. I haven't heard the Paul Van Dyk mix so I'll check that one out. The Deadmau5 one is good but it doesn't make my personal recommendation list. Any big Deadmau5 fans should check it out though.
If you really enjoy DJ style music, try Trance Around the World, by Above and Beyond. Same style - 2 hours of an ad free continous mix. Its a free podcast on itunes, can also download it from their website somewhere. Its fantastic, they are widely considered top 3 DJ's in the world. Havent listened to any of the mixes you've suggested, but they look interesting, so ill check em out! Cheers for the recommendation
I absolutely loved Maya Jane Coles' Essential mix about 2 months ago. She's got a deep-techy house sound that I really enjoy. Not sure if you'll like, as its a bit more chilled out than the others that you've listed, but even so I highly recommend that mix as well as her others.
Avicii's mix would absolutely make my list though, it's probably my favourite one. Although some of the songs in the mix have been played a lot at clubs etc since the mix was released I feel it's still massive!
On a side note, I havn't heard Pendulum's mix, I should go listen to it now! :D
I always enjoy Above & Beyond's essential mixes, but I am just an anjuna fan in general.
On September 09 2011 00:16 Wetty wrote: If you really enjoy DJ style music, try Trance Around the World, by Above and Beyond. Same style - 2 hours of an ad free continous mix. Its a free podcast on itunes, can also download it from their website somewhere. Its fantastic, they are widely considered top 3 DJ's in the world. Havent listened to any of the mixes you've suggested, but they look interesting, so ill check em out! Cheers for the recommendation
If we are going on to more trance radio shows, there are a lot of free ones worth listening to. Above & Beyond - Trance Around the World Menno de Jong - Intuition Podcast Tritonal - Air Up There Paul van Dyk - Vonyc Sessions Andy Moor - Moor Music and the list goes on...
Most big names have their own podcasts going now-a-days so i would recommend checking the itunes podcast section for your favorite DJ and you will likely find something by them, or their record label.
Also:
The Hospital Records podcast is awesome for any of you DNB fans.
So, allow me to attempt to clarify. A "mix" is a combination of songs (often electro, house, dubstep, or similar genres) that flow into each other, resulting in a single long track? My brother knows far more about this stuff than I do (my musical tastes are quite isolated from the norm), and I'd like to make sure I know what you guys are talking about here.
On September 09 2011 00:35 DwmC_Foefen wrote: Is there a way to dld these of off soundcloud?
Sorry I don't use soundcloud, so I can't say, but it never hurts to search "essential mix X artist"
I used to be big into Above and Beyond and all those similar Trance artists, but the past couple years I transitioned to stuff that's less of the traditional 4 to the floor style. On that note another great mix series are the FabricLive albums. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FabricLive Caspa and Rusko's FabricLive was the first dubstep album I listened to alongside Skreams watch the ride. Those 2 mixes pretty much redefined my taste in electronic music.
Justice - 2007: Justice are one of the 'new' french/house electro 'groups'. Essential mix varies between classic disco, old french music, and actual electro. Truly amazing mix.
Fatboy Slim/Tula - 2003. The master of big beat at work, oldschool. Must have if you're into bigbeat at all.
Mark Ronson - 2007. Crazy mix of hiphop/pop and various sorts of electronic music.
Wolfgang Gartner - 2010. One of the best pure electro mixes around.
And the most important one: The Twelves - 2009. I've literally listened to this mix at least 50 times, no matter what I'm doing. It's an absolutely amazing combination of electro and just chilling out, with the craziest remixes out there. The Twelves are 2 brazilians(?), and it's the ultimate summer/feel good music, without the usual retardation that comes along with it. All of their mixes are at the absolute top of current dance music.
From the list in the OP, I can recommend the Diplo, Fake Blood, Netsky and Nero remixes for sure, but in all honestly every single EM deserves to be listened to at least once.
On September 09 2011 00:16 Wetty wrote: If you really enjoy DJ style music, try Trance Around the World, by Above and Beyond. Same style - 2 hours of an ad free continous mix. Its a free podcast on itunes, can also download it from their website somewhere. Its fantastic, they are widely considered top 3 DJ's in the world. Havent listened to any of the mixes you've suggested, but they look interesting, so ill check em out! Cheers for the recommendation
It's not similar at all, at least not in my eyes. EM mixes are incredibly varied, depending on who is playing. Every genre of electronic music gets its turn. Trance Around the World makes me want to scratch my eyes out, simply because I can't stand trance. If you like trance tho, it's excellent.
On September 09 2011 00:51 Aeres wrote: So, allow me to attempt to clarify. A "mix" is a combination of songs (often electro, house, dubstep, or similar genres) that flow into each other, resulting in a single long track? My brother knows far more about this stuff than I do (my musical tastes are quite isolated from the norm), and I'd like to make sure I know what you guys are talking about here.
It doesn't necessarily have to be one track, I have some sets that are separated into the individual mp3's for each song, but the flow is what holds true. If you were to see an electronic artist in concert or at a show a mix set is what you'd hear. Unlike rock musicians for example they don't play one of their songs stop and then play another, a DJ will just continuously play music for his entire show, and not just his own music but other music of his style as well. For the purpose of my thread that's the only way I use mix, but you can use the word mix to merely describe how an artist creates a single song, so perhaps "DJ set" is a more apt description, but at this point it's basically semantics.
On September 09 2011 00:54 Derez wrote: Couple of additions:
Justice - 2007: Justice are one of the 'new' french/house electro 'groups'. Essential mix varies between classic disco, old french music, and actual electro. Truly amazing mix.
Fatboy Slim/Tula - 2003. The master of big beat at work, oldschool. Must have if you're into bigbeat at all.
Mark Ronson - 2007. Crazy mix of hiphop/pop and various sorts of electronic music.
Wolfgang Gartner - 2010. One of the best pure electro mixes around.
And the most important one: The Twelves - 2009. I've literally listened to this mix at least 50 times, no matter what I'm doing. It's an absolutely amazing combination of electro and just chilling out, with the craziest remixes out there. The Twelves are 2 brazilians(?), and it's the ultimate summer/feel good music, without the usual retardation that comes along with it. All of their mixes are at the absolute top of current dance music.
From the list in the OP, I can recommend the Diplo, Fake Blood, Netsky and Nero remixes for sure, but in all honestly every single EM deserves to be listened to at least once.
On September 09 2011 00:16 Wetty wrote: If you really enjoy DJ style music, try Trance Around the World, by Above and Beyond. Same style - 2 hours of an ad free continous mix. Its a free podcast on itunes, can also download it from their website somewhere. Its fantastic, they are widely considered top 3 DJ's in the world. Havent listened to any of the mixes you've suggested, but they look interesting, so ill check em out! Cheers for the recommendation
It's not similar at all, at least not in my eyes. EM mixes are incredibly varied, depending on who is playing. Every genre of electronic music gets its turn. Trance Around the World makes me want to scratch my eyes out, simply because I can't stand trance. If you like trance tho, it's excellent.
Yes the Justice mix definitely deserved to be on there. The finale of Phantom Part 2 combined with One More Time is unbelievable. Also has an epic sample right before the half mix break. I'll need to check when I get back home. This mix has one of the best intros as well.
Edit: I totally screwed up by the Justice Mix I meant the MSTRKRFT Mix. My bad. The track list in this mix is amazing. D.A.N.C.E. mixed with Da Funk. Is You was the perfect sample to lead in and out of the halfway intermission and it even features artists like Siriusmo (btw check out his EP the Uninvited Guest) and Felix Da Housecat (and a guilt pleasure of mine: show me love).
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Really happy of with how this thread turned out and the great reception. I'm going to be listening to all of your suggestions, it'll take a while, but I know it'll be worth it. I'll keep editing the honorable mentions as I listen to them, and when I get a chance I'll do more write ups for them. A side note I wanted to listen to the Justice mix, but the wikipedia link didn't work, and now I'm mad at myself for being lazy and not just googling it, I'm getting it now and I'll listen to it once I finish listening to the Boy 8 Bit Essential Mix I just got (this ones going on the honorable mentions too really enjoying it). Definitely getting the Fatboy Slim one today too, always been a big fan of his and his live shows: Live on Brighton Beach, Big Beach Boutique 2, and On the Floor at the Boutique
Go get: Skrillex - live @ rockness Deadmau5 Ibiza liveset (6hours of Annie Mac, Knife Party, Deadmau5, Magnetic Man, Zane Lowe and Skream & Benga) Noisia Martin Solveig
Oh man I totally forgot about the mix MSTRKRFT did. I think it even outdoes the mix by Justice. Now that I know Avicii did a mix I'm definitely going to check that out.
On September 09 2011 00:28 bLix.Z wrote: I absolutely loved Maya Jane Coles' Essential mix about 2 months ago. She's got a deep-techy house sound that I really enjoy. Not sure if you'll like, as its a bit more chilled out than the others that you've listed, but even so I highly recommend that mix as well as her others.
Awesome collection here. Thanks for sharing. If you wanted to share a few more of those 5000 musicians in your library as a blog every so often... well I would be all over that
Added a writeup for MSTRKRFT, and a few additions to the honorable mentions. Just listened to the Justice EM, damn what a throw back, really enjoyed it, I'll probably give it a write up soon.
Nero's essential mix is amazing. Swedish House Mafia's live performance at Creamfields was also on EM, and I liked it a lot. I hope Netsky's is as good as everyone says, because I love good DnB, but it's hard to find stuff that is original.
Oh man, the MSTRKRFT Essential Mix was what got me into the music I listen to now. Pretty much nearly every track in that tracklist is a favourite of mine.
Also have to recommend the Kris Menace/Fred Falke Essential Mix if you love that French house sound, alongside with the Daft Punk EMs.
I'll definintely check out a few of those. I dont have all that many essential mixes, i was more active listening to mixes in the Breezeblock era. I have a load of those to recommend, but more importantly the site: themixingbowl.org. Its a torrent site that has all kinds of mixes (essential, solid steel, breezeblock, one world, the basement, etc). It used to be the definitive site for high profile DJs, but i dont know how many still seed the old mixes. But any more recent big artists you'll definitely find. A great thing is that most mixes have tracklisting, which is always a good bonus. As an example of what you can find; I recently downloaded a Prodigy Experience tour concert from '93 there. Afaik, it's archive has over 60K mixes, though most probably dont have seeders any more. An example of listed mixes/seeders: A search for Deadmau5, gives ca. 120 mixes, whereof about 80 have seeders.
PS. It's perfectly legal.
A list of mixes that you should download from that site: + Show Spoiler +
Bomb The Bass, Breezeblock, 2001-04-30
Amon Tobin, Breezeblock, i dont have a date
Dr. Dre, '86 In The Mix!, young Dre totally wrecking the turntables
Fat City Allstars, Breezeblock, 2000-05-01
The Herbaliser, Breezeblock, no date
Kid Koala, Breezeblock, no date (amazing)
Liam Howlett (Of the Prodigy), breezeblock, no date
Mr. Scruff, Breezeblock, no date
RJD2, Breezeblock, no date
Portishead, breezeblock, no date
Roots Manuva, Breezeblock, 2001-07-16 (amazing)
Trentemøller, Poker Flat Recordings, 2009-06-06 (amazing)
UNKLE vs. Scratch Perverts, breezeblock, no date (amazing)
You must change OP to add John "00" Fleming's Mix of 02-12-10, Im not sure how many people like the Psytrance/J00F sound, but its technically one of the best mixes I have ever heard. Plus how can you not love John when he is passionately giving his all, once of the nicest and best DJ's in the history of EDM I would argue. I think it was the first playing of this badboy:
And also - Above & Beyond's first Essential Mix of 06-06-2004 is seen by many as one of the highlights of their career - and one of the very best trance mixes on the show ever. Highlights for me are the Brian Eno v Thomas Newman Intro, with vocal sampling:
I can't provide links because I only have downloaded files, and those have since died.
I listen to the Essential Mix every session, even if its not a genre I am associated with, hearing top talents from different fields showcase their work is an EDM dream.
The essential mix is how I first got into some of these bands and the reason why I am going to see Magnetic Man and Nero next month, if any I highly recommend both of their essential mix and also Netsky :D
Edit: I use the term bands loosely for lack of another word
The essential mix is just the best radio show ever.
My all time favorite 2000-10-29 - Dave Clarke His style might be a bit hard, but daaaaamn the guy is just so good <3
A few I especially remember 2006-04-09 - Tiga 2006-10-15 - Trentemøller 2009-09-19 - James Talk 2010-02-13 - John '00' Fleming
On September 09 2011 19:07 resilve wrote: You must change OP to add John "00" Fleming's Mix of 02-12-10, Im not sure how many people like the Psytrance/J00F sound, but its technically one of the best mixes I have ever heard.
I have to agree, Trance usually doesn't do much for me, but THAT was really really good.
Avicii write up added. Made an extra recommendation section for everything suggested in the thread that I haven't had time to listen to yet. Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'm working on listening to all of them, and constantly updating the thread at the same time.
great thread im definitely gonna check some of those out. Another thing i like to listen to besides BBC is ASOT (a state of trance) a weekly armin van buuren radio gig, they are really very good. An old one i really like is the 2008 yearmix, its very chill and i love listening to it while playing starcraft or just as background music, give it a go. Oh and dont fast foward the intro , its the best part. The first ten minutes are amazng and it gets even better.
I used to listen to ASOT a lot. Ever since i got into the more technical genres of electronic music I can't listen to that much trance though, I still enjoy the songs, but I can't listen to more than a couple trance songs in a row without getting bored of it.
Just added a write up for the recent Brookes Brothers mix, I've had it for a week and been listening to it over and over, absolutely amazing dnb, next write up either Basement Jaxx, Justice or one of the new ones I'll be listening to today.
Justice's and Wolfgang Gartner's Essential Mixes are absolutely beast I think I listened to Pendulum's 2010 EM for a month straight as their last album came out. Such a crazy set with some exploration you just never get bored.
as far as other shows go:
pretty much all of Mark Sherry's Outburst Radio Show (202 is a personal favorite)
Tone Diary 150 was sick.
oh and by far: Sander Van Doorn's set @ UMF for ASOT500. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
On September 09 2011 22:01 Mano wrote: I used to listen to ASOT a lot. Ever since i got into the more technical genres of electronic music I can't listen to that much trance though, I still enjoy the songs, but I can't listen to more than a couple trance songs in a row without getting bored of it.
I have the same problem, listened to ASOT and TATW religiously for years. I find that only psytrance and tech stuff give me the breakdowns and emotions that trance used to provide pre-2005.
Not saying anyting against the genre, its a personal issue if anything!
A lot of the DJ´s that have their stuff played on the various di.fm channels are also quite good. They may not be known to everybody but always deliver. Two I would recommend particularly are D´James (especially for his Filthy-Mixes, they rock !) and Vixro Otherwise the grand- or yearmixes of Ben Liebrand have always been worth it.
So far today I've listened to the Swedish House Mafia Essential Mix of the year sounded like I expected it too, which is an amazing selection of house a really rocking dance mix. And I'm listening to the Scratch Perverts Essential Mix right now, this shit is hot, although it's ironically "cold", because it's from 2004 so it's featuring a lot of rap from the early 2000's. I've always been a Scratch Perverts fan, (one half of Jack Beats came from SP) so I might do a write up for this mix soon.
On September 09 2011 19:07 resilve wrote: You must change OP to add John "00" Fleming's Mix of 02-12-10, Im not sure how many people like the Psytrance/J00F sound, but its technically one of the best mixes I have ever heard. Plus how can you not love John when he is passionately giving his all, once of the nicest and best DJ's in the history of EDM I would argue. I think it was the first playing of this badboy:
And also - Above & Beyond's first Essential Mix of 06-06-2004 is seen by many as one of the highlights of their career - and one of the very best trance mixes on the show ever. Highlights for me are the Brian Eno v Thomas Newman Intro, with vocal sampling:
I can't provide links because I only have downloaded files, and those have since died.
I listen to the Essential Mix every session, even if its not a genre I am associated with, hearing top talents from different fields showcase their work is an EDM dream.
Anyone have any idea where I could find that 2004 mix? I've been poking around for a bit and I haven't been able to find it. I would swear that they re-released it through their weekly show sometime last year, but I've been digging through all my old files and I can't find the thing! Opening track gives me goosebumps...must hear again!
If you're looking for Day9's music ask D9, I agree that Sean has grea taste in music, and his song of the days are great, but in general he doesn't fit the requirementnts for my thread. (a mix of at least half an hour of one genre/style or more.
Great OP. Essential mixes have been one of my favorite things for the last 12 years or so, since I went to college and got fast internet. We even had Napster for like twenty minutes so I was able to get a big stack of them.
I'll second the Swedish House Mafia mix for newer stuff.
For all-time favorite essential mix I'm going to go with Sasha's from 1995, which is up on YouTube. It's a close second behind Oakenfold's Goa Mix Silver for number one coolest trance ever.
I just listened to kaskades, unbelieveably good. I love kaskade so much can't wait to see him live when he comes around, i keep seeming to miss out on him .
I had the Above and Beyond essential mix with my mates on the road trip up to see them live las night in Sydney, great mix, amazing DJs and all-time great producers!
I like sharam's mix. Also James zabiela has been on a few times and his mixes are always solid. I especially like his live mix from Glastonbury. His mixing is so good. He's a technical genius.
For the hardcore/hardstyle lovers I recommend ravine's 2010 megamix, it's got all the genres that he plays including electro and dubstep.
Shingo DJ is a very fun hardstyle producer, I love his otaku-hardcore mixes both because of his style and because of the stuff he samples (anime etc)
As for rave mixes I don't really have a favorite dj right now and I just put on the first mix I find. I like DJ auratika, although he often feels uninspired he does almost everything on vinyl.
I totally agree with Gui Boratto, Rusko and Magda's being great. I've been too lazy to do more write-ups in between my recent Diablo2 binge. But if anyone wants to do a write up in the same style as my op (date, name, genre/link/artist description/mix description/3-5 sample tracks in spoilers) I'll add them directly to the op and I'll even give you credit to make you feel special. Otherwise I'll hopefully motivate myself to get a couple more down before the weekend.
Listening to the Swedish House Mafia live at Creamfields mix and OHMYGOOOOOOOODDDDDD ITS AMAZINGGGGG D::::::::::::: ::::DDDDDDDDDD Definitely one of the best along with the Kaskade mix from the other day and the Rusko mix from 2008.
Since I've discovered this thread I've downloaded 5+ gigs of Essential Mixes and I have yet to be disappointed by any of them. Although, I have yet to listen to most of them, but the ones I have listened to have been absolutely spectacular. Thank you for sharing these and bringing the Essential Mix series to my attention, good sir! Respect!
On September 13 2011 03:41 Trowa127 wrote: Radio 1xtra has some absolutely brilliant dj's, my faverouite show is Fabio and Grooverider, by far.
FABIO FABIO FABIO!
I would just like to say that I am extremely jealous that you guys get awesome music on the radio. I just use an aux cable to listen to my iPod in the car because I don't like anything thats played on the radio here, lol.
On September 13 2011 03:41 Trowa127 wrote: Radio 1xtra has some absolutely brilliant dj's, my faverouite show is Fabio and Grooverider, by far.
FABIO FABIO FABIO!
I would just like to say that I am extremely jealous that you guys get awesome music on the radio. I just use an aux cable to listen to my iPod in the car because I don't like anything thats played on the radio here, lol.
I think we are very blessed to have Radio 1. The BBC gets a lot of flack in the UK, but Radio 1 plays some brilliant music and has some really, really good DJ's. 1xtra with Westwood can be paticulaly good when they get good UK hip-hop artists on.
I don't think this has been posted here already, so I'll do. You can download pretty much all Essential Mixes (from 1993 til today) for free in splendid quality on SoundCloud, here. A guy called das-boy (or +dB) uploaded them all. You can also listen to a lot of nice live performances (unfortunately no download there) on his page.
I can only recommend it, but beware... you'll have to filter out. I tried to download them all, but they're all almost 2h long each and in .flac format. 911 tracks in total. You'll need at least 50GB of free disk space. Enjoy.
On September 13 2011 04:27 oberhofer wrote: I don't think this has been posted here already, so I'll do. You can download pretty much all Essential Mixes (from 1993 til today) for free in splendid quality on SoundCloud, here. A guy called das-boy (or +dB) uploaded them all. You can also listen to a lot of nice live performances (unfortunately no download there) on his page.
I can only recommend it, but beware... you'll have to filter out. I tried to download them all, but they're all almost 2h long each and in .flac format. 911 tracks in total. You'll need at least 50GB of free disk space. Enjoy.
Just finished my write-up for Live at Rockness with DJ Shadow, Simian Mobile Disco, Fake Blood, and Skrillex. Crookers and Major Lazer are on my honorable mentions, hopefully getting write-ups soon.
On September 13 2011 04:27 oberhofer wrote: I don't think this has been posted here already, so I'll do. You can download pretty much all Essential Mixes (from 1993 til today) for free in splendid quality on SoundCloud, here. A guy called das-boy (or +dB) uploaded them all. You can also listen to a lot of nice live performances (unfortunately no download there) on his page.
I can only recommend it, but beware... you'll have to filter out. I tried to download them all, but they're all almost 2h long each and in .flac format. 911 tracks in total. You'll need at least 50GB of free disk space. Enjoy.
On September 13 2011 04:27 oberhofer wrote: I don't think this has been posted here already, so I'll do. You can download pretty much all Essential Mixes (from 1993 til today) for free in splendid quality on SoundCloud, here. A guy called das-boy (or +dB) uploaded them all. You can also listen to a lot of nice live performances (unfortunately no download there) on his page.
I can only recommend it, but beware... you'll have to filter out. I tried to download them all, but they're all almost 2h long each and in .flac format. 911 tracks in total. You'll need at least 50GB of free disk space. Enjoy.
I guess im a bit critical tho, but after going through all 900 mixes i only found like 15 i really wanted. Looking forward to those to. Other than yielding to popular demand (Pendulum, MSTKRFT, J00F) im really looking forward to Portishead, Leftfield, Future Sound Of London, 2 Many DJ's, DJ Yoda among others.
Does anybody know if a site exist like this for the Breezeblock?
This year I went to Camp Bisco and got to see some of the guys you mentioned. They were all pretty sick, ill check out the others Ive never heard of. Thanks a bunch : )
Great thread this :D My current favourite mix I have been listening to is a sick DnB mix from Camo & Krooked they did a while back for Annie Nightingale.
My favorite essential mix isn't actually just one show, but Paul Oakenfold's essential mix tour back in 1999. Amazing mixes from back in the day. As for a more current EM, I still like Markus Schulz's essential mix from 2008, although I'm more a trance/progressive person.
Nice list, the netsky one is just amazing! For all liquid DnB lovers, i recommend the London Elektricity essential mix, he is the guy behind the hospital records label, and the mix is amazing too
I'm kinda surprised nobody has posted this yet. Listen to the GoingQuantum podcast it's a great electro/dubstep podcast that's awesome for gaming. Here's a link to the podcast : http://goingquantum.ca/
And here's an aperçu:
Also props to the "Liquid Dubstep" Thread for showing me this DJ
Bumping this for the pure awesomeness that is the Above & Beyond Essential Mix of the year 2011. I only knew their 'Sun & Moon', but hell, they got a lot of insanely nice trance. Totally recommended!
I listen to a lot of essential mixes, and il add to this great thread. Kaskade (house) - amazing, john digweed (techno) really good, metrik (drum and bass) very impressive, eric prydz (can't say enough about this guy), alesso - (trouse) one of the best in a very long time, above and beyond (trance) godly, feed me (dub step / drum and bass) great.
I tried to put some variety of genres in here, but these are all incredible essential mixes that are in my opinion must listen assuming you like a wide range of dance music.
Thank you for reviving this incredible thread so I could discover it hamster! :D
I have to add this one in I didn't see it on the main post. Flux Pavilion aka Joshua Steele co-founder of circus records with Doctor P and many others. They are huge in the UK and I discovered him a few years ago. Super fucking impressive dubstep and track selection for this essential mix. It's from 4-14-2012, I don't have a link but you can probably google it and find it.
Another great one is with Lee Foss who is huge in the chicago scene and somewhat recently internationally known for his awesome house music.
I love throwing on one of these two to four hour mixes at work(i work on a car assembly line so its awesome to work/smoke to). The Pendulum one is next on my list for sure, happy listening everyone!
EPT
