James Lavelle - CREAM Live Vol.2

The first 15 tracks of CD3 constitute a very good DJ mix by The Psychonauts, with brilliant scratching and skillful sticking together of mostly Mo Wax breaks & beats. It's slightly better than their rather rushed 'Time Machine' mix, though not as good as their longer Radio One 'Essential Mix'.

The mix quickly flits from one track to the next in the trademark cut & paste style of The Psychonauts, resulting in a (mostly) high energy mix that maintains interest throughout, but (unlike with 'Time Machine') not so fast as to prevent the listener from getting into the individual songs. Whilst featuring great drums, the actual songs in the mix are not that amazing in themselves, but it's the WAY these guys use four turntables to bring the best out of them that is so impressive. The scratching is very rhythmical and diverse, never getting monotonous or overbearing in the way that a lot of scratch DJs can be, and perfectly complementing the songs over which they appear.

I may be wrong, but I think James Lavelle's contribution to the mix is restricted to tracks 16 - 19, boring songs that have here been overplayed and very averagely stuck together. It's certainly a change of style, both musically and DJing, that provides a disappointing end to an otherwise highly innovative mix of breaks, beats and scratching.

This is quite simply one of the best mixes I've ever heard....Even now in 2008, it is still superb! If anyone can help me locate this mix it would be greatly appreciated. I have a pretty rough copy on cassette, but would love to have it on the Ipod! The Psychonauts have a unique ability to create a mix that carries the same feeling even though it slowly pitches up from beginning to end. The track selection is great for mid-90's....Just inspiring! It's a shame they never took off, definitely two of the most underrated DJ's out there.

Truly and deeply one of the best cds I've ever owned. Everyone took note at the time and if you haven't get your ears onto these cds. Best stuff of the time. The Nick Warren mix is so good it sounds like it came from Anjunabeats of today (with a healthy dose of Roland 303 of course.) I can't tell you what a time capsule this cd is. For me, many sun rises were watched from downtown Chicago lofts while this cd melted everyone's brains. Buy it cause its so progressive that even today its still listenable.

The James Lavelle CD was actually mixed by the Psychonauts, who were a little peeved to receive ZERO credit for one of the most technically accomplished mixes of it's time. If there were any doubters, the Psychonauts went on to re-record some of the mix combinations found here for their Essential Mix in '96... while James Lavelle went on to prove that he can't mix at all.
The track Clubbed to Death II only appears on this CD, and wasn't released anywhere else in any format unfortunately; it's probably the best of all the Clubbed To Death variations, and reason enough for owning this CD.