Kazu Kimura & Will E Tell - DJ Excursions Vol. 3

This is ground zero for me - the beginning of my journey into the amazing world of underground electronic music, or 'techno' to be more precise. It was 1997 and i had just entered my final year of high school, Pearl Jam and Nirvana were still on heavy rotation on my stereo, but for some unknown reason i was searching for something else when i entered the CD store and still can't remember how or why i bought this cd. I still have vivid recollections of listening to this disc for the first time - on the bus on the way to school in my own little detached universe, minimal rhythms pulsing through the headphones talking to me in an entirely new language. It was just so refined and undiluted - completely devoid of superfluous detailing and decoration which is the downfall of so much mainstream music. The sounds were alien and otherworldy yet at the same time felt so comfortable like i'd been waiting to hear this music my entire life. As you can see from the tracklisting this is just another techno mix from that era in time, all the usual suspects that i would later explore in depth, all the respected labels that have stood the test of time and some local talent that encouraged me to explore what the nightlife in Melbourne had to offer. I'm listening to the second disc right now and a feeling of deja vu is creeping up on me with the transition from Funk D'Void's 'Bad Coffee" into Luke Slater's remix of 'Forklift' - it's that sense of absolute magic and sheer joy in the appreciation of music. I guess its just one of those cd's that just encapsulates a special time in your life, not a very rare or valuable disc (in Australia, at least) but an amazing time capsule for me personally and one i will never part with.