DJFrodo / Reviews

Mono Blanco - Peak / Rock The House - Sep 10, 2009
Peak - starts off with a warbling bass and sampling the Happy Mondays "Hallelujah" yell. It then evolves into some punchy and FUN acid house with a repeating female sample. Things round off nicely with a few moments of beauty and then once again things evolve after that into average house with a male vocal and light acid wisps. With so much going on in this one, you can mix this into or out of many different styles.

Rock The House - This is a track I had been after for 10 years. Drivin tribal pumpin house with rockin distorted guitarish elements. One deep & gurgling male voice sounds like hes saying "marijuana" while another similar voice sounds like hes saying "I wanna rock". There is also this female vocal of her laughing(?) (slight echo effect added) and these light piano rhythms that just make this song one of those hard & beautiful tracks. And as heard as the last track in DJ Liquids "Silicon Valley" mix, it makes a KILLER ending song to a DJ set.

DJ Brian - Hardesertrance2 - May 01, 2009
While the first mix in this series was more into the "anthem" trance classics, this one is more into a tech-trance vibe and not quite as psychedelic.

Tracks 4, 5, 7 & 8 would be considered popular tracks, but that never got overplayed. He does jump back into his breakbeat roots with tracks 10 & 11, but could have done without these two in the mix. Even if they are nice breaks tracks, kinda throws the mood of the mix off a bit. The last track was a bit too vocally for my taste but it does give a nice "reprise" feel as it has similar sounds to the LSG track.

DJ Brian - Hardesertrance - Apr 27, 2009
For those who dont know, Brian is one of the founders of Moontribe in California, USA. If you never got a chance to go to one of their infamous desert partys, then this is small slice of what you would have heard.

Most mixes you come across have one or two gems in the mix. Once in a while theres a mix with tons of classic gems and this is one of those mixes. Tracks 1, 3, 5, 6 10, 12 ive heard on several other mixtapes.

This is one of those sets you would hear at the end of a party. Starts off slammin and eventually ends with some beautiful tunes. For a brief moment in time, there was this era of funky trance, and its shown throughout this mix. Loads of moments of breaky/funky/trance bits here.

I think the thing that scares people away from this mix is that a lot of mixes are slammed in there. Not really smooth blends but *BOOM* (heres the next track coming in!). Some of the transitions are a bit weird as the two tracks blend and change into the next track, but they do go together. Think hes just pushing the envelope harder than others and making the mixing a bit more "in yer face". Beatmatching is flawless too.

Youll be shaking the sand out of shoes after this psy-trance/goa/hardtrance experiment

Patrick Pulsinger - Porno - Feb 28, 2009
Track A1: Mid-tempo spacey techno with muted bleeps & other muted quirky sounds with a slight electro feel to it.

Track A2: Slow breaky experimental techno.

Track B1: Hard older style techno with futuristic congo/cowbell sounds.

Track B2: Actually fades in at the ending of the previous Track. ambient at first then slowly evoles into soft/warm minimal techno.

Track C1: WIERD techno. Strange sounds get STRANGER as tweaking on knobs progress troughout the track.

Track C2: SUPER minimal tech-house

Track C3: ambient...Swirling and drifty.

Track D1: TRIPPY bleepy techno! AWESOME! Reminds me of "Blood Sugar - Levels" but better!

Track D2: Trip Hop with a samples talking about cocaine. "You could step all over that sh*t and still get 120 a gram...120 a gram...120 a gram". Wonderfully groovy chill-out track.

Don Diablo - Crowd Pleaser - Feb 24, 2009
"Crowd Pleaser" is just that, in the vien of "Blood Is Pumpin". It has that familiar sound but without going overboard on it. But skip this and head over to "Elysium" when you want a laugh. It has one of those hardhouse/Nu-NRG beats but the breakdown is where its at.

(music gets muffled)

(answers phone)

"Don....Don. Theres someone on the phone again, I think its your neighbors again. Yeah, they want you to turn your music down. Yeah, ill tell them"

(music gets unleashed)

Guaranteed to get a couple of smiles.

Fancy Vision - Plug Out / Supergirls Wedding - Feb 24, 2009
On one side you have this DARK & murky, pumping goa-techno. Not goa trance but goa techno. Perfect if youre playing in some swamp....In some jungle....At night. Yeah, thats what it will make ya feel like youre in (while you pound those fists into the stacks!).

On the other side you have a throbbing subliminal track. This has one of those "machine gun" bass lines where there are 4 bass notes per 1 kick giving it that throbbing effect. Sounds creep in & out to a minimal effect and most would past over this track. But after a full listen, you can see it being used as a great builder track to unleash into something REALLY hard.

Blacklight (2) - Radar / Alien Warfare - Feb 24, 2009
Couple of strange tracks here!

On one side you have a goa-ish track with this really punchy/klunky kick and loads of sweeping/trippy sounds. An interesting track, but feels like something is missing? I could see this being used more in a b-sides mix or as a bridge track.

On the flip side is some goa-breaks. Imagine breaky trance with that low zapping/sucking electro/acid sound and HUGE amounts of rolling bass drops. Top it off with some desert goa style sounds and you have a track you can mix into quite a few other styles.

Sash! - Ecuador - Jan 21, 2009
"Eduador, listen to me!"

Just a small translation of the songs spanish lyrics. A very clubby track, and the remixes are even clubbier. The original mix is what caught my attention though. It was featured at "The Riddlers Revenge" ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California when it opened. It was played on a loop while you waited to get on the ride, just before boarding. You might rememeber all the questions marks flying around the room and some rave music....Well that was this track.

Britney Spears Featuring Madonna - Me Against The Music (Remixes) - Dec 03, 2008
Skip all the mixes and head straight for the last 2.

The "Gabriel & Dresden Dub" is wonderfully drifty and yet a deep & pounding track. Britneys vocals are just light whisps in this version. Reminds me of the stuff Sasha & Digweed used to play. Great track for subliminal trance lovers.

On the flip side, the "Terminalhead Vocal Mix" is a sick electro breaks remix. Uber fat pumpin moog bass line rules on this with lots of "boom" bass drops too. Drops a bit of acid in towards the end as well. Gives me that "Florida breaks" vibe.

These are the only Britney Spears tracks that I can put up with!

Pure Acid Mixtapes - Sep 03, 2008
Ken/Pure Acid should be hailed as a cornerstone of the rave scene. He purchased mixtapes from DJs around the world and shared the love to us. To many of us, those tapes we purchased are now worth more than diamonds (atleast the ones that survived!)

To some, it was questionable if it was a label. And it is, partially. Ken often worked with the DJs and got the master from them and produced copies with the Pure Acid logo, and generally pushed for a playlist too. This took the hassle out of calling up the DJ and shipping out more tapes.

While there are many imitators, Pure Acid is the one that started it all, and helped boost many a DJ into stardom through his sells & promotions.

Even as the cassette industry has died down, Pure Acid was the peak of the cassette days and Ken & his propeller hat will not soon be forgotten.

Thanks for ALL the good memories!

Spiderworks - Shiver - Oct 13, 2007
Most people that know of Spiderworks tend to mention this CD. Why? This IS their best one! This is psychedic stoner rock at its best. Lots of trippy effects like echo on the drums and reversed stuff. The best way to discribe this is imagine the song "Three Days" from Janes Addiction and then make a whole album like that song. Long epic emotional opera like journeys, except for "Invisible Chains" which is the hardest track on the CD.

The first 3 tracks are most popular and most tend to remember "Whirlpool" for the "I love to get you high" lyrics (perfect for you guys with a stoner girlfriend!). Things get REALLLY spacey on "Cherry Blossom" and "Touch" ends off the journey nicely. "Touch" actually sounds very close to "Shiver" giving you that reprise feel.

Grab your space helmet, fire up a fatty and enjoy the ride.

Tea Party, The - Splendor Solis - Oct 13, 2007
Of any of the CDs theyve released, this is the one to check out! Although they ventured into different themes with each CD going from arabic/indian sounds to really hard rock, this was a journey into the soul.

Lovers of the band The Doors should check this release out. Strangely enough, the singer looks & sounds like Jim Morrison. Splendor Solis picks up were The Doors left off. Things are just as experimental but getting just a bit harder than The Doors and at the same time getting more melodious. If you lost yourself in Morrisons haunting vocals and emotions, theres a good chance youll lose yourself in this.

Still one of my favorite CDs ever and I have a Canadian to thank for sending it to me.

DJ Jason Patrick* - I'll Take You There - Sep 07, 2007
Havent heard the original "Uncontrollable" but the 99 remix is a great emotional track. It builds up with some pulsating beats and a sweeping soundscape, then releases into the breakdown. The breakdown itself is filled with bird sounds and gets drifty untill...Pow...Breakbeats start booming. Eventually it goes back into a 4/4 kick with sweeping sounds with just enough beats for you to mix out of.

The real winner on this though is "My Definition"! Starts of a house kick for a wee bit but then goes into this mean ass breakdown. It gets so breaky that it could be compared to Aphex Twin or Squarepusher stuff and almost pushes into jungle. Samples at this point go like this:

Girl - "Can I ask what you were doing?"
Guy - "Mixing & trying some new stuff"
Girl - "Like what?"
Guy - "Its kinda hard to explain, why do you want to hear something?"

Eventually it goes back into a short breaky 4/4 kick for the ending. A really great trippy track and excellent sample from such a classic (but slightly cheesy) movie.

Simon - Two Crates - Aug 26, 2007
From what I remember reading about this release goes something like this...

Simon was pressed for time during production of the original and only got in 4 takes on it and always felt that the original was too bass heavy. Due to his lightened schedule (and a little more money) was able to press it the way he felt it should have always been.

For me, ill take that bass heavy original! YUMMY! Oh well, good way to go if you cant afford an original copy of this classic. But buyers beware! Some are selling these off as originals!

East Coast Boogiemen - Marrying Janie - Aug 16, 2006
Yes it does contain samples from Queens "Another One Bites The Dust", but the fun part about this record is that...the sample is backward! And for those who dont know thats "start to smoke marijuana"!

(pause for a second to let everyone rush out & dust off their old Queen albums)

The original mix is were its at. The bassline off the original Queen track gets up updated with some phat moog and tweaks up & down and here & there. Weird pink-plonk type sounds and a subliminal tech-house vibe equals out to be a huge headtrip. Excellent track for a 4a.m. set.

The remix gets a funky filtered house overhaul and makes for an awesome peaktime track. The only bad thing about this mix is that the "Another One Bites The Dust" sample is only played normally.

HIGHly recommeded for all you spliff heads out there!

Almighty Huh - Sin City (Marv's Story) - Aug 15, 2006
The samples start from "The night is hot as hell..." and go to "...a two-time loser the night of his life". Sorta basic as production goes and didnt really care for it when I bought it but MAN...next thing I knew it was stuck in my head for months! (Wait...it still is!)

Drawing on the darkness of the movie(no pun intended), the record does just that and throws an a eerie edge too. Theres not much of a bassline on this, more of a deep kick. The thing that does it is the way the vocal from his story is twisted & stretched. Thats what makes this work and subliminally suck you in.

The main mix is the one to go for. The radio mix is a shortened version of the main. Meanwhile the bones mix is like a dub and gets even more minimal than the main mix is. An interestingly dark & chunky track with some quirky computer/electro elements...great for late night seductions.

Trentemøller vs. David Guetta / Unknown Artist vs. Mad8 - Betamine / Work This Pussy - Mar 31, 2006
WEAK SAUCE!!!

Side A is David Guettas "The World Is Mine" sampled over Trentemollers "Beta Boy" with no changes whatsoever to Beta Boy. Honestly, to me the vocals are hella annoying and take away from the dopeness that is Beta Boy. There are some lyrics, but the sample of the words "the world is mine" gets overused. The vocals might better suit a trance track.

Side B is super duper minimal house track. No frills here! Just a basic kick...fade in "work this pussy" sample REPEATEDLY...kill the bass on the kick...fade out sample...bring kick back in....fade in sample again & play with it just a bit...then do the kick in/out thing again. This track might be usable as a QUICK bridge track or played over another track.

YAWN!!! How long did this take to make? 2-3 minutes per track? "Hey mom! look what I made on my MTV remixer while brushing my teeth!" I guess people giving a high rating on this release must be high too.

George Sarah - Ossia - Mar 31, 2006
Side A is all about BEAUTIFUL downtempo/chill-out tracks. The track "Ossia" takes the medal though, a tune to feed the soul with! Kinda reminds me of Mobys ambient tracks. This is the side to buy the record for.

Side B varies. The first track to me sounded like Squarepusher/brokenbeat style stuff...on a very MELLOW tip. This track is also a cool one to chill & trip too. The second B side track however...ummm...blah. Very minimal track, and just when it starts to get good....its over. BOO!

Backyard Bangers - Perception - Mar 15, 2006
Track A1 totally reminds me of artist "Pop Will Eat Itself". Not any track specificly, but that style and vibe. If youre into PWEI like me, this track is worth a check.

Track A2 starts off with a few drifty/BEAUTIFUL elements and a somewhat of a fast breakbeat rhythmn then breaks into a vocal about our battle/our music has context then slides into moody and dark/creepy crawly trip-hop beats.

The flip side (B) has more of the new skool breaks feel about it. It lightly brings in the drifty/beautiful elements from the original but with a long rolling/steady/super fat electro/fuzz bass line. Horns are echoed about along with other tweaky sounds giving this track a weird vibe.

Production is good...worth a listen as the tracks are very unique and cool.....but not really mainroom/peaktime tracks. This release is more for when you want to hear something different...or mix stuff slightly off the wall. As the tracks are unique, I want to give it a 4. Yet I dont think ill be grabbing this too often to mix with...just to listen too, so 3.5.

Insect Sun - Ghost / Low Life - Mar 04, 2006
"You ever seen a ghost?" starts off the first track. Subliminal hard psy-trance with a few dashes of quirkiness and lots of trippy cut up vocals & other noises...I like it!! The only thing bad about this track is the ending...its rather abrupt. Almost like the last couple of seconds didnt make the cut. Oh well, if you mix...you RARELY ever play the end of a track anyway!

The second track "Low Life" sounds like someone stuck in a low life. A very dark and murky track. The tempo on this is a bit slower and is like psy-tech-house and would be a perfect background track for a movie scene were someone is running in their nitemare.

You probaly wont grabbing the record for the B side too often, but the A side is worth a check!

By the way, record comes in a reflective silver sleeve. Neato! You can see yourself! Ohhh!!! Ahhh!!!

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