Larry Levan – Live At The Paradise Garage

Ciao, what to add on this fantastic mixed CD that other fans haven't already mentioned? Well, the wish that many others still can taste it! P.S. Obviously it is 5 stars.

Ciao, what to add on this fantastic mixed CD that other fans haven't already mentioned? Well, the wish that many others still can taste it! P.S. Obviously it is 5 stars.

I have this compilation since 2001 and i say is very good trachlisting but the mixing is basic too

I have done a bit of DJ'ing in my life. I Never met Larry but I count Nicky S and Harvey (MOS) amongst my friends. I have had the honour to have shared stories with people who were more than THERE and who knew Larry well with at the start / middle / end of his career. As a DJ this document of more innocent yet ultimately sinister times is priceless and shows what soul and body music could be like. Compare with what was happening say at The Saint and in this one feel the Loft influences running through this mix sadly absent from what came later. That larry was mixing on old school equipment etc. means critical evaluation of the technicality is worthless. Bottom line he was taking the crowd on a journey mostly by feelings alone - utterly priceless and thank goodness Mel Cheren put it out before he passed. Vital

Why is the video playing tracks that enrt even on the compilation?????????

Echo the previous comments.

When this first came out, I didn't really get it, being more into the eclectic Loft sound. 11 years on from the release, this Levan mix just gets better and better and is played all the time, especially in the car where I can turn it right up.

To some modern ears I guess the mixes sound ropey, there are some key clashes, but to me the sound if full on, proper songs for the most part, dripping with emotion. Can't beat it!

If truth be told, when first hearing this CD I wasn't that impressed. The mixing was slap dash and the selection of tracks was not always to my taste, I was disappointed. I however decided I shouldn't make my mind up after one listen and played it a few more times. Without realising the disc pratically never left my CD player. The tracks grew on me, the mixing technique began to make sense and this release became the soundtrack for my Saturday nights. This album is fantastic. I don't know how but each and every track has grown on me to such an extent that I really don't know how I was critical in the first place. A total turn about of opinion. So I would recommend this CD to anyone if you enjoy late 70's Disco, Funk, Soul. If you have the ability to approach this mix from another time when mixing was about Heart and Soul and not about Mechanics and Technology then this CD may be for you.

Adding a foot note some 5 to 6 years after my initial review.
Since then there have been a lot of mixes that have become available. Most of them concentrating on Larry Levan and his mid 80's sets (which is by the way my jumping on point), but still, in my opinion, this is the best of the bunch. Has that magic ingredient that just makes in work.

As a long time patron of clubs and dancing I can tell you that no disk will ever capture the feel of the Garage. The Garage had that perfect symbiosis that must occur between the dj and the crowd. The Garage was home to music that only worked there because we were Larry's lab rats and we loved it. We showed the world how Gays and Straights could come together for the sake of music and make it happen... If I had know that we were making history I would have demanded that we would have record more to save for prosperity...

This is a great deal.
Beautifully packaged, great booklet and liner notes, and only cost 9 bucks brand new.
A DJ doing what DJ's are supposed to do...
Pick good records and Play them. Enjoy yourself, and help the crowd do the same.

(As far as mixing faults go, the stories of Larry leaving the booth during a set to clean the lights for half an hour because he wanted the experience to be the best it could be show that seemless mixing and dj tricks where not what it was about. He even slows some tracks down towards the end to mix in the next at it's proper speed, rather than just getting faster and faster. A true journey - up down and back again. Class.)

This is one of the most imperfect live mix CDs available, and would simply not obtain a release if it was recorded by a current DJ.

But this was recorded in much more primitive times, when DJ technology wasn't as developed, underground clubs were not all about perfect mixing and 8 hours of identical, formulaic music.

On this CD, you can hear manual adjustments to record speeds, trainwreck mixing and even some ill-advised mix selections, as well as analogue sound quality.

Yet it all sounds SO much better than your run-of-the-mill "Now That's What I Call Making £££ Out Of The Club Scene II" mix CD released today; most of which aren't really "live mixes", but are made on computers to ensure perfect beatmatching. zzzzzz....

Why then, is this CD apparently so great?

Because you can really feel the passion the DJ has for the music, and the quality of the music is so high that the recording's technical imperfections don't detract from the experience.

Just imagine that you are there. Imagine that your first rave in 1988 was really a visit to the Paradise Garage in 1970s, and just imagine how you would have felt. Would you have been listening out for technically-perfect DJing, or would you have been having the time of your life, at the start of something significant?

Since buying this, I have listened to this dozens of times, and it still sounds amazing. Buy this and listen to history being made. It really is that good.