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2003's MIX CDs
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PREVIOUS MIX CD REVIEWS: PAGE 1 PAGE 2 PAGE 3
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WHO
WHAT
Pioneering techno label embraces new technology
TEMPOS
Techno-friendly 120s-140s
WHY YOU SHOULD BOTHER
First up, it's not a mix CD. It's something much more. Novamute has been at the forefront of the techno revolution for over a decade now, progressing alongside the movement from thematic compilations (its licensing deal with Berlin's Tresor club and label) to artist albums (from Richie Hawtin, Echoboy, Speedy J, Steve Stoll and others). But while experimentation is often the name of the novamute game, it's never lost sight of the dance floor, and 2 CD's & MP3's serves primarily to gather together 16 of its better 12" mixes onto a double CD for the first time.
But as the package title (itself a play on Hawtin's Decks, EFX & 909's) indicates, the label then goes a step further. Proudly heralding the fact that "Control of music and technology is passing from the hands of the few, to the de-centralised many," novamute has pre-ripped all 16 tracks as MP3's – and then thrown in a dozen bonus cuts in that same format for the consumer-friendly hell of it. And really, why shouldn't they? This is, after all, a compilation of dance tracks previously only released on vinyl, a format from which it takes several steps to make MP3s. Now the label wants to get that music to the masses, and given that it can only fit so many aiff audio files onto a 70-minute CD, there's no reason not to hand over the extras in whatever format they can manage. Unlike the major labels, Mute knows that you can't turn back the tide of technology, and unlike most majors, nor does it want to. Which makes this a winning package for anyone with iTunes, an I-Pod, or, as some Mute artists are proud possessors of, finalscratch.
PRIME CUTS
Coming at a time when the techno culture is retreating back into to a cult, 2 CD's & MP3's reminds me how damn much I love this music. From Needledust's emphatic 'Wuh!', to Debasser's witty 'Fatty Girls', through label stars Plastikman ('Afrika') and Luke Slater (a minimal electro remix of 'Nothing At All'), and on to the Nitzer Ebb vs. Thompas P. Heckmann remix of 'Join In The Chant', this is one idiosyncratic floor filler after another. Of course, unlike your usual mix CD, you'll have to do the programming if you want to fill a dance floor. But given the mega-bonus presence of two Cabaret Voltaire 'Nag Nag Nag' remixes (one by iJamming!'s previous featured CD mix-master Tiga), there's hardly a DJ on earth who'll lament the opportunity.
WINE
It’s an established independent keeping up with the times. It's value for money. It's high quality. It's "control…passing from the hands of the few, to the de-centralised many." It's finally time to break out the bubbly – without breaking the bank. Paul Goerg's Premiere Cru Brut Champagne 1995 is the way to go.
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 WHO
TIGA
DJ-KICKS
STUDIO K7
WHAT:
Electro with soul
TEMPOS: 130-135
WHY YOU SHOULD BOTHER
I'm not an electroclash fan, so when I tell you that Tiga, the Montreal-based star behind last year's 'Sunglasses at Night' Corey Hart cover version Euro-hit, has delivered a proper dance mix far removed from the fickle world of Williamsburg fashion, you'll know to take me at my word. (At least I hope you will.) Tiga, when he's not showing up on Top of the Pops singing old 80's hits, is a dance producer, a remixer, an event promoter and a record store and label proprieter. But he's obviously a talented DJ too: he knows beats, loves melodies, understands sequencing and, best of all, fiercely believes in the underground. So while there's a Soft Cell track here ('So') and token remixes by Swayzak and Adult, the majority of the 20+ artists on this CD are resolutely alternative. More importantly, the likes of Traffic Signs, Antonelli Electroc and Volga Select, none of whom I've ever heard before, know that synths aren't for wimps - and that electro is a rhythm, not a trend. A highly seductive blend of funk, glam and good old synthetic sleaze, and ample evidence that this genre has plenty depth beneath its limited surface appeal.
Because most of Tiga's DJ-Kicks is instrumental, it's the vocal tracks that stand out. Le Tigre's 'Deceptacon' finds the punk girls screaming along to a sharp DFA mix, and the Red Zone mix of the old Stevie V club hit 'Dirty Cash' sounds so up to date it's alarming. The only ice-cold self-laudatory spoken-word electrocl*sh comes at the album's conclusion, when Martini Bros' 'The Biggest Fan' merges into Tiga's own cover of the Miss Kittin/Felix da Housecat anthem 'Madame Hollywood', which the Montreal maestro manages at once to make sound both more deadpan and more human.
WINE?
Club kids of the electro kind love to be seen with bubbly. But few can afford the real thing. Given Tiga's fondness for credible alternatives, he shouldn't mind my recommending the value-conscious French family Gruet's Non Vintage Brut Methode Champenoise from New Mexico. Yes, New Mexico.
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iJamming! Site Copyright Tony Fletcher 2003
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