Your DJ, in the mix

The sun shone!  To remark about the weather seems like such a trite way to write about an outdoor event but it can affect the mood of the party, and to a certain extent, my mood as a DJ.  It can also set the tone of a blog post as we plunge into the depths of, dare I say it, winter.  We were very lucky to have the afternoon and evening on the good side of the morning's rain.  Thank goodness the sun shone!

Now, I have a confession, dear reader.  I have a hangover.  It's a non-alcoholic non-psychotropic hangover.  The first thing regular listeners will notice about this mix is the absence of anything like a wobbly bassline.  I've got a kind of electro fidget fatigue; the genre just keeps trying to out-big itself.  Same thing happened with Speed Garage last decade, and I fear the same will happen with Dubstep soon.  I'll still continue to play what I think sounds/feels good, but I'm just wary of commercial influences.

This mix goes back to what I love: the groove, the jack.  If you've come to expect Fidget House from me, don't let that put you off; it's still paced with enough heavy beats and bass to make you screw up your face.  The boat party is always an opportunity to breakaway from any kind of pigeon-holing because there's a captive audience.  Although I suppose you could always jump over-board!  Besides, I had the connoisseur of the wobbly bassline, Lee Mortimer, playing straight after me, so it didn't make sense to be playing similar.  He smashed it, natch.  I think I did alright too (..?)

To top off twelve hours of partying, I played an impromptu back-to-back set with Angie Walter for the after party at Baby Simple on Cowley Road.  Musically, on a similar vein, just more Tech House.  Unfortunately not for download though; some things are recorded only by our memories.  Kinda like retelling a joke, but ending off with, 'you had to be there.'

This mix was recorded live on 29th August 2010 on a boat party floating down the River Thames in Oxford for Simple & Slide, in association with Out to Graze, and features productions/remixes from Lovebirds, Round Table Knights, Robert Boogert, Mark Knight, TJR and Santiago & Bushido, as well as classics from Steve Mac, The Prodigy and Claude VonStroke... Scroll down for tracklist.

Player artwork: photo (and cake!) by Katie Napper.  Photography by Claire Williams.