The Beat Bash – 15 May 2014


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The Beat Bash – 15 May 2014

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Head Like A Hole by Nine Inch Nails
Quite Unusual by Front 242
Breakaway by Big Pig
Join In The Chant by Nitzer Ebb
Strangelove by Depeche Mode
Keep On by Cabaret Voltaire
Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order
So In Love by OMD
The Promise by When In Rome
Hooked On Love by Dead Or Alive

“Omina, doke doe ominea…”

At one time I’d found an article on the web where the members of Big Pig gave the translation of that phrase, but for the life of me I can’t find it. Maybe it was Aboriginal in origin?

This week’s mix is back to basics. Sometimes I tend to over-think the tracks, but really, this is what a typical episode of the show sounded like. This is why we had an audience.

The Beat Bash – 6 February 2014


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The Beat Bash – 6 February 2014

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Losing My Mind by Pet Shop Boys
Blow The House Down by The Wee Papa Girl Rappers
Rains On Me by Heavenly Bodies
Don’t Crash by Front 242
Hearts & Minds by Nitzer Ebb
Don’t Walk Away by Cabaret Voltaire
Burnin’ Up by Jamie Dee
Running by Information Society
Get Your Body! by Adamski featuring Nina Hagen
Situation ’90 by Yazoo

“I’d like to see you in the sewers of my mind…”

Now this is more like it.

Sometimes a mix just comes together with a real groove, and feels effortless. I love this one. The transition from Losing My Mind to Blow The House Down was always a personal favorite.

Heavenly Bodies was recorded by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. Jamie Dee’s Burnin’ Up is built around a sample from Magic’s Wand by Whodini, a 1982 hip hop track that was co-written and produced by Thomas Dolby.

The Beat Bash – 23 January 2014


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The Beat Bash – 23 January 2014

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What Time Is Love? by The KLF
Killer by Seal
Gangster by Electronic
Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald
19 by Paul Hardcastle
Sympathy For The Devil by Laibach
Tension by The Force Dimension
Rhythm Of Time by Front 242
Consolidated by Consolidated
Euphoric by Delerium

“But what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game…”

I was texting with my friend Andrew as I was putting this mix together. He’s English, and likes that I throw in what he considers pop tunes. While an artist like Seal has certainly enjoyed mainstream success, I tend to think of him as being on the fringes of pop at the time Killer was re-recorded (from an earlier collaboration with Adamski) and re-released. The remix was done by William Orbit at the same time he was remixing artists like Nitzer Ebb, and it wasn’t commercial to my ears. “In fact,” I said, “there’s quite a dark undercurrent running through this entire mix. We’ve got a rave classic which is based on a musical snippet from ‘Judas’ Death’ in Jesus Christ Superstar, a killer, a gangster, voodoo, the Vietnam War, the Devil, tension, Belgians, political vegans, and a Front Line Assembly side project with lots of sci-fi and horror movie samples.”

I was very amused to realize that “Belgians” and “political vegans” were things I considered dark by default.

Past>Forward Vol. 2 – The 50 Pound Note Retro Mix – The Metro, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Past>Forward Vol. 2 – The 50 Pound Note Retro Mix – The Metro, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
(Original upload date 18 April 2007)

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Walking Away (SMD Mix) by Information Society
Bizarre Love Triangle (12″ Version) by New Order
True Faith (Morning Sun Remix) by New Order
The Different Story (Razormaid! Mix) by Peter Schilling
Losing My Mind (Disco Mix) by Pet Shop Boys
Das Omen (Razormaid! Mix) by Mysterious Art
Strangelove (Pain Mix) by Depeche Mode
Join In The Chant (Burn!) by Nitzer Ebb
Theme From S-Express (US 12″ Mix) by S-Express
Crucified (The Nuzak Remix) by Army Of Lovers
I Sit On Acid (Mixin’ Up The Acid) by Lords Of Acid
Welcome To Paradise/Headhunter (Razormaid! Mix) by Front 242

“DROP THAT GHETTOBLASTER!”

Located at 156 W Main Street in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, The Metro was in operation from roughly 1990 to 1993. It came third a succession of gay-owned bars (Cafe LMNOP, Great Moments) that appealed to a mixed crowd, and played alternative dance music. During regular hours it was a lesbian bar but on Friday and Saturday nights from 1:30 to 4:00 a.m. DJs Chad and Joe would spin bands like Depeche Mode and New Order for an 18-and-up crowd that was a mixture of gay/straight/male/female/white/black/young/old. During the fall of 1990 it became the first gay club I’d ever set foot in, a full year before I turned 21.

I was already DJing a dance music show on the college radio station, which then approached the bar to have me do an industrial music night on Thursdays. I got to know Joe and Chad and within a year I was regularly filling in for them on Saturdays, too.

This is the first of two mixes that capture the sound of those nights. By the tail-end of 1991 James Brown Is Dead came along and suddenly techno wiped away melodic, song-based dance music. I started DJing at The Bar in May of 1992 so my Metro days came to an end.

I hope someone from the old crowd finds this mix; I’ve not seen any of them in many years.

As a side note I’d like to add that I had a lot of trouble recording this mix. I had to do it five or six times due to repeated technical difficulties, and it made me laugh because these are the songs I learned how to DJ with, and it was like my skills had reverted to that beginner level all over again. I should have left a great big train wreck right in the middle of it for old time’s sake.