The Phil-Harmonic Podcast Episode 51

<<<THE SECOND PHASE>>>

We've passed 50 episodes; now we press on into a new phase of the podcast with some changes to freshen things up.

I've felt for a while that the format of TPHP needed a shake up. My output has been solid of late, but after a number of specials and milestones, mixes have been very long and there’s an argument for saying a bit of focus and drive has been lost. It’s quantity over quality, as I just bombard amidst a wave of enthusiasm.

The first plan was actually to make the podcasts marginally longer and include a single ‘non-trance track’ at the end as a little ‘night cap’, as it were. I was going to call it ‘One From The Vault’ and it was going to encompass everything from breaks and drum & bass, to ambient and alternative EDM. All genres I have a lot of time for.

After some thought, I decided this was both a self-indulgent attempt to ‘show off’ how broad my music taste is and a move that would just be asking for bigger record labels to cause me more regular copyright infringement headaches. My own journeys into the likes of pure ambient and off-beat psychedelic music have been very personal, and ones I can’t just assume all trance fans will open up to. Trance fans are many many great things, but they’re not really known for open-mindedness musically. And there’s absolutely no hint of understatement intended in that last sentence. I genuinely just mean, we’re not known for it.

So – idea shelved and, in the long run, probably binned.

So where to go from here? Well, I’m now going to post weekly sets but reduce them down to an hour a piece. So everyone will still be getting the same 2 hours of music every fortnight and, in theory, I won’t really have to change my podcast ‘creation routines’ that much at all. I’ll just be breaking it up and uploading and posting more frequently.

Now, I love taking audiences on a rounded 2 hours+ journey. In essence, that extended journey is what DJing is really all about. With that in mind, I’m going to commit myself to doing reasonably regular ‘specials’ that do take the audience on that more engaging, drawn out trip. And in a sense, that will make specials more…. well, special… without being ridiculously long. (The 4 hour Ibiza Special last year was indeed ridiculous.)

Those specials could be anything from deep and funky Ibiza mixes through to sets that do just about everything and anything up to and beyond my usual 140 BPM ending point. These will be the episodes where I’ll really set out to surprise and shock – if I can. How often I’ll do them – I really don’t know yet.

For regular offerings the switch to an hour is quite a simple theory and it’s all about how most people are able to fit their weekly listening into their hectic routines. Most people, including myself, listen to music to and from work. And when you consider that most peoples’ daily commutes don’t exceed more than about 30-40 mins (my own currently being almost exactly 40 mins from door to door – 25 mins actually on London’s Tube), it can often be hard to fit in a 2 hour set into that travelling. When you come back to a set, paused for 24 hours or longer, the intended flow is completely broken. A longer set is all about momentum – that is completely wasted if it’s not consumed in one hit.

By splitting it down the middle, I hope it can be a more neatly packaged, more consumable offering and that it forces me to think a little bit more creatively to keep things interesting. One episode will be from the slower more progressive end of the spectrum (denoted by the yellow cover), while its sister episode (denoted by the red artwork) will be more for the trance purists. But there will be an element of crossover. Getting that crossover right will be the new challenge.

The other advantage of all this, of course, is that each single episode will tailor more directly to people’s tastes and moods. Even I, as a self-confessed lover of all trance’s many varieties, doesn’t always want to hear thumping 138+ stuff on a Monday morning train with a 2 day hangover.

In the long run, it will probably also help me cut down the length of my blog, and I’ll keep the longer entries for when I actually have something important (DJing-wise) to write about.

The other thing you will notice in the podcast in future weeks is that I’ll start playing a lot more old music. Whereas before I might have had a max of 3 older tracks in 2 hours (sometimes only 1), now it’ll be 2 or 3 per hour long episode.

As a group, most of my friends are acutely aware of the obvious differences between today’s trance and that of old. Some things about our more club-orientated trance music of today is great, but I’m keen to blend that with the rawer, often more subtle, feel of old on a more regular basis. It’s all about those mixing combinations. Also, I’m a firm believer that a tune you've forgotten about can have as much power as a great track you’re hearing for the first time. Maybe even more so, considering the power of attached memories

So, there’s the theory… let’s see how it works in practice. Let’s rock...

THE PHIL-HARMONIC PODCAST EPISODE 51

1. Mell Tierra – Glazer [Tone Diary]

2. Vibrasphere - Purple (Jaia remix) [Tribal Vision Records]

3. EDU - Just One Pill [Napa Recordings]

4. Marcel Woods ‎– Lemon Tree [High Contrast Recordings]

5. Arisen Flame - All The Way [Arisen Music] <<<(Phil's Tune Of The Episode)>>>

6. Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle (Sander Van Doorn Remix) [CDR]

7. Super8 & Tab - Teardrops [Enhanced Recordings]

8. ReOrder & First Effect - Prometheus [Silent Shore Records]

9. Heatbeat - Game Over [Mainstage Music]

10. Aaron Camz - Cryptogram [Coldharbour Recordings]

11. Orkidea ‎– Beautiful [Sential Recordings] <<<(The Phil-Harmonic Golden Oldie)>>>

I'll be back in a week delivering you a higher tempo offering of material. Enjoy your Easter weekends. Catch you soon.