Welcome back.
I'm conscious that whenever I start a blog these days it
seems to involve me mentioning how busy I am. Well, since I've had a week off
work this week, being truly ‘rushed off my feet’ isn't something I can really
claim. I've devoted plenty of time to lining up the coming month’s podcasts so
that they’re ready in good time for their broadcasts on the internet radio
station I'm now involved with – Renegade Transmission.
As mentioned in last week’s blog, episodes of The
Phil-Harmonic Podcast are now being broadcast for the very first time on the
internet radio station, Renegade Transmission. My current slot is 4pm Saturday
BST, Repeated again 12 hours later at 4am. This week’s Episode 61 was broadcast
over the course of this weekend.
Again, really excited about the opportunity and I hope to be
part of the station’s growth over the coming months and years. I really hope it
can help generate a fresh buzz around the podcast.
One thing this new radio slot does mean is that, given my
slot is only an hour, plans to do 2 hour specials may have to be shelved for a
while. At least until I can negotiate a flexible timeslot or come up with a
neat plan around it. What it will mean for That Was 2013 (which push 2 and a
half hours a piece) or the 2nd of my Ibiza Specials I don’t know.
Other events this week – my return to Brighton and to Cube
Bar on Thursday evening, this time to DJ for Sam Derks' new night, Transition.
The welcome I got from the Brighton people was, once again, brilliant. Warm,
friendly, and so so complimentary about my DJing. Always a pleasure. Clearly, the Transition guys have an eye on
building something bigger. Anything that keeps the smaller scale trance scene
breathing is fully supported by me.
When I talk to people outside the scene about my DJing,
they’re often surprised to hear I'm doing these small gigs and travelling for no
money. Let me tell you, people like me, particular those who really started DJing later in life, don’t need money to make it all worthwhile. Playing for a
room full of passionate people is more than enough. Each mixing session, each
gig, each twist of a bass controller on a mixing desk as one bassline swaps
blissfully for another, really feels like a blessing. That may sound like
idealist tripe, but it’s really how a feel.
And then after that it was Markus Schulz’s 6 hour solo set
at Ministry Of Sound the following night. Wasn't that a night that flew by in a
flash? My favourite moment of the night was his mixing of Lange - Hold That Sucker Down into Ferry Corsten - Kudawudashuda, something that I did myself in Episode 49 of this podcast. Another vindication of harmonic mixing and a nice reassurance that I'm somewhere near the same wavelength as the top jocks.
Markus really is a DJ that divides opinion hugely in the
scene at the moment. Of his detractors, some says he’s sold out and gone
cheesey, some say he’s a disciple of trouse. I don’t think either of those
charges are necessarily true by the way – the trouse thing is too easy/lazy a
label these days. People who think like this show a distinct lack of imagination and simply have an axe to grind with the US's current mainstream influence on dance music culture.)
There’s certainly no doubt that Markus, and Coldharbour in
general, has progressed from quite a mellow, deep sound to a much more
aggressive ‘EDM-craze’ friendly sound. Personally, I think the latter of those
two sounds is better than the former. When Markus first emerged as a producer,
I found him interminably dull. But here I think you have to make the very
careful distinction between Schulz the DJ and Schulz the producer. I can
actually count the number of timeless Schulz productions on one hand.
Two things that made me a disciple of Markus Schulz over the
last few years were his versatility and his capacity for what I call ‘mood
creation’. He uses really smart combinations and variations and really does
take you on a journey. He’s brave too. I remember the set he delivered at Cream
towards the back end of 2011 was particularly moody and dark, immediately after
the understated, quite tepid, electro(-ish)ness of Above & Beyond. You have
to admire the man’s passion and dedication too. The guy’s a real character.
Having said that, my opinion of him has recently been
tempered by a few experiences. His complete train-wrecking at Privilege Ibiza,
some suspect beat-matching I've heard in a few live Global DJ Broadcasts of
late and, from this weekend, the final ‘down the rabbit hole’ phase of his 6
hour solo set. Unlike Armin Van Buuren, Markus is not a DJ that gets his beats
bang on every time. And when on early Saturday morning, Markus took the mic and
said smiling to the cheering London crowd, “Things are gonna get a little bit weird
in here”, what followed was repetitive, noisy dross that showed little or no reading
of a, by then, flagging crowd. I suppose that’s where the bravery comes in. A
DJ that isn't afraid to 100% stand by both his taste and ‘intuition’, will
occasionally disappoint. You live or die by that combination of versatility
and bravery.
Markus Schulz will always be a bit of a hero for me - for
Global DJ Broadcast, for his endless passion and for that element of bravery.
But I’m fully aware of his limitations. He's not technically flawless and clean cut like Armin. He's a f*cking rockstar.
Anyway ….. our podcast, as broadcast on RT, is our uplifting
leg of The Phil-Harmonic Podcast. Things to look out for this week, Orkidea’s
remix of the Inception theme music and Jordan Suckley’s most recent single,
Santa Cruz. I enjoyed playing these in this episode so much that I included
them in my set for Transition in Brighton. Our classic is a gem. Carl B’s remix
of Angel’s And Demons may sound suspiciously similar to AvB’s Communication,
but it’s incredible nonetheless.
1. Zirenz & Matt Holliday - Dark Is The Moon
[Afterworld Recordings]
2. Hans Zimmer - Time (Orkidea's Awake Mix) [CDR]
3. Temple One - Illusions [Enhanced Recordings]
4. Jordan Suckley - Santa Cruz [Liquid Recordings]
5. Johan Ekman - Turn Out [Slinky Digital]
6. Ashai - The Untold Story (Mobil Remix) [Vendace
Records] <<<(Phil's Tune Of The
Episode)>>>
7. ReOrder - Last Moments In Paradise (Simon Bostock
Remix) [Perceptive Recordings]
8. Robbie Van Doe - The Faction [Nu Depth Recordings]
9. Andres Sanchez - Ganymede [Blue Soho Recordings]
10. TechTrek & Myk Bee - Things I Am Not Proud Of
[Redux Recordings]
11. Armas - Angels And Demons (Carl B Remix) [Somatic
Sense Recordings] <<<(The
Phil-Harmonic Golden Oldie)>>>
That will do for now. See you next week. Remember,
Saturday 4pm BST, Renegade Transmission for a first listen of Episode 62.
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