Speaking of inebriated, July has been an utterly surreal
month – and unexpectedly so. Maybe it’s the 34 degree heat and intermittent
thunder storms sending everyone absolutely loopy in London, but I will laugh
about the shit that has happened this month for years to come. Even something
as unspectacular as an afternoon watching some mirror image of myself win a
local tennis tournament – oh yeah, Wimbledon - was capable of descending into
farcical, Shakespearian comedy. The motto over the last 4 weeks has definitely
been ‘Expect the Unexpected’. The month, of course, also ended with Global
Gathering this weekend. More on that later.
But amongst the whirlwind-induced mayhem and torrents of
city sweat, the blog has been sorely neglected. And even though the podcast
only missed one week this month, I’ve done nowhere near as much mixing as I
would otherwise do. I must apologise, ladies and gentlemen, but the rust had
set in.
Here’s a lesson for all DJs of all levels – Never stop
practicing. I would often wonder how the top DJs could possibly DJ 3 times a
weekend at such a consistently high level. Well, now I know why. It’s DJing up
to 3 times a weekend itself that maintains the consistency.
I came away from yet another fantastic Trance Sanctuary
party a couple of weekend’s ago feeling pretty damn inspired. It had been a
long spell away from the CDJs and I was itching to do an extended set – hence
why this week’s episode is 2 hours.
Sadly, it didn't quite
translate into a flawless set and it wasn't until I started mixing next week’s
podcast that same afternoon that everything fell back into place. It’s a shame,
because the standard of tracks throughout this set is actually exceptionally
high and I found it very frustrating that my mixing didn't quite do them the
traditional Phil-Harmonic justice.
In the end, it’s all about perceptive. It’s not really as
bad as I'm making out. Whereas the audience have their own standards and
expectations, as a DJ I'm as quick to beat myself up as I am to pat myself on
the back. You have to be doing one or
the other to drive yourself on towards the next level. Never assume you've reached your destination.
Making up for a few misplaced beats and a few minor volume
issues, we do have some belters of eye-watering quality. We have a cheeky
little give-away remix of Mat Zo & Porter Robinson’s Easy, the ominous
nastiness of David Gravell - Bulldozer on W&W’s Mainstage Music, the top
shelf riff and ‘interesting’ drop in Martin Garrix’s Animals and Stoneface
& Terminal’s fantastic return to those vocoded vocals with Stuck In A Loop.
There’s also the very popular Black Hole from Christina Novelli of Concrete
Angel fame, Rob Naylor’s Yes and, pushing electro-trance to untold heights,
Andy Moor’s incredible I Be.
Wrapping the mix up in the more traditional melodic fashion, we have a track from my intro in Giuseppe Ottaviani’s remix of Something For Your Mind, Ferry Tayle’s great new rework of Spellbound by, yet again, Darren Porter and a final oldie of mammoth proportions.
Before I deliver the goods, a quick word about Global
Gathering. Well, what a weekend. I've been to many a good festival in my time,
but with this one the amazing line up really lived up to the billing. It was
the best one I've ever been to. I must admit, despite all the many great trance
names, it was Infected Mushroom who convinced me I had to go and they produced
the goods in a way that even I didn't expect. It was the first time I’d seen
them since 2005 and they really did prove that they are pushing boundaries in
ways other electronic acts can only dream of.
Much talked about, Markus Schulz was back to his familiar best,
Orjan Nilsen, Andrew Rayel and Heatbeat were rocking, and I was pleasantly
surprised by Maltese duo, Tenisha and Dash Berlin, the latter I would never in a
million years have bothered seeing had a torrential downpour not barricaded us
in the Godskitchen tent. The most heard tune was definitely one by Orjan
Nilsen. I’ll reveal that next week because it’s in Episode 68 already.
Anyway, enough for now. Music time.
THE PHIL-HARMONIC
PODCAST EPISODE 67 (THE EXTENDED SUMMER SESSION)
1. Carbon feat. Ely - Shelter Me [Tribal Vinyl]
2. Mat Zo & Porter Robinson - Easy (Norin & Rad
Remix) [CDR - Free Download]
3. Skytech - Clear Vision [Soundpiercing]
4. Rikkaz - With The Flow [Lange Recordings]
5. Stoneface & Terminal - Stuck In A Loop [Euphonic]
6. Andy Moor - I Be (Club Mix) [AVA Recordings] <<<(Phil’s Tune Of The
Episode)>>>
7. Alan Morris - Dangerous Truth [Transistic JackUp]
8. David Gravell - Bulldozer [Mainstage Music]
9. Eran Hersh - Middle East [Musical Madness]
10. Martin Garrix - Animals [Spinnin Records]
11. Running Man – Heaven’s Gate (Airborn Darkside Remix)
[Alter Ego Records]
12. Rob Naylor - Yes [Garuda]
13. Tonerush - Comet [Monster Tunes]
14. Lee Osborne - Omission [Lange Recordings]
15. Craig Connelly & Christina Novelli - Black Hole
[Garuda]
16. Draft 2 Design - Affection Over Reason (Basic Draft)
[A State Of Trance]
17. Armin Van Buuren feat. Trevor Guthrie - This Is What
It Feels Like (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix) [Armada Music]
18. Ultimate - Few Nights [Infrasonic Recordings]
19. John O'Callaghan feat. Ria Moran - I'll Follow
(Sneijder Remix) [Subculture]
20. Darren Porter - Spellbound (Ferry Tayle 'The Wizard'
Remix) [Monster Tunes]
21. André Visior & Kay Stone – Something For Your
Mind (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix) [Breeze Records]
22. Armin Van Buuren vs. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Not Giving
Up On Love (Jorn Van Deynhoven Remix) [Armind]
23. Rio Klein - Fearless (Agnelli & Nelson Remix)
[Nettwerk] <<<(The
Phil-Harmonic Golden Oldie)>>>
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