I was a DJ in college until last year, and I spun mainly triphop and
downtempo. Even tho most of my school was into mainstream music, I had a
lot of success getting parties going without honoring a single request.
(although, this was mostly because I never had what anyone asked to hear ;)
There is a huge host of intelligent (or, at least, not stupid) breaks that
is listenable as well as danceable.
I strongly recommend pretty much anything on the labels Wall of Sound and
Pussyfoot. If I were to make a gross generalization, I would say that Wall
of Sound leans more toward a hiphop sound, and Pussyfoot has a more
headz-style electronic theme.
The 'Wall of Pussy' collaboration comp by these two labels is excellent.
Any of the Wall of Sound comps is worth getting, such as The First XI, The
Second XI, Back to Mono, and Dig the Nu Breed. Also, the 'Best Foot
Forward' comp on pussyfoot is good. Naked Funk's first full length,
'Valium', is a fabulous and unique sounding collection of funky electro.
If you can find 'Executive Suite' by the Wiseguys, on Wall of Sound, I urge
you to get it. It's a favorite of everyone who's heard it.
Pork Recordings has some amazing material, but they tend to be more mellow
and laidback. Fila Brazillia is a must, as well as Akotcha and some
Bullitnuts. Aw, shucks, I love everything on Pork.
Of course, there's Mo' Wax and Ninja Tune. They often are more abstract
than most dancefloors can appreciate. Nonetheless, I strongly recommend
Luke Vibert, Neotropic, Up Bustle n' Out, some Funki Porcini, some Amon
Tobin, London Funk Allstars, etc. I've heard that the Headz 2a and 2b
comps are worth getting.
On the big beat front (yes, it's cheesy, but it's also loads of fun):
Bolshi records is my favorite. The donuts #1 and #2 comps are good intros
to the label. Laidback's 'International' is great fun and loaded with
really solid tracks.
I was really disappointed with the Athletico Speak comp on Athletico, so I
don't recommend their stuff at all.
Skint is another big playa in the big beat realm - they have Fat Boy Slim,
the godfather of ridiculously huge big beat.
Uhh... lessee, there's loads of others. Cup of Tea records has some good
stuff, especially Mr. Scruff. they tend to venture into the realm of indy
pop too often for my tastes, tho.
I found Q-Burn's Abstract Message and Ronnie and Clyde to be accessible,
but mediocre, breakbeat.
Jeesus.... the Sons of Silence on Leaf are really great, and also
innovative. Oh, and I can't forget to mention Depth Charge.
Cripes, there is a HUGE amount of music out there that is both innovative
and appealing to (a subset of) the masses.
It takes a lot of warm up to get people into the abstract stuff, but it's
possible. I've managed to successfully spin Plaid, Gescom, Hab, Boards of
Canada, et al at parties where I had begun by spinning the above stuff.
Of course, some abstract music is more appealing on the dancefloor than
others, so choose carefully. :D
At 1:12 PM -0400 8/5/98, cevallos@juno.com wrote:
quoted 34 lines It looks like my buddy and I are going to set up residency at a club here
>It looks like my buddy and I are going to set up residency at a club here
>up at school (Penn State). We are trying to cater to a college town
>atmosphere w/o selling out and spinning disgusting Puffy. At the same
>time, I have to recognize that dnb might not fly over too well at first.
>We figure that my partner will house it with the 4/4 and I'll spin hip
>hop (da real shit -- no commercial caca) and trip-hop type stuff. I do
>not own any Icey, nor do I intend to buy any, but can somebody point me
>in the direction of some of the better stuff out there that could
>actually have cross-over appeal? Maybe I should even dabble into the
>better side of big beat...
>
>Also, does anybody have any tips on how to bring a non-traditional crowd
>into the more intelligent side of electronic music? We know that it
>won't be overnight, and we'll probably have to still deal with the stupid
>"play some spice girls" request, but we want to expose people to all this
>music we constantly discuss on this list.
>
>Any and all leads are welcome...
>
>
>Peace,
>
>
>
>Pedro Cevallos
>--
>"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"
> -- John Lennon --
>http://www.cat.net/~cevallos/
>
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