Your favourite dance music DJ

[Better Midlands]

I'm team Hardy music wise all the way, but he was building on what Knuckles started at the Warehouse taking it in a harder, more drug oriented direction (he took over when FK left the Warehouse at its new location which was then renamed the Music Box).

I think FK got more attention because he moved into production and remixes very early whereas RH unfortunately got too involved in drugs and lost his direction.

Also, growing up on the South Coast I will always have love for Tonka Sound System. Harvey got biggest but Marky Mark was best.

I never heard Harvey play, but the mixtapes I heard from him were great - especially Sarcastic Disco 2.

[bushwick]

I love Knuckles too, and that smoother style, obviously on another level production-wise but I do love Ron's tunes and edits for how rude and ruff they are. Both "Sensation" versions especially the really raw clanky one, and I love his Peaches and Prunes edit, off the top of my head. Think I relate to him more coz of substance abuse and cranky personality, he's like the Mark E Smith of house.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Not been to see them, but during lockdown and before it I was listening to Worldwide FM and I think that made me decide one of my favorite dj's is Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy.

WWFM also has great stuff from Charlie Dark and Louie Vega. I know Vega is well known and was 'aware' of him but never really listened to him seems like a great dj but also just a really decent and happy guy hearing him enjoying himself makes me enjoy his mixing more.

Also discovered Moxie recently (doing a guest mix on the excellent Tereza show on WWFM) and she's great, had a bit of a listen to her Garage mixes on NTS and they were spectacular.

[Better Midlands]

I love Knuckles too, and that smoother style, obviously on another level production-wise but I do love Ron's tunes and edits for how rude and ruff they are.

Same here, big inspiration for DJ Harvey's Black Cock series of releases too. I was never a huge fan of Frankie Knuckles remixes, they always sounded pretty pedestrian to me (I did like the stuff he did with David Morales and John Poppo in the late 80s).

Although the FK dub of Terry Lin - Telephone Lover popped up on YouTube recently and sounded as good now as it did 30 years ago.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Something I like about Colleen Murphy is that because she was involved in The Loft and stuff she spends a fair bit of time keeping the legend of David Mancuso alive, I'd probably not really known about him if it wasn't for her, and it does seem like he did things differently (to the point that his insistence of playing tracks-end-to-end they had a device that wasn't, strictly speaking a mixer, since it expressly prevented mixing multiple sources).

[mojo filters]

If I had to pick the most skilled two-turntable artist from the early to mid '90s, Ritchie Hawtin was the most memorable.

Previously I'd not been impressed by Detroit techno of the era, but Bob Dog put him on at Megadog touring events when his schedule matched. It was a controversial choice, and I don't even think he was a name with a significant reputation at the time. Megadog had a brand that worked, and pulled in so many nice attendees - the Levellers' fans thought I was a rockstar - just because I played electric violin in bands, like I was Ed Alleyne-Johnson (I certainly wasn't!) though I guess Thunder And Consolation was still a big record back then.

Hawtin got put midway on the bill, and predictably the dancefloor always headed to the bar/chillout room etc. He was charming during soundcheck - "are your monitors fine?" "yeah, all good" which endeared him to the sound crew (and we got some proper fucking divas when mixing live acts with DJs!)

The first time I heard his set I didn't expect too much, but it turned out to be a technical work of genius. His mixing seguewayed so effortlessly it might has well have been a man running a sampler, 303 and 808 for 90 minutes - no evidence of track transition, just build, build, build with a gradual turn of the filter - ending in lovely, filthy acidic goodness.

To be fair he paid no attention to the dancefloor, but on every gig I saw the space increasingly filled up as the high pass filtery high frequencies increased and ended up at full Josh Wink "Higher State" distortion in the house sound rig.

I don't know if he then played out bigger gigs in the UK after that, but I hear he went on to a great career - touring with his own gear and sound tech, and innovating with some kind of noise-making technology.

In retrospect Megadog was not really the right place for that kind of exceptional work. He would have killed in the 12-2am slot at a Friday night Arches gig. That was always a messy night with a 6am finish, but folks tended to drift after the bar closed (pro tip - just plug the beer vending machine back in, instant cold Stella!)

At the end of the day, I think it's easy to critique DJs and DJ culture of that era. But looking at it from the perspective of promoters with skin in the game, these nights would have never happened, nor would so many kids have enjoyed so many ecstatic awakenings - if folks had not taken risks in respect of putting such events on.

For every Love To Be, Back To Basics, God's Kitchen, Shindig, Gatecrasher etc, there must have been a lot of failures. I think half the battle was just getting everyone in, and not pissed off by intrusive bouncers who should have better things to do. My (relatively) sober recollection was that any pilled-up crowd would dance to anything in a venue with good vibes - even the BBC cricket theme tune of the era (which Jon da Silva actually played once in the VIP room at Love To Be in Sheffield!)

[phes]

For want of a better place to put this I've just come across DJ Andy Smith's YouTube channel. It is quite something to behold. And it only has about 6 uploads. Knowing him from 'Document' and Portishead fame I did not expect to find that he is like a fieldmouse on methamphetamine

https://youtube.com/channel/UCWe0LHKd8vsThC3RBqsYUqA

I saw him play around the time of document in a seriously shit flat roof-pub in Portsmouth and he was astonishing. I guess I imagined that he'd be a chilled out stoner.

[SweetPomPom]

Coldcut. Their long Kiss sessions were the nuts and they're always decent when they venture for a bit of live. Seem to have taken a back seat for quute a while now..

[chutnut]

Got to be either Theo Parrish or DJ Harvey for me. When I go out I want to be relentlessly battered with amazing tunes I've never heard before (and likely to never hear again) and they both fit the bill very nicely

DJ Harvey's boiler room set is probably the most consistent mix I've heard from him, awesome slow atmospheric disco/funk/balearic stuff. Feels like he's only just getting started by the end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7hdNv4IOG0

and this one from Theo Parrish is just nuts
https://www.mixcloud.com/cirillo71/theo-parrish-live-watergate-berlin-d-2009/

[chutnut]

I don't know if he then played out bigger gigs in the UK after that, but I hear he went on to a great career - touring with his own gear and sound tech, and innovating with some kind of noise-making technology.

Yeah he's played huge venues in the UK for a long time. He was big in pioneering mp3 mixing (involved with final scratch - using vinyl decks to control mp3s). Unfortunately by the mid 2000s the music he was playing (and probably still is) was goofy nonsense. I'm not old enough to have seen him before this period but I wish I had

[phes]

DJ Harvey's boiler room set is probably the most consistent mix I've heard from him, awesome slow atmospheric disco/funk/balearic stuff. Feels like he's only just getting started by the end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7hdNv4IOG0

Lasted three minutes until he dropped Willy Wonka at which point all faith was lost

[chutnut]

Lasted three minutes until he dropped Willy Wonka at which point all faith was lost

Lol yeah fair enough, the tune after that is when it starts getting good

[phes]

Ha, kidding really it's just an extreme reaction to it being such a cliche. I kept going and have reached the first real banger which is Cougarman (Harvey I think) - Seaman Level. Unfortunately seems completely impossible to find on MP3

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

I'm also a big prog fan.  My favourite DJs is Sasha by a mile. His 7/8 hour sets at Fabric used to be magic.

I've also had some great nights listening to the likes of Nick Warren.

[Dr Rock]

My mate Errol Alkin cos he's my mate.

[chutnut]

Ha, kidding really it's just an extreme reaction to it being such a cliche. I kept going and have reached the first real banger which is Cougarman (Harvey I think) - Seaman Level. Unfortunately seems completely impossible to find on MP3

Is playing the Charlie & Chocolate Factory soundtrack really a cliche? Or musicals in general? I don't think I've ever heard anyone else do it. It is a bit cringe though to be fair, but I always got the impression he wasn't playing it for the novelty or anything he just likes the tune

Yeah that is a good track! I've got a copy I can upload somewhere if you like. iirc it's Gerry Rooney (who did the black cock edits with Harvey)

[phes]

Sampling and mixing 'we'll begin with a spin' has been done to death, though tbf Harvey is probably old enough to have some kind of bragging rights there. I don't recall hearing anyone play the whole track before though

I'd really appreciate that, it's a cracker!

Unfortunately I don't really have any favourite dance DJs to add to the general conversation. When I was mixing regularly in the late 1990s and 2000s there was a thriving amateur scene on the forums. I spent a great deal of that time listening to mixes from bedroom DJs. It's something of a regret the all of the mixes that I downloaded have long since been lost to me. On top of that, one of the more popular forums DJforms.com died and was rebooted in about 2010, so much of that record seems lost forever. That forum is tumbleweeds now, probably contributed to by social media. In particular the 'mix submissions' and 'battle forum' which at its peak 15-20 years ago would be ticking over daily with DJs submitting mixes in paired battles. It was such a fertile time for amateur DJs and it is really sad that it wasn't catalogued.

Not sure it's really 'dance' as is being discussed, but am enjoying this fun chap at the moment.

https://youtu.be/KY-8sSAjGuQ

He brings out all the strengths of vinyl as a format. The labels, the sleeves, the movement, no screen the DJ is absorbed in (that the audience isnt privvy to). For me It really builds a connection between audience and DJ in a way that many other formats don't. I don't think that's an essential thing and I'm definitely no format/tech snob, but if you're watching a DJ then it's huge. I've lost count of the number of serato video sets I've turned off because of the detachment.

I'm currently watching Vestax PDX turntables on eBay waiting to pounce after ten years out. I know I'll have to go Serato (again) as vinyl is not doable for me for multiple reasons, but I'm going to watching a lot of videos of DJs to sharpen my sense of how not to be a crushing serato bore

[Better Midlands]

DJHistory was an amazing forum, almost limitless knowledge - I was sad to see that go.
Faithfanzine was good too.

[chutnut]

Yeah djhistory was great, its a shame

[chutnut]

I'd really appreciate that, it's a cracker!

pm'd!

[lankyguy95]

Just trespassing into a thread I can't contribute much to in order to say that I'm very much enjoying the new DJ Seinfeld album.

Ok bye

[Captain Z]

My mate Errol Alkin cos he's my mate.

Do you mean Erol Alkan or does your mate just have an unfortunately similar name?

[bushwick]

One thing I like about dance music is the fact I'm always discovering stuff that's been around for ages but is new to me. Case in point, Francesco Farfa. I love Italo disco and the turn of the 90s "dream house", but somehow never knew about this guy despite him having a long career. Highly recommend checking his YT channel - such good DJ sets, inspiring mixing and tune choice. Totally blew me away and is now one of my favourites for sure.

Check this out, this knocked my head off. Trying to work out the setup - 3 decks, seems to be a lock groove playing on one, and some echo/loop device that eludes me, scratching with delay and lots of tech stuff but very musical, creates something new:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on4rlY4mqVw&t=593s

More recent set that first got me interested. up there with Ron, Weatherall and early Sasha in terms of vision/technique IMO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQdDYKc10co&t=3335s

[phes]

That's really good fun. I think it's mostly just hardware on the mixer creating effects and not sure he's looping anything. He's just starts the mix very early and he's very fast at beatmatching, moreorless does it on the fly. That along with a third deck creates the sense of depth and the feeling that there is more going on, like looping. I think. Noticed him touch the digital controller once but don't think he's using it

You can't beat that stuff imo. I watched a video of Ean Golden earlier (early proponent of digital controllerism) and it was so sterile that I was bored to tears by 15 minutes https://youtu.be/hWetHUa8uZA

[chutnut]

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