Funnies

So I wanted to post an update to everyone about my current status. I'm working on Vibrations Vol 7 for DI.FM but I'm afraid that will have to wait a month or so. Stated before in my last post, I'm currently working with General Fuzz (one of my favorite artists) and we're working together on a project. It's exciting, he's teaching me alot of new stuff. I love being in the learning seat.

Any how, I got a fishing e-mail that I though I'd share with you:

Greetings!

I have been waiting for you since to contact
me for your Confirmable Bank Draft of
$800.000.00 United States Dollars, but I did not
hear from you since that time.Then I went and
deposited the Draft with FEDEX COURIER
SERVICE, West Africa, I travelled outof the
country for a 3 Months Course and I will not
come back till end of march. What you have to
do now is to contact the FEDEX COURIER
SERVICE as soon as possible to know when they
will deliver your package to you because of the
expiring date. For your in formation,

I have paid for the delivering Charge,
Insurance
premium and Clearance Certificate Fee of the
Cheque showing that it isnot a Drug Money or
meant to sponsor Terrorist attack in your
Country. The only money you will send to the
FEDEX COURIER SERVICE to deliver your Draft
direct to your postal Address in your country is
($165.00US) Dollars only being Security Keeping
Fee ofthe Courier Company so far. Again, don't
bedeceived by anybody to pay any other
money except $165.00US Dollars.

I would have paid that but they said no
because they don't know when you will contact
themand in case of demurrage.You have to
contactthe FEDEX COURIER SERVICE now for the
deliveryof your Draft with this information
bellow;

Contact Person: Mr. Daniel J. Blunt

Email Address: fedexcourierdept01@yahoo.com

Telephone:+(234)8051131534

Finally, make sure that you reconfirm yourPostal
address() and Direct telephone number to them
again to avoid any mistake on theDelivery and
ask them to give you the trackingnumber to
enable you track your package overthere and
know when it will get to your address.

Let me repeat again, try to contact them assoon
as you receive this mail to avoid any further
delay and remember to pay them their Security
Keeping fee of $165.00 US Dollars for their
immediate action. You should also let me know
through email assoon as you receive your Draft.
Yours Faithfully,

MR JEFFERSON.

Rhapsody

I was going through some of my old mixes and came across my first public mix titled "Rhapsody". The mix was a demonstration of my mixing skills for Nik, who runs the Kahvi label. The very first unreleased kahvi mix (titled kahvi-mix 001) was a overly-hashed mix of weird kahvi tracks that didn't have much consistency. I wasn't pleased with it, I just did it for fun. Back to the story, nik gave 001 a listen and was pleased with it (believe it or not!). He asked me to do another mix with releases covering 150 and above. I was delighted he wanted another. Well, within a month Rhapsody (kahvi-mix 002) was born, and I still believe it to be the best kahvi mix I made to date (in-fact the best mix period in my opinion). Nik gave it a listen, loved it, and then released on the label. I soon became Kahvi's designated mixer and well, the rest is internet history. Out of all of the mixes, Rhapsody has the best mixing, transition, interplay, mashups, and tracklisting of them all, despite what others say about it. If you haven't heard a copy of rhapsody check it out, you can click on the link "MIX ARCHIVES" to the left and view my mixography.

21st Birthday

So it is my 21st birthday today and I must admit, it's been pleasent. To start this sunday, I ate some breakfast and watched Norbit for the first time. It was hilarious. I tend to enjoy black comedy every once in a while. Now I'm gearing up for the Packers game (I believe they have a real chance to make it to the super bowl). The whole day has been sitting in my bed watching T.V., and I'm enjoying it.

Since this blog is about djing and music I thought I might say something about it. To start, me and an artist (the artist I've been ranting about for the last month) are getting together and are working on something together. Can't get into too much information.

I also watched The Good the Bad and The Ugly friday night and I was enthused by the level of musical composition that the motion picture. The composer Ennio Morricone developed the most beautiful music in a movie I've heard in a VERY, VERY long time. The man is a genious. His works are way ahead of its time. I compared the music to other 60 movies, and it's just not the same. It's emotional, independent sounding using various sounds and weird instruments. I even took it upon myself to go into Reason and try to replicate one of his works, and it doesn't sound that bad. No I wont share with you, I wouldn't embarass myself like that, but it would be cool if someone like Boelex or Fuzz tried a downtempo/contemporary remix of these tracks.

Added new link and old mixes

After a request from a lady fan of mine I reinstated the Nostalgia mix for her and everyone else, you can click on the new link to the left called "Mix Archives" and it will take you to a blog post that has a list of my released mixes.

In addition, I'm introducing a mix I did a while back called Telecommunicate Vol. 2. It's a 70 minute set with over 25 tracks. I wanted to do an Armin Van Buuren Yearmix thing, but that takes alot of talent, and it isn't easy to do. I usually have some left over tracks/vinyls/mp3s that I don't use in my mixes (usually remixes of songs that I have used) and I make a super huge mix with tracks lasting only 1-3 minutes. It was fun to do, you'll enjoy listening to it.

Track listing:

01. Filo & Peri vs. Serge Devant - Something Special
02. Damaxx - Predator
03. MIDOR - Crusifix
04. Downkill - Distorted Reality
05. Super8 & Tab - Suru (Martin Roth Nu-Style Remix)
06. Lange - Angel Falls (Lange's Firewall Mix)
07. ATB with Heather Nova - Renegade (Ronski Speed Remix)
08. Flash Brothers ft. Tiff Lacey - Stay
09. David West - Welsh Morphology
10. Michael Burian - Secret Sins (Criss Source Remix)
11. Lange - Red October (Lange's Firewall Remix)
12. Maarten Hercules - Body Fusion (Little Vantage Touch)
13. Miikka Leinonen - Shadow Hearts (Topher Jones Remix)
14. Michael Cassette - David [Polaski's downsized edit]
15. Axass - Waiting For You (eryc & Axass Clear Out Intro Mix)
16. Backslash - El Nino (Mikael Sjoberg Remix)
17. Joe T. Vannelli - Prelude (Dream Beat) (Scalambrin Sicily Pleasure Remix)
18. David West ft. Inkfish - Searching For Substance (Boom Jinx Remix)
19. Filo and Peri vs. Serge Devant - Something Special (Emjae and Jerome Robbins Mix)
20. ATB - Feel Alive (Sunloverz Club Mix)
21. Nenes and Pascal Feliz - Platinum
22. Dj Trenix pres. Adamuna - English Rose
23. Cara Dillion vs. 2Devine - Black Is The Colour (Above & Beyond Devine Intervention Remix)
24. Syna - Do You Feel (Syna's Lost in Love Mix)
25. Filo and Peri ft. Vanessa Valentin - Inside of Me (Marco V Dub)

Download Mix

New Mix Completed: Lightmare

Put the finishing touches on a new Kahvi mix (#006) titled Lightmare. I cannot go into specifics on the tracklisting but in my opinion, this is the most professional sounding mix to date. General Fuzz comes back to visit with two of his tracks and I'm happy. He's been dead center on my radar for releases in the past month, a true electronic pioneer. I'd watch this guy, he's definitely going to make it big. Anyways, the mix takes a unexpected turn as it is geared towards a slower, chill-outish style. You won't hear any super-glitched tracks upbeat sounds, its very mellow and smooth. I've been so blessed to be able to mix these "albums", its so much fun to watch as they propegate out into the internet. More-so, its amazing when artists themselves love to listen to their own songs on my mixes and then comment on them. Lightmare is like nothing I've done before, but that can be taken lightly because no two kahvi-mixes sound the same, nor are they mixed in the same style. I like it that way

I was delighted to know how popular Parallax (kahvi mix #003) has become. When I produced it (nearly 9 months ago) it sat on the side waiting for kahvi to release. Nik, who owns Kahvi, was really impressed with the work. To my surprise, he gave the mix to an online netaudio site called inq-mag which started its own netaudio/podcast release titled "monographic". Monographic captures different releases over the all the popular netlabels (kahvi, monotonik, etc) and puts them on a podcast which generates alot of attention (I MEAN ALOT). Parallax was monographic #001 (thats right, I was the first release on monographic!) To some degree, it generated alot of responses. In fact netdecks was even kind enough to give it a great review (netdecks reviews netlabel releases). Here is what Tobias Fischer from Netdecks had to say about Parallax:

"Next to producing distinct and adventurous techno music, Mikel Mendia is also the man behind the INQ Mag, an online publication dedicated to the netaudio world. As of now, it not only serves as an information source on the latest releases and news from the scene, but also acts as a place for concentrated listening. Mendia has joined forces with the Kahvi Collective and asked DJ Polaski to remix a selection of the Collective’s tunes into a coherent, smoothly flowing mix entitled “monographic #1”. Polaski has certainly spent the time necessary to browse the vast Kahvi archive (which totals a staggering 800 track) well. His mix begins infinitely relaxed and anthemic, with lots of intricate hiphop beats, snippeted loops, sacral chords and ambient spaces, then enters an industrial wasteland filled with growling basses and solitary piano splinters, before returning to more consiliatory sounds again. The emotional span of “monographic” is remarkable, even including the ecstatic howls of electric guitars and the hushed discreetness of field recordings. A project to be savoured, which will hopefully see a follow-up soon – preferably one which includes new material by Mr. Mendia himself."

It was a pleasure to read this, and inq-mag made a big showing of this exact review too! You can view the site here: http://www.inq-mag.com/2007/11/04/monographic-001-kahvi-collective/

Also, if you want to subscribe to the podcast you can do that at http://www.inq-mag.com

Rating: Planet Boelex - Only Slighly Distant (mtk163)

Every so often I come across certain tracks that have an emotional impact on me. I was recently browsing the monotonik netlabel archives and came across a release by Planet Boelex. Stated in my previous blog posts, I've became quite fond of the work he's produced this last year, and the track, titled Only Slight Distant, is no exception. Before I even beginning rating this track, it's important to show you my scale (rated 1-10) on how I rate tracks.

10: Pure
9: All-Time Favorite
8: Excellent
7: Petty Good
6: Nice Listen
5: Average
4: Nothing Spectacular
3: Boring
2: Bad; Didn't finish
1: Deleted

Now, in order to get anything above an 8, you must be pretty damn good. The ranking of 10 is Pure. Stated in my mission, I am looking for the purest sound, by achieving a 10, that is the purest sound that I've ever heard. I rarely rate anything above an 8. IN fact, 3 Drives on a Vinyl - Greece 2000 (which is my favorite Trance song) only hits a 8 on the scale.

Anyways, Let's start off with this track. It was released on the monotonik label (mtk163). The beginning is very soothing, with bubbly sounds and light hits on the drums. But what happens after a minute or so is truly amazing. The melody begins to kick in and the bass accompanies it. I play this part over and over, and it only gets better. There is just an immense build-up of sound and you just feel overwhelmed with so much cohesion in the melody and bass line. After 3 minutes into it, the sound fades and a new melody and bass-line kicks in. If this was any ordinary song from an ordinary label, I would frown upon this, but considering Planet Boelex's style, and the kind of music this is geared for, this kind of technique isn't that far fetched. The second portion of the track is not as tantalizing as the first, but it still is pretty good. The leads on the track are once again bubbly, and you hear more defined pads, and a more textured bass line. There are some chorus parts that reflect the first portion of the track, which scores big with me. The song continues with a more defined drum line with funky loops and displaced hits. After 6 minutes together, the song fades and ends.

I really liked this track, made me feel good just listening to it. I definitely liked the first portion of it than the second. In fact, I almost wish that PB would have continued to use the same melody and bass line rather than switching it up half-way through, but I try not to comment much about how artists arrange their music. The melody was very well constructed, with an accompanying bass line and ethereal pads that generated a soothing sensation. I really enjoyed listening to this, it will most likely be an all-time favorite song for me.



RATING: 8, Excellent



You can download the track off the monotonik label for free:
http://www.mono211.com/content/releases/mtkmp163.html

Working on new mix

I can't divulge too much information, but works on a new Kahvi mix is in order. This next mix will largely be down tempo. I try to mix up the styles with each new mix. I believe this new one will be the most commercial sounding of them all. I'll keep you posted

Kahvi-Mix 005: Searching for Planets (kahvi#229)

This kahvi-mix, like all the others, features the talented artists on the Kahvi label (http://www.kahvi.org/). For about a year now, I've spent alot of time working on kahvi-released tracks producing mixes (even though I'd like to call them albums). The result of this work is what I consider to be my finest. This recent release on the kahvi label (kahvi#229) is one of three mixes released (a total of 5 mixes if you include unreleased mixes).

When I first started the preliminary work for this album, I was stumped on some of the tracks to use. I had such a vast spectrum of styles and BPMs it was difficult to set a "tone" for the album. None the less, with the work that Planet Boelex (kahvi#218) and General Fuzz (kahvi#216) created in "Suunta" and "Red Balloon" respectively, I was able to manage some really great transitions. Knowing Planet Boelex personally and faintly talking with General Fuzz through e-mail, I was able to get an inside look on some of their work, producing some inspiration. In fact, I was so inspired by their work, I used three tracks from Planet Boelex, and three tracks from General Fuzz. I give much credit to their work.

The mix also features some of my other favorite artists. While this is the first time I've featured Planet B and General F in any of my mixes, Madstyle, Keed pr1, Workbench, Alexey V, and Stud return with some great tracks that add awesome ambient/progressiveness tones. I'm very fond of Workbench, mostly all of his tracks either start at the beginning or end of my albums because of the sounds he use. They make great intro/ending tracks. Madstyle has a specific looping style/sound that is consistent with most of his tracks. When I did my first kahvi-mix (titled "Rhapsody", see back catalog), my favorite track was "Soundcascade". Alexey V has always surprised me. His progressive sounds leave me in awe, and I always look forward to his releases. Every kahvi mix I've produced has features Alevey V; he just fit so well. His recent release titled "dreamology" (kahvi#219) is very different from the rest of his stuff. It's slow, ambient, sensual, yet terrifying.

I also created a little story line to go along with the album. It allows you to kind of get a picture as I was developing the album. Actually, as I was going through the entire set, I was just thinking what it would be like to be in space, and so with each track, I created a little story-name that I thought fit the mood of the track.

The culmination of work in "Searching for Planets" is surprisingly good with ambient sounds, weird loops, and spacious ethereal melodies. You won't leave hungry after listening to this. In some cases you'll wonder when the next song will be only to find out you've already arrived past the transition. What I liked most of all about this was the warm welcome I got from Planet Boelex and General Fuzz. I enjoy hearing/reading listener's compliments, but when it comes from the Artists themselves, it means a whole lot more to me.

Track list:

01. Pinza - Thickline
02. MadStyle - Fresh Green Leaves
03. Planet Boelex - Leaving Quietly
04. Dj Aivem - Final Day Will Be Tomorrow
05. Stud - Respawn
06. Alkor - Nothing Will Ever Be Yellow
07. ifyou - Tales From Ocean
08. Alexey V - 2nd Dream
09. General Fuzz - Smiling Perspective
10. General Fuzz - Ray Squared
11. Abyssal Plains - Orange River
12. Planet Boelex - Suunta
13. Planet Boelex - Soft Landing
14. General Fuzz - Detached Reality
15. Sabi - Matmilk
16. Keed pr1 - Solaris
17. Workbench - Paper Frog

Story:
01. Mission: To Boldly Go
02. Willow Nebula: Spaceous Anomolies
03. Planet Phorus: Living with the Clouds
04. Planet Kahvi: Two Suns - Sunset & Sunrise
05. Traveling: Forward or Backwards
06. Planet Torrkat: Sand Land - Searching for Water
07. Amongst the Stars: Alone with God
08. The Void: Dark
09. The clearing: Light
10. Planet Arrakis: Cities in the Purple Sky
11. Full Speed Ahead: Watching the Stars Go By
12. Planet Ares: Industrial Red Planet
13. Planet Terra: Neverending Forest
14. Planet Maelus: Escaping Trouble
15. Planet Aquaesus: Waterworld
16. Wormhole: Where is it Taking Me?
17. Planet Earth: Welcome Home

Download Album
Mirror scene.org (.mp3)
Mirror scene.org (.ogg)

Vibrations Vol. 6 2CD Set

Well, like always, I try to make a Vibrations mix in between my vibration DI sessions and here it is, a two CD set. The first 70 minute mix is slow, with more complex sounds and progressive moods. There are definitely some killer transitions in this set, worth taking a listen to.

The second set is high-energy, almost hard-trance turn core in my opinion. The BPM sits at 143 (as oppose to 131 on the first cd). There are alot of breakdown points and special moments with vibrant sounds that we all know trance to have. For those loving the old 01-03 sounds, I think this will have special meaning, however anyone who loves Trance will find this pleasing (and fast!).

The first set was suppose to invoke a soft mood, the second will get you moving.

Here's the tracklisting:

CD1
01. Milan Lieskovsky - Elenya (Introida Mix)
02. Death Cab For Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan (Blake Jarrell's Pacha NYC Remix)
03. Marscruiser - Not Alone Tonight (Blake Jarrell Remix)
04. Andy Duguid - Dreamcatcher
05. Robert Vadney - Perplexed State of A World
06. M.I.K.E. - Moving On In Life
07. Cellec - Love of My Life (Tenthu Summer Mix)
08. Jose Amnesia ft. Jennifer Rene - Wouldn't Change A Thing (Blake Jarrel Remix)
09. Dash Berlin vs. Terry Ferminal vs. Mark Sherry - Till The Sky Walks Away (Dark Memoria Mashup)
10. Cosmic Gate - Body of Conflict (Cosmic Gate Club Mix)
11. Kyau & Albert - 7Skies (Club Mix)
12. Orkidea ft. Marc Mitchell - Eternall Love

CD2:
01. Paul Miller vs. Ronal De Foe - Surviver
02. Simon Patterson - Bulldozer
03. Persequor - Nombre (Mark Sherwood Mix)
04. Arctis - Losing It
05. Projektor - Welcome to the Real World
06. V-Tec Pres. David Nielsen - HD Reader
07. Se.Ra.Phic - Sunset Rose (Broning Remix)
08. Mikka Leinonen - Discover Me
09. Simon Patterson - We'll See
10. Bissen - Exhale (Sean Tyas Remix)
11. Aleks Ferrid - Magic Movement (Extended/Shortened Mix)

I also provided some cue files for you CD savvy people:

Download CD1
Download CD2
Download CUE CD1
Download CUE CD2

Back catalogue

Here are all my mixes, released prior to:

Kahvi Mixes:
Rhapsody (Kahvi Mix Set #002) (IDM) Mix Cue Tracklist
Parallax (Kahvi Mix Set #003) (IDM) Mix Tracklist
Midnight Arboretum (Kahvi Mix Set #004) (IDM) Mix
Searching For Planets (Kahvi Mix Set #005) (IDM) Mix Tracklist

Midnight Aboretum (IDM) Mix

Cup of Kahvi (IDM) Mix

Walk With Me (IDM) Mix



Vibrations:
Vibrations Vol. 1 (Trance) Mix Cue Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 2 (Trance) Mix Cue Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 3 (Trance) Mix Cue Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 4 [CD1] (Trance) Mix Cue Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 4 [CD2] (Trance) Mix Cue Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 4 [CD3] (Mixed) Mix Cue Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 5 (Trance) Mix Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 6 CD1 (Trance) Mix Cue Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 6 CD2 (Trance) Mix Cue Tracklist
Vibrations Vol. 7 (Progressive Trance) Mix Tracklist

Vibrations Vol. 8 (Progressive Trance) Mix

Vibrations Vol. 9 (Progressive Trance) Mix Cue Tracklist

Vibrations Vol. 10 (Progressive Trance) Mix Tracklist

Vibration Breaks:

Vibration Breaks Vol. 1 (Breakbeat) Mix Tracklist

Vibration Breaks Vol. 2 (Breakbeat/Progressive) Mix Tracklist

Mixes:
Bacon's Electro Birthday Bash (Electro House) Mix Cue Tracklist
The Undiscovered Country (Techno) Mix Cue Tracklist
House Phenomenon (Deep House) Mix Cue Tracklist
Telecommunicate Vol. 1 (Trance) Mix
Telecommunicate Vol. 2 (Trance) Mix Tracklist
Tranceaction Vol. 2 Mix Cue Tracklist
Tranceaction Vol. 3 Mix Tracklist
Tranceaction Vol. 4 Mix Cue Tracklist
Tranceaction Vol. 5 Mix Tracklist
Tranceaction Vol. 6 Mix Tracklist
Tranceaction Vol. 7 Mix Tracklist

Tranceaction Vol. 8 Mix Tracklist

Tranceaction Vol. 9 Mix Tracklist
1st Anniversary (Trance) Mix Tracklist
Habitual Motion (Trance) Mix Tracklist
Mixed Emotions (Trance) Mix Tracklist
Nostalgia (Trance) Mix