Tag Archives: house

Balance Presents Electric 04 mixed by Agent 86

I’m not going to mince words – Agent 86 is one of the finest DJs in the country. The fact he can mix a variety of genres, in tune, as well as scratch up a storm simply blows me away every time I see him, and it is beyond my comprehension why he hasn’t been voted the number 1 DJ in inthemix’s DJ poll as of yet. I guess it’s because he’s a quiet achiever, all about the music rather than the scene.

Overall on the latest Balance Presents Electric, we find a very relaxed, breezy summery kind of vibe, funky, discoy and lots of fun, with tunes that sound like they could be from any era from the 70s to today, which essentially makes them timeless.

Some of the highlights are Aeroplane’s Pacific Air Race, the funky 80s disco vibe of Tease Me by Bermuda, the utterly groovy Fog by LSB, the Jackson’s sounding Shake That Booty by Soundtroopers and the 303 acid flashback of Bermuda’s Galaxy Race.

All throughout Agent 86 drops scratches from 70s disco classics (Dynamite! Outta Sight!) and the first landing of man onto the moon, creating an amazing soundscape that celebrates life and man’s great achievements, including making some funky ass music!

I’m not normally all that much of a fan of the housey disco sound, preferring breaks and hiphop, but it’s really growing on me, and combined with Agent 86s transcendently smooth mixing, this is a CD which will get play on many occasions, from getting ready to go clubbing to relaxing on a sunny Sunday afternoon with good friends and good brews.

Mark Farina – Fabric 40

When you see large numbers in a series of titles, it’s quite hard to remove the stigma that it has to be bad. For example, the first Police Academy was awesome. Police Academy 7 was not so great. Likewise with Sonic the Hedgehog, the latest release being number 8, is a sad and sallow reflection of its former glory. So when you see that Fabric has hit 40 releases, it’s kind of hard to think that maybe this has gone on a little too long. Fortunately, music mixes don’t usually suffer the same fate as games and movies and with a DJ like Mark Farina at the wheels of steel, the quality is assured.

This mix sees Farina mixing some house, including names that even I know like DJ Sneak and Derek Carter, with what he says is much more obscure. I have to admit, I wouldn’t really know, but a google search for some of these names is very interesting. Ricardo Rae is from Queensland, although you wouldn’t pick it from his chunky beats. Giom is from France via the UK. Some of it is older stuff, like Mood II Swing, whilst some of it has an old school vibe, like Lawnchair Generals Broke Acid. It’s not just the usual “Chicago” sound that continues for 60 minutes non-stop, and I think it’s this wide expanse of music that make this CD so damn listenable.

The mixing is sublime as well. Farina plays snippets of other music and samples in throughout the mix. It’s his hiphop roots showing, and it helps to create something greater than the usual house type mix. My favourite mix has to be Last Word by Johny Fiasco, Mood II Swing Closer, and James Curd’s Pick Up What I’m Putting Down. It has a soulful croon throughout that says “Pick Up”, which is teasingly mixed with the chorus “Pick Up What I’m Putting Down” through the three tunes, until the chorus kicks in proper.

I was conflicted when putting my hand up to review this CD. Mark Farina is a damn good DJ. I loved his Mushroom Jazz releases from a few years ago, so knew I was in for something better than average, even if it was house. But as I’m not generally a great fan of house music, I was expecting to be able to totally exterminate this release, shooting off funny witticisms about the dull repetitiveness and general awfulness of house music. Fortunately I am happy to admit I was wrong and that Fabric 40 is rather good. Actually, more than that, it’s quite possibly one of the best house mixes I’ve ever heard.

Audiofly

Audiofly are Luca Saporito and Anthony Middleton, two hotshot DJ/Producers making big waves in the dance scene with their forward thinking music and lively DJ sets. Their music is described as ‘deadly Techno meets Electronic House’ and as ‘a powerful and original style of music’. Relatively new to the scene as Audiofly, the duo’s enthusiasm for the music and scene in general is infectious.

Anthony Middleton met Luca Saporito in early 2000 when he was trying an experiment in surround sound. “I was trying to introduce it into a club environment and it didn’t really work out,” Middleton confesses. He had little budget, but Saporito agreed to work as a DJ in the club anyway. “We found that we had really good fun together and a really good energy so it was a logical thing to do a remix (Live Love) which worked really well.”

Live Love, released in 2004, was picked up by big name DJs such as Steve Lawler, DJ Ralf, Victor Calderone & Danny Tenaglia, bringing them world wide acclaim and attention. Their own tunes Release Yourself, Rockin It and Do You Hear? were picked up by labels such as Low Pressings, Deleted Records, Fantastic House and Jackit Records. Middleton describes his sound as “very driving, having elements of techno and house, and it’s incredibly percussive which break down into melodies. It’s high energy without being hard.”

But they don’t just stick to house, offering a wide variety of sounds from all over the place. “We always get our inspiration from what we hear on the weekends,” Middleton smiles. “We’re constantly moving our sound because we’re constantly out there and listening. For example, we’ve taken elements from the minimal fad – the beats are very simple and yet incredibly powerful, and we’ve taken that kind of philosophy for our beats but added the melodic Audio Fly sound. And hearing the fresher, younger DJs on the scene also influences us. They’re excited about the music and are pushing where the old pros tend to sit back a little bit.”

In addition to rocking clubs with their productions, they have quite a reputation as DJs. Unlike many of their contemporaries, who tend to play ‘mini-sets” of 3 or 4 tunes in a row, their DJ style is as a duo – one will play a record, then the next will play another. “We tried early on to do three and three, but we found we dynamically bounce off of each other. We’re not competitive – Luca will play a track and I’ll know just the track to play after that,” he says. “We tried one off us DJing off CDJs and the other ‘live’ on Ableton, but we felt like we lost some of our energy. The guy looking at the computer is constantly looking at it and we lost our dynamic.”

However, it’s a different situation in the studio. “The last thing you need is two people twiddling the controls, resetting things and changing things,” laughs Middleton. “I’m the more engineering of the two of us, although we’re both perfectly capable I’m much faster because I’ve been doing it a longer time!”

This is the first time the duo has been to Australia to perform. “Everyone in my family has been there except me,” laments Middleton, “and I hear really, really good things about it. Luca’s been there on holiday, last year. Luca went to Australia and I went to Slovenia!” he laughs. “He was in the sunshine and I was in minus 10 degrees,” so Middleton is looking forward to coming, even if it is in our winter.

Audiofly play We Love Sounds at HQ on Fri 1 June alongside James Zabiela, Nic Fanciulli, D.Ramirez, Alan Braxe, Kris Menace, Audiofly, Riton, KOS, , Bang Gang DJ’s, Mobin Master and more