Prince - 17 Days - Piano & A Microphone
(1983 Version)
I'm currently listening to a lot of electronic music again and I'm enjoying discovering new things in the electronic genres. But this has only been the case again recently. For a while I listened to a lot of The Beatles, or music from Brazil (Joyce, Marcos Valle, Azymuth,...) but especially Prince. On the ‘Piano & A Microphone’ album, his incredible talent and ability is wonderfully expressed. For me, Prince is one of the greatest artists of all time. His perfection is always noticeable, but the joy of making music prevails. I am very sad that I never had the opportunity to see Prince live. Prince has always evolved or reinvented himself as an artist, but at the same time you can always clearly recognise his roots, which lie in funk. Artists such as Earth, Wind and Fire and James Brown are unmistakable influences in his artistic work. Similarly, Little Richard and Elvis Presley influence Paul McCartney's music. I think that's because you discover music for the first time when you're young. Everything is new and incredibly exciting. You will always remember those times as your golden times and they will always influence you. Which brings me to the next track.
Ian Pooley - 900 Degrees
Ian Pooley's ‘900 Degrees’ is a track that will stay with me forever because it was one of my first club experiences. I was 16 when I managed to get into the Kontor Club in Hamburg for the first time and ‘900 Degrees’ on the club's sound system just blew me away. I have a lot of respect for Ian Pooley because he has always remained true to himself and has consistently gone his own way. Authenticity is one of the most desirable qualities for me and Ian has been a great role model for me since I discovered him through his music many years ago. My track ‘Wave’ on my album ‘Ocean & Cliffs’ is a homage to Ian Pooley. I took a lot of inspiration for this track from the mood he conveys through his music.
Karizma - The Power
Karizma ‘The Power’ is also a track that accompanies me like a kind of soundtrack for my life. I love this song. I remember in the early 2000s I bought a CD by Dj Tonka called ‘Essential Streetparades’. ‘The Power’ was a track on that CD. I had a Diskman (mobile CD player) that I could connect to the cassette deck in my mate's car with an adapter. We listened to this CD all the time when we went to parties or to the record shops in Hamburg, which was about an hour away from my home town.
Kid Fonque & Sio - Rekindled
This is one of the tracks I'm really excited about at the moment. I did a guest mix as part of my album promotion and was looking for tracks for it. ‘Rekindled’ sounds great, Sio's vocals are beautifully performed and the message... “All I got to do is fall” really speaks to me. The track came out on Defected and I'm just fascinated that Defected is still releasing great music. One of my first records was Paul Johnson ‘Get Get Down’, the seventh Defected release. That must have been around 2000.
Arkajo - Finally, I’m In Orbit
My own productions have changed a lot over the last few years. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I wanted to distance myself from samples because I wanted to have more freedom to tell my own stories and create my own soundscapes. Secondly, I became more and more enthusiastic about the clear structures of techno. But I also love the warmth and positive message of house music. And it's in this overlap that I think I've found my home. I think Genius Of Time / Dorisburg / Arkajo and actually everything the guys release on their label Aniara Recordings is wonderful because it's clearly structured and at the same time very emotional. Arkajo's ‘Finally, I'm In Orbit’ is like a journey, the track carries you far away. This is only possible if the song is technically well mixed, the arrangement is right and there is musical content (I mean melodies and harmonies). I think that's what my next EP will be all about; melodies and harmonies.
Jullian Gomes ft Bobby - Love Song 28
(Charles Webster Remix)
I'm easily overwhelmed and stressed by too much input. I love music, but when I start searching for new music on platforms like Traxsource or Beatport, the search often ends for me in a gloomy mood and feeling lost in a bad way. I was wondering how someone I admire a lot, DJ Koze, deals with all the flood of new music out there. How he always finds new tracks for his gigs and feels inspired by them... I did a Google search on this but unfortunately couldn't find an answer. Instead, I found a mix he made in 2013. I stopped everything else and just listened to his mix and was blown away by his selection and the arrangement of the mix. This track was one of my favourites in this mix....Shame there are only 6 Gems, I would have had some more nice tracks and stories...Thanks for the invite. I hope you enjoyed reading and listening.
