[Introspective] PSB DJ mix by me
Hugh Sharpe
hjs15 at columbia.edu
Sun Feb 10 03:48:30 PST 2008
I have no idea how many people still read this list-- I'm a lurker
myself and probably haven't posted anything on here since around the
time of the Cubism tour in the fall of 2006. Anyway, I've been a trance
dj in my free time for about twelve years now and I was inspired after
getting Disco 4 for Christmas to work on putting together a dj mix of
Pet Shop Boys tracks. In all my time spinning, I'd never really
attempted this seriously. I started compiling the tracks in December
and stewed it over through the holiday and finally got behind the
console in the middle of January. After three weekends at work on it,
I'm proud to announce that I have finished in what for me is record
time. I'm now offering it to you, my list mates, in two ways.
The mix is actually two complete sessions, 2.5 hours in total length and
totaling 24 tracks on two compact discs. I'm calling the set 'Disco
Forever' and have even designed a cheeky sleeve with original artwork
and disc labels and everything-- doing all I can to keep in accordance
with our boys' high production values. I'm offering this 2-disc set to
you at cost of production plus shipping. I'm a poor library worker by
day and can't afford to ship free copies of this to you all. The
postage alone would kill me. However, I'm not doing this to profit-- I
just want to share these mixes with as many people as possible,
especially you folks. Each 2-disc set takes about $2 USD to produce
with a gloss sleeve, jewel case and labeled discs. Add another dollar
for the padded envelope and I think $3 is about a fair price for a copy
of this. Say, $3, plus shipping via US Postal Service worldwide, with
variable cost measured by their rate calculator. On Monday I will go to
the post office and weigh out a typical padded envelope with the mix in
it and from there we can figure out how much to add to that $3 base
price. Send me a reply and let me know if you're interested and where
I'll be shipping it and I can get back to you over the next week with
costs and details on how to pay me via PayPal or, at worst, by check or
money order.
The far cheaper, easier, though decidedly less-posh method to hear this
mix is to check it out free online at:
http://www.mydjspace.net/mix/view/id_917/
Less posh? Well, the mix isn't track-indexed on here like the discs
are. The site only allows me enough space to put one session up at a
time, so in a week or so I'll take down part one and put up the second
half. You won't have a nice sleeve with all the track info on it,
either. And of course, while 160 kb bitrate mp3s sound perfectly fine,
they don't hold a candle to the full resolution of a well-mastered
compact disc. You can, however, listen to the mix streaming live or
download it for personal use on whatever you play mp3s, so that's pretty
convenient.
If you're on the fence about shelling out a couple of clams for the CDs,
check out the mix online and offer a comment or even cast a vote. Dunno
what the voting is all about, but a vote for me can't be a bad thing, I
suppose.
Part one explores their electro-house sound and spans nearly their
entire career in the 78 minute-long session. I start right about where
they do, with the original New York mix of 'Why don't we live together?'
slipping from that into the 12" mix of Opportunities. While this mix
was eventually re-released on the Please 'Further Listening' set, some
20 seconds or so is chopped out. Not here, friends. The one here is
right from the original 12". From there to the remix of 'Heart' from
the 12RX release, to the Phil Harding remix of 'Always on my mind', the
Shep Pettibone dub of 'What have I done...?', the 10" extended dance
remix of 'It's alright'... back into 'Heart' but this time the disco
mix, I think you get the idea. Lots of rare mixes and presented in a
continuous flow that is sure to please even the slightest fan of the
dance floor.
Part two delves more into the trance and progressive house side of
things, with some of my favorite extended outtakes from the second half
of their career (at least up to this point) with remixes by Trouser
Enthusiasts, Jam & Spoon, and others. The bpm is quicker and the songs
more psychedelic and trance-inducing by nature, but mixed in with these
are a couple of older classics, showing, I think, their timeless
sensibility for what makes a good dance track and in picking some truly
great remix producers.
Anyway, give this first set a listen and feel free to share your
thoughts with me about it either here or on the site. I just looked
across my huge PSB collection and realized that there was nothing like
this attempted since Disco 2, and we all know how that turned out. I
hope this meets with a little better approval.
Cheers,
Hugh
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