Sunday 31 December 2017

AbstractRadio session - december 2017

Good people of the abstract world!


It’s been coming for quite a while and, after digging deep, pushing the boat out and burning the candle at both ends, our AbRad elves have finally delivered this little beauty.

All [relatively] up to date shizzle, with plenty of showstoppers in the mix.

Feel free to turn it up - we guarantee your neighbours will thank you for bringing such beautiful music into their lives. Eventually.

Brought to you with love,

x
The Abrad Team

No cross-faders were harmed in the making of this production.


select mixes
by genre:
Click for all House mixes Click for all deep mixes Click for all funky mixes Click for all disco

Tracklist

Start
Artist
Track Title
Label
000:00freiboitar it was a beat indiana tones
003:14filth & smell what kind of woman mood funk
007:45uneaq glide to the left jump
011:15right to life love blind street of soul
016:01animist wanna dance moulton
021:58rescue my flow fogbank
025:20nicola fasano back 2 the house music pornostar
028:26crackazat what you’re feeling z
034:23mr fries get together wolf
038:00funkatron get down cut rec
042:08rhemi live life free rhemi
046:16freiboitar I need your love no brainer
050:56sterling void sweat quantize
055:04ant larock the question dopewax
060:22shems edine cassie fogbank
062:10gregor salto v litmus para voce blanco
066:34shapeshifers when love breaks down glitterbox
071:44loose change straight from the heart z
076:54nachtbraker hamdi heist
081:18angelo ferreri jackin anthem nervous
086:12jovonn body n deep body n deep
088:00dj spen stranger quantize
092:17dele sosimi afrobeat orchestra too much information innervisions
098:14serge funk cherry bomb groove culture
104:28tobias fiya bun sense
106:36space echo soul power luv shack
111:14freiboitar what this money worth clair de lune
116:16teddy douglas god created woman save your soul
118:36inaya day and ultra nate over me ny-o-dae
124:37moose & squirrel get with it lw
130:57discorocks happy king street
135:36joey chicago downtown clubbin whitebeard
137:58samo straight on cruise
144:20the disco house lovers let love enter believe in disco
148:28funkatomic something divine groove culture
152:20mark funk sunlight monoside
157:07greg winfield I found love t’s box

-- Total running time – 169.18 --

download from
house-mixes.com


A DJ writes:

The principle challenges of this mix related to matters of programming, and their consequences - the task being one of having a whole stack of really wonderful music, and how to put it together into a cohesive whole [within a studio] which best represents a dancefloor environment.

Considerations to be made were:
    How to start.
    How to finish.
    How to provide plenty of variety, with lots of ups and downs, to give the listener a “ride”.
    To ensure that vocals are intermixed with instrumentals as much as possible – some punters need regular vocals to keep them going on the dancefloor.
    To deliver an emotional punch or two.

At the start of laying this down, about seven tracks were already cemented into a particular order, leaving another 30 odd to play with.

Suffice to say, the running order was frequently modified, with the whole thing pretty much done and dusted on at least two separate occasions before being entirely ripped apart once again to produce this final version.

To demonstrate, here’s the running order for an earlier take:

freiboitar - It was a beat
animist - wanna dance
nachtbraker - hamdi
nicola fasano - back 2 the house music
uneaq - glide to the left
gregor salto - para voce - litmus
right to life - love blind
tobias - fiya bun
sterling void - sweat
funkatron - get down
freiboitar - what this money worth
rescue - my flow
teddy douglas - god created woman
inaya day and ultra naté - over me
freiboitar - I need your love
ant larock - the question
loose change - straight from the heart
rhemi - live life free
filth & smell - what kind of woman
serge funk - cherry bomb
crackazat - what youre feeling
mr fries - get together
space echo - soul power
dj spen - stranger
dele sosimi afrobeat orchestra - too much information
jovonn - body n deep
shapeshifers - when love breaks down
angelo ferreri - jackin anthem
shems edine - cassie
moose & squirrel - get with it
discorocks - happy
joey chicago - downtown clubbin
SAMO - straight on!
the disco house lovers - let love enter
funkatomic - something divine
mark funk - sunlight
greg winfield - I found love

In the final version, the first and last eight tracks remain the same, but the running order differs everywhere else.

So what went wrong with these previous attempts?
Technically very little, but the overall flow just wasn’t up to scratch – some tracks needed to come in earlier in the set, others - eg the wonderful “Over Me” – held back a bit.
So, back to the drawing board!

A common djing task is to find and use tracks which compliment each other “in the mix” – it helps keep your dancefloor moving.
However, in perfecting a set you sometimes need to manipulate the running order for the greater good of the mix, sacrificing these “perfect” track combinations and, consequently, having to find ways of mixing tunes which seemingly don’t work together quite so well.

There are many ways of dealing with this – a whole barrage of dj “tricks” eg let the outgoing track reach the beats at the end before starting your mix, though there can be a compromise here as often there’s a loss in the intensity in the music when you do this – unless of course you have a good way of dropping the next track in!

Ideally though, you should avoid using too many of these tricks. They eventually become clichéd, and you want your mix to be listened to as much as possible: discerning music lovers don’t return to jaded clichés.

So, the solution invariably is to try out as many combinations of tracks as possible, identifying sections, breaks and elements which work together acceptably, or that you can manipulate in such a way as to make them fit together in a satisfactory manner.

And there lies the problem.
Most of these tracks work fairly well together, and even with half a dozen tunes tied down, there remains a further thirty-odd pieces of music which somehow need to be mixed “as best can be”.

And with an undetermined order, that’s 29! combinations, which is [roughly] a total of 8.841762 x 1030 variations to decide upon.

Not suggesting that all of these were tried, but you can see how such a thing can soon turn into a labour of love.

x

Wednesday 22 November 2017

AbstractRadio session - november 2017

Greetings music fans!

Have you got your dancing shoes on?
Ready for some blisters?

Heading straight to the heart of the matter this time:
Here’s some proper sweaty clubbed-up housey hoo-ha for y’all.
No mucking about on this one - every tune’s a belter.
Guaranteed - big, meaty and bouncy, and firing on all cylinders.

Just mind the walls, will you?
We’ve just had them painted.

x
The Abrad Team


select mixes
by genre:
Click for all House mixes Click for all deep mixes Click for all funky mixes Click for all disco

Tracklist

Start
Artist
Track Title
Label
000:00risk assessment pumping it up guesthouse
003:46david herrero cabaret deeperfect
005:34woolie ballsax comprehension modulate
009:56dj face off 7 up killertraxx
014:12cuartero la samba soulman
019:23afro warriors uyankenteza tribe
025:48aki bergen alma de dios noir
030:08dantiez saunderson things you do urbana
032:26boris smith never nervous
036:44freiboitar my apologies euphonic
039:20angelo ferreri & hiva piano forte monoside
042:14daniel dash got the feelin play and tonic
047:13plusniners I know I can lw
052:20samma lone dancin is the answer dufflebag
056:18fire flowerz double throttle fogbank
061:10vonita white come on praise him quantize
065:46syap good stuff piano cajual
071:23prune flat & freiboitar baby love matters
077:02plusniners papa was a rolling stone sunlightsquare
080:29bakermat teach me dirty soul
083:33rez ekbatan housey mf s&s
087:00atfc get into the music atfc
091:52risk assessment feel that papa trax
096:44homero espinosa in my soul moulton
100:36djuma soundsystem menage a moi tenor
106:36plusniners wataki 73 muzik
110:57sls lose my mind bunny tiger
116:03roots and sanchez all the time inhouse
119:53riton rinse & repeat mos
121:56riton rinse & reboot blanco
126:01chus and ceballos now or never stereo
131:39ida engberg disco volante pickadoll

-- Total running time – 139.27 --

download from
house-mixes.com

Monday 2 October 2017

AbstractRadio session - october 2017

Dear Abstractionados,

Once again, we're clearing the dex ...

Something for every soul,
New 'n old.
Soul & funk, latin, dub & blues, drum & bass,
Funky grooves, afro sounds, broken beats & just a spot of german oom-pah.
All in all, a veritable feast of multi-cultural misappropriation
Distinctly unhinged in parts, in a typically AbRad stylee.

Hopefully, you get the idea.

Peas and love,

The Abrad Team


select mixes
by genre:
Click for all funky mixes Click for all jazzy mixes Click for all lounge/downtempo mixes Click for all beats and breaks mixes Click for all ambient/chill mixes Click for all eclectic mixes

Tracklist

Start
Artist
Track Title
Label
000:00chakachasyo soy cubanopolydor
002:41sergio mendesthe real thingelektra
007:08 hidden jazz quartetthigh heelsagogo
011:11orchester gunter gollaschhouse of the rising sunamiga
014:11the turtleshappy togetherwhite whale
014:44jamie xxfar nearernumbers
017:21jimmy hughessteal awayvee jay
019:36hnnysundayomena
023:14commonblack america againdef jam
025:03finishing touchdon’t put me downphilly groove
033:52letta mbuluwhat is wrong with groovin’random
036:38the fifth dimensionfeeling alrightportrait
041:22jon kennedytonto rides the gaindigital
047:38pepe deluxewoman in bluesuper sound
051:28beats internationaltribute to king tubbyelektra
052:23tanika charlesendless chainrecord kicks
055:40gladys knighteveryone needs someone to lovesoul
058:49mulatu astatketezetamr bongo
064:04lamont dozierroots reprisewarners
067:27hnnycheer up my brotheromena
072:32hanna williamsain’t enough?record kicks
076:15ebo taylorlove and deathessiebons
083:55les troubadours du roi baudouinsanctusphilips
085:00boards of canadaolsonbbc
091:12the frightnrsrather go blinddaptone
094:17gábor szabóthree kingfishersskye
097:22lambear parcelmercury
099:49around7long leg birdrobsoul
107:08edgar wintersfly awayepic
109:49zeepghost towncrammed
113:10melody gardotfour womenverve
119:40ov wrightlet's straighten it outhi
122:32badbadnotgoodin your eyesinnovative leisure
127:07galt mcdermotcoffee coldkilmarnock
128:43marley vs warget up stand upwhite
132:50goldieI adore youmetalheadz
138:56tim deluxelove isclassic music
142:57the grooverswhere you belongrazor-n-tape
144:38peter gabrielbikovirgin

-- Total running time – 153.25 --


download from
house-mixes.com

Friday 26 May 2017

AbstractRadio session - dirtydiscodubs III - may 2017

Back by popular demand!

Before you all drift away on a summer reverie, here's another booty-shakin' bottom-heavy bonanza of disco noodlings and dirty dubbiness, fresh from the AbRad crypts.

Featuring a languid meleé of reworks of, among others, the O'Jays, Marvin Gaye, Roy Ayers, Bill Withers and Al Green, it's all jolly fine fare for long, lazy, sun-drenched afternoons.

Love, bees, birds and flowers,

The AbRad team

select mixes
by genre:
Click for all deep mixes Click for all funky mixes Click for all House mixes Click for all lounge/downtempo mixes Click for all disco

Tracklist

Start
Artist
Track Title
Label
000:00the o'jaysship ahoysuper value
006:36kan sanoeverybody loves the sunshinerazor-n-tape
010:40lazylifemushroomsdownshift
013:30super valuetime to get it togethersuper value
017:27boogie freaksdon't let gotasty
020:52graef and hartbitingsleazy beats
024:24chuggin editsstretchin outmasterworks
027:26fingermansummertime stringzhot digits
032:13the untouchableslouie anthemstrictly rhythm
034:47superbreaklet's go all the waynoton
036:39samma lonebefore house was discouptown boogie
038:53ilija rudmanfuture timesism
044:12junktionepilogue slow town
047:38samma lonelove and happinessuptown boogie
052:08vinyladdicted & sleazy mcqueenfree from social narcoticseditors kutz
056:35xinobimom & daddiscotexas
1.00:36brame & hamoghetto for youheist
1.02:59psychemagikmink and shoespsychemagik
1.08:06maggie rogersalaskacapitol
1.11:24nachtbrakermonday mourningdirt crew
1.13:11dj kozextc pampa
1:18:31nachtbrakerhumpdirt crew
1.25:11deeliciouslonely town lonely streetmasterworks
1.29:59teenage mutantsbarbessuara
1.33.37vozmedianoback2groundwitty tunes
1.38:14lindstromhome tonightfeedelity

-- Total running time – 108.06 --

download from
house-mixes.com

Saturday 8 April 2017

AbstractRadio session - april 2017

Welcome back friends, to the show that never ends - we apologise for our prolonged absence and, yes, we missed you madly.

To make up for it, we've knocked up a veritable feast of cracking little house numbers for you this time 'round, covering the whole schmeer: from funky disco to soulful us garage, deep house to bass-bin breaking barnstormers, even a little bit of old school. Plus there's a brand new tune of the week thrown in - honestly, it's hard to imagine anything more life-affirming than this.

Full of fulsome-frolicking-fun, frankly, every track's a belter - so, go on, turn it up, and bop til you drop!

[we will endeavour to make the next session's blurb cliché-free]

Love, peace and armadillos,

x

The AbRad team


select mixes
by genre:
Click for all House mixes Click for all deep mixes Click for all funky mixes Click for all disco

Tracklist

Start
Artist
Track Title
Label
000:05purple disco machine move or not off
000:08lumoon & rob!n la disquette clair de lune
004:16woody bianchi & re- tide changescut rec
007:09tête de la course walk in harlem fogbank
010:25alexz that's the way mood funk
014:23ed the spread mystical powers melt tofu
017:22doc daneeka never wanna lose you ten thousand yen
020:45jill scott coming to you t's box
025:47duke dumont be here defected
030:45re-tide the power cut rec
033:37delvalle music de la casa 4disco
037:22alec carlsson paris fried chicken fogbank
040:13aki bergen alma de dios noir
047:13mark lower & corinna jane blow the speakers spirit soul
051:51atfc no victim song defected
057:15bas roos midnight people exploited
060:51kings of tomorrow please deep visionz
064:58moullinex don't you feel discotexas
071:24litmus cantstandyer noton
075:58ki creighton house season elrow
078:33nic fanciuli moving on rejected
084:59bertie bassett the only one magnetic
090:39boris smith let the music nurvous
093:44soul avengerz sing positiva
099:55the cube guys hey you x
106:05groove assassin office party things may change
112:35malachi prison blues deep visionz
117:07ron carroll the sermon great stuff
122:15a guy called gerald voodoo ray noton
126:53atelier francesco dead end city fox
134:22offiah trouble universal
139:42litmus uninvited noton
150:50leg soup wonderland art & craft
156:30oscar bandersen sweetest fantasy music for dreams

-- Total running time – 163.08 --

download from
house-mixes.com

Wednesday 5 April 2017

Tune of the Week - No.10 - 05.04.17

With so much wonderful music knocking around here in the Abstract studio, we thought we'd take the opportunity to showcase a few very special items that are close to our hearts. Our choices for Tune of the Week may be fresh through the door, or decades old - our aim is that they will always epitomise the ethos of AbstractRadio...


It's been a long time, but boy has it been worth the wait...


Jill Scott & Terry Hunter - I'm Coming To You - House N' HD Terry Hunter & Mike Dunn Soulfrica Mix -
T's Box Records TB060


Show some appreciation:→


Released in mid 2016, and stuffed away on the backside of a digital-only remix package, this slice of joy almost slipped under the radar. And what a loss that would be, as it's easily the best thing we've heard in donks.

Crafted by Terry Hunter [and what a fine job he does], full of delicate rising chords, sublime backing voices, crisp yet slightly off-kilter beats and the powerful vocal talents of Ms Scott, this uplifting little ditty has been an end-of-night drop since someone left it at the draw-bridge here at AbRad Towers.

Unfortunately, it's a wonder if this will ever get the airplay and recognition it deserves. For instance, despite being an absolutely glorious anthem, it's not currently on y-tube [at time of writing].

But, fear not, dear listener, for we are here to rectify such catastrophic errors - well, as much as humanly possible.

And thus, we declare...


"I'm almost there!"

What a gem.


Sorry, there is no video.
Yes, it is a disgrace.

AbstractRadio - for you listening pleasure....
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