Rave Archive - DJ Mixtapes, Party Flyers, Scene Zines, Forums

Rave Archive - DJ Mixtapes, Party Flyers, Scene Zines, Forums

So, the last few days I have stayed up way too late listening to mixes from this website. It is impossible to describe the flood of nostalgic bliss that comes from some of these sets. I used to have alot of these mixtapes. They were bought at parties up and down the east coast and my collection has suffered a slow and painful attrition from multiple moves through the years. To hear mixes like Frankie Bones Live in Tokyo from 96 (or the nice size collection of mixes from his Fantasy series) is amazing to me. These were the tapes we listened to on the way to and from parties from NYC to Atlanta, as we made use of our place in the middle of the coast and enjoyed the best of the East Coast from the bottom to the top. Maybe some of you had heard of this website before, but for me it's just a recent discovery and a happy one at that.

JustQualityMusic™ Presents Eric Cloutier

JustQualityMusic™

Here is the really sad fact about this event. I didn't stick around long enough to hear Eric Cloutier's set. It's sad, I know, but true. The reason I didn't stick around that long is the opening DJ's were a disappointment. I don't like speaking negatively about a DJ because it takes balls to lay your musical tastes and mixing skills out on the table to be judged by the public and I commend them for trying. However, if you are going to play your music in public you should be ready for criticism so here it comes. Every one of the three opening DJ's had pretty much the exact the same problems so I'm not going to single anyone out. Those problems are as follows:

1. Almost every song went on for way too long. I'm not sure if you were having issues beatmatching or you just loved each of the songs that much. Either way, it made the sets kind of tedious.

2. You guys were, for the most part, spinning minimal techno and tech-house. You have to layer anything called minimal. Richie Hawtin, Plastikman, the king of minimal techno, uses more gadgets and tools on stage than anyone I have ever seen. My favorite mix by him is called "Decks, Efx, and 909" and that's exactly the tools he used to make the mix. On the inside cover of that cd there is a graph that shows where in the mix each track begins and ends. At a couple points in the mix there are FOUR tracks going at once. I'm not saying you have to have the skills of Plastikman to be entertaining, but you have to do more than just lay tracks end to end and let the original do the work for you.

3. This is the reason I couldn't stand it anymore. You guys are the opening DJ's. It is your job to warm up the crowd and build energy for the headliner. Get people excited! Minimal doesn't have to be lowkey and "deep". There was no energy in those sets. Not only are you hurting the guy who comes on after you but you are disappointing the crowd who paid money to be there and is trying to have a good time. Your sets had a 5am feel at 11pm. That is why I left, I was simply falling asleep.

None of this means that I wont come out to another event when you guys have one. I like supporting locals. Just please take this for what it is, some positive criticism, and consider your audience next time.