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MixTapes

DJ Alex Ruiz's "Deep" (on Cactus Music Collective PO Box 93023 Phoenix, AZ 85070, cactusmusic@mindspring.com) drives hard trance around the speaker cones for awhile as you drive your car or sit in your office thinking about hiring a DJ. Ruiz's mixing techniques are flawlessly engaging as the records seamlessly join one another along his odyssey through the trance bins. Kage's (AKA Paulina Taylor) offering, "Adventure Into the Cybersound Barrier" (on Trance Inc.) is all about technical rhythm continuity. Blending a wildly diverse set of breaks, she juggles happy hardcore, trance, and straight cymbal-crunching house with a load of acidic funky electro while retaining a minimalist style to her choice of cuts. Favoring the analog synth sounds of the old skool, her 4/4 domination stirred me to call her, but no phone number is listed on the shell! The cassette has peaked my curiosity to see Paulina's face lit upby the cue lamps of her decks as the PA warbles like fractal animation. Unrelenting 150 BPM kick drums are Bobby Gossett's trademark on his "Bible Codes" release (contact Foreplay @ 801-322-0441). Gossett invisibly mixes insanely manic quick-footed prog-house tracks supplied by the likes of Harthouse, Planet Rhythm and Re-Load. With nary a downtempo break in
sight, Bobby's fingers index each groove magically into the next as he reaches for the millennium, Salt Lake style. Thee-O goes to town with his four-on-the-floor prog-house & trance stompfest, "Digital" (contact: Pure
Acid Mixtapes @ 310-793-1021). Like a twilight raid on Ploesti, Thee-O's kick drum storm thunders across the rolling hills as snares & hi-hats crack the air like machine-gun fire. Bobbing and weaving the strafing,
acid-tweaked lines and synth strings criss-cross the battlefield. Aside from his track list, your guess is as good as mine when one anthemic breakdown ends and the next choon begins. The closed (compressed and
gated) hi-hat head bob defines X-Ian The X-Man's approach to the decks. X-Ian's mixer (contact: Cincinnati Bomb Squad @ 513-395-8576) presents a tight set of vocal and instrumental House trax that would've worked as well at Studio 54 twenty years ago as they do today. Rolling basslines chug with the strength of a semi atop sidewalk skipping snares throughout this 120-130 BPM romp -- your ass on the dance floor is no match for a PA
controlled by X-Man's deft hands & ears. Can you say "Booommmb Squuuaaad in the hooouuuse?"

Breaks alive! DJ Thadd's "Stay" cassette (on Cactus Music Collective PO Box 93023 Phoenix, AZ 85070, cactusmusic@mindspring.com) represents the "602" gang without frontin' the desert's ill-will. Thadd is all about the 4/4 breaks -- whether the divas are shouting, DMC is cuttin', or The Egyptian Lover's drum banter is rollin' across his crossfader, the man is on. "Stay" is one of the finest funky breaks mixes (with and without a
side of acid...) to hit my car stereo in a long while. These Phoenix folks have impeccable taste and practiced execution. DJ Lego's "Robot Control" tape on Bumpkins (800-635-1598) runs rampant on the electro
skool. With 808s, 303s and 909s in effect, Lego rocks the stylus back 'n' forth in grooves housing crisp snares and acid-tweaked synth lines warbling along the "raw bass, raw bass..." With the early morning dew,
and the sun peaking its head over the valley, these tunes can get the day rollin' as the backspin electorate gyrate in the PA's path.

Drum 'n' bass has progressively mutated far from its early hardcore and dancehall roots with nary a nod from the progenitors of the '98 style. Curious? takes us back in time with the "Reminiscence of a Rudeboy" mixer (available through Pure Acid Mixtapes 310-793-1021). The drumbreaks clatter, as rudeboys chatter the ragga stylistics of ruff 'n' tumble junglisms. The shouting rasta voices describe crime scenes and reverberate the junglist anthems of their rap styles while hidden underneath, Curious is cutting across more 12"s than you realize even if you are following his playlist on the j-card. Displaying much more than a reminiscence of junglist days gone by, these tracks are all fresh and full of life as Curious? cuts and slams his platters into the dawn.
S.D.F-1's "Year of the Tiger" cassette (contact: Protokulture Kru '98 @ 714-470-7685) focuses on the hearty hip-hop-step drum 'n' bass scene. With the inimitable vocals of KRS1 atop Goldie's mutant beatz, many of us
woofer devotees know the vibe and can recite the lyrics in our sleep. S.D.F.-1 dices and slices many of the animals found in the jungle and throws 'em on a spit to barbecue up on the floor. Tracks by such luminaries as Tek-9, Trace, Soul Slinger and J. Majik point the researcher toward the borderline-ethical style of lab-rat dissection S.D.F.-1 is up to. I hope to see him 'splay his skills somewhere and soon! While R.A.W.'s name may have a buzz connected to it, the proof of his mad skillz is evident on his latest "Watch Me Shred" mixtape (contact: Pure Acid Mixtapes @ 310-793-1021). Also delving into the hip-hop meets drum 'n' bass of Goldie/KRS1's "Digital," R.A.W. is waving a raw, dark flag on the jungle scene. At the hands of the mad scientist R.A.W., are tracks by Twisted Anger, DJ Suv, Lemon D, Optical as well as a slew of anonymous white labels. For those working on their own mixers - pay close attention to the precision of this tape.