It was tough to follow the intensity of Friday’s Rainbow Groove Invasion set so I started off with a bit of dark psy, which is a little unusual for me. I usually keep from getting too ‘demonic’ but I guess if the track is good enough I don’t mind dipping over to the dark side for a bit.

The second half of the show starts to get a little deeper with some of my less played tracks, and is it often turns out, it’s those less played tracks that had captured my interest by the end of the show. I’ve always struggled to deliver flawless sets as I constantly want to hear music that I haven’t heard in awhile. In fact, many of my sets include a substantial number of tracks that I’ve never played before. So I’ve had to get really good at playing ‘on the fly’.

Speaking of my DJ style, I haven’t covered what equipment I use in a bit. I come from an all vinyl background but now use control vinyl with Serato to play mostly MP3s while maintaining the feel of vinyl. I’ve started to experiment with Seratos SP-6 sampler, but didn’t use it all during this set. I’m also looking at Traktor’s Kontrol X1 to control the new effects rack that’s built into Serato 2.0 but, again, didn’t use any effects in this mix. I use a Vestax PMC-17A at home, however this mix uses the Denon 300X mixer from the studio (which I quite like – except that it’s not a 3 channel mixer).

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dj Smiley Mike Dark & Dirty mix

XSI – Dominion
XSI – Alchemik Machines (Mad Maxx Remix)
Mad Maxx – At the End of the Rainbow
Mad Maxx with XSI – The Shamen
Electro Sun – Secret Sequence
Silicon Sound – Pure Reality (Ephedrix Remix)
Ephedrix – Far Away (DNA Remix)
Ephedrix – Evolving Moods (Chronos Mix)
Peace Maker vs. Mad Maxx – Everyone Equal
Peace Maker – Japanese Tours
Mad Maxx vs. XSI – Creeping
Talamasca – The Awakening feat. Nomad (Ephedrix Remix)

dj Smiley Mike Down Deep mix

Save the Robot – Robotz
Quadra – L.S.D. Came Falling Down
Quadra – Bless the Robot
SubConciousMind – Essenz
Disco Hooligans – Running Out of Time (Smiley Mike Live Remix)
Disco Hooligans – String Theory (Smiley Mike Live Remix)
Disco Hooligans – Steady Now
Electro Sun – On Air
Jikkenteki vs. Katapult (PAR-2) – Swamp Monster
Disco Hooligans – This is How it’s Gonna Go

DJ BFad needed a fill-in for Rainbow Groove this week and I was able to snatch the opportunity. I’m sure my set was a bit harder than BFad’s crowd is used to, but I did try to funk it up a bit with some heavily remixed tracks by some pretty recognizable artists.

dj Smiley Mike Rippin Funky PsyTrance Set

Ephedrix – Evolving Moods (Chronos Remix)
Silicon Sound – Pure Reality (Ephedrix Remix)
Quadra – Pulverturm 3.0
Quadra – Cyberfunk
Dapanji vs. Crazy Tone – Dance 2da Music (Original Mix)
Visual Control vs. Electro Sun – Facing the Future
Electro Sun – Double Trouble
Mad Maxx & XSI – Creeping
Bizzare Contact – Run Away (Electro Sun Remix)
Quadra – Back Again
Quadra – We Shall Overcome
Alien Project – N.R.G.
Quadra – Back Again
XSI – Alchemik Machines (Mad Maxx Remix)
XSI – Dominion (Original Mix)

Encore Track

Timelock – Radioactive

This week I tackle mixing on 3 decks, or as close as I can get at the radio station. The studio here has a Rane Serato SL-3 which has a built in SP-6 sampler. So I can play triples where I start with the samples track and then mix two tracks into it. Unfortunately the studio here only has a 2 channel mixer, so it’s a little tricky mixing 3 audio sources with only 2 faders. Some of the mixes are a little rough around the edges, but I’m pretty sure some of the triples worked out pretty well, so it’s just a matter of refining them. I think you’ll see more 3 deck mixes from me soon. Maybe even a CD this summer.

Caddyshack has gone full on into a hardcore drum and bass phase, which I am loving. His taste in music has traditionally been very similar to mine, so all the tracks he’s been searching out have the kind of sounds and elements that I like.

dj Smiley Mike on 3 decks
2  turntables and a sampler

Ephedrix – Evolving Moods (Chronos Remix)
Aquila – Alice (Ephidrex Remix)
Ephidrex – Fly Away (DNA Remix)
Indigo feat. DJ Anneli – My Time
Visual Contact vs. Electro Sun – Facing the Future
Quadra – Time Immemorial
Bizarre Contact – Run Away (Electro Sun Remix)
Dapanji – Attention Please
Mad Maxx & XSI – Creeping
Talamasca feat. Nomad – The Awakening (Ephedrix Remix)
Dapanji vs. Crazy Tone – Dance 2da Music
Save the Robot – Robotz
Quadra – Time Immemorial
Quadra – Cyberfunk
Peacemaker – Hallucination Power
Peacemaker – Japanese Tours
Ephedrix & Aquila – 10 Miles Out
Hunab Tech & Antigravity – Nitro (Lamat Remix)
Space Cat vs. Onyx – Time Wolers

dj Caddyshack Hardcore Drum & Bass Mix

Pendulum – Slam
State of Mind – Dune
State of Mind – Sunking
Netsky – Eyes Closed (Original Mix)
Netsky – Sweet Dreams (Bootleg Mix)
Prodigy – Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix)
State of Mind – Back to the Jungle
State of Mind – Real McCoy
Netsky – Lost in this World
Zyon Base – Tombstone Blues

Eve Records has been one of my favorite record labels for over a decade. Many of their early releases have a harder, faster sound than many of todays melodic anthems, but trance was harder back then. 

UK record label Eve Records was founded by Stefano Lo Presti and Pablo Gargano in 1995 and quickly became a well-known, well-respected and well-recognized underground trance label. The label was conceived as a means of distributing various works by Pablo Gargano who masterminded many of the earlier releases. However, in keeping the focus on the music and not the name behind the music, early releases where identified only by number and Gargano’s name rarely appeared anywhere on the record until much later. Eve records where known as “Eve 26″ and “Eve “18″.

A highlight of many Eve Tracks is the incorporation of recognizable material (more than just samples) integrated with completely original and underground trance composition. EVE 01 is a perfect example of this. The track ‘Pink Fluyd’ by Pablo Gargano features breakdown elements borrowed from Pink Floyd – an awesome fusion of timeless psychedelic rock with cutting edge electronic music that paved the way for a sound that would soon become next-gen classics. ‘The Secret Spice’ from EVE 03, also by Pablo Gargano, borrows a mind-propelling sample from another classic – Dune.

Eve Records spawned sister-labels like Telica and sub-labels like Eve Nova.

Due to the longevity of tracks released on Eve Records, many are still available. Eve Records is now a part of the RecoverWorld Label Group.

Smiley Mike’s Top 10 Trance Trax by Eve Records

1. EVE 01 – Pablo Gargano – Pink Fluyd
2. EVE 03 – Pablo Gargano – The Secret Spice
3. EVE 06 – Pablo Gargano – The Stranger
4. EVE 11 – David Craig – Lord Of The Universe
5. EVE 17 – Pablo Gargano – The Runner (NRG Mix)
6. EVE 18 – Pablo Gargano – My Noise
7. EVE 25 – Pablo Gargano – Bodytrance
8. EVE 27 – Pablo Gargano – Electro Shock
9. EVE 40 – Michael Thomas – Condemnation
10. EVE 48x – Carissa Mondavi – Solid Ground (Fade Vocal Dub Remix)

BAD AUDIO! – This week’s podcast has a terrible problem with the audio feed. Sorry everyone. Should be fixed in time for next week’s broadcast.

My featured artists this week are Ephidrex, a Psy Trance group from Mortsel, Belgium comprised of Jochem Peeters & Joris Marckx. These guys have several releases on Dacru Records, a psy-trance label located in Ghent, Belgium that’s managed by Koen Van Cauwenbergh (Eskimo) and Bert De Decker, better known as DJ Nemesis. I happened across Dacru Records after tracking down releases from Electro Sun, a psy-trance DJ from Beer Sheva, South of Israel, who happens to be my other featured artist this week.

Caddyshack pulled out some tracks that date back, even before the classics, to early rave tracks. Cosmic Baby’s Space Track is unmistakable – but Caddyshack pulls another surprise remix intro! An interesting note on Cosmic Baby – Harald Blüchel was born at Feb 19, 1963 in Nuremberg, and classically trained as a concert pianist who began playing at the Nuremberg Conservatory when he was only 7 years old!

If you love music like we do, here are some hadestown tickets for amazing concerts and shows you don’t want to miss for anything in the world.

dj Smiley Mike Psy Trance Set:

Ephedrix – Evolving Moods (Chronos Remix)
Peace Maker – Japanese Tours
Timelock – Radio Active
Talamasca feat. Nomad – The Awakening
Silicon Sound – Pure Reality (Ephedrix Remix)
Ephidrex & Aquila – 10 Miles Out (Lamat Remix)
Protoculture – Magnetik (Ephidrex Remix)
Electro Sun & Brain Damage – Hypnotic Voices
Electric Sun – Double Trouble
Hunab Tech & Antigravity – Nitro (Lamat Remix)
Dapanji – The Dog is Talk
Dapanji vs. Crazy Tone – Dance 2da Music
Lamat & Han Solo – Next Generation of Science
Visual Contact vs. Electro Sun – Facing the Future

dj Caddyshack Deep Trance Mix:

Cosmic Baby – Space Track (Caddyshack Edit)
Sasha – Xpander
Sydney Blu – Senses and the Mind (Original Mix)
Energy 52 – State of Mind
The Grid – Swamp Thing (Grid Southern Comfort Mix)
The House Crew – Euphoria (Nino’s Dream Remix)
Three Drives – Greece 2000 (Man with No Name Remix)
Union Jack – Tryclops
Union Jack – Funnelweb
Union Jack – Vowel
Union Jack – Two Full Moons and a Trout (Orkidea Remix)