Caddyshack and I went to see Paul van Dyk at the Commodore last Friday, and he dropped this crazy acid 303 build that went on for a good three minutes before finally crashing in. It reminded me of the version of Aldo Bender’s Acid Enlightenment that was on Fatboy Slim’s On the Floor at the Boutique, but heavily remixed.

And so it started me digging through the record collection and tracking down a few lost classics. These tracks are from some of my favourite rave memories.

(And, yes… I’m way behind on posting the last couple tracklists. Life’s been busy, but this one just couldn’t get missed!)

dj Smiley Mike Oldschool 90s Acid Trance Mix

Cores – Matabu (Part 2) || Noom Records 1996
Pablo Gargano – Pink Fluyd || Eve Records 1995
Solar Quest – Acid Air Raid (George’s All Nighter) || Choci’s Chewns 1994
Commander Tom – Are Am Eye || 1995 Re-released on Noom Records in 1999
Aldo Bender – Enlightenment (dj Smiley Mike Bootleg Mix) || React America 1996
Angel of Death – Angel of Death (Tracid Mix) || Tracid Traxxx 2001
Kai Tracid – Liquid Skies (Polaris Lab. Mix) || Suck Me Plasma Records 1998
Mana – Psionic (Arrakis Remix) || Fluid Recordings 1999
Kai Tracid vs. Kan Cold – Untitled || White Label
Yoda – Definitely (Kai Tracid vs. Sunbeam Mix) || Netrecord-Z 2001
X-Cabs – Neuro 98 (Kai Tracid Mix) || Orbit Records 1998

dj Caddyshack Dirty Trance Mix

Caddyshack played some stuff too. Although I didn’t write it down, because I’ve been pretty lazy this past couple weeks. However, I know he played the Deadmau5 – Psynapse intro track, and then later in his set he player the Armin van Burren Intro mix of Omnia & IRA – The Fusion and then a little later he played a couple tracks by Crystal Method followed by a couple tracks by The Loops of Fury. I ran down what he played in the full podcast.

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)

I even put a little thought towards which records I should bring for this weeks set – but I think the first hour got off to a bit of a shakey start. I’m not sure, because I haven’t given it my usual Monday morning second listen yet, but I’m pretty sure the second hour was mixed a little better than the first hour. Some nights the mixes really pull together and other nights I just can’t hold the mix right to the bitter end – and believe me, more often than not I push the mix as long as it can go. Not always in my best interest, but short mix DJs never really earned my respect the same way a long mix does. 

I’m working on building a solid base of records to work with right now, so you’ll probably hear some of these tracks again. I’m trying to work in a couple Platipus Records and a Couple Eve Records – which often have such distinctive sounds that it’s hard to mix them seamlessly with tracks from other record labels. 

Sure enough – I’ve only listened to part of the first hour but I’m not very thrilled about it. Right from the get-go I started with a bad mix and that just set the tone for the first hour. It’s too bad because the first mix was going quite well for 3-4 minutes. But all it takes for a great 4 minute mix to go bad is the last 15 seconds. Growing up as a kid I used to hear ‘Close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades’ and sure enough – it’s easy to get close. 

I’m also not very happy with the phrasing of the first set. I’ll maybe post something more in-depth another time – but basically (and I’m not even sure if phrasing is the right term) after you get good at matching beats and have it figured out that you have to line up the down-beats – you extend that whole concept to ‘phrases’ of a song. It’s like lining up the first beat of a 32 or 64 note segment on both records. If you can do that then magic can happen!

Here’s an example of what proper phrasing sounds like. Download this week’s podcast and listen to the mix between 1:35:23 and 1:37:35. Once you can phrase your mixes like this it’s practice, practice, practice until you can do it every time. (Easier said than done!)

A good friend of mine asked me to make a CD as a prize for their caravan heading to Burning Man this year. It’s been years since I made anything more polished than a podcast as family life has chipped away at my free time, so a new CD is long overdue.

This is just a first take but it’s a little rough. After a second listen it wasn’t as bad as I first thought, but there’s a few spots where the beats slip. The first block is about 45 minutes (of Smiley Mike) featues some Nukleuz records and after the break there’s another 90 minutes or so featuring some of the same Tidy Trax and Eve records from the May 4 podcast but at a slightly slower pace (still pounding though).

Caddyshack was busy reorganizing his shoes this week.

This is the best set we’ve had in awhile and that makes it the perfect podcast to start off the new gaming site. (More about the new site to come soon…)

Caddyshack starts of the night for the second time in history while Smiley Mike finishes cooking a roast. The first hour is a lot of hard acid trance with a considerable amount coming off the Transient record label. Smiley Mike follows in the second hour with bangin hard trance from Eve Records and Tidy Two – a branch of the highly successful Tidy Trax label.

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