The Solar Flare Mix

DJs often get a bad rap. It's just playing other people's music, of course. And in these days of mixing programs and auto-syncing, most DJs can't really be arsed to mix. Fuck it, just press a button. That's what I do.

But for some DJs, the best ones, mixing is just a side issue anyway. What's really important is (and this is going to sound straight out of Pseud's Corner...) 'the Journey'. The legendary Larry Levan couldn't really be bothered to mix most of the time. It didn't matter. He was worshiped because his sets at the Paradise Garage took dancers on an odyssey through the night. He would ride them through disco, psychedelic rock, funk, european new wave, electro... anything. But it wasn't just genre box-ticking. He was the custodian of a mood.

I wouldn't ever compare myself to Larry Levan. I don't have the genius, the club, the sound system, the scene, or the drug habit. But I do try to give my mixes a structure, a flow that attempts to mirror the dynamics of a whole evening out. Of all the mixes I've done to date I think the Solar Flare Mix nails this the best.

It starts how I would want to start my perfect evening: sundrenched, slightly woozy, tropical. Antena's Camino del Sol is the sound of cocktails on sun loungers and relaxing in the last rays. The Balearic atmosphere continues through the dubby remix of Paul Simon's classic Diamond's On The Soles Of Her Shoes and JJ Cale's hip shakingly sexy Ride Me High.

When Alice Smith sings about the sun going down in Love Endeavor, it's time to stir and get the dancing shoes on. Under Escort's Starlight the disco really gets moving, before the DFA turn Justin Timberlake into Superstition-era Stevie Wonder. Then things get a little darker.

Optimo's breakbeat rumble makes Chris Isaak's yearning voice the perfect expression of laser-spangled dancefloor infatuation. Kathy Diamond gives you the woman's perspective - dancing as a declaration of independence, before !!!'s cautionary tale of taking hedonism too far. For LCD Soundsystem, the abandon of the musical moment makes you feel like a teenager.

And then it's morning. And you've possibly ended up with someone a bit too young. Is that wrong? Who cares, it's been a good night.

Tracklisting:
Antena: Camino Del Sol (Todd Terje Edit), Holy Ghost: Walk On Air (Sun & Moon Mix), Tangoterje: Diamonds Dub, JJ Cale: Ride Me High (Joakim Edit), Alice Smith: Love Endeavor (Maurice Fulton Mix), Escort: Starlight, Justin Timberlake: My Love (DFA Mix), Optimo: Wicked Turntable Games, Newcleus: Jam On It (4Track Reference), Kathy Diamond: All Woman (Maurice Fulton Mix), !!!: Must Be The Moon (Emperor Machine Mix), LCD Soundsystem: Sound Of Silver, Junior Boys: In The Morning (Hot Chip Remix), Junior Boys: In The Morning

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