This month’s NRGetic Romancer lacked any special guests, and it was always going to be difficult to follow August’s event (where Proteus, Adam Lab 4 and Guld all headlined), but Cogi and KA->NA in particular played a couple of incredible sets this time. As always, the event was friendly, inclusive, and everyone attending was also presented with a promo copy of Proteus’ August mix - a fantastic set.

This was the first time for me to hear KA->NA play live, and it’s a shame that she played so early - her track selection and mixing were both spot on. The floor was still farly empty at that point (most people simply hadn’t arrived yet, Tamachi is pretty out of the way, after all), but Cogi followed immediately with a classic Hard/Nu Nrg set - opening up with an awesome edit of The Prodigy’s Break and Enter. [update: It seems that it was a stand-alone track, rather than an edit - Tres chic by Nexus 6. Thanks Cogi!]

DJ Yousuke started slowly, but his set soon built up into his trademark style, an excellent mix of NRG, UK Hardcore, Freeform and Hard Trance, with tracks from Lab 4, Lost Soul, Infected Mushroom, Yoji Biomehanica…

Read the rest of this entry »

Two great releases on Finrg during the last week or so - Alek Szahala’s Suprya has finally seen the light of day (losing an ‘i’ from the title in the process, it appears), while Risk Addiction is Epyx & Cyrez’s first track on the Finrg label. Suprya hardly needs any introduction, but will probably now be played to within an inch of its life by a lot of Freeform DJs (myself included, I’ll happily admit). Risk Addiction is a blinder of a Freeform/Hard NRG track - slightly slower than I’d like, but reminiscent of some of Pain on Creation’s harder stuff.

Betwixt & Between’s releases on Kreatrix seem to be stand-alone tracks, rather than collaborations with Twisted Freq, as I first suspected. Regardless, there are at least two new tracks on the way (Phaedra and Surendrajit), to be released on Vol. 4 of the Kreatrix CD compilation series. I haven’t heard them yet, sadly, but they’re included in Twisted Freq’s next mix (which also includes a remix of Epyx & Cyrez’s excellent Unohdetut). I’m hoping to get around to my next mix during the next month, but whether they will see a release by then is doubtful… Still, great to see Betwixt’s tracks now appearing both here and on the digi-up label.

これは今年の五月のミックスで、ちょっとダークな感じがあります。Betwixt & Between/Full Circle DJs/Alek Szahala/Lab 4などの曲がかけたから、ぜひ聞いてみて下さい!

Here’s the mix I finished in May of this year - the atmosphere is pretty dark in this one. I’m reasonably pleased with the progression from Re-form’s Sunstroke into RaverRose / ThermalForce synth madness, and it includes new(ish) tracks from the likes of Betwixt & Between, Full Circle DJs, Alek Szahala, and Lab 4 - so I hope it’s worth a listen.

Read the rest of this entry »

It seems that a couple of interesting releases may not be too far away! Twisted Freq and Betwixt & Between are currently at work on a collaboration, presumably to be released on TF’s Kreatrix label. The originality of a Betwixt track combined with Twisted Freq’s production expertise is quite a prospect. I’m even hoping to hear it on Saturday - you never know, eh?

Guld is also close to releasing a new studio mix, following on from the Romance of NRG CD a while back. I’ve heard nothing about the tracklist yet, aside from the fact that it’ll be featuring a lot of older tunes. Which is no bad thing, of course.

もうすぐエナロマですね。八月のイベントに出席できませんでしたから、すごく楽しみしています。そしてコギさんは一人でHard NRGのセットをかけるらしい。今回は出席する人に先のエナロマでProteusがかけたミックスPROMO CDをプレゼントしてくれます！

So, it’s soon time for the next NRGetic Romancer. I wasn’t able to make it to the event of events in August (where Guld, Proteus and Adam Lab 4 all played), so I’m definitely looking forward to this one - I hear that Cogi will be playing a solo Hard NRG set this time, which should be excellent. Those who make an appearance also get a Promo CD of Proteus’ August live mix. By all accounts it was quite something.

The timetable for Saturday has now been announced, with 1hr 20min sets for both Cogi and Full Circle DJs, and Guld in his usual slot around 3.30. No Zio though (given his semi-retirement from DJing) which is a real disappointment - I only got the chance to see ‘The Japanese Alek Szahala’ play a couple of times.

DJ Yousuke has recently released the tracklist for his upcoming mix CD, ‘Hardcore Baby’s Revenge’. It’s looking very tasty indeed, particularly the first of the two discs, including as it does The Awakening, Halcyon, Holocaust of Death and Pain on Creation’s Religion X, among plenty of other future classics.

Sadly for those of us with a hankering for any kind of freeform/hardcore release (particularly given the once-every-ice age release schedule at Finrg), the CDs have been delayed - but will hopefully see the light of day before the end of the year. No sign of the cover artwork yet, but fingers crossed for something as interestingly incongruous as Quiet Funky System’s sheep-themed effort. The tracklist’s set in stone though, and here it is:

(CD1)
01. New Rave - AC Slater
02. Halcyon - Full Circle DJs
03. Hatral - GULD Vs Betwixt&Between
04. Reign Of Terror - Oli G & Shanty
05. 2000 Miles - Dodgee
06. Alien Sonic - Ephexis
07. Enraptured Soulz (Luna-C Remix) - Invader
08. Danse Macabre - Invader & Shanty
09. Spiral Life - DJ Yousuke & Buzzmasta
10. X-10 - 21st Century Freeform Warriors
11. Time’s Trouble (The Panacea Remix) - Shanty
12. Unleashed - Twisted Freq
13. Holocaust Of Death - Level13
14. The Awakening (East Of Eden Pt.2) - Betwixt & Between
15. Religion X - Pain On Creation

(CD2)
01. Shorline (Orbit 1 Remix) - Buzzmasta
02. Mercury Rising (Reese Remix) - Blakestar
03. Sensory Vision Part 2 - CLSM feat. Ant Johnson
04. Stars Align - Chwhynny & Nu Foundation
05. Fresh Beats - Fracus
06. Intoxicate Me - Ruffage & Chwhynny feat. Ant Johnson
07. See 4 Eva (Cube::Hard Remix) - Petrol Heads feat. Kate, Dee & MC Chit Chat
08. Not Over (Buzzmasta’s “L” Channel Mix) - Joshka-Y!
09. Goodnight Tokyo - DJ Shimamura
10. Takes You Back - Darwin
11. Love Isn’t Easy - Fracus feat. Lisa Abbott
12. Everything’s Fine - Buzzmasta feat. Chwhynny
13. Hold On Tight (Darwin Remix) - Cynix feat. Kelly C
14. Wipe Away (Reese Remix) - The Acolyte feat. Amy
15. Neurotoxin - The Acolyte

これは八月に作ったミックスです。このミックスで、たいていの曲は日本のです。しっかりつなぎを選んだから、すごく長い時間かかりました。ミックスで、大好きな曲がいっぱいあって、特にBetwixt & BetweenのThe Awakening (East of Eden part 2)とHollowとEternal Cannonという有名な曲が入れています。Disturbed Mindという曲もすごくかっこいいと思います。もうすぐ新しいミックスを作りたいと思っていますが、今ちょっと忙しすぎるです。取り敢えず、よかったらこのミックスを聞いてみて下さい。いつか「山手の音」と「Freeform Introduction」というミックスもアップロードするつもりです 。

Here’s the mix that I completed this August - undoubtedly the best I’ve managed so far. The majority of the tunes here are Japanese, and I took a huge amount of time deliberating over which to include. There are a good few of my absolute favourites, like Betwixt & Between’s The Awakening (East of Eden part 2) , Hollow, and RaverRose / ThermalForce’s infamous Eternal Cannon, while Disturbed Mind is an incredible track too.

I’m hoping to come up with another mix before long, but I’m a bit too busy at the moment. Instead, I’m hoping to reupload the not-quite-as-good Yamanote no Oto and Freeform Introduction mixes sometime soon. For the time being, give this one a listen instead!

Read the rest of this entry »