Follow me to the big trance sound of summer mix

Train tracks into the distance

During a recent holiday to Lisbon, I of course took my Pacemaker Device to create a brand new mix. This time, I went very trancey. Maybe it was the incredible sunshine, the fun of exploring Lisbon or just being in Europe again?

Whatever it was this mix is a much more pacey 135bpm and frankly kicks those tired legs with some force. I’d say this is a excellent mix and full of hands in the air moments. Its also full of new tracks alongside some old classics.

  1. Blood Angels (Chris Liebing mix) – John Starlight
  2. Catch (Martin Roth remix) – Blank & Jones
  3. Humming the lights – Armin Van Buuren & Gaia
  4. Venture (Nifra Extended remix) – Super8 & Tab
  5. Music is more than mathematics (Extended mix) – Protoculture
  6. Communication (Tomas Heredia remix) – Armin van Buuren
  7. Megalodon – MaRLo
  8. End transmission – ReDrive & Patrick Blanes
  9. Ecstasy – Eddie Makabi feat. Einat
  10. Wonder of Life (F&W remix) – Tukan
  11. Stresstest (John Askew remix) – John O’Callaghan
  12. Airtight (Extended mix) – Rafael Osmo
  13. We are one (Instrumental mix) – Dave202
  14. Arjan – Angelica S
  15. Valhalla (After future remix) – OneBeat
  16. Madagascar (Domi-Nation remix) – Art of Trance

Available in full on my webmix garden and mixcloud if you prefer…

The incidental contact high mix

NHS Nurse with mask and halo
Found on a wall in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, modified by me

My first new mix for 2022 and it comes at a time as Covid19 variant Omnicron has come, peaked and is likely going to move us things from Pandemic to Endemic? Who knows…? Lets hope!

Regardless of this all, I was thinking about the incredible people who helped us all through the pandemic and kind of been forgotten, while also flicking through the new book dictionary of obscure sorrows. I came across the incidental contact high, which is described as “a innocuous touch by someone just doing their job, that you find more meaningful that you’d like to admit.”

Anyway, its really good mix with lots of new tunes, a bit of pace (134bpm-ish) and a good feeling throughout. I’m loving Protoculture’s Music is more than mathematics and the unique remix of Shnorkel.

Enjoy the mix on mixcloud or on my own mixing site.

Here is the full playlist.

  1. Love Technology – Protoculture
  2. Orenida (extended mix) – Gouryella/Ferry Corsten
  3. Collider (Jorn van Deynhoven remix) – Thomas Bronzwaer
  4. Music is more than mathematics (extended mix) – Protoculture
  5. Feel it (extended mix) – Cosmic gate
  6. Shnorkel (Thank you city remix) – Ido Ophir and Miki Litvak
  7. Go (extended mix) – Protoculture
  8. Tiger (extended remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  9. Tears (protoculture remix) – Dakota
  10. Alone (extended mix) – Maarten de jong
  11. Headliner – Jorn van Deynhoven

The ravers ravenous retro revenge mix

The ravers ravenous retro revenge mix

With my thumb getting better, I’m doing more mixes again on the good old pacemaker device. This one was part of a much longer mix but the start was a bit crappy so cut it off and included the last 80%.

The ravers ravenous retro revenge came about after watching the Matrix Resurrections. There was lots of parts (seen it a few times now and still score it 8/10) but I found this line fascinating.

Morpheus: Nothing comforts anxiety like little nostalgia.

I have a lot to say about nostalgia but I decided to do a mix where it feels like the mix is being taken over by the rave. Does it work? I’ll leave it for you to decide. Maybe I should have called it R4 instead?

Listen to the Ravers ravenous retro revenge mix, on mixcloud and my own cloud.

Enjoy!

  1. Electric Sunrise – Mental Overdrive
  2. Air conditionné – Julian Jeweil
  3. Silence (Jerome Isma-Ae Extended remix) – D-Nox, Baya, Lenn V
  4. I want you (Forever) (Full on mix) – Carl Cox
  5. Opium (Quivver remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  6. Open up – Leftfield
  7. Sleeper in metropolis (Club mix) – Anne Clark
  8. Rewind (Makkas remix) – Emma Hewitt
  9. Charly (Alley cat mix) – The Prodigy
  10. Feel the beat (JS16 dark mix) – Darude
  11. The storm – Interitus Dei
  12. Back to earth (Rave mix) – Yves Deruyter
  13. Unchainied – Diego Morrill
  14. The sky – Summerland

The endless ambient cold mix

Its been a long time since i put out a Pacemaker mix. Main reasons being in August I damaged my thumb playing Volleyball. When using the Pacemaker device, I use the thumb to grip the device which was painful. I tried using my left hand but its kinda made for a right handed person (due to the positioning of buttons etc). As that took months to heal (its still not 100%) I also came down with a cold which turned into the flu. Luckily it was pre-omicron covid19 variant and I was testing all the way through the month long (as some people have called it) the mother of all colds.

With all this, I was able to pump out a mix while lying in bed one night. My friend Jasmine suggested it should be called “the sick mix.” So taking that notion, I present a more ambient slowed down mix from my usual mixes.

The endless ambient cold mix, on mixcloud and my own cloud.

Enjoy!

  1. Dark star – Delerium
  2. Troy (Push remix) – Sinead O’Connor
  3. A break in the clouds (Main mix) – Holden
  4. Soloris – Andro
  5. Flashback – Laurent Garnier
  6. Subrasumstimulation (Johnson mix) – Oliver Lieb
  7. Running up the hill (Jerome isma-ae bootleg mix) – Placebo
  8. The Storm – Intertus Dei
  9. Rheinkraft – Oliver Klien
  10. Grasshopper (Dance version) – Sander Van Doorn
  11. Raw Cut – Laurent Garnier
  12. Follow me (Roger shah extended deeper translation remix) – Jam Spoon
  13. Anomaly (CJ Art’s underwater tales remix) – Gordey Tsukanov
  14. Dead Cities – Future sound of London

A giant adventure in Ireland mix

Northern Ireland coast I got away for the first time during the pandemic. It was an adventure taken on my motorcycle. I of course took the pacemaker device out for the first time in a long time, so I did a mix while in hotel rooms. I did start a mix with key parts of the journey but it was long and didn’t really work together. Instead I took the Ireland part and skipped a few tunes to make this frankly great mix. Its quite different starting with some classic Orbital and ending at Home. Along the path, there’s lots of new tunes which I haven’t used before. What I like about this mix is the gel of the tunes and mixing.  I also quite like the vocals in the mix which add something special to the whole thing.

Enjoy the mix, which is a new entry in journey with pacemaker mixes on my mini mixcloud (where you can hear it at super high quality and download it.

  1. Belfast – Orbital
  2. Eye – Ma5Haria
  3. Suru (Martin Roth Nu-Style remix) – Super8 & Tab
  4. Pǝsnɟuoɔ (Confused) – Laurent Garnier
  5. A break in the clouds (Main mix) – Holden
  6. Chordplay – Oliver Smith
  7. Are you one of us (Cabriolet Paris remix) – Kyau & Albert
  8. Dust in the wind – Arnej
  9. Laguna – Protoculture
  10. Polarize (Second sine remix) – Snejider
  11. Avenue (Club mix) – Paul Van Dyk
  12. Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  13. Home (Cosmic gate remix) – Paul Van Dyk Feat. Johnny Mcdaid

Updated on Sunday 26th September, a giant adventure in Ireland is now number 98th in the tech trance chart.

Mixcloud chart

I was always scared of tresor mix

Tresor I had the absolute joy to see Laurent Garnier at the Manchester International festival recently (July 2021). During his video there was lots of references to different things in his career including Manchester and also Berlin. There was a distinct moment when I turned to my sister and whispered, I have been to many clubs in Berlin during the first 15 years of the fall of the Berlin wall, but Tresor scared me and I never went because of the fear. I had heard too many stories of this hard techno/gabba club and the crazy things which could happen in the darkness of the disused bank vaults. Do I regret not going? A bit, but it was genuinely a little scary especially with me not speaking German. Maybe this is why Victoria resonated with me. Its certainly a stronger almost techno mix with no let up in pace and heavy beats. Look out for the Acid Trax! Its a classic killer! Imagine dancing in a vault in the dark to the raw sounds of the TB 303!

Enjoy the mix, which is another entry in the locked down, mixing out album of mixes. Also linked on my DJ blog.

  1. Acid drops – Meanwhile, back in communist Russia
  2. M.I.L.F – Laurent Garnier
  3. Trick – Carlo Ruetz
  4. Opium – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  5. Beat (Da Boxx) – Laurent Garnier
  6. Energy Flash – Joey Beltram
  7. Acid Trax (album version) – Phuture
  8. System hack – Carlo Ruetz
  9. Intruder – Armin van Buuren vs M.I.K.E
  10. Shnorkel – Miki Latvak & Ido Ophir
  11. Pǝsnɟuoɔ (Confused) – Laurent Garnier
  12. Rheinkraft – Oliver Klein
  13. Subrasumstimulation (Johnson mix) – Oliver Lieb
  14. Interstate Emperors – Jeffed

Wednesday 18th August

Its been a while but getting some good responses to this mix.

57th in the global tech trance charts

Isolation in the fast lane mix

Diabolo tricks in the garden

After a week or so in isolation although negative throughout, I turned to the Pacemaker device for a new mix. Something different from my usual progressive trance style. There’s some tunes I’ve been playing out recently mixed with some classic trance, all at a slightly uplifted 133-134 bpm. Listen out for the Armin van buuren mashup of Eat Sleep Rave repeat drumming through Grotesque.

Enjoy the mix, which is another entry in the locked down, mixing out album of mixes.

  1. Mezzanine – Gareth Emery
  2. Go Fast! – Organ Nilsen
  3. Invasion (ASOT 550 Anthem) – W&W
  4. Strange Bends (Kyau & Albert remix) – Sebastian Sand
  5. Go (Extended mix) – Protoculture
  6. Made of love (Extended mix) – Ferry Corsten feat Betsie Larkin
  7. The system – Inertia
  8. Take everything (Extended mix) – Emma Hewitt
  9. Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  10. Halcyon (Alex M.O.R.P.H remix) – Andy Moor
  11. Eat sleep rave repeat vs Crushed vs No good (Armin van buuren mashup) – Cosmic gate & Mark Sixma vs. Fatboy slim
  12. Grotesque – RAM & Alex M.O.R.P.H

Life and joy in metropolis mix

Manchester City stadium with Lasers
Nice of Manchester City stadium to put on a light display for my latest mix

A mix with pace and some great old and new tunes. Its short and sweet but packs a punch. Recorded as the UK opens up after its third lockdown. The cases have dropped and the vaccination is going strong. You can get a real sense of the joy in peoples faces and living in the city is once again a great place to be, no matter what Anne Clark says.

Enjoy the mix, which is another entry in the locked down, mixing out album of mixes. You can also now listen to it at its original high quality and advert free on my personal mix site.

  1. Sleeper in Metropolis (Club mix) – Anne Clark
  2. Untenthered (Jerome Isma-Ae remix) – Alastor & RUE
  3. Love Stimulation (PvD Love club mix) – Humate
  4. The Descent – Protoculture
  5. Silence (Jerome Isma-Ae Extended remix) – D-Nox and Baya featuring Lenn V
  6. Groteseque – RAM & Alex M.O.R.P.H
  7. Go (Extended mix) – Protoculure
  8. Shnorkel – Miki Litvak & Ido Ophir
  9. Wrist block (Joey Beltram remix) – Side Four
  10. Labyrinth (Paul Keyen remix) – Lee Cassells
  11. 1998 (Gouryella remix) – Binary Finary
  12. Freedom (Extended remix) – ARTY v Muvy

Weather is strange mix

Rain storm over east manchester

What a pacemaker mix, quite mix of tunes from previous mixes with some new ones. All with a changeable pace throughout.

I do love this one which was done during a period during April in Manchester with snow, rain and hot sun over a period of days. Weather is strange just like the choppy nature of this mix.

Listen to it on my personal cloud or mixcloud here and enjoy!

  1. Sunset (Bird of prey) – Fatboy Slim
  2. Go (Extended mix) – Protoculture
  3. Running up the hill (Jermone isma-ae bootleg mix) – Placebo
  4. Prosac – Tomcraft
  5. Wrist block (Joey Beltram remix) – Side four
  6. Wilde (Extended mix) – Jermone isma-ae & Alastor
  7. Follow me (Jermone isma-ae extended remix) – Jam Spoon
  8. Ecstasy – Eddie Makrabi featuring Einat
  9. Outlaw (Extended mix) – Fatum
  10. Sequence (Extended mix) – Estiva
  11. Tears (Protoculture remix) – Dakota
  12. Alastor & Rue (Jerome Isma-Ae untethered remix) – Progressive Astronaut
  13. Sunrise – Marninx pres Ecco
  14. Tomahawk (Extended mix) – Maarten de Jong
  15. The pride in your eyes (Martin Roth remix) – Tillmann Uhrmacher

Kubricks systematic percussive sequence mix

Kubricks systematic percussive sequence mix
Photo credit by @dizzyd718 – Drew Graham on unsplash.com

I have been loving a bunch of tech/progressive trance and decided its time for a nice mix using some of the tunes. I know there is some disagreement about the term, which I guess is closer to the techno category. Especially the tunes by Carlo Ruetz.

Either way its a good mix breaking into some classic trance by the end. The title of the mix is parts of the playlist, and the start is a long lost tune found after listening to one of the very first live mixes I did in Manchester. Roots is a killer start to a mix and sets the vibe perfectly. Reminds me how much I like Tomcraft actually.

Mixcloud restrictions

Hosted again on Mixcloud but unlike the last one, hopefully it won’t fall foul of the mixcloud rules over using the same artist too many times. (note to say I have got a new self-hosted platform but anonymous web access isn’t ideal)

Enjoy the mix and here is the complete playlist.

  1. Roots – Tomcraft
  2. Trick – Carlo Ruetz
  3. Percussive thinking (Meat Katie & Elite force remix) – Frome
  4. Kubrick (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae
  5. Rheninkraft – Oliver Klien
  6. System hack – Carlo Ruetz
  7. Running up the hill (Jerome Isma-Ae bootleg) – Placebo
  8. Opium (Stan Kolev remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  9. Sequence (Extended mix) – Estiva
  10. Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  11. Outlaw (Extended mix) – Fatum
  12. Tears (Protoculture remix) – Dakota

Update: Feb 28th 2021

Kubricks systematic percussive sequence is now 95th in the global Tech Trance chart
As I thought, without the Mixcloud restrictions mentioned above, this mix has made it to the 95th place in the Tech trance chart.
Very tempted to see what happens if I rename the playlist for Pattersons pandemic run.

Pattersons pandemic run mix

Here is the first mix of the new year and its a Simon Patterson special. If you liked the previous Patterson’s panic attack. Its likely not going to play in certain regions as its all the same artist and mixcloud thinks I’m uploading a whole album.

Its a very heavy trance mix which whips along at a speedy 138 bpm and never lets up for 50 solid minutes.

Try going for a run with this mix playing, avoid those people and wear a mask.

Here is the playlist for Patterson’s pandemic run mix, enjoy!

  1. F16 – Simon Patterson
  2. Latika – Simon Patterson
  3. Brush Strokes – Simon Patterson
  4. Smack – Simon Patterson
  5. Whites of her eyes – Simon Patterson
  6. Panic attack – Simon Patterson
  7. Opulence – Simon Patterson
  8. Dissolve – Simon Patterson feat Sarah Howells
  9. Strip search – Simon Patterson
  10. Taxi – Simon Patterson
  11. Us – Simon Patterson

https://www.mixcloud.com/cubicgarden/pattersons-pandemic-run/

A unforgettable summer in the city: the mix

A unforgettable summer in the city mix

Its been one heck of a summer, from the covid19 pandemic, national lockdowns to the protests for #blacklivesmatter.

Every once in a while I have been putting out a few mixes under the new album/category of locked down and mixing out. The mixes have been good but I felt they each had something missing, so this is the best bits of previous mixes put together into something extra special.

Its the mix I am listening to when I get out with the Diabolo or go for a long walk.

Enjoy!

  1. A new beginning – Marcus Schossow
  2. Chinook – Markus Schulz pres Dakota
  3. Opium (Quivver remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  4. Open up – Leftfield
  5. Intruder – Armin Van Buuren vs M.I.K.E
  6. My Beat (Ambassador extended remix) – Blaze
  7. Follow me (Jerome Isma-Ae Extended remix) – Jam Spoon
  8. Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  9. Opulence – Simon Patterson
  10. Numb the pain – Will Atkinson
  11. Seven Cities (V-One’s living in the cities mix) – Solarstone
  12. Halcyon – Andy Moor
  13. Tears (Protoculture remix) – Dakota
  14. Outlaw (Extended mix) – Fatum
  15. Amino Acids – Tau-Rine
  16. Freedom (Extended mix) – ARTY v Muvy
  17. Indigo – 4×4

The Secluded rave in my head mix

The Secluded rave in my head

My latest mix is a strange one. While sitting on my sofa trying to stay cool in front of multiple fans during some of the hottest days in Manchester. I busted out the pacemaker device and started to mix. I wasn’t really feeling very happy about the heat, hence this is quite a heavy mix which shifts, although only running at 130-ish bpm. I was thinking about redoing it with a different ending but maybe thats for another day.

The cover art is a combination of Artem Bryzgalov and Reynier Carl‘s work put together using my fav photo editing tool PhotoGIMP.

Enjoy the mix, which is another entry in the locked down, mixing out album of mixes.

  1. Anasthasia (Valentine boys rap mix) – T99
  2. Opium (Stan Kolev remix) – Jerome Isma Ae Alastor
  3. Orbion (Max Graham vs Protoculture remix) – Armin Van Buuren
  4. Freedom (Extended mix) – ARTY vs Muvy
  5. Grotesque – RAM & Alex M.O.R.P.H
  6. Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma Ae Alastor
  7. Reflection (Extended mix) – Ferry Corsten
  8. Metro (US mix) – Oliver Lieb
  9. Time to Burn (12 inch long version) – Storm
  10. The wave 2.0 (Extended mix) – Cosmic Gate
  11. Night in Motion – Cubic 22
  12. Opium – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor

 

Stellar’s freedom mix

Looking into the universe
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Not really had the time to do many mixes in the last few months. I did this one while wondering around the Manchester when the Covid19 lock down was lifted. Its not very long (less than a hour) but its a interesting quick blast through a few newer tunes.

I haven’t yet setup my funkwhale or airsonic instance, so its mixcloud for now. Although I am making cue files along side my nfo files.

Enjoy!

  1. Stella – Jam & Spoon
  2. Natural (extended mix) – KhoMha
  3. The Dark night – KhoMha
  4. Floyd (extended mix)  – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  5. Opium (quivver remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  6. Open up – Leftfield
  7. Follow me (Roger shah Extended deeper translation remix) – Jam Spoon
  8. Running up the hill (Jerome Isma-Ae bootleg) – Placebo
  9. Freedom (extended mix) – ARTY vs Muvy
  10. Tears (protoculture remix) – Dakota

Update

Stellar’s Freedom made it to 78th in the global tech trance chart. Not bad as lots of DJs are now using Mixcloud in lockdown.

78th in the global techtrance chart

Update Monday 10th Aug

Another update to say Stellar’s Freedom is now at 47th in the global tech trance chart. I think its one of the highest rated mixes I have done. Going to need to do another one soon.

stellars freedom 47th in the global techtrance charts