The Beatles - Anthology 1

Apple Records: 1995

The Beatles are John, Paul, George, and Ringo, a very important band in the world of everything. When they started, however, they were “just a band”, as Lennon puts it in an interview kicking off this anthology of ancient Beatles music. And do I mean ancient, some of the demo scraps on here sounding like they were pressed on sixth generation wax, copied to eighth generation tape, and burned to two-decade old CDR. Who would even care about poorly-recorded, garbled covers of American blues? Everyone, man! It's the f'n Beatles, the most important band in the world of everything, remember? Okay, enough hyperbole.

Still, as The Beatles reached their 30th Anniversary of existence (and despite not being an actual band for two-thirds of that time), the well was running dry on how to milk their legacy. The albums already existed, plus the re-issues, the re-re-issues, the b-sides, the live recordings, the compilations, the greatest hits packages, the other greatest hits packages, and who-knows what else in the bootleg market. Likely, it was demand for unauthorized audio that got this Anthology series going – if people want to hear The Beatles in their crummy infancy, then give the people what they want (for a tidy financial reparation, of course).

They couldn’t release this music as a regular album though – the early demos were of such shit sound quality that even an ardent fan would feel ripped-off. Instead, Anthology presents itself as a historical documentary, spotlighting the behind-the-scenes growth of the band as they developed from unknown entities to global deities, including exhaustive liner notes detailing extra bits of obsessive trivia. Clearly only the hardcore would be interested in a CD version of a three-part VH1 special, but there is some fascination while listening to this, especially so with CD1.

After half a disc of warbly covers, slap-dash sessions, and playing music as little more than a lark, The Beatles suddenly get serious about their craft, songs and recordings much tighter and focused. It’s like someone convinced them they could be greater than they currently were, and it’s no surprise this transition is marked by Brian Epstein briefly reading passages from his autobiography. The man was almost single-handily responsible in fashioning The Beatles into the stars they’d become, and after he remarks how no one was initially interested in the band’s recording tests, we’re treated to two all-time classic Beatles hits, Love Me Do and Please Please Me. The boys were flying high thereafter, never dropping back to earth again.

CD2 features more live shows, TV spots, studio sessions, and covers of well-worn rock staples; again interesting as a chronology of their exploits than the musical content. There’s an appearance with the British comedy series The Morecambe And Wise Show, gigs with endless screaming girls (not The Ed Sullivan Show though), and other assorted wise-cracking moments that runs their career up through 1964. What happened after that… well, that’s detailing for further down the Abbey Road (no, I’m not reviewing the other two Anthologys).

Tool - Ænima

Zoo Entertainment: 1996

Coming into Tool raw is well-nigh impossible, preconceived notions formed well before ever hearing the first rumble of Danny Carey’s drum kit, sludgy distortion of Adam Jones’ guitar, or billowing self-pity of Maynard James Keenan. Dammit, see what I mean? Without playing a single Tool song, I already know of the band’s tendency towards the musically proficient and lyrically po-faced bollocks, information gleaned through peer osmosis. For during their two-decade career, a reverent fanbase developed, one that wastes no time in preaching the Tool-Gospel of the band’s brilliance, and vehemently attacking anyone that presents such dissenting opinions like Tool are just okay, or not the brilliant song-writers legend purports. Thank God I’m way out here in the internet hinterlands, eh?

I figured there’d be some chance I’d like Tool if I gave them a chance, what with being known as ‘prog-metal’ pioneers and all. Well hey, I do like some prog (house or rock) and metal has its moments of awesome too. After giving Ænima three solid chances at winning me over, however, it’s safe to say I’ll never willingly listen to this band again. There’s simply too much nothing going on in this music for me to invest further.

Wait, that’s not accurate. The first half of Ænima contains several enjoyable heavy rock moments. Stinkfist’s hook has great thrashy bits, Eulogy’s even better and builds wonderfully from a quiet start to raucous climax, while Forty Six & 2 and Hooker With A Penis hold my attention with neat sounding guitar tones and drumming. Beyond that though, songs endlessly sludge along with staid musical passages, show-off bridges, and angst-ridden sentiments I grew out of ages ago (if I had them to begin with). The titular cut and a couple skits aside (mmm, ‘Satan’s Balls’…), the back half of Ænima drags with hardly any payoff. A perfect example comes in Pushit, where the band briefly switches to an urgent time-signature, suggesting an oncoming awesome build of tear-out metal; instead, they instantly retreat to a dithering quiet bit that goes on forever. Meanwhile, my thoughts wander to better metal and prog-rock like Pantera or Yes.

What caught me most off-guard though, was how grunge these tunes are – quiet, mumbly singing followed by loud shouting parts (and always unintelligible, buried in the mix). Granted, it’s due to Tool’s reputation as a metal band, but learning of their grunge roots, I totally get their appeal now. All those Holden Caulfields of the ‘90s alternative rock scene, desperate for heavy music that wasn’t so commercial and phony, found kinship in Keenan’s outlook, with challenging music to match. Throw in sound experiments cribbed from the industrial scene and weird, creepy visual accompaniments in videos and tours, and you’ve a grunge album unlike any other before, one that tried taking the genre down daring, new (progressive?) roads. A bold move on Tool’s part, for sure, one they could have pulled off on Ænima, if they’d spent more time on song-craft than technical masturbation.

Eurythmics - 1984 (For The Love Of Big Brother)

Virgin: 1984

It's a shoe-in, I tell ya', a shoe-in! Making a movie based on a book set upon a specific year, who could resist a chance at producing such a sure thing? What does it matter if the über-fascist society George Orwell created in 1984 never came to pass in 1984 – you can get away with an 'alternate reality' movie! Better make sure it hits theatres on time though, otherwise you'll look silly releasing a movie titled 1984 in the year 1985, or heaven forbid even later (suck it, 1956). Yep, only one chance at it. Don't let Big Brother down.

While the movie turned out a success, it didn't come without its share of controversy. Little to do with the actual content, mind you, although I'm sure more than a few folks found the Room 101 scenes squeamish. Nay, the main kerfuffle involved the soundtrack, specifically how two different scores were commissioned without either composer knowing about it.

The director, Michael Radford, had tapped orchestral writer Dominic Muldowney for music, while Almighty Virgin, which financed the film, wanted Eurythmics instead, pissing Radford off. Hey, can’t blame the director in feeling his vision was compromised by record suits, especially with Virgin editing the music cues with both scores as they saw fit. Stewart and Lennox, however, were apparently never made aware of the original score, and thus were caught off-guard by Radford’s ire. Compounding matters was Virgin toying with Eurythmics’ recordings for the LP release, making the soundtrack album as commercially viable as possible with nice, acceptable synth-pop versions of the score. Virgin probably figured they’d have their own Flashdance on their hands. No such luck, me buckos, 1984 (For The Love Of Big Brother) generating one single in Sexcrime, far from a memorable Eurythmics’ hit.

It’s best forgetting the politics involved with developing this album and regard 1984 as a concept LP Stewart and Lennox crafted on a lark, especially since little of their music as heard on this CD did end up in the film. All the icy-cool synth-pop awesome of Eurythmics’ glory years are present, with Lennox cooing on upbeat tracks Sexcrime (banned from Bible Belt airwaves!) and For The Love Of Big Brother, funkier jazz-scat in I Did It Just The Same, and charming ballad Julia. One thing that unfortunately dates these tunes is the use of a vocal sampler on Lennox’ voice, stiffly chopping it at various points (especially for Sexcrime), but it’s a quibble easily bypassed.

Besides, the true awesome of 1984 are the instrumentals, where Lennox’s non-lyrical singing becomes another tool instead of the centrepiece, and sure to surprise anyone only familiar with Eurythmics’ radio hits. Brief ambient interlude Winston’s Diary aside, the remaining tracks drive with mechanical, tribal rhythms and choking electronic soundscapes. Doubleplusgood’s incredibly ear-wormy, Ministry Of Love beautifully captures techno-futurism, and final track Room 101’s suitably menacing as it drags the album to its end with a final slam of iron doors. Chilling.

Various - Mixed Goods XVI

(~): 2003

TRACK LIST:
1. Radar - Flying
2. Heller & Farlay - Deep Sensation (Peace Division Mix)
3. Holden & Thomposn - Nothing (Vocal Mix)
4. Golden Girls - Kinetic 2001 (Vincent de Moor Mix)
5. Blaze featuring Palmer Brown - Do You Remember House? (Bob Sinclar Mix)
6. Luomo - Tessio (Moonbootica Remix)
7. The Future Sound Of London - Slider
8. Future Prophecies - Stalker
9. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (Jam & Spoon Hi N-R-G Mix)
10. Holden & Thompson - Nothing (93 Returning Mix)

I've been too hard on commercial compilations in the past. Reliving these Mixed Goods of mine, I realize its bloody difficult maintaining a consistent theme when there's limited choices for track lists. At the start, I had plenty to work with, my initial downloading spree spoiling me for ideas on each CD. Here, however, at the end, all I've left are a couple new tunes I could snag, and a bunch of scraps. Mixed Goods XVI may have solid songs on it, but as a listening experience, it's a total mess (yes, even worse than Mixed Goods IV).

That Holden & Thompson classic is the obvious standout here, though I had no idea that the 93 Returning Mix would become the anthem it did. Heck, does anyone even remember the original version (mistitled Vocal Mix here)? The whole chopped vocals gimmick was just that, a quirky effect that turned decent lyrics into something quite unique for the time (and endlessly copied thereafter), and still holds up a decade on. It’s completely understandable why so many Holden fans are, erm, beholden to him, longing for a ‘03 returning stylee.

Hellar & Farlay bring the final 'dark prog' track to the series (more of a tribal outing this time), Future Prophecies the final d'n'b cut, Vincent de Moor’s mix of the classic Kinetic a final bit of trancecracker trance, Radar one more old-school trance tune, and the Bob Sinclar Mix of Do You Remember House? for the last true bit of house (Luomo's track is kind of electro-house though). Meanwhile, a pair of totally random songs in Slider and Relax round things out. I simply had nowhere else to put them until now (then). Huh, quite a coincidence to end Mixed Goods with such a summation; funny how it turned out that way.

That’s finally over though. Thanks for putting up with this nostalgic excursion into my year of personal CD burning. I was leery about this stretch, knowing full well it’d be almost nothing but anecdotes, which I prefer avoiding when possible. Still, maybe younger readers gleaned some interesting insight into that brief era of AudioGalaxy’s glorious heyday.

Okay, I’ve a huge pile of alphabetical backlog to get through now, on account I picked up another CD tower from a friend, under the condition I relieve him of his CD collection as well. Some of the releases and artists coming up, I thought I’d never review. This… is gonna be fun.

Various - Mixed Goods XV

(~): 2002

TRACK LIST:
1. Intro
2. Fred Everything - Let You Down
3. Blakstone - One Thing
4. Blaze featuring Palmer Brown - Do You Remember House?
5. Fred Everything - Universal Mind
6. Fred Everything - Another Soul
7. Barrington Levy - Under Mi Sensi
8. Fred Everything - Under The Sun
9. Fred Everything - Derby
10. Blaze featuring Palmer Brown - Do You Remember House? (Azzido da Bass Tech Drops)
11. Fred Everything - Without
12. Fred Everything - Revolution

Lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy. Did I not care about these anymore? Eh, not really. WinMX continued to suck balls as an AudioGalaxy replacement, and all the other suggested replacements were too sketchy for my liking. Also, I was employed again. And had real money again. And lived close enough to Vancouver that I could visit awesome music stores when I felt the urge to check new music! Downloading felt horribly unnecessary and so not worth my while any longer. I mean, just look at that track list up there! It's basically Fred Everything's album Under The Sun, with a few smatterings of other tunes. Why didn't I just buy Mr. Everything's album proper-like instead? Gathering MP3s was kinda fun at first, hunting about for music you knew was difficult to find at that day in age. Then, it became tedious, a chore for diminishing returns. Hell, I didn't even care enough to find a spiffy cover for this fifteenth volume of Mixed Goods, going with a rather generic 3D spheres thing.

I’ve really backed myself into a corner here with so much Fred Everything. I could tell you a bunch about his career, and his style of summery, loopy deep house (some people call this ‘liquid tech’ now, for some stupid reason). If I did that though, I’d have nothing to say when I do get around to reviewing Under The Sun (like, probably over a year from now). Well, okay, I’ll let you know that Derby is dubbed-out bliss, but that’s all.

The Blaze tune was a minor hit when it came out, even if it deals in a house trope that’s almost as old as the house ol’ Palmer’s reminiscing about: the ‘back in the day’ monolog. Still, Blaze has never made a bad track in their career (if they have, please don’t tell me – I cherish the ignorance), and Do You Remember House? is no exception, perfectly capturing vintage house vibes without coming off retro. Learn from these guys, o’ ye House Revivalists of our modern times.

Blakstone provides my obligatory ‘dark prog’ cut, and I’ve no clue which ragga version of Under Mi Sensi that is up there; it was all I could find when I initially searched for the original. With that, I’ve said all I’m willing to with Mixed Goods XV. Tunes are fine, but are hopelessly redundant within my collection. Meh, why couldn’t Mixed Goods XII have survived instead? That one was great! Ah well, one more to go.

Various - Mixed Goods X

(~): 2002

TRACK LIST:
1. Aqualite - The Outback (DJ Taucher Remix)
2. O.T. Quartet - Hold That Sucker Down (Aquagen Remix)
3. DJ Kayos - Acid Vibes
4. Reverse Pulse - Flexible
5. Tom Wax - Amphetamine
6. Sunbeam - Solar Surfing
7. Stimulant DJs - Stop The Groove
8. Komakino - Dynacore
9. Spicelab - We Got Spice (Humate Remix)
10. Spicelab - Bad Rabbit
11. Sunbeam - Dreams
12. Shorty Bone - Dream Phase

My memory's hazy on this one. I distinctly recall seeing the image in an online gallery and thinking, “That's what I want for Mixed Goods X! It'll make for a wicked X-Files rip-off!” I'm pretty sure I'd also escaped interior-BC purgatory by this point, so my thoughts would have been on developing covers, including ones for future use since I had access to a printer again. Pity not the ink jet that handled this one, my friends, for it was a noble death.

The track list, however, has me wondering otherwise, as it's full of acts that don't make sense for the time. Komakino, Spicelab, Sunbeam, and such almost certainly would have been prioritized when I made my first searches in the world of P2Ps. Yet here they are instead, almost a good year after getting involved with AudioGalaxy. Perhaps after making the switch to WinMX, I tried my luck again to see if any new results came about? A smattering of leftovers I was saving for a theme-appropriate Mixed Goods? Or maybe it was that interactive Flash thingy I'd stumbled upon that pointed out tracks of ye' olden days, inspiring me to dig a little further again (Enlil's Tour Of Digital Rhythm, Melody & Harmony, or something).

I’m not sure what else to say about this one. As a collection of old school German trance, it’s alright, but I’d already put the best stuff on that Hypnotic: Electronic Purity CD, plus most of the other Spicelab material on its own disc (long since demised). The Aquagen Remix of Hold That Sucker Down pales compared to the classic Builds Like A Skyscraper Mix, and of all the leftover Komakino I’d yet to get, it’s an old, hard techno tune that makes the cut here. Still, gotta love Shorty Bone’s free-wheeling hard acid trance. So raw, so fun.

The outliers on Mixed Goods X aren’t much cop either. I have no clue why I got an NRG track in Stop The Groove, as I had but a passing tolerance of the stuff most of the time. Then again, when you’re growing desperate for any tune out of Muzik Magazine’s back pages, you’ll settle for Stimulant DJ’s. And Reverse Pulse’s cover of Depeche Mode’s Flexible barely sounds like the original at all – more like a left over German trance track the Pulsers had, and dumped some distorted vocals on top. Why do I have a feeling of déjà-vu talking about that one?

Various - Mixed Goods IX

(~): 2002

TRACK LIST:
1. Jondi & Spesh - Creep Phase (Dub)
2. Chiller Twist - Strings Ultd (Shelly Mix)
3. Futurecast - The Future (Is Now)
4. Powerplant - With Or Without You (Blackwatch Mix)
5. DJ Gollum & DJ Yanny - Watch Out (Mellow Trax vs Lars Palmas Remix)
6. Dirty Vegas - Days Go By (Galastasory Mix)
7. Jay-J & Chris Lum - Freaks Like Us
8. Walley Lopez & Dr. Kucho - Acid Journey
9. Jondi & Spesh - Creep Phase (Original)

This might as well be Dark Prog 2, even though the music here isn't as endlessly plodding as some of the stuff on that disc. It is a consistent theme on Mixed Goods IX though, and also having the dubious distinction of the volume I always forget is on it.

Yes, even the Dirty Vegas hit Days Go By. I remember that I did nab that track almost immediately after seeing that Mitsubishi car ad like everyone else (so cool, so class, so vibe), but not where I put it. In fact, even going back to this CD just now, I was surprised to find Days Go By on here. Incidentally, this “Galastasory Mix” credit must be mislabeled, as Lord Discogs has no return for such a name. It just sounds like an 'extended mix' anyway, and for all I know, it's the proper original version (I don't have their album, nor do I care to get it). I'm only keeping it titled up there thusly as a testament to the wilderness that was post-AudioGalaxy P2P hunting of the early '00s, where mislabels were common. Many times you thought you'd stumbled upon a new, unique tune or remix, only to find it horribly, incorrectly titled (remember, kids, properly label your rips), or deliberately misleading to give the uploader undeserved fame (oh hi, DJ Mystik). At least this MP3 of Days Go By wasn't credited to Paul Oakenfold with a Digweed remix.

*whew* Was that paragraph ever long. What sort of specific tracks are we dealing with on Mixed Goods IX, then? There's some deep, dubby stuff here from Jondi & Spesh – mm, like dub techno, but with warmth. Chiller Twist's Strings Ultz was a minor, melodic hit back in the day, while Walley Lopez & Dr. Kucho bring a proggy bit of acid to the table. Even hard dance mongers DJ Gollum & DJ Yanny get a classy acid-prog (!!?) rub for Watch Out. Also, why is nearly every artist and remix on here a duo? Even two of the aliases (Powerplant and Futurecast) are duos. I swear I didn't intend to piece together Mixed Goods IX as a showcase of that! Maybe prog was entering its “we cans Sasha & Digweed too” era with credits?

Despite always forgetting about this compilation, it's still a pleasant disc to hear whenever I do throw it on. Can't really say the same for the remaining Mixed Goods, but they're definitely memorable, if not for the best reasons.

Various - Mixed Goods VII

(~): 2002

TRACK LIST:
1. Dido - Hunter (MJ Cole Mix)
2. Acquired Sound - Online
3. PPK - ResuRection
4. Jamie Anderson - Can't Stop
5. Chris Zander - Lord Of Sunshine (Christian Hornbostel Mix)
6. David James - A Permanent State (Superchumbo Mix)
7. Oliver Klein - Timeloop
8. Biosphere - Chromosphere
9. Justin Scott Dixon - Pure
10. Interflow - Storyreel (Extended Vox Dub)
11. Jamie Anderson - Black Sun (Total Eclipse Mix)

7? What happened to 6? Heck if I know. I can't even recall what was on it, made in an uncertain time where I still relied on P2P sources, but with diminishing returns. Shortly after this one, my financial situation hit an all-time low, and I was forced to pawn off my CD collection for ramen noodles just to get by. I wasn't too choked to see those discs go, but a few had assorted tracks I wanted to keep for future use in these compilations. And now they're lost as well, lost, lost...

Well, not quite. That Justin Scott Dixon track, Pure, ended up on a future Mixed Goods without me even realizing it, which is doubly-funny since I already had the track on Sasha & Digweed's Northern Exposure 3. In fact, I think this is an exact rip from that set. Why on Earth did I even want that track so much? Sure, it was one of the few tunes in the back pages of Muzik Magazine I could nab, but it's not that good out of context.

Ah, I'm sure most of ya'll haven't even noticed Pure in the track list above. Yes, that's ResuRection you see, and yes, I unashamedly adore that track! Overlong breakdown aside, it's such a deliciously old-school sounding tune, I was stunned it even became the hit it was. Maybe it would usher in a new dawn of classic trance, one no longer reliant on Dutch supersaws and- oh, you naive little darling, 2002 Sykonee!

Aside from MJ Cole’s remix of Dido’s Hunter (was curious to hear what the deal with MJ Cole was ...wasn’t impressed) and another classic Biosphere cut (please point me to affordable copies of his early albums!), Mixed Goods VII follows a similar structure to those that came before: mix of house, techno, and prog. This one’s mostly prog though, as it was often easiest to find on WinMX, what with all those prog DJ mixes coming out in 2002. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, that’s not psy-trance act Total Eclipse doing a rub on Jamie Anderson’s Black Sun; rather, a play on words for a darker version of the funky house original.

Mixed Goods VII is alright, but a cynical ear isn’t difficult to form playing this CD, much of it drab and plodding. For as much as I enjoyed ‘dark prog’, what came recommended and what I could find just wasn’t cutting it. Fortunately, things turned around by the time I got to gathering it again.

Various - Mixed Goods V

(~): 2002

TRACK LIST:
1. Jacob London - Slom Time
2. D.A.V.E. The Drummer - Strictly Underground
3. D.A.V.E. The Drummer - Implant (Acid Techno Is Alive)
4. Brancaccio & Aisher - It’s Gonna Be… (A Lovely Day)
5. Ubu - Pixels
6. The Bangin’ Drummer - To The Underground (Vox Mix)
7. Danny Tenaglia vs X-Press 2 - Elements Vs Smoke Machine (Mayor’s Mix)
8. Derler & Kitzling - Nuclear Device
9. BPT - Moody (Future Shock Mix)
10. D.A.V.E. The Drummer - Evil Acid

When I initially made all these burned CDs, they’d all go into a simple, thin jewel case with hand-written tracks lists. It wasn't until I got the dodge out of interior British Columbia poverty and hands on a decent printer that I could do any spiffy labeling. Being endlessly nostalgic for early '90s CGI art, I scoured the interwebs for such examples. Every cover for Mixed Goods was culled from online galleries, and I kind of wish I'd kept the original artists' credits for them, as some of them are damned good, even making the discs aesthetically better than they really are.

Like Mixed Goods V!

I had ‘underground’ in the track list twice, plus all sorts of pummeling acid techno and chugging, basement tribal house (prog!), so I figured something appropriately properly reflecting that sound was required. I was also getting better at developing these covers, placing text, toying with fonts, and all that. Mixed Goods V may not have the best tunes out of my series, but as a complete package, I think its tops. Heck, even the CD label has unique charm.

Music wise, there aren’t that many surprises, as I was only just re-gathering up new material. Unfortunately for broke-as-fuck music enthusiasts, AudioGalaxy had just recently shut down, and most were left scrambling for alternatives. WinMX sufficed at the time, though was leagues behind in finding the specialist stuff. Suddenly all those wonderful MP3 rips of Muzik Magazine recommendations were gone, left with tons of D.A.V.E. The Drummer instead. Huh, okay.

Well, ol’ D.A.V.E. wasn’t too bad for acid techno (Implan still kicks), but I’m sure you’re all more interested in that Elements/Smoke Machine mash-up. Ah, it’s totally a bust, the entirety of Elements playing in whole, immediately followed by the entirety of Smoke Machine played in whole. Oh look, someone noticed Smoke Machine uses part of the vocal of Elements in its track. You so clever, bootlegger! Ah well, it makes for a nice companion piece in this CD, coming off the Tenaglia inspired (rip-off?) To The Underground from Bangin’ Drummer and into the anthem techno (!?) of Nuclear Device. Funky house jams from Jacob London and Branaccacio & Aisher, plus fine prog slices from Ubu and BPT (yes, this is the best remix of Moody), and you have a surprisingly well rounded CD of underground flavoured tunes. In fact, of the Mixed Goods I still have, V hits the peak.

Various - Mixed Goods IV

(~): 2002

TRACK LIST:
1. BPT - Moody (Pete Heller's 'Stylus' Vocal Mix)
2. Quirk - Soft Focus (Hyperion Mix)
3. Quirk - Yebo
4. Funk D'Void - Diabla
5. Chris Carter - Plex
6. Andy C & Shimon - Body Rock (Live)
7. Matrix & Fierce - Tearaway
8. Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia - Dust
9. Soul Grabber - Release
10. Plank 15 - Strings Of Life (Pete Heller's Strings Of Dub)
11. Kosheen vs. DJ Tiësto - Hidden Flight (Windsidor Bootleg Mix)

The title Mixed Goods truly is awful grammatically, though intentionally so. Something of an inside joke among my old 'Rupert Raver' crew, we (mostly two or three chaps not me) had a tendency to invent slang almost on a daily basis. It definitely started well before I joined up with them (I was a drifter before finding musically like-minded peers), and Lord help me, did I ever endlessly crack up to some of the nonsense that'd come from their mouths. Their slang war grew incredibly competitive, always attempting to outwit the last clever comeback, and ofttimes rendering simple discussion an impenetrable haze of jargon. As I still had close ties to that crew while I was making these CDs, some of the lingo remained a part of mine own, “goods” such an example. Yeah, it's not terribly difficult deciphering that one, but then I figured only they would ever see these anyway.

Okay, I’m honestly just burning word count here because Mixed Goods IV is quite a mess. By the time I got to making it, I was down to leftovers for MP3 choices, most of the best stuff already burned to personal compilation series (this one, Klassic Kickbacks, Breakz & Bass, Chilled Kutz ...ooh, mint material there!) or feature discs, typically of a specific genre or artist. I likely could have waited for more Muzik Magazine recommendations, but I needed hard-drive space for more music (my old-old computer only had 2.6 GB!). So onto Mixed Goods IV these oddities went.

There’s a fair bit of prog on here, though seeing Pete Heller’s name shouldn’t surprise of that. Perhaps more surprising is psy-trance act Quirk also getting in on that prog action; guess it was a bid to stay relevant, and ultimately failed since the duo folded shortly after these were released. A few excess cuts from my Breakz & Bass series also show up, though only Matrix & Fierce’s Tearaway is any good (and kinda’ stuck in post-Bad Company dark-neuro-step-funk-whatever sound). Chris Carter’s Plex is a weird nu-school breaks thing, and everyone knows Body Rock; all I could find was a crummy internet rip to sate my curiosity over the ‘clownstep classic’.

I guess the rest of these tracks were gathered to sate curiosity too; obviously so the Kosheen/Tiësto mashup, but also Funk D’Void’s nasty techno beast Diabla. Bet that track would scare the piss out of today’s festival circuit. Also, I really ought to hunt down proper copies of Pychick Warriors Ov Gaia’s music, shouldn’t I?