Avenue Red

Yet again we welcome a DJ back to the stage for Avenue Red Podcast 41, this time with a blinding mix from Verdant Recordings (real name Andy Green) from the much maligned Stevenage near London, an old hotbed of good times from the halycon days of electronic music. This is his second contribution to Avenue Red, following on from his Avenue Red 1210 Mk4 mix, strictly for the connoisseurs (link below).

Andy's Verdant Sessions shows on Timeline-Music.net are a great place to discover exciting new releases mixed with old, forgotten gems from his collection and this mix provides a great summary of the kind of music he is focussed on with that project. Andy has also co-founded a new music group and party called Transition along with Stephen Sherdel, Leigh Dickson & Rick Hopkins with a mission to play out "Intergalactic Funk". He's also 1/3 of the SUNK collective, another London night of quality House and Techno.

"Not sure I really wanted to achieve anything specific for this Avenue Red mix other than compile 80 minutes of quality tunage to enjoy. A clutch of new records (new Stojche is a beauty), some old house references and perhaps one or two inevitable represses that filled a space in my collection. Deep House, deep Techno, dub inflections... the usual VR vibes."

Avenue Red 1210 Mk4 - Verdant Recordings

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/1210-mk4-verdant-recordings

@verdant-recordings

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Full tracklist for this mix coming soon, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments in the meantime.

Following on from his first contribution for the 28th Avenue Red Podcast he is back for the 40th!! We are very proud to present another exciting mix from Rubsilent (real name Hamza Solim) from Istanbul, Turkey. A master collector/selector since '96, Rubsilent has delivered this impeccably mixed set of soul-warming, body grooving, summery tunes at the perfect moment. This is the Avenue Red soundtrack to the summer delivered by our number-1 man for the job! Enjoy on a hot day with a chilled drink... with ice... and one of those little umberellas sticking out of the top! :D

"Since 1996 I have been constantly buying the music that I love on vinyl, however I don't necessarily rush ahead and cram mixtapes full of all my latest new purchases. I like to mix old and new and I publish online the ones I believe in, however I noticed that I hadn't really come up with a 99% pure house-oriented session for a while... This mix contains some new releases and some records that I haven't touched for many years that have been collecting layers of dust. So as the summer is around the corner I decided to come up with a more jazzy, groovy and organic session. Here it is, enjoy the sounds and the summer vibes!" Hamza Solim, May 2015.

Avenue Red Podcast 028 - Rubsilent

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-028-rubsilent

@rubsilent

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No tracklist was provided for this mix, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments.

For the 39th instalment of the Avenue Red Podcast we welcome yet another Russian DJ to the series as we present Skoork (real name Petr Skoork) from St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city in the North West corner of the country. Petr has been DJ'ing since 2006 and later began experimenting with music production as of 2014. His musical works have been released on Dutch label Deep Sense Records and more recently on Belgian label Conceptual Records, with another EP due out in Autumn. Petr's sound as producer and DJ is very much consistent: a distinctly dubby, deep and hypnotic variant of House & Techno - a sound that appears to be a very strong element of the contemporary musical landscape in Russia... an area of music Avenue Red is keeping a close eye on.

"This mix was recorded especially for the team at Avenue Red, very close to me the sound of British electronic scene! Setup: AKAI APC40\Ableton Live. Enjoy the session!" Petr Skoork, May 2015

@skoork

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Full tracklist for this mix coming soon, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments in the meantime.

For the 38th Avenue Red Podcast we have an eclectic, rather odyssey-like 90-minute mix from Southport-based DJ, Josef Lawler. Josef holds a monthly residency in his hometown at a monthly event called Macooza, which has just recently celebrated it's 1st birthday and has seen Josef play in support of guests like Seelie, Lazare Hoche and System 2, with grand master Rikki Humphrey (see: https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-023-rikki-humphrey) coming to spin there in June also – sounds like a top party to be resident at!

In this exclusive selection Josef lays down a trippy mixture of records from curious, eerie Ambient sounds to driving, hypnotic Acid and from deep, twisted Techno to oldskool, melodic IDM... this mix takes you on a real journey and shows you just how rich, diverse and interesting electronic music has become. Listen from start to finish please! Flick through this mix and you are simply not going to get it.

"This mix is an insight to the sort of stuff I like to play out, a balance of old and new records, some deeper cuts and a few more made for the floor! Hope you enjoy the mix" Josef Lawler, May 2015

@joseflawler

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Full tracklist for this mix coming soon, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments in the meantime.

The 37th Avenue Red Podcast comes from Force Placement (real name Jason James) from the West side of Los Angeles in California, USA. Jason has been DJ'ing regularly around his massive metropolitan hometown since his late teens over a decade ago. He sent us this mix and we liked the selection and felt it added something unique to the series, a vinyl-only mix fusing House & Techno that is deep, rhythmic and strange with lots of spacey melodic tracks scattered throughout.

We took out some time to have a brief Q & A with Jason about the mix, how's tricks and what's been happening in the music world over in Los Angeles!

Q. Hi Jason! What is the music scene like in LA for Electronica/House/Techno at the moment? It's a massive city so you'd imagine there to be a lot going on?

A. The scene is pretty vibrant right now, lots of great underground events and solid bookings every weekend. Recent events that come to mind have had Bok Bok, Jacques Renault, Untold, Max Graef, Gerry Read etc. For a while it was mostly illicit warehouse parties but the cops started busting them more so it's died down a bit in that respect, but still lots of great events at bars/clubs to check out.

Q. I read that in LA, the clubs closed at 2am which gave rise to a culture of illegal warehouse parties. Is that what you are referring to that "died down"?

A. Yea clubs close at 2. It's state law in California so people threw illegal parties but the LAPD started cracking down on them hard. Resident Advisor did an article about it (http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=25170). They talk about the Omar-S party that got busted, I was there! There were like 20 cop cars and helicopters flying around, shit was crazy!

Q. So, have you played at any gigs that got busted?

A. Never. But it would be seriously frustrating! I know that it can be pretty devastating for the promoters here too. However, we have a deal worked out with the venue for our Black Lodge parties so we can go past 2.

Q. So does this early closure time encourage an after-party culture that spills out into house parties? Does this help relatively unknown DJ's get noticed at after-parties where DJ's/promoters end up after a 2am close?

A. Yeah definitely, there is a massive after-hours culture! I suppose it can actually help DJ's to get that initial exposure, more visibility/recognition in the underground scene.

Q. Could you say a couple of words about your Black Lodge party you mentioned and how it started? What's the format and music policy?

A. Black Lodge was my buddy Vikas Malhotra's (aka Kosmik) concept and he asked me to help out. He's a good friend of mine from when I lived in Santa Barbara. The music format is primarily underground house/techno music. We try to emphasize playing vinyl there too. The venue is a very unique one-of-a-kind space, it looks like a haunted library or something! It can only fit like 50 people max, a very intimate space ideal for what we are trying to do.

Q. To you personally, is the vinyl format important? Do you think that vinyl DJ'ing is getting more popular in LA like it certainly is over here in Europe, or is it in decline maybe?

A. I enjoy the challenge of playing vinyl, but the format isn't important. The selection is more important than what you use in my view. There are some cool record stores here but I'm not sure if I'd say it's getting more popular. Sadly a few established stores have closed here in recent years but a few new ones have emerged too, however few of them specialize in dance music.

Q. I noticed that you play regularly at that venue called Complex in LA and have a gig there tonight, right?

A. Yea I've been getting some cool gigs there recently! I'm opening for Ital (Planet Mu) and Aurora Halal (Mutual Dreaming) tonight. I'm also playing a party at Complex on 30th April for an event called "That's Deck", opening for Stefan Ringer (NDATL, CGI Recordings), Cromie (Peach) and An Expresso (L2S Recordings) (info on that here: http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=28935). April's shaped up to be a busy month for sure!

Q. Have you ventured into production works at all?

A. Sure have, I have been experimenting with making music since I was 16 but only recently started taking it more seriously. I have just put a track out called Neopolitan on this LP that is available to download here: https://la909.bandcamp.com/album/l-a-909-friends-vol-1

Q. Thanks for the mix, the track (which is ace!) and the chat, hope tonight goes well bro! Any final words about the mix?

A. Thanks! Right now I've got my decks set up in my kitchen and I recorded this mix while sipping tea and baking some tilapia. Vinyl-only. Please enjoy, thanks! Jason James, April 2015

@forceplacement

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Full tracklist for this mix coming soon, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments in the meantime.

For the 36th Avenue Red Podcast we finally present a DJ/artist who hails from our territory up here in Newcastle in the North East of England! This is a 2-hour vinyl-only mix from TIJN, the latest pseudonym of Martyn Hodgson (AKA Martijn) who is an experienced DJ and a talented producer with around a dozen releases to his name. Martyn is also the owner of the well-respected Deep Edition Recordings imprint and also the vinyl-only label In Haus Wax, which is strictly limited to 100 pressings per release.

This selection is a very interesting mixture of deep, drivin', groovin' House records with some obscure Techno bits too. Notably this is a very fresh selection of wax with 90% of the records played being new 2015 releases - very refreshing and good to see a DJ supporting the work of new artists and labels! Speaking of new releases, the new "Vivienne's Groove EP" release from TIJN has just come out on Ibiza label ISGUD and he has 2 more in the pipeline: one for Overall Music and another for Worx Records. Along with a gig in Paris coming up in May, things are certainly looking good for TIJN. Hope you all enjoy the mix as we did, it's a total banger!!

BOOKINGS :: [email protected]

@tijn-uk

@martijn-1

@deep-edition-recordings

@in-haus-wax

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Full tracklist for this mix coming soon, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments in the meantime.

For the 34th Avenue Red Podcast we presented Maxim Sukhanov AKA MA.XIM from Rostov-on-Don in South-West Russia. And here is the first of 2 exclusive mixes we are releasing to follow-up on his main podcast. This mix is from 2013 - it was the one that we first heard from Maxim and thought it was glowing, radioactive, interesting, alien, deep, dark... Really got us buzzing! Hope you love it too!

https://soundcloud.com/ma-xim-profile

https://soundcloud.com/hotboxrussia

For the 34th Avenue Red Podcast we presented Maxim Sukhanov AKA MA.XIM from Rostov-on-Don in South-West Russia. And here is the second of 2 exclusive mixes we are releasing to follow-up on his main podcast. This mix is also from 2013. Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/ma-xim-profile

https://soundcloud.com/hotboxrussia

The 35th instalment of the Avenue Red Podcast series comes from July (real name Julian Hopp) who hails from the German city of Frankfurt that is sometimes referred to as "Mainhattan" due to it's magnificent hi-rise skyline. Originally from Bavaria, Julian is relatively new to the art of DJ'ing having invested in his first pair of turntables just 18 months ago. However, he is no newcomer to a life of music in general. Having been schooled at a music-focussed Bavarian Grammar School named Regensburger Domspatzen, he grew up being instilled with a rich, classical musical background that has later developed into a deep curiosity for various forms of electronic music.

Having discovered his love for House and Techno and all styles connected, he set about on a mission to develop his DJ'ing abilities and has very quickly managed to gain ground from his endeavours, having found some notoriety as a selector of deep, mysterious and intellectual House music that has paved the way to a string of gigs in Frankfurt, Berlin, Marseille and Madrid.

"My great Ambition with making a mixtape in general is trying to create an arrow of tension where the highest point, the climax, is a very brief moment. I don't like to overload the selection with rough and aggressive elements. My motivation is to play organic and especially warm music, often with classical elements. The good old sounds of Chicago being connected with modern House music styles are always a signature of my mixes." Julian Hopp, March 2015

@dschuli

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Full tracklist for this mix coming soon, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments in the meantime.

The 35th instalment of the Avenue Red Podcast series comes from Avaen (real name Julian Hopp) who hails from the German city of Frankfurt that is sometimes referred to as "Mainhattan" due to it's magnificent hi-rise skyline. Originally from Bavaria, Julian is relatively new to the art of DJ'ing having invested in his first pair of turntables just 18 months ago. However, he is no newcomer to a life of music in general. Having been schooled at a music-focussed Bavarian Grammar School named Regensburger Domspatzen, he grew up being instilled with a rich, classical musical background that has later developed into a deep curiosity for various forms of electronic music.

Having discovered his love for House and Techno and all styles connected, he set about on a mission to develop his DJ'ing abilities and has very quickly managed to gain ground from his endeavours, having found some notoriety as a selector of deep, mysterious and intellectual House music that has paved the way to a string of gigs in Frankfurt, Berlin, Marseille and Madrid.

"My great Ambition with making a mixtape in general is trying to create an arrow of tension where the highest point, the climax, is a very brief moment. I don't like to overload the selection with rough and aggressive elements. My motivation is to play organic and especially warm music, often with classical elements. The good old sounds of Chicago being connected with modern House music styles are always a signature of my mixes." Julian Hopp, March 2015

https://soundcloud.com/avaenn

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Full tracklist for this mix coming soon, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments in the meantime.