Ralph Lawson Live. January 2012

Image So Hasegawa

I realised soon after the first reactions started to come in for the Music Factory years mix that I could well be setting myself up for being typecast as a retro DJ and sentenced to a lifetime of wedding sets.  The desire to document my years at back to basics is so strong that I have to do something about it.  The mixes and sleevenotes that go up on this site are my way of getting clear what the hell happened over the last 20 years. But at this stage I need to get the record straight that I am all about moving forward.  Backwards is a direction that is important to learn and understand but we must move forwards.  I hope the history of basics will enlighten and entertain and we will all benefit through recounting the stories but I have no intention of wallowing in the past.

We live in exciting times in so many respects and music is no exception. There is a wealth of material coming out from new producers in so many different styles and those styles themselves are crossing over to form new ones.  I have always felt it is the duty of every DJ to play as much new music as possible.  Firstly to help promote up and coming artists but also to contribute to the progression of music.  At the start of every year I search for new material with fresh ears.  So, "that was what I was playing last year but what do I want to play this year".  The first set of the year is therefore always a special one for me.  So far these are sounds that have caught my attention, mixed together with some that were ahead of their time.  Recorded live in London January 2012. 

Freak Seven - We Bring the Music (2020Vision mix)
Chez Damier - Can You Feel It (Steve Bug redub)
Nicole Moudaber - Hair
Daso - Dan Lyke
Aera & Marc Schneider - Sumback
Shonky - Les Shonkettes - (Joyce Muniz remix)
Mario Aureo & Daniel Solar - Would You (Matthias Meyer remix)
Nicolas Gala - Bring In The Funk
Kerri Chandler - Red Lights
Kyodai - Mi Rumba
Phonokemi - Exterminators
TT - Tired of Being Wrong (Burnski remix)
David Keno - Cyrus
Pete Dafeet - Stutter (Moodymanc d-d-d-drum dub)
Skudge - Void
Lula Circus - Infinity
Mihai Popoviciu - If There Is
Inside - Dark You
Jay Bliss - Pluto
Nicolas Masseyeff - Mugen