The songs commonly found on these pages are fun to hear individually. A keen reader might now ask: What's the catch? To which I answer: At no point during composition was ease the intention - assumption being the author's source. At any rate, save for, perhaps, a Bill Murray themed dance party, it is hard to imagine a single record looped endlessly for any festivity's duration. In this scenario purpose and intention are sacrificed to the golden calf of convenience. Sure, as stand-alone works, these tunes are fun to dissect - every detail captured, each change memorized charges to which I plead guilty - but they only work as intended when fitted into a larger work.
A DJ set is not unlike a collage - or perhaps more accurately, an essay. Listeners, dancers, and two-bit hacks (who think themselves 'critics' named John) are able to experience the thought process of the dancefloor engineer. Any algorithm can create an endless playlist of loosely related material. Pushing aside the geniuses and all-encompassing box radios of the computer world, however, allows for a human element to take hold. The result is more than a simple shuffling of chart toppers. A proper DJ - different from a beatmaker or producer - always keep the present in context. It is not only about tunes that appease to personal preference or anthems anyone can belt out to the chorus to, rather the key is finding a compromise and adapting it to the situation at hand; unless of course the 'mixer' has enough cache that folks are drawn to the music purely from name recognition. But just like no essay identical to another, not all DJ sets serve the same purpose. The approach of forlorn French water-lillies becomes useful. Take a step back and question intent. Is the mix live or pre-arranged? Is it meant to be actively educational or passively played in the background? Is it directed at headphone listening or a group enjoyment. And once the intention is deciphered, the truly nerdy are exposed to individual sources of material, the newest (or oldest) music, and best of all leads to new fountains of sound.
Needless prose aside...
...following a release last week that remixed an African dance song from the recent past, Txiga Pro's mystery man, DJ Wayne, has one more gift to share. "Mix AfrO 2014" is self-explanatory: fifteen (downloadable!) minutes of dance songs with an African feel or origin. The selections are largely mid-tempo kuduro and house, although a surprising amount of non-typical bass is heard. As always, rhythm is central but plenty of vocal accompaniment, keeping the energy level high, can be heard throughout. Where melody is concerned, the selections focus primarily on traditional sounds more than Western electronic music aesthetics. A very enjoyable curation job with the only criticism being the fading out of songs just as they begin stake a claim to the imagination of the listener. But truth be told, it is hardly a reason not to listen.
- John Noggle
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