DJs with a "Loose" Approach

#30

cmonnnn shoot us a linnk

#31

Aight, :ok_hand:

These two go from 4x4 normal stuff to the experimental and these sets are just a glimpse on it, i’ve seen them live do stuff that has not been recorded

#32

The loosest approach to me would be the Mancuso style of playing entire tracks, letting the track fade out and then playing the next track. No mixing. I’ve been to a few Loft parties and no one seems to mind, in fact, everyone claps between songs and the momentary pause in music builds suspense as to what is coming next. The whole project is about setting a specific vibe and letting the music express itself in it’s entirety on 10 huge Klipshorn stacks. Pretty amazing really and kind of refreshing in our world of endless music mixing.

#33

Of the 3 times I have seen BenUFO live he is way more tight than loose. Usually he goes loose for a recorded set for radio/podcast, but not a live set.

#34

This sounds awesome. I love playing Sunday nights when you can just let records play. No mixing needed. I’ve long thought about a show where you just play your favourite sides from a bunch of records.

#35

Kode9’s Rinse CD is amazing. Ben UFO’s is great too, as is his Fabriclive mix. Four Tet is a good DJ who doesn’t seem to focus on absolute precision. His Fabriclive mix is great, and his DJ Kicks mix is good, a bit more avant garde. I’m sure they all have a million free mixes onlie too. For ppl who like MCs on a mix I’ve been totally obsessed with Kode9 & Wiley on Rinse from a few years ago.

Also going to do a little self-plug from an amateur. Any ‘looseness’ may just be down to not being v good yet, but Kode9 is a big influence in terms of general approach, as is Ben UFO (altho ppl seem to disagree on whether he counts). Sometimes it’s eclectic, sometimes not rly. I did a post about it elsewhere on here which goes into more detail:

In terms of Mancuso style non-mixing, I did a Valentines Day mix which was a bit like that, and has non-dance music in it too. Although I cldn’t resist doing a little bit of mixing.

#36

Yeah, been reading a lot about The Loft recently (as I live across the pond) and it seems like an amazing place… Some of Floating Points’ ‘You’re A Melody’ parties take this no-mixing approach as well:

#37

God I’m so loving this thread. I’m glad people are interpreting “loose” differently because it’s turning up great DJs. I see why there’s debate about Ben UFO and Call Super, they are definitely in a slightly different category but I think they bring an element of looseness. Saw Sango this weekend and he was mixing in ableton but was definitely loose in a totally different way. Didn’t stick around any tempo for more than a couple minutes but kept it rocking.

#38

me too. since you kicked it off with the original post, how would you describe looseness and how do you see it in Chemical Bros and Daft Punk’s respective styles?

#39

wow, only listening to the first cashu so far but its amazing. mix style is incredible…layered and ethereal, the first track into the second has me hooked. thank you. curious, what specifically about this would you describe as loose?

#40

So on that Chemical Brothers record there’s this incredible tension and release that I get from the sense that the groove they are constantly building could fall off the rails at any time, but that they are in control and can be relied upon to keep the groove going right on the edge of control. That opening sample “brothers gonna work it out” sums it up pretty well. There’s all this chaotic noise going on but you can trust the brothers to keep it on track and sounding insane, but controlled. These dynamics really amp up the sense of release you get from those bass hits. I get a similar vibe from Alive 1997, and some of Daft Punk’s production from that era, especially a tune like Rolling and Scratching, or the version of Da Funk on Alive 1997.

That’s a particular expression of the sound from that era, but when I went to see that show Four Tet put together at the Shrine in LA with Daphni, Madlib, Ben UFO, and Floating Points, that dynamic popped out so clearly. Daphni was the first of the night to really explore that sound with a filter heavy set of dub, disco, world music, and heavy techno. You could never tell when the beat was gonna hit or what kind of beat it was gonna be when it did, and it felt like watching a high wire act the whole time. Then Madlib put on a clinic in that style going across every imaginable genre while keeping the groove intact throughout. The way he used the EQs and faders to get this incredible reverb out of the event space itself, and the way he commanded the soundsystem like it was an instrument was inspiring. I was sure he was on vinyl but I looked up pics and saw that he was on CDJs the whole time. He was just so smooth and loose with it. Again he was able to amp up the drama of the set with that chaotic loose style, so when things did fall into place and the beats were banging the sense of release was incredible.

To make an analogy to fiction, it’s kind of like an anti hero protagonist. If you know for sure that everything’s gonna be alright, that the hero’s always gonna do the right thing, that the bass and snares and hats are always gonna be there for you, there’s no drama on the dancefloor, but if the DJ can get you in a space where you think it could all go wrong at any moment, they’ve got you hooked, and if they can keep you on the edge there you’re gonna be locked in all set long.

Something like that haha.

#41

That mix is a dekmantel podcast so I think she wanted to show her skills but from those two mixes you can at least experience looseness in the selection.

I’ve seen both DJs not giving a fuck about precision and jumping trough styles really fast in more underground parties. Check them out later but don’t expect chemical brothers and flylo levels of craziness tho haha

#42

Is this Jayda G’s style then?

I prefer this to flawless mixing/beatmatching honestly.

#43

Just popping in to say I saw Ben UFO doing a sort of weird d&b-ish set yesterday and I have to say… didn’t think he was DJing super-tightly at the beginning (it was still great). So in my view he counts even though he wld doubtless be capable of doing a very tight mix were that the intention.

#44

Ben UFO & Gaslamp Killer maneeee

#45

Yeahmann I do it on purpose, honest

#46

yes, i love this analogy.

i have two interesting connections to what you’ve written above. First is that Exit Planet Dust and Homework were my first two proper electronic albums i purchased at the age of 12 after hearing them on the 2am saturday night techno show on a rock station (Aaron Axelson’s Subsonic on Live 105 if anyone here is from The Bay Area). Made me realize this tension and release, this looseness, this dynamic you’re describing is something ive known since day one and that aesthetic has formed my taste when it comes to newer acts and really getting into the technical elements of djing.

second is that i fucking had tickets to that very show at the shrine and gave em up to my cousin (whose mind was blown she reported back) to venture to a campout festival where old old pals were gathering for a birthday. wish i had checked the clinic, but thanks to the internet i can get a sliver of it…cheers for the odd triggering of insight and memory.

#47

Eclair Fifi, anyone?

#48

dj/rupture back in the day, everything from crunk to musique concrete to breakcore

His mixes presaged a lot of these global club sounds.

score5 even though he isn’t the best of djs he played some of the weirdist grime beats, if you listen to boxed stuff now they took up the baton from that sound.

#49

yeah, wondering what dj/rupture is doing these days … haven’t read his book yet!