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A very special mix for the Clash DJ podcast this week, from an artist whose impact on electronic music cannot be overstated: A Guy Called Gerald.
One of the founding members of 808 State (though he later left the group), Gerald’s forward-thinking and experimental compositions over the years have both straddled and later influenced everything from acid house to post-Chicago to drum and bass. And although he may be best known for the timeless acid house anthem ‘Voodoo Ray’ (entwined with the history of Manchester’s legendary Hacienda, which the track eventually came to represent), there is a far greater depth to Gerald’s musical vision than such a track may belie.
Gerald’s Clash mix is a typically wide-ranging and esoteric affair, spanning numerous time periods and genres. Ambient mastermind Murcof makes an appearance, as do the unmistakeable sounds of Burial, Dutch electronica producer Legowelt and a blast of Arve Henriksen – a Norwegian trumpet player. But whatever description we may give to the mix remains superfluous to the words of the man himself, who offers some timely opinions on the current state of electronic music, via some passionate sentiments on the art of production:
“I started this mix with a sort of pep talk to encourage the loop-jays in electronic music to break out of their loops and enter the real matrix that was created for them back in the late 80s. You know me as A Guy Called Gerald, what you didn’t know is that most of you are still in the first phase – the loop phase. Phase 2 is the maze phase where sonic information is available not just in linear time but on layers of time.
“I helped to build this, inspiring early music software developers to create a virtual bedroom studio, so non-specialists in music production (like the DJ) could have direct virtual access to the source code I like to call music production.
“Over the last two decades there has been contamination in the system where certain rogue music styles entered the system at some of the easy access points, corrupting DJs and imprisoning them in the loop phase. My job is not easy but only the masters can break the loop.
“Electronic music is Psy-Fi.”
DOWNLOAD A GUY CALLED GERALD'S DJ MIX HERE
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A Guy Called Gerald Tracklisting
1. Cuerpo Celeste - Murcof
2. Birds Fly by Flapping Their Wings – Biosphere
3. Rainforest – Rainforest
4. Shining Book – Pan American
5. Holography – Arve Henriksen
6. From a Solid to a Liquid – Biosphere
7. Shell of Light – Burial
8. Dragon Fly – Zwicker (EP version)
9. Deerdrive JX10 – Legowelt
10. Tears for a Fallen Empire – Bvdub
11. Cats in the Night – Erell Randon
12. Fade (unknown)
13. Dark Matter – Heinrichs and Hirtenfellner
14. Evol Peed (Svens Dust Devil remix)
15. Illusion – Shirazi
16 Heiligendamm – Kollektiv Turmstrasse
Check out the previous episodes of our Dj Mix Series on iTunes HERE or individually on ClashMusic.com HERE
Podcast home: http://www.clashmusic.com
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