cutting edge music, classic, or both?

[kINEkT]

What do you prefer to play as a DJ? Nothing but new tracks, classics, or a mixture of both?

I personally try to first stay up on the latest and greatest in the genres I play. I've already purchased around 125 mp3/vinyl in 2008 that I consider to be high quality so it becomes increasingly hard to play old classics when everything is so fresh. If I am playing the newest I will rarely go back older than 2 years just because the style has changed so much it just doesn't sound good together. I do have my classic sets still which I will usually drop as a more exclusive oldies set.

[Ryan]

I only play newer tracks with the occasional hit from last year... but I'm ALWAYS on the hunt for new remixes of old tracks.

The only exceptions are the tracks that I have that are fairly old (that aren't/weren't "hits") but still have that new sound. The crowd doesn't know it's 3 years old. I have a bunch of older house that has the new sound. Those tracks usually get the best reaction. I never delete ANY music I get because a track that doesn't work today might be in style tomorrow.

With the evolution of music, the tastes of the crowd has evolved as well. A club goer is gonna EXPECT that new sound.

[JPaul]

I love the latest and greatest mostly stuff no one has heard yet, but i still love to throw in TRUE bangers that EVERYONE knows and loves because it gets people dancing. Add a little old school here and there and its perfect. You gotta change it up, The best part for me at least going out and listening to other DJs is when they drop a song you absolutely love and know its the awesome! BUT i also like going out and hearing a song I've never heard before and DANCING my fn ass off and going I NEED THIS!!!!

[JCJaguaR]

Jpaul's on the mark here.

[nawenipwod]

I try not to discriminate against music music based on its age. Music evolves somewhat, but the pace is very slow. Music from a few years ago is slightly different, but generally still mixes well with music today (at least the techno I play). I would rather be timeless than trendy. All that said, It's rare I play a track from the previous century (but I didn't start collecting records until 2001).

I like to play bargain bin records from a few years ago that never got much exposure when new (if they fit into my sound anyway). "Classics" tend to bore me, and I have very few records that are recognizable to the layperson. The nice thing about obscure bargain bin tracks = they might as well be new since most people haven't heard them anyway.

I also play some new stuff. I choose new tracks because I like their musical properties, not because they are "popular". So trends I don't like (such as electro-everything these days) I pretty much ignore.

[silo]

...

i think as in many topical discussions on EB, this one again differs genre by genre.

in my opinion, great music is timeless....

over the years, the djs who have blown me away the most have been those which can mix & transition between different genres, styles, and musical time periods flawlessly while blowing the dancefloor apart. to me this is truly the art of djing. in contemplating this topic, a couple examples come to mind:

the first of these would be dj ani [formerly of dee-lite, he replaced the japanese guy]. ani [pronounced 'on-e'] was my favorite dj for many years. quite a few years ago, after hearing him play @ a club in daytona beach [a friend had a mini-disc recorder & ani plugged it into the mixer to record his set for us] i spent the next year or so tracking down every record he had played. he moved from the most modern european electronica & breaks to dropping 'grandmaster flash on the wheelz of steel' [released in 1981, i got it ;)] and then working his way through the dopest old skool hip hop & funk [including a couple of james brown tracks from the 60s], eventually working back to the new stuff [damn i wish i still had that mix to post here....brilliant]. he later got into drum & bass [a few drum & bass heads might remember his mix cd 'ampmutation' in which he does some more genre bending]. he has since disappeared from the face of the earth. UPDATE: via a few google searches i found his myspace [http://www.myspace.com/djaniquinn]....he is still a fixture on the nyc scene holding down multiple residencies and he plays some of the more exclusive parties @ WMC. check the pics in his profile's albums to see who he rolls with ;) ani is the shit....see him if you ever get the chance.....

the 'mash-up' phenomenon which is so pervasive in the vegas clubs nowadays comes from the late 90s experimentation of phoenix's bombshelter djs [radar, emile, & z-trip] & their associates [like dj p who lives here now] mixing the latest hip-hop w/ both classic hip hop, rock, & anything else they thought sounded good [btw if you aren't aware of radar's 'concerto for turntable', you must check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIcjRZSTZVM

i was there at the gammage auditorium @ ASU when this video was shot.....fucking amazing, as extreme an example of mixing the newest sounds w/ the classic[al]s as i can come up with ;)]. the bombshelter crew threw the sickest parties....anyone on this board ever go to any of them?

granted, it is often scratching & turntablism which make such transitions between genres & musical time periods possible, and this isn't necessarily the norm for many of the more popular genres today.

in my own mixes i regularly drop in tracks 20+ years old.....within the last couple of weeks i have included these tracks mixed with the latest breakbeat releases, you can review the tracklistings in my thread in the 'mixes' section to find the specific mixes if you care to check them out:

numbers by kraftwerk [1981]
give it all you got by afro-rican [1987]
magic mike cuts the record by dj magic mike & the royal possee [1988]
ray of light by madonna [1998]
bassbin twins I [1992]
rhythm by dj who feat tanisha [1993]
all of the rabbit in the moon tracks [all are at least 5 years old, o.b.e. was released in 1994]

for the sake of space i will stop here. i have crates & crates of 'old' music still waiting to be recorded into serato which, in the hands of the right dj, could be blowing up dance floors in 2050 [granted these might be dancefloors of geriatric supa old skool florida ravers...lol]....to me great music is timeless......

so i guess my answer to this topic's question is......both ;)


dj b@

[Detn8or]

I love the latest and greatest mostly stuff no one has heard yet, but i still love to throw in TRUE bangers that EVERYONE knows and loves because it gets people dancing. Add a little old school here and there and its perfect. You gotta change it up, The best part for me at least going out and listening to other DJs is when they drop a song you absolutely love and know its the awesome! BUT i also like going out and hearing a song I've never heard before and DANCING my fn ass off and going I NEED THIS!!!!

I agree J Paul is money on this one... there is a differnce between some old track that was popular and rinsed out to the tracks that no one knows, the 1 no one knows could be made 8 years ago, and people wouldnt know the difference. I remember the days of putting stickers on your labels so no one would know what the track was, you would be the only one with that track for months.... good times.

Its a little harder to get those unknown gems nowadays... but if you get em they are timeless.

Silo is right as well depending on the genre some classics still can rock a floor. But I think that is because of the popularity of the genre at the time... I bet Kinekt could pull out some gems from 6 years back and get away with it because no one really played hardstyle in Vegas then (or maybe they did, but you get my point).

[silo]

...

I remember the days of putting stickers on your labels so no one would know what the track was, you would be the only one with that track for months.... good times.


no doubt...i remember that all too well....

I love the latest and greatest mostly stuff no one has heard yet, but i still love to throw in TRUE bangers that EVERYONE knows and loves because it gets people dancing. Add a little old school here and there and its perfect.


word


dj b@

[Digitally Twisted]

Genre and popularity of genre have alot to do with it. When I first started dropping psytrance back in 2001, it was new to everybody here in the States. A few years down the road I was able to drop tracks that I bought new then and people loved it. Now, psytrance is becoming more popular and people are downloading these classics by storm. So dropping tracks that did in 2004 that were fresh in 2001 can no longer hold their own.

I think JPaul has the right idea. There's nothing wrong with dropping classics. It's those classics (or that classic sound) that is the glue that holds the dancefloor. It brings an element of familiarity to the set and when placed correctly, will be the segway for your killer newbies fresh off the press.

[fxbuddaman]

I think JPaul has the right idea. There's nothing wrong with dropping classics. It's those classics (or that classic sound) that is the glue that holds the dancefloor. It brings an element of familiarity to the set and when placed correctly, will be the segway for your killer newbies fresh off the press.

as with anything else in life, moderation is essential. Im sure you've all heard the dj who plays for an hour or two and drops nothing but anthems, one right after the other, 2001 to 2002 to 2003. Boring, and sets like those to me have no soul. For me, its all about finding the right track that complements the current "mood" of the dancefloor. Weather it be old, new, house, breaks, funk, electro, etc. If you can tap into the soul of the dancefloor, its not what you play, but how its being played that rocks the crowd...

[Joshua Adam]

i prefer to play tracks that are on par with the atmosphere of the venue and the mood of the hour and crowd. everything should feed into itself from that point on... or at least it seems. it doesn't matter if the track is a few years older, or an unreleased monster from one of your associates, as long as it fits the occasion its all good.

[hellnegative]

Easy answer. When I got record shopping, I look for tracks that I enjoy. I don't aim for any certain genre or year, but I do like to keep it oldschool. It's my tagline.