Tracklist:

dj schu "intro"
Cashmere Cat "Mirror Maru"
Clams Casino "Palace"
Clams Casino "Numb"
Kromestar "Family Apart"
Parisian "Sean"
Photek "Pyramid"
The Solar Bears "Cosmic Runner"
Starkey "Beta Tester"
Antiserum & Mayhem "BayTL Dub"
dj schu "outro"

Unmixed version available at:

http://www.mediafire.com/djschu

or

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p6baooye9wtnoql/dj%20schu-%20synthesis%20part%20I.zip

"Do you every listen to any music with...words?"

I might have a problem, an addiction, perhaps.  Whether I'm a slave to the drum or a prisoner to soaring synths, I listen to an inordinate amount of production-based electronic music.  I don't know if my science nerd brain enjoys the subconscious deconstruction of each layer folded into a solid "track," but there's something I find incredibly cerebral about engaging with this sort of thing.  And although what I'm describing covers a huge range of musical styles from house to techno to hip hop to dub, when done well, it always hits the same sweet spot for me.  From the extreme contrast between rumbling low-end bass and chittering high-end percussion to the exotic textures complementing a euphoric melody line, I am simultaneously intellectually-stimulated and emotionally-stirred.  And while it is certainly not a deal breaker, I tend to veer away from vocals.  

This is where I part ways with some.  A distinctive vocal melody turns a track into song, which isn't always what I'm going for.  Call it style over substance, but the way a track can construct itself layer by layer then go on to deconstruct itself layer by layer creates a surreality that a song can't always do for me.  That being said, vocal-less music can be a tough sell to a listener; it can be exactly what makes the music dull and relegated to the background.  In fact, I like playing progressive house/techno mixes for my students during lab precisely because the tempo is fast enough to motivate them to work, minus the distraction of lyrics.  It helps that I call my classroom "Klub Kemistry."  And although my students generally dig it, I often get asked the following questions each year:

"Do you have any music with words in it?"

"Do you have any REAL music?"

and my favorite,

"Do you actually go home and listen to this?" (as if it was engineered only for performing science experiments).

So brostep drops aside, instrumental music doesn't always do it for everyone.  But you probably already knew that.

I've been buying DJ mix albums for years in addition to collecting individual tracks and artist albums, but I was particularly inspired in the last year by Photek's DJ Kicks and to a lesser extent Maya Jane Coles' DJ Kicks.  Both albums are traditional mixes in that tracks by a variety of artists are sequenced and seamlessly transitioned to take you on a musical journey of sorts.  The Photek mix contains tracks of extremely high quality and tends towards a heady, lower-BPM vibe.  I love the idea of a moody, while not necessarily dark, downtempo collection that lends itself to introspection and, if I'm being totally honest, yard work in (what can I say, I'm highly domestic and a practical kind of guy).  Photek pulls it off and then some.

Having the inspiration and a critical mass of instrumental music that I had already been asking "What can I do with this?," I embarked on assembling a mix of my own.  It's a technical journey that you really don't want to know about.  But rest assured that all of the music (or should I say "beats") contained within Synthesis Part I is awesome and every possible configuration of sequencing and mixing has been tried and (mostly) perfected in Audacity.  We've got sample-based hip hop, electro-y chill out, ambient, demented jazz, and dubstep (okay, like post-post-dubstep)!  And more!  It's certainly taken me many months to put together 34 minutes of music, but hopefully it's worth it.  My goals for you, the listener, are as follows:

-you go on some sort of spiritual journey...dude
-you look cool, but intellectual whilst listening 
-you refrain from singing your own vocals over the mix
-you desegregate electronic music from the instrumental ghetto of your mind
-you turn it up really loud (especially the BASS) and bob your head so hard that you almost hit it on a hard surface (like your coffee table or dashboard)

Until Synthesis Part II...whenever that gets done...

dj schu- synthesis part I

"Don't ask me the difference between Chicago House and Detroit Techno."

Tracklist:

dj schu "intro"
Xtra Funk "We Love Disco"
Todd Terje "Inspector Norse"
Royksopp "Curves"
Polographia "Tropic Fruit (Frames Remix)"
Dominik Eulberg "Offenbach"
Gabriel Ananda "Hey Blop"
Jacques Greene "Quicksand"
Sophie "Nothing More To Say (Dub)"
dj schu "outro"

Unmixed version available at:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/37y2pwj3mdrix7k/%282014%29+synthesis+part+II.zip

By the end of high school and into early college, no rock went unturned when it came to new styles of music.  My appetite for new sounds had taken me from hardcore Zappa addiction to the loungin' vibes of Space Age Bachelor Pad music from the 60's to the funky sounds of Parliament, which I would play at family parties just to freak people out.  There was a Prince phase in there, too, which I'd like to forget about.  Throw in all kinds of unique, if not obnoxious, groups from the 90's like Cibo Matto, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Stereolab, Jamiroquai, Sonic Youth, and Pavement and you're getting a clearer picture of my almost restless musical appetite.  I even had albums by drum 'n' bass, IDM, and dub artists.  So it might come as a surprise that I hadn't seriously delved into any music on the house/techno spectrum.

I don't think it was due to a lack of curiosity, I just didn't know where exactly to start. The music I liked was artist and album driven, whereas dance music is oftentimes the sphere of the almighty DJ.  I remember being intrigued by CD's in the Electronica section at Media Play (R.I.P.).  The packaging made the music seem very hip, especially the Global Underground series, which had a photo of the DJ and the exotic city where they had played on the cover.  I would flip the CD over and wouldn't recognize any of the names of the artists included on the mix, intriguing me even more.  I was clearly out of my element here.

Around 2000, I finally went for it and purchased Dave Ralph's "Love Parade" which fit in with the trance music that was "popular" at the time.  It didn't exactly blow my mind or anything, but I think I was pleased with the purchase because I finally had in my possession something representative of the scene.  I then got into sample-based house with the San Francisco Sessions series from Om.  I remember playing Vol. 2 for a coworker who thought it was okay, but wanted something more "techno."  I hadn't really thought about it myself, as my understanding was that ALL music with a 4/4 beat was techno!  But when she made the comment I realized the music I was playing wasn't really technoey, after all.  To this day, I'm still a little shaky on whether a track should be classified as  "house" or as "techno," unless it's extremely obvious.  I remember once reading a DJ saying something along the lines of "it's all house music."  So there you have it.  If it sounds like techno, I've got "progressive house" or "tech house" to fall back on (check out Beatport, if you don't believe me).  Speaking of which, I eventually got into the aforementioned Global Underground series full throttle, to the satisfaction of my coworker.  But I also went all in with the Naked Music label with their jazzy, deep house sound.  Even my newly discovered appetite for house music was an omnivorous one.

14 years and a shelf's worth of mixes later, house is a musical staple for me.  When I get sick of bands (which is often), I'm looking for a house mix to fill the void.  I've slowly, but surely, invested some time in delving into individual artists and their singles.  While I'm still a bit of a novice in this department, I've found some real gems that just had to be shared.  Much like its predecessor, Synthesis Part II is a showcase of good music combined in an interesting way.  As much as I love a stylistically consistent mix that captures a specific vibe, this mix progresses through a variety of sub-genres to keep things interesting.  Starting with a deep house/disco vibe and then progressing to tech house, the mix ends with some funkier electrohouse (okay, I'm just making stuff up at this point, but you'll see what I mean...).  I do have to say that this was a bit easier to mix than Part I, as there is much less variation in bpm's for house tracks than there is for a downtempo music.  Plus, it's a little less noticeable when you slightly speed up or slow down a track.  As a result, this should be a little more "professional" sounding.  You might not even notice when one track starts and the next begins...like a real DJ!  The transition between Todd Terje's "Inspector Norse" and Royksopp's "Curves" is pretty sweet...I'm just sayin'!  Enjoy the funky ride!  Perhaps it will inspire you to throw a rave in your kitchen.  

And get ready for Decomposition in which you will hear more amazing electronic TRACKS that I don't have the patience to seam together...


dj schu- synthesis part II

A tribute to Lockett Pundt, whose epic guitar work needed to be better showcased on this tune.  I could live inside of this guitar bridge forever!

Deerhunter- Back To The Middle (DJ Schu Edit)

"spontaneity" represents a burst of creative energy for me, inspired entirely by the song and video for Jamie xx's "Sleep Sound."  It lives up to its name in that I assembled the playlist in a night and mixed it in a week.   Nothing was over thought, intuition was my guide.   Consisting primarily of post-dubstep tracks with some house thrown in for good measure, spontaneity's skittering rhythms, rumbling bass, wordless vocals, and abstract ambiance are thrown all over the place,  challenging the notion that dance music has to be linear.

"Sleep Sound":

http://youtu.be/X_Gx2-yeNlk

Tracklist: 

Jamie xx- Sleep Sound (Single Version)
Koreless- 4D
Blawan- Iddy
Dark Sky- In Brackets
Martyn/Four Tet- Glassbeadgames 
Floating Points- Sparkling Controversy
DJ DJ Booth- C U L8r
FKJ- Open the Door
Jacques Greene- What Are You Feelin
Jacques Renault- M.A.N.
Jamie xx- Sleep Sound (Intro section)


dj schu- spontaneity

Entropy is commonly defined as disorder.  My goal with this mix was to move slightly away from past genre and mood-specific mixes and assemble a larger variety of electronic gems.  Beginning with a beat-less and atmospheric vibe, the mix pivots toward instrumental hip-hop.  Building momentum, the mix continues with more bombastic bass-centric beats followed by a touch of throwback rave music.  The ensuing midtempo synth grooves then bleed into rich, deep house.  The mix closes with a melancholic house feel.  

The irony of "entropy," then, is that in creating a cohesive listening experience, the imposing of a sense of order is necessary.  Nonetheless, entropy can also be defined as an increase in energy dispersal.  I suppose its success in living up to its name will be determined by whether or not it makes you get out of your seat and dance...

Tracklist:
1. Joris Voorn- The Monk
2. Andrew Hung- Ashill
3. Hudson Mohawke- Scud Books
4. Rustie- Big Catzz
5. Lone- Alpha Wheel
6. Bicep- Just
7. Lovebirds- Promises
8. Leon Vynehall- Blush
9. Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve- Creation (Psychemagik Dub)
10. Jamie xx/Four Tet- SeeSaw (Club Version)

djschu

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