To celebrate our 700th CD. We've connected with an originator of the scene. John Acquaviva. Who introduces his mix with a look back at his early career and talks about the importance of the mix CD as an art form.

Here's a few words from John:
'It's a pleasure to come together with The Classic Mix CD Series to celebrate their 700th release that reflects and honors what for many is a lost art. That of the mix CD. Cutting my own teeth as a teenager before getting my nightclub gigs, i would make my  mix cassettes and hand them out to shops and friends.  Once I started to tour the world and as our seen grew i treated my mix cds as my album releases. for me these albums were a collage of other peoples works but newly interpreted though my mixing. The title BACK TO BASICS resonates with me as much today as it did around 2004 when techno was too hard, house was to easy and many artist re-energized by going back to the middle where it felt right. Not all the songs aged well, but listening to this brought me back to a wonderful time when it made sense to step back reflect and realize that sometimes, the best way to recalibrate is to get BACK TO BASICS, enjoy the mix'.

www.john-acquaviva.com
www.instagram.com/johnacquaviva
www.mixcloud.com/johnacquaviva
www.beatport.com/artist/john-acquaviva/3621
www.twitter.com/johnacquaviva

700 - BACK TO BASICS presented and mixed by John Acquaviva (2004)

Hey, Gareth here, I'm a graphic designer who start designing for clubs, parties, and labels in the late 90s. Back then, mix CDs were the holy grail of both design and music. I loved them.

But I wasn't the only one, mix cds were the soundtracks of our nights, our days, our afterparties and lives, for everyone. Yet in today's internet age, the art form has been lost (or just changed) to 2-3 hour online mixes and streaming videos, which just don't create the same magic your CD collection did. Just 60 minutes of music and incredible artwork.

The Classic Mix CD Series celebrates these discs, their soundtrack, their box art and your memories. We hope you enjoy it.

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Also, we try to help you find and buy them again by sharing Discogs links on all featured CDs and or direct links to labels where possible.

* We fully support labels and artists. If any disc creates a copyrighting issue let me know and it will be immediately removed. 

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About Gareth:
Digital creative type, gamer, music lover and occasional DJ. Currently living between Dubai & Seoul after setting sail from Sunderland in 2010. As a young designer, club and music culture was the driving force for his work, producing artwork for local club nights and record labels in the North East of England. In particular, DJ mix cds and their packaging were always his 'holy grail of design', especially those from Renaissance, Global Underground and Good Looking Records. It's a pleasure to share these discs back with people and they still influence our tastes to this day. 

For any CD recommendations, bookings, mixes or feedback you can catch me as @asapgareth on Instagram. Or you can check our my design work at www.acid.works