Essential Mix 20th Anniversary Party: Verdict

Now that we've finally finished all the essential mix coverage over 3 pain staking weekends (why couldn't we of had it one fal swoop, I don't know... (circa 1995 @ the Que Club staying up for 5 hours recording it on my TDK120s with no auto reverse)  

Anyway here's my verdict of the "bbc's" so called coverage of the 20th Anniversary Essential Mix at the WHP...

Sasha - a very dull hour (why not longer?) of unimaginative tracks and set, reminiscent of his Red Bull capsule set a few weeks prior...(maybe better coverage out there from  his set, we will see)
Pete Tong & Eats Everything - or Petes everything as they said on the soundbites, best bit of the set... to be honest...wasn't a fan before and not afterwards

Booka Shade - first 30 minutes not too bad... then they go into concert mode, playing tracks...no mixing, talking at the  start and end of each track...tuned out and got bored

Steve Lawler and Hot Since 82 - was hoping for more to be honest and not 53 minutes worth of coverage, but I suppose you can't get to far b2b in an hour..Lawler and Hot Since 82 still delivered a nice mix..so nice tracks in what time they had

Paul Woolford & James Zabiela -  think this was the best coverage that I heard (in parts) along with Lawler & Hot Since 82   although, not typical Zabiela and to be honest a very easy set to forget...won't be going back to that...

Rudimential - Jungle, drum and bass... not my thing and never going to get me interested even being on the Essential Mix

Overall for me.. it was a dire attempt at a 20 year anniversary..the coverage was weak...too much dilution... why one hour sets over 3 weekends, how about a 4 hour coverage or even 5 like in the past? One hour coverage is total bollox in my opinion...

Quote from Woolford B2B Zabiela - Soundbites...

In summary... thanks BBC you have completely ruined the Essential Mix...no more will I listen to your shows(not that I have done since about 2002), Pete Tong you know f**k all about music and should piss off to your champagne commercial barn with all the other twats...

With so much great music out there, the Essential Mix this is a classic case of too big for its boots, too commercial, pitiful, weak and only for the  main stream in general...it certainly doesn't and didn't cater for what I would expect of the Essential Mix.  


Anyone reading this,  I would head over to Tribalmixes Radio https://www.tm-radio.com/, only there will you experience what great music is, by great DJs week in, weeek out!!

My New Years resolution....don't listen to the Essential (ever again)  

completely agreeing and backing up this speech. over the past years, too much njew-age shit is making its way into EM,, but how can it be any different, there're your 2 electronic Annies, skream and benga, all those new sounds, so i truly understand why this is happening to EM, i do understandf it, but i do not accept it. Radio1 is the most listened to radio all over the world, EDM radios, of course... so it must cater to the masses, to the current movement, to the contemporary musical vibes...

but let's just call up what i liked this year on EM: Guy Gerber in september, Lawler & Syrossian @ Sankeys in July, Maya JC in may, ghm... 3 mixes? out of around 60 this year? i must put here all the breaks/dnb sets - i liked them all, pretty much, but nothing really memorable, but i do like that kind of music so... but... eeh... don;t even wanna talk about it anymore...

what i don't like is the following... breaks, dnb, jungle, hardcore and some others were the leading music genres 20 years ago... they were replaced on top by progressive and trance and went down under, now dnb and breaks are fully underground, while jungle and hardcore are pretty much gone...

will this happen to progressive?

or is it already happening?>

I think the progressive genre will be there or thereaabouts, I think you will always have the darker side as we do on tm-radio.. so not anytime soon in my opinion...techno is the same... the likes of deep house will have crossovers just because its easier to integrate to the mainstream I think...

not sure about the other genres...minimal is on its own, full stop...the underground will remain I am sure of that because you can't really commecialize progressive or techno too much.  The retards that go to all these glowstick amercian bollox festivals wouldn't get it I think!