Bio: Dixon – along with partner Âme - is the man behind the critically acclaimed Berlin-based label Innervisions. His last foray into the world of mix CDs came via 2007’s Body Language ... (more)
Bio: Dixon – along with partner Âme - is the man behind the critically acclaimed Berlin-based label Innervisions. His last foray into the world of mix CDs came via 2007’s Body Language Vol. 4 on Get Physical. But a lot’s changed since then and the simple fact is that there has never been easier to access music than the present – especially if you are not willing to ever pay for it. Combine this with the ability to find just about every released and unreleased 12-inch, podcast and mixtape of almost any aspiring, successful or legendary DJ/Producer. On top of that, instead of slowing down, the majority of labels and producers keep on turning the wheel fast and faster. The urban myth and techno folklore of the record that is outdated after two weeks, turned into harsh reality. So why bother at all? Speaking for the other side, why spend hard-earned money on a product that is accessible free of charge on every Internet-DJ-page and just an easy mouse click away via the usual p2p sources? These thoughts and a reaction are the basis for Dixon’s brand new CD and the first in a series – Temporary Secretary.
Temporary Secretary is a conscious snapshot. Neither obliged to be a strict club set that has to work for any given dance floor or act as an addendum to Body Language Vol. 4 nor designed to follow a certain concept like Grandfather Paradox (with Henrik Schwarz and Âme) did within the annals of minimal music, Temporary Secretary is the third gender. The fact is, none of the versions offered here have been available anywhere else. Dixon slices and cuts the elements and fragments of the songs and tracks, pasting them together somewhere else and in a way that would not be possible in a club with turntables or CDJs alone and certainly not on the fly. He distils the essence of the very nature of what a DJ argues to do with music: to leave a distinct mark on it.
What has been once elevated to an art form by ancestors like Shep Pettibone or the Latin Rascals with the means of tape, razor blades and reel to reels for their New York radio shows, is brought up to the next level by Dixon. Equipped with a matrix that is usually only handed out to specific remixers, enables the chairman of the Innervisions-board to use this ad libitum. Just like a self-fulfillment tour for disillusioned disc jockeys. Dixon treats, blends, mixes and changes the tempo of the material in a way and shape that makes it even hard for the self-proclaimed connoisseur to find the start or the end point of some of his moves.
What has its spring in the calm and Balearic “Ongou” develops throughout its course with Tokyo Black Star, Âme, The Machine, Henrik Schwarz and the Junior Boys into an extraordinary hypnotic and hyper-individual maelstrom. Unsurprisingly, some of these mash-ups only have one ID-tag. Precious System melts into something new with Ben Klock, Jazzanova and Daniel Paul are fused with several unreleased Henrik Schwarz remix parts to create something entirely new. If you know the tunes, new perspectives will amaze you and if you don’t, you will have a hard time picture any other versions. This is the very mood and attitude that brings a DJ set close to perfection: the feeling that this music cannot be consumed in any other way. And this feeling has never been available on every street corner.
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