Search - Coldcut :: Journeys By DJ: Special Release

Excellent extension of late 70's-80's hip hop mixing

munkey | san francisco | 12/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"a freind of mine brought this back with him from NYC in 1996... my jaw dropped when he put it into the cd player. it was the first time, in a long time, that I heard such an eclectic and ballsy mix. not since early 80's hip hop mix sets by Flash and Bambaataa. Coldcut have no reservations about cutting it up...mixing and blending many many different styles and genres...quite skillfully. now I must rant...



in my opinion, the most important thing about this mix when it originally came out, is that it practically stood alone in the modern 'electronica' scene. it's rather unfortunate, but, too many dj's stick to one style (sometimes out of choice and convenience, other times because of their audience's expectations). I think this is very lazy and cowardly on the part of the dj... and on the part of the audience as well. of course, club sets don't need to be as eclectic as this particular mix...but, nor do they need to be over 2 hours of the exact same genre. it's really kind of boring. the art of dj'ing is about MIXING. first and foremost. unadventerous dj's bring about unadventerous parties. to the person that took stars out of their review simply because this mix isn't 70 minutes of straight forward dance music...ulgh... it's time to realize that there's really much more to it than that. dj'ing has never been only for the dancefloor...that's just a part of it. and, this level of quality genre-hopping is not easy to do. when you look back to this mix, you can see that it actually goes somewhere... they are playing with tempo, chronology, genre, mood, etc....it has peaks and valleys, a place of beginning and a destination. when you finish listening, you feel like you went on a journey...probably the best example in this series of actual 'journeys by dj.' but, anyways...



right away with this mix, you know you are listening to something special. when they flip the dillinja remix of Ashabanapal on 33 into 'noddy holder' into plastikman into jb mashup.... you know it's about to go down. talk about bridging several different 'scenes' in the span of a few minutes. and it's still funky as hell! brilliant. if you ever get a chance to see these guys live, it's amazing. their video/audio mix sets are truly memorable."

"This is going to be the most astounding thing you've ever h

A. Rana | New York, NY USA | 03/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"More and Black (aka, Coldcut) were right. This really is "going to be the most astounding thing you've ever heard."



Even though this compilation is now 10 years old, the programming and mixing is still so unique and innovative, not to mention so thought-provoking. It's not just drum n bass, jazz, trip hop, and scratching; there are a lot of messages in this piece that will make you sit back and think (Bob Holroyd's "African Drug" is a great example).



Words really can't do this piece of art any justice. Do yourself a favor and buy this and judge for yourself. Whether you're a fan of "dance music" or not, this is 70 minutes you're never going to forget.



In summary, Coldcut's JDJ comp is magnificent. Buy it and be astounded."

An amazing DJ set - they navigate through multiple genres wi

C. Cross | 01/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Coldcut's "Journeys By DJ: 70 Minutes of Madness" was such a great and influential album when it came out in 1996 because it dared to mix an incredibly wide-range of genres into one coherent DJ set (hip-hop, avant garde, trip-hop, reggae, dub, etc...). Every single track here is good, and some are even great - most people will like them a lot. DJs Jonathan More and Matt Black do an excellent job mishmashing all of these genres into one coherent and extremely satisfying DJ set. They even make room for some pretty funny/slightly scary samples that appear during the latter half of the album (see "Message From Our Sponsor" for a weird, but potentially possible, PSA sample). Not all of the material is theirs, yes, but you won't mind in the end - it remains a very eclectic and interesting mix of genres and artists. There's something here that everyone will like, and with seventy minutes of great turntablism it's hard not love this album. DJs and turntablists will no doubt love this album, but I also think it has some great mass appeal otherwise! Absolutely recommended!



Highlights include:

the entire album!"