PAUL VAN DYK
Mar 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Marsha Belinson
Nothing is flashy about Berlin, Germany's Paul van Dyk. He's not only handsome but also polite, punctual and everything that you wouldn't expect of a superstar DJ/producer. Since 1993, van Dyk has released six albums, started his own record label, built a recording studio and began hosting a weekly radio show called Soundgarden (airing Wednesdays from 8 to 10 p.m.; www.fritz.de). His latest release, Global (Mute, 2003), is a “best of” album but doesn't adhere to the usual greatest-hits formula.
This two-disc CD and DVD set is a reworking of van Dyk's previous tracks in 5.1 surround sound, and it serves as the soundtrack to his adventures across the globe during his 10-year career — one that hedges his mainstream appeal with an underground following. The DVD, with its companion CD soundtrack, creates a powerful portrait of this artist's memories, experiences and fantasies about the future.
Remix accompanied van Dyk to Uncle Sam's Music, where between the bongs and the bobble heads, he searched for records that piqued his interest. He was displeased to see a BT disc in the Used Pop section but amused by the placement of his Politics of Dancing on the shelf right below a picture of a lady's pubic area. Van Dyk went through dozens of records and selected a few based on instinct and the date stamp on the cover.
LOUDEAST
“Sonido Profundo” (Shinichi)
This is from a sublabel of Yoshitoshi. Usually, the stuff they come out with is a little bit too deep for me, but this record has a very cool sort of '80s bass line and is very nicely done. It goes through the whole track and builds and builds. This would be a good record to play in the first half-hour of the set, because it's not giving too much, but it's also not a boring kind of record.
LUSTRAL
“Broken (Way Out West Mix)” (Lost Language)
Lustral did a track about six or seven years ago called “Everytime,” which is an all-time favorite of mine, and now they have come out with a song that is equally as good. It's got this beautiful female vocal singing about things that break or that have been broken. It's a very sad love story she is singing about, but it's beautifully done, and the Way Out West guys actually did, I think, their best work ever. It's definitely a spot-on, main-time-all-the-time record.
Donna Summer/Jaydee
“I Feel Love”/“Plastic Dreams” (White Label)
Really cool, fun bootleg!
A PEEK INTO PAUL'S BOX
Along with his Uncle Sam's purchases, van Dyk also gave Remix the unique opportunity to learn about some of the current selections haunting his esteemed record box.
ROB ACID
“The Hunter” (Shortcut)
This has this stomping beat kind of marching forward, and then it goes into this roller-coaster ride of a bass line, makes weird noises, gets more aggressive with the beats, and then the beats drop, and the roller-coaster-ride bass line filters down and comes up again and gets more aggressive with the beats. This is pretty much techno. It is very cool. It maybe has some '80s edge but in a very modern form. For me, that was the biggest blow-up in the UK music press: this whole '80s electroclash bullshit. They tried to blow this up into a new thing, and no one was interested in it, because it was just really tacky. And the other thing was that most of the records were just called electroclash because the producer who did it wasn't able to properly produce something that we would like to listen to in 2002. So the only exception really was Fischerspooner; then, nothing else came, and it's gone. So if I say it has something'80s-like, it has nothing to do with the electroclash bullshit. It is, in a very modern sense, banging. Nice.
APPENDIX E
“Man of God” (Headline)
Berlin is the only city where I believe this whole '80s-electro thing really has some roots, because of people like WestBam and people who have been doing it for a very long time. This is one of those records that goes into that vein but is also at the same time very modern. It starts with a kind of electro breakbeat in the beginning. That's the strange thing about this record: It sounds very modern but uses all these old elements. It pretty much is an electro record that goes to a full-on four-to-the floor beat and this amazing kind of arms-in-the-air sequence in the middle without being cheesy at all. It's one of those tracks where if you drop it, people are going to think, “What is he doing now?” And then it all makes sense.
FUNKTION
“Seduction” (Alternative Route)
This is like if X-Press 2 and Chemical Brothers came together in the studio. But instead of just chilling out and smoking dope — or whatever it is that they do to chill out — if they got really energetic about something, this would come out of it. There is this great female vocal sample whispering “seduction.” Actually, this is a full-on-party house record but very tasty and very good. The closest thing I could think of is “Muzikizum” by X-Press 2. Maybe this is more catchy without being cheesy — and really, really good.
MIDTONE
“Pearl” (Duty Free)
This is an extremely cool record from the UK, and although Duty Free is usually famous for those hard-house, very banging, not-much-melody, just-going-for-it kinds of records, this record is totally different. When I played it for the first time on my radio show, I had a lot of callers asking what it was. I was saying that I actually didn't know what happened to Midtone, but they are finally back on track in the main league of releasing records. It sounds a bit like José Amnesia, as if he would have done that record. It sequences for a long time, and then it breaks into this beautiful thing where everyone just wants to hug. But you have to play it early in the set or else people will stink when they hug each other! And we don't want that.
QUANTOM
“Cannibal” (Destined)
This is not as boring as some of the progressive-house music. It has the bang, but it's also not as minimal as the tech-house music; it's something in the middle, and it has some soul. This record goes and goes, and then it actually goes into a funky bass line, and it really works out. I played this record on my tour in Asia after it was in my case for, like, two weeks. When I played it, everyone went off big-time, yet it could have been a record that was forgotten.
REVOLUTION 9
“The Weapon” (Vandit)
This originally comes from a label called Intensive Music from the UK. It's very banging, and it's very noisy — it's definitely a cool main-time track. I played a very early pre-version mix of this track during Winter Music Conference last year. So it has taken a while for it to get finished and produced, but this is one of those records that you always play. When you have it, you always play it. The main mix is very noisy and techno-y in a way, too, and then it comes in with a hint of melody and then rocks out again. I haven't seen in the last year a place where I have played it that people weren't freaking out about it.
THOMAS SCHUMACHER
“The Fortunate Ones” remixes (Superstition)
Thomas Schumacher is one of those rock 'n' roll techno boys from Germany. He's banging, doing one of the things people call “schranz.” This is a very strange version of techno: It's very musical. It's got a lot of hooks and melodies, as well as a little sample explaining a few things about the world. There is one main mix, which is not too fast, because he's really noisy all the time, and on the other side is something that is a bit more minimal for the techno heads.
Uncle Sam's Music; 1141 Washington Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33139; tel. (305) 532-0973; Web www.unclesamsmusic.com
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