Essential Mixes from the Year 1999 - RANKED

jonattonyeah

THE CARL COX AND PAUL OAKENFOLD ARE PRETTY GOOD! DIVISION

Paul Oakenfold - 25/4/1999

Somehow missed that WOW mix of Orbital. Damn good tune that would totally work today and, dare I say it, better than the Breeder mix. But as with often with Oakenfold, good first hour, plot lost in the second.

Orbital - Nothing Left (Way Out West Mix) [FFRR]
Underworld - Jumbo (Francois K & Rob Rives Remix) [Junior Boys Own]
Utah Saints - Love Song (12″ Mix) [Echo]

Carl Cox - 11/4/1999

Sound quality is terrible but that’s not Cox’s fault and he really brings it here.The mix into “King Of Snake” is proper head-down-we’re-going-for-it-now dance music.Can’t imagine there was a steady head in the place.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Underworld - King Of Snake [JBO]
Envoy - Rundown (Funk D’Void Remix) [Soma]
Ben Sims Pres. - The Loops (B2) [Hardgroove]

Paul Oakenfold - 17/1/1999

Again, first hour is okay (sans “Silence” and Jans) but the second hour just doesn’t work very well. It’s too obvious or something. But, still, one of the better Oakenfold solo mixes.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Slacker - Goddam Noize [Jukebox In The Sky]
Garbage - When I Grow Up (Danny Tenaglia’s Club Mix) [Mushroom]
Stoneproof - Everything’s Not You (Quivver’s Space Mix) [VC]

Paul Oakenfold - 25/7/1999

Strong Oakenfold mix but gets a docking for “Bullet In The Gun” which is just a terrible, terrible song. “Open Your Eyes” really does have a good piano hook. I’ll give it that. Weird that half of Nalin & Kane is now knocking out odd low tempo kraut-electronica under the Die Wilde Jagd moniker. Anyway, enjoyable mix with a strong flow to it.

Nalin & Kane - Open Your Eyes (El Barco Para Es Vedra Mix)
The Auranaut - Yo Yo
Brainchild - Symmetry C (Lange Breakbeat Mix)

jonattonyeah

THE GOOD DIVISION

VA (Tong, Oakenfold, Jules) - Gatecrasher - 20/6/1999***

Excellent mix here from Oakenfold. Borderline powerprog in parts. Keeps the silly “You hold my heart!” vocals to a minimum. Tong is all over the place but the tracks are good so I’ll give him a pass. A real testament to Oakenfold’s mix that he dragged it into the top 20 given Judge Jules predictably creates his own personal auditory Chernobyl. Y’all bag on Kravitz, but how this numpty made solid coin playing torture trance makes me question everything England.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Space Manoeuvres - Space Manoeuvres (Tilt’s Apollo 11 Mix) [Hooj Choons]
Ambassador - The Fade (Fade Mix) [Smash Trax - ST002]
Mara - One (Hamel Implant Remix) [Choo Choo - CHCH07]

Sharp Boys - 4/7/1999

Really enjoyable house mix. This is the mix Tall Paul should’ve done. The Morales remix of Pet Shop Boys is nothing short of immense. Would do wonders in a mix today, 21 odd years later.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Sneaker Pimps - Live Five (Dronez Dub) [Clean Up]
Junior Cartier - Women Beat Their Men
Ron Carrol - Soundz [Afterhours]

VA (Tong, Fontaine, Oakenfold) - 29/8/1999

Sound quality is poor but Oakenfold’s set is very good, Fontaine’s plays the Timo Maas mix of Green Court which, in my opinion, is one of his best tracks and one of his least played. Tong plays Twilo Thunder which just feels wrong but, hey, a great slab of wax is a great slab of wax. All in all, enjoyed it.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Red Sign - Wonderland
Velvet Girl - Velvet
Miro - By Your Side

Jim Masters - 19/12/1999

REALLY good mix. But you can’t just play “Now! That’s What I Call Detroit Techno!” classics from beginning to end and break into the upper echelon. We’d already heard them all in 1999.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Knights Of The Jaguar - Jaguar [UR]
69 - Desire [Planet E]
Galaxy To Galaxy - Hi Tech Jazz [UR]

DJ Harvey - 26/12/1999

Like #17, a lot of classics here. But with more variety. Harvey 1. Jim 0.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Orbital - Chime [Ozone]
Leftfield - Not Forgotten [Outer Rhythm]
Earth People - Reach Up To Mars [Underworld]

VA (Sasha, Tong, Oakenfold) - 30/5/1999*

This would be way lower if it wasn’t for Sasha’s excellent set.Tong plays “The Launch” and “9PM (“till I Come)” back to back which is grounds for a shoeing. Not even “Stage One” can save that disaster.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Sander Kleinenberg - Sacred (Vocal) [Combined Forces]
Space Manoeuvres - Stage One [Red Parrot]
Antic - Pulse [Jinx]

Erick Morillo - 13/6/1999

Solid House mix from The Rapist. Far better than the efforts from Basement Jaxx and Cassius. But if we’re doing filtered house, not close to what came in at #5.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Junior Sanchez - B With U [R-Senal]
Rick Garcia - Fly Away [After Hours]
Thomas Bangalter - Colossus [Roulé]

Dave Angel - 21/3/1999

Solid tracky tech house. Knows what it is and doesn’t try to be anything but that.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Johnny Fiasco - Chicago [Palmplemouse Prod]
Ignacio - Re-Humama [Music Man]
Morgan Reno - Respect To Bass

Darren Emerson - 11/7/1999

Wasn’t able to find a complete version so it gets knocked down a few. But based off of the bit I could find and the tracklist, it deserves a high spot.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Incomplete

Nick Warren - 3/10/1999

I’m sure many of you would rate this higher, but it just felt flat. Like he was playing records that would be made much better in two years time. It’s one thing to be dated, it’s another to just be boring. “Much Betta Man” is also stupid.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Ashtrax - Helsinki [PMI Dance]
Way Out West - Spike
County & Western - Positive Energy (Deep Cover Mix) [Caged]

jonattonyeah

THE REMEMBERABLES DIVISION

Mark Lewis - 7/3/1999

Pleasantly surprised by this. Mixing is pretty good once he gets going. Solid variety of house, trance, prog, and techno. Of its time and that’s okay.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Interzone - Let’s Get It On [Nervous]
Mirror Ball - Given Up [Multiply]
Wildlife - Crystal Rush [UG]

Paul Oakenfold - 28/11/1999

Cheesy woman-wailing-over-top aside, good set here from Oakenfold. I can picture him now - headphones on the wrong way, Jesus pose, pointing at the crowd. Moron. Still, highly enjoyable mix here.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Breeder - Sputnik (MYFM Mix) [White]
Mono Culture - Free (Extended Vocal Mix) [Nerve Records GmbH]
Moogwai - Viola [Platipus]

Ed Rush & Optical - 7/2/1999

Only DnB mix of the year (Todd Terry’s doesn’t count because I already forgot about it) and it’s a proper roller; just before the genre got too formulaic. People might say it all sounds the same, but so did Dave Angel’s mix so whatever.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Die - Clear Skyz [Full Cycle]
Fibre Optix - Sin [Renegade Hardware]
Usual Suspects - Killa Bees [Renegade Hardware]

THE EXCELLENT DIVISION

Murk - 14/3/1999

One that’s aged really well even if it goes a bit heavy on the vocals. Sounds like who the Martinez Brothers think they are but are not. Sound like Steve Lawler but not four feet tall and less predictable.The 3 track mix (16:00-28:00, or thereabouts) I chose below is absolutely beyond reproach.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Upsilon - India [Red]
Rob Rivera - Your Body [Sneak Tip]
Adam Beyer - Drumcode [Hybrid]

Layo & Bushwacka! - 19/9/1999

Thought of putting Murk above this, but so many 1999 mixes were all in and full throttle. L&B’s mix is so different from pretty much all other mixes this year. Smokey downtempo, wonky breaks, and an off-kilter vibe. Sounds of its time but also timeless. Excellent mix either way. And one of the few I’ll probably listen to again (I’m never listening to most of these EVER AGAIN after this arduous process).

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Aquarhythms - Ether’s Whisper (Deep Dish Remix) [Aquarhythms]
Pepe Braddock - Burning
me Strong - Tout Est Bleu (François K. Remix) [Airtight]

DJ Dan - 12/12/1999**

Not quite as great as his 1998 effort, but a good variety of solid tunes, mixed really well. Disco house to filtered house to techno to west coast house to breaks. Flows perfectly with some borderline classics from Eddie Amador, King Unique, and H-Foundation.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
Christian Smith & John Selway - Move [In-Tec]
Studio 45 - I Like The Sounds (The Unabomber Disco Tech Mix) [Azuli]
Intexor vs Sinesweeper - Physical [Traction]

jonattonyeah

THE “ED’S SHIRT IS OFF AGAIN” DIVISION

Pete Tong & Paul Van Dyk - The Tallery @ Gurnmills - 4/4/1999

Actually pretty decent set from Tong, but it’s all Van Dyk here. He goes full scorched earth with the capital “T” Trance. The tempo is ludicrous and it dips its entire foot in cheese. Don’t care. It’s no-holds-barred relentless and an absolute blast.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
2 Digital - Because Of My Dreams
Paul van Dyk - Tell Me Why (The Riddle)
Floorplay - One More Time [Bitch]

Sasha & Darren Emerson - 14/2/1999***

Crowd noise is usually a complete racket but it works here. Place went bananas and hearing it actually adds to the mix. Sasha’s set, like Van Dyk at #4, really pushes the limits of what’s tolerable by today’s standards…but the energy of it…the nostalgia is palpable. Without a doubt the third most enjoyable mix of the year.

Favorite 3 Track Mix
The Altruistics - For Her [Liquid State]
Technique - Sun Is Shining [Brothers In Rhythm Dub Mix] [Creation]
Jark Prongo - Movin Thru Your System (Slacker Software Remix) [Hooj Choons]

THE ALL TIMER ESSENTIAL MIX DIVISION

Terry Farley & THE Pete Heller - 10/1/1999

So, so good. A classic in the E.Mix series. Really took a tremendous mix to top this.

Favorite 3 Track Mix (entire thing is great)
Little Green Men - Time Changes - [Forensic]
Dr. Gary Henry - Faith (Dennis F Dub) - [Sfere]
Scuba - Untitled [Ovum]

THE BEST ESSENTIAL MIX OF 1999

John Digweed - Live @ Twilo, NYC - 16/5/1999***

Tremendous mix. Not quite a facsimile of the first Bedrock CD but not far off, and pretty damn close to perfect.

Favorite Mix of 1999
Raff N Freddy - Listen [Pschent]
Tiny Trendies - The Sky Is Not Crying [Pink Music]
BPT Feat. DM Binxter - Moody [Kult]
C12 Feat. Jole - Judy [Kult]
Los Diablos Loos - El Locomotion [Oboro]
Science Department - Persuasion [Bedrock]
Morel - True (DD Dub)
Morel - True (DD Vocal)
Jondi & Spesh - We Are Connected [Trip N Spin]
ABA Structure - Illusion [Fungus]
Sasha - Xpander [Deconstruction]
Escape - Cascade Pt 2 [Fluid]
Escape - Cascade Pt 2 [Fluid]
Medway - The Baseline Track
Mark Bell - Revolution (Evolution Mix)
Voyager - Panic
Farley & Heller - The Rising Sun (Digweed & Muir Remix) [Junior]

*DJ Jean “The Launch” is played
**Smith & Selway “Move” is played
***Sasha “Xpander” is played

alistair

jonattonyeah my cap is well and truly doffed. Legendary!

baggers44

jonattonyeah total quality - this cemented my love of this era of music

Dry-Tinder

jonattonyeah

It wasn’t actually recorded at Twilo. It was a replication of a set that Digweed did at Twilo. There was an interview with Digweed many years ago about it. It has to be the most misslabeled Essential Mix ever.

Pickles

jonattonyeah great effort and i remember having this EM on repeat - not sure if this has ever been beaten for me in terms of how he builds it.

Also first time I heard Xpander and remember being a bit underwhelmed at the time (so what do I know eh?). Don’t think it was Live from Twilo?

Amps

Give it a couple of listens and this will be way closer to your top ten, it’s like DJ Shadow got into techno/electro/breaks or the like. He’s amazing live too.

Amps

Oh and tip of the hat for wading through all that shite. Much respect!

alistair

Re Van Dyk at Turnmills, was there, Hardy Heller is a great opener and his mix Blank & Jones Cream is stellar. Destructive at the time and still like it every now and then

Mad_Cyril

Fucking hell JTY. Reading the downward spiral through Jules, Fontaine Oakey & Cox was like watching Jacob unravel in Jacobs Ladder, in real life.

Fair play putting yourself through that hell for everyone else’s benefit.

Feels like we should all group together and buy you some sedatives.

jonattonyeah

Mad_Cyril

Parts of it were really tedious. But there were some nostalgic moments. I know this much, if I pick another year, it’ll be something with more variety. The Cox/Oakenfold mixes might’ve featured different actual songs, but from a genre/vibe perspective they were all carbon copies of each other. Those were rough. And then there’s Judge Jules. He’s just a terrible DJ. There’s nothing else that can be said.

Mad_Cyril

jonattonyeah Favorite 3 Track Mix (mostly because it’s the end)

And a GenLOL for this

baggers44

jonattonyeah great effort btw - the one which resonates still with me after all this time is the first hour of Okay Creamfields - the energy and melodies

Mad_Cyril

With that as a musical background you can see why people were predicting y2k would bring global doom

Amps

I flicked through a couple of the Coxy mixes and will give them a go, but I can imagine listening to them back to back would be a bit much.

bosstrabs

Just a monumental post. A staggeringly ambitious work, yet joyously funny too.

Truly deserves the accolade:
✓ Great post - would read again.

Other posters can get in the fucking bin, I only read Jonattan Yeah?'s posts now.

alistair

baggers44 all time classic Oakie moment was when he played Flaming June at the Hong Kong handover party on EM. Chills

jonattonyeah

I’ll try another year soon (do need a bit of break). Any ideas or preferences? Anything before 1998 I don’t think I can do. Not qualified. Thinking now, maybe 2004 or thereabouts. Different enough from 1999 that I won’t kill myself, but still recent enough and good enough that I think I can judge fairly and have it be fun. And some Infusion tracks were probably played. We’ll see how those have aged.

Onward and upward!

EDIT - And Infusion is the first mix of the year and it’s all Infusion tracks. That gets that out of the way.

Mad_Cyril

jonattonyeah Any ideas or preferences?

Any with a Parks & Wilson essential mix

Amps

2004 would be decent: https://www.essentialmix.nu/?modname=tracklistings&year=2004

2000 to 2005 are peak muscular years, so you should get some good stuff.