Compiled and mixed in 1999 by an incredibly talented and criminally underexposed individual, this 90 minute session of dusty, low slung leisure is well overdue some additional ears. You can listen via the soundcloud player below but I’d recommend using the download arrow to the right of the waveform as you’ll get better sound quality that way…

S003: Donby – Too Much TV by Slide Music

I met John (Donby) in 97 via our Media Studies class at college. Quite quickly we found a couple of things we had in common, a general sense of contempt for the course we’d chosen and a great amount of music of the time. Being a year or so into my vinyl habit by then, I’d accumulated a real variety of records but was just on the cusp of funding my first pair of turntables. John, I believe was in the same situation. As a result, he became the person I would hang out with for long afternoon and evening sessions, sharing records, showing each other various mixes we’d come up with and just generally getting a sense of what was possible with the format. At disturbingly regular intervals over the years that followed he would casually pass me Cassettes, Mini Discs and eventually CDRs that consistently raised the game in terms of ideas and originality.

Musically, a lot had happened in the 90s. So much incredible hip hop, jungle, techno and house music but also so many labels who made it their mission to occupy the spaces between the more established genres of the time. Filtering the catalogues of labels like Warp, Ninja Tune and Mo Wax would reveal countless directions in which to explore a multitude of other independent labels pushing their own thing. My fast expanding record collection was consuming all these areas but for the first couple of years it was largely the jungle and drum and bass with it’s limited tempo range and relatively formulaic structure that was getting a look in on the turntables. These mixtapes my friend was passing me really changed my outlook on what was possible. Like many classic offerings from the likes of Coldcut and DJ Food, they illustrated there was a far less linear way of playing the game. Switching tempos and adding detail with samples and the first incarnation of Korgs Kaos Pad, the end result always highlighted the importance of doing your own thing. A fundamental principle I strive to lead with to this day.

Enough personal nostalgia, if we’re lucky John will allow me to share a few more of these in the future (because there is a lot of them) but for now I’ve dug up one in particular for a couple of reasons. It’s an earlier recording and perhaps in some respects less ambitious than many that followed, but the track selection is sublime and does a nice job of illustrating his ability to explore a certain area of sonic ground, drawing from a variety of sources to build an engaging narrative.

Throughout the years I’ve had the privilege of calling him my friend, John’s been an enormous creative influence and I know of a number of other heads who would say the same. Having typically kept a reasonably low profile he may not immediately be too enamored by the exposure here and as such I don’t want to blow up too much in the way of any current activities. The Donby moniker is now retired though I believe and in recent years certain West Country folk have been introduced to a new DJ in their area by the name of Ron Willis. Hopefully that’s a subject we can explore further in the not too distant future…

As the seasons change I find myself revisiting releases that have been hibernating, unnoticed in my itunes library for a while. Certain musical directions that for one reason or another I’ve come to associate with a particular time of year will stand out again when I’m browsing for a work soundtrack or something to keep me in a groove while I’m cooking dinner. This mix by 40 Winks often reappears around this time each year, maybe it’s the first few days of being outside in a t-shirt without freezing that does it…

S002: 40 Winks – Extended Leisure by slidemusic

As I said last time I’m not going to go in to any depth trying to explain the content of these mixes, you can scan them via the player if you want to get a feel for what’s involved. If you’re not familiar with what 40 Winks do, think along the lines of an adventure in laid back beats and narrative interludes.

You can stream or download the mp3 via the Soundcloud player. Enjoy.

With a well considered mixtape, tracks can be placed in certain contexts and you often end up hearing something familiar in a new light. There’s a lot to be gleaned about the person putting the mix together too, the variety of tracks and moods and the type of transitions between them all say something about that individuals relationship with the ideas they’re using.

So the concept is simple, I’ve got together a pile of mixes from friends and associates and with their permission I’ll be posting them at intervals here on the blog via soundcloud. Over time we should rack up an interesting archive from the past present and future. Enough introductory rambling now, on to the first installment…

I’m starting the series with a mix of my own from 2003 which may seem a little self indulgent though there is a specific reason for it too. Multilink wasn’t originally conceived as a magazine, it basically started life as a desire to get involved with creative people and projects of as wide a variety as possible. We stumbled into the idea of a pdf mag after Steve showed me Bloodwars and it seemed like something that between us we could get moving pretty quickly, so that’s what we did. With no experience of any conventional magazine editorial process, my plan was to approach the first issue as a mixtape only made with people and projects as opposed to 12″s and LPs and that’s basically what I’ve stuck with for all subsequent issues since.

The significance of starting our series with the Disengage mix is that it was planned and recorded during the same period Steve and I put together issue #01 of multilink. So as different as the end formats may be, I’ve always felt they shared a similar process in regards to selection and assembly.

S001: Leisure Management Systems – Disengage by slidemusic

I plan to avoid describing the content of each mix, opting instead for a little background info each time. However, if you do require serving suggestions then this one is probably well suited to long journeys or extended sessions of lazy leisure.

Download the mp3 via the arrow on the Soundcloud player. Larger front/back artwork and track listing can be downloaded here.