The New Wave Chronicles

For my latest offering, I brought along with me two of my earliest projects, The New Wave Chronicles mixes. I made these way back in November 2007 and February 2008.As I’ve always wanted to make a new wave megamix series in the tradition of the late DJ Jamtrx’s 'New Wave Diaries Megamixes' which were huge and massive hits in the mid 90’s. Although what I had in mind back then was to come up with a nice new wave compilation mix using traditional beat mixing techniques to create that ‘live radio new wave party’ feel. I also wanted to feature the songs longer as opposed to the traditional megamixes wherein you’ll hear mostly samples of songs crammed all together. I’ll leave them to the pro's but I might do one in the future if time will permit.

So far, I have managed to create two ‘chapters’ of The New Wave Chronicles. I made a point to only feature songs that were huge hits to new wave fans in the Philippines back in the days. The songs are either the extended or remixed versions. A lot are hard to find and out of print versions as well. I think any mobile disco in the Philippines would feature a majority of the songs used here in their own new wave set.

This first instalment of the series is composed of synthpop tracks. For the unfamiliar to the term ,Wikipedia defined it as "a subgenre of New Wave and pop music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument". It is most closely associated with the era between the late 1970s and early to middle 1980s. The likes of Kraftwerk or Depeche Mode clearly demonstrate the style to give you an idea of what synthpop would sound like. I kicked off the mix with a song from Information Society which has been a huge hit in the party scene in Manila way back in the late 80s. Then I followed up their song with a personal favourite,Silent Morning, which IMHO should have deserved a good airplay back then. I can barely remember it being played in local radio stations when it was released but somehow managed to pull some following in the synthpop scene .

The 2nd mix is also composed of personal favourite new wave songs which I grew up listening to but somehow got obscured thru time. With the advent of new technology in creating/arranging music nowadays, a lot of the artists featured here are considered pioneers in music during their time. Things were used to be done meticulously and manually before and it still amazes me how these guys managed to come up with these great tunes. The mix kicks of with my all time favourite synthpop group, Depeche Mode, with their song ‘New Life’, which is all these mixes are all about…bringing new life to these songs once again. A lot of the songs here are rarely played in the UK nowadays. It’s kinda disappointing because the younger generation is missing to appreciate this genre. Depeche Mode is then followed by the Europeans with their ‘Animal Song’…the first time I heard their wails, I knew that I’d be hooked with their song for a while. I still have a copy of the cross country mix of this song from the cd ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’ which I bought from a record bar in megamall, whose name slips my mind at the moment., way back in 1997. And ‘The Animal Song’ is followed by hit after hit from the likes of China Crisis, Modern English, The Cure, and so on.

Lastly, just to emphasise once more,these are old mixes and  there are no fancy effects/sampling which you’ll normally hear in my recent mixes. They are plain beat matched mix, the type of mix you’d hear during the Wave 180 show, Mobile Circuit ,or any dance parties in the 80’s/90’s. What make these special are the song selection and the special versions that I used.

Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy listening to the mixes as much as I enjoyed compiling them.The links are down below. Happy listening,peeps!

The New Wave Chronicles Chapter I

tracks:

walking away – information society
silent morning – noel
compulsion – martin gore
strange love – dépêche mode
bizarre love triangle – new order
russian radio – red flag
world in my eyes – dépêche mode
heaven knows  – when in rome
broken heart – red flag
i beg your pardon – kon kan
i just can’t get enough – dépêche mode
living in oblivion – anything box
dreaming - omd
the promise - when in rome
american soviets - c.c.c.p.
if you leave - omd
don’t go - yazoo
cars - gary numan
pop goes the world - men without hats

total playing time: 1 hour and 13 minutes


LINK: http://www.4shared.com/file/215822480/97cb9cfd/The_New_Wave_Chronicles.html

THE NEW WAVE CHRONICLES CHAPTER II



Intro
New Life - Depeche Mode
What’s Your Name - Depeche Mode
Animal Song - the Europeans
King In A Catholic Style - China Crisis
Melt With You - Modern English
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
This Corrosion - Sisters of Mercy
The Meaning of Love - Depeche Mode
I Got The Message - Men Without Hats
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Lions - Tones On Tail
More To Lose - Seona Dancing
Tears Run Rings - Marc Almond
Love Vigilantes - New Order
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Swans
Postcard From Paradise - Flesh For Lulu
Pretty In Pink - Psychedelic Furs
The Reflex - Duran Duran
In A Big Country - Big Country
Always On My Mind - Pet Shop Boys
The Great Commandment -  Camouflage


total playing time : 1 hour and 13 minutes




LINK:http://www.4shared.com/file/215854347/371ed31b/The_New_Wave_Chronicles_Chapte.html