Techno legend Jeff Mills comes out with a classics CD, What's so unique about it?, Is it like his usual CDs?

Jeff Mills – Choices (Azuli)

Azuli has been putting out quality house records for more than a decade, ever since David Piccolini started releasing records disguised as imports in 1991, he even put New York telephone numbers on the record sleeve, to make it look like an import. Since that time, Azuli has grown as a company and grown in popularity, they are one of the few labels still around after thirteen years, but normally thirteen years in, most labels get bought out or fold. This shows that Azuli is doing something right.

Azuli brings you their most famous series that was the brainchild of their founder called Classics. It is not a true mix album in today’s sense of the word, where the deejay just picks 20 of the most recent tracks and slaps them together on 2CDs for public consumption. Classics is the most unique DJ series, they get a big name deejay and ask him (no women have done a classic series yet) to pick the tunes that made him as a deejay or person and then they tell the story of the song in the CD booklet. I’ve always been a big fan of this series because it is interesting to find out what songs made certain deejays and as they tell the story, you learn more about how they got started and in effect, you learn more about music history. So Azuli found techno DJ and the one known for playing 45 seconds of a record then playing another in Detroit Techno deejay Jeff Mills.

Jeff Mills is a name that is known to most of you, his name is thrown around a lot these days by techno lovers and people who love seeing a unique deejay at work. Jeff Mills was born in 1963 in Detroit, Michigan and he was around during the formation of techno, he was not in the group of three that created techno but he did know them and did push the boundaries of music. He learned his craft in this deejay club, where the elder deejays taught him everything. He started out on radio as the Wizard; his competitions with the Electrifying Mojo are legendary. His unique deck style has gained him many fans over the years. His biggest contribution is that he helped Mad Mike Banks form Underground Resistance but he went to New York for a residency shortly after. He owns his own label called Axis and over the past decade, he has traveled the world playing his unique brand of techno to the world. This CD is what made Jeff Mills, what was influential to him and will be a complete eye opener to some.

CD 1
1.Slick – Space Bass
2.Teddy Pendergrass – The More I get, The More I Want
3.Sinnamon – Thanks to You
4.Chas Jankel - Ai No Corrida
5.Geraldine Hunt – Can’t Fake This Feeling
6.Goldie Alexander – Show Me Your Love
7.Montana feat. Goody Goody – Esto Parese Amor (Club Mix)
8.Deodato – Keep It In The Family
9.Starflight – Dance To The Beat
10.Gerardo Frisina – Mas Eu Quer Ser
11.Jackie Moore – This Time Baby
12.Boys In Shock feat. Carol Leeming – Give Me Back Your Love
13.Denroy Morgan – I’ll Do Anything For You

(Note: I’m not going to describe why Mills picked any of these songs, that’s for when you buy the CD, you can read the booklet and find out what each song means to him)

1.Slick – Space Bass

We start the first CD with disco, the song quickly brings in hi-hats and snares, which is more what they used during the disco era. A nice warm sounding guitar riff comes in, which encompasses the other elements. Shortly thereafter, the disco riffs join in, giving the song, the real disco feel and this continues for a little while. A powerful female vocal then enters and starts singing the first verse, I think the producers of today need to take notes from this era because it shows how you properly use a vocal. As soon as the vocal nears the end of the first verse, some spacey sound effects come in; by now you have some sweeping strings that add structure to the song. The sound effects then leave for a short time and then they return and when they do, the vocal comes back for verse two. The song continues like this for a short time and then it eventually fades out.

2.Teddy Pendergrass – The More I get, The More I Want

Song number two continues the history lesson because another thing that today’s producers can’t seem to use correctly is male vocals and this track shows it how it is done. The song starts with a strong guitar riff with some drums but it has that element that was popular during the year that this was made, which was 1977 and the element that we are talking about is funk. It is too bad that funk was lost in the history of time because it really made songs more enjoyable. The song goes to an instrumental for a short time and then Teddy Pendergrass’s powerful voice enters singing about “The More I Get, The More I Want”, which works rather well. I imagine that Knuckles, Levan and company played this record out in 1977 and I wonder what dance floor mayhem it caused in the clubs of the time. The vocal really drives this song, it goes back to an instrumental after the vocal but then it returns, with a bit more force. The song grows on you and it works well, nice choice here.

3.Sinnamon – Thanks to You

Song number three continues the disco journey that the CD has taken from the beginning, it begins with some really funky drums and you hear the voice of a lady making a phone call to her man. She says in a calm voice that “I don’t need your loving services any longer” and the man replies “really”, she then replies “I found someone thanks to you”, the man replies “really” again and she talks about how he showers her with things and treats her well. The vocal then enters, it’s passionate, emotional and used well, it does not drive the song, the drum line does that, my only problem is the vocal is so good but it is not used as much as I would have liked. The song is a groovy influenced disco song that probably did much damage on the dance floors.

4.Chas Jankel - Ai No Corrida

Chas Jankel is a new name to me but all my house fanatic friends that grew up in Chicago, tell me that he was a legend of sorts. This song starts differently than the first three but adds to the historical feeling of the album. The start is a faint piano riff and that’s about it, no big instruments, no huge vocal coming in. About half a minute into the song, some funky drums enter and you get the feeling of this was another huge classic that destroyed dance floors in it’s time. The song contains what the first three had, which was a powerful vocal, this is more of a Robert Owens style, sing it from the back of the room vocal. The male vocal then moves on to singing “Ai No Corrida”, which I have no clue what it means but you don’t care because you are lost in the groove from a song from yesteryear. A beautiful guitar riff then enters, it adds to the elements already in the song. This is smart music from a smart time, too bad that current artists can’t use vocals effectively anymore. A trumpet solo in the background enters, it’s not used to hit you, and it is used to just gently add to the song. The song is very long and it continues with the vocal coming in and out at times then going instrumental, as you would expect but near the end, the song goes all drums, different rhythms, you are left scratching your head because you never saw it coming. I guess the artist must have had a laugh putting it in.

5.Geraldine Hunt – Can’t Fake This Feeling

The great thing about these Classic compilations is that, they open your eyes to new music that came before your time. I want to learn as much about the past as I can because I think old house producers used vocals much more efficiently. We start here with some unique strumming of the guitar riffs, some handclaps and some funky electronic synths. Geraldine Hunt is the vocalist here; she comes in singing about how you cannot fake this feeling and then goes in the other verses to talk about real love. The thing that hits you, she can really sing but I wonder how come she never got as famous as say Barbara Tucker. This song is twenty-five years old and I’d still dance to it and the vocal carries the tune from start to end. It does not change its course much from the beginning, just adds a subtle breakdown of instruments.

6.Goldie Alexander – Show Me Your Love

We start with funk at the very beginning of this song. A bass guitar starts the song off by playing a bunch of chords and then another guitar comes in, playing some different notes and together they pack a powerful punch. Now as you think that the compilation has gone off disco completely for more funk, some handclaps comes in with some disco oriented riffs, which gives it a more disco edge. Music was never made to be simple or predictable. A male vocal enters shortly after singing “I want to show you my love” immediately after the vocal ends, comes the best part of the track, which is an electro riff that plays shortly after the vocal, which just grabs you. The vocal repeats a few times and then the nice riff repeats, giving it that old school house feel. So the first verse comes in, powerful as the previous vocals in the previous songs, the vocalist talks all about love, which was a popular song theme in the late 1970’s. The chorus comes in, with the male vocal singing and the riff following it, then the second verse comes in, still talking about love again and then the chorus comes in but this time, no riff at the end. A bass guitar then creeps in, adding some more life to the track, and then the missing riff comes in and repeats itself at least 10 times in a row. Near the very end, the drums double and become harsher and heavier, which is different from the original journey that the track took. It fades away and we move into song seven.

7.Montana feat. Goody Goody – Esto Parese Amor (Club Mix)

I will quickly point out, this is not the well known techno deejay/producer here, this was another person named Montana. This song goes full out and starts with a bang, with crazy banging drums, with some snares aimed near the middle of the track. A subtle guitar riff moves in and then more drums appear but they are distinctly different sounding from the original ones. This is pure disco, I never heard of either artist till this compilation. Some driving disco riffs enter in from the back and they slowly move to the front, while this is happening a faint unclear vocal sample comes in. The riffs eventually hit the front and the song picks up even more steam. A female vocal singing “Do It” enters then right after a male vocal sings, “What they do”, they work well in tandem. Eventually the vocal moves on to “I like it, do it”, but repeated very quickly. This is from the later disco era but tell you about music history as well.

8.Deodato – Keep It In The Family

This song has to be the weirdest disco song of all time because the theme has incest connotations or you at least think they are heading in that direction. We start with a nice disco background, with some well-placed drums and this female vocal comes in “Keep It in the family, that’s what my father told me, peace, love, and harmony”. The later line was probably what eventually formed into PLUR. A trumpet solo then comes in and allows you to drift off into dreamland, then the vocal comes back singing about love but you get the strange feeling that it is about incest, which is wrong but it never says that out right, just saying keep it in the family, that’s what my father told me. I guess some things are better left untouched. It ends with a graceful piano line that I reckon was used with surgical precision to get the maximum effect, even if the vocal makes you scratch your head.

9.Starflight – Dance To The Beat

So far, the CD has taken you through some of the more disco gems that are unknown to a lot of people such as myself, but it’s music history at work, while still getting you going. A drum machine starts out the drum line here; it’s obvious that it is not real drums but ones that are electronically made. Some turntable scratches are added for effect, it has that electro feel that was probably what led some to get techno started. A guitar plays in the background as the electro riffs take over. The robotic vocal enters but it sounds similar and you guess that Daft Punk maybe got some ideas from this song. This was obviously a good 15 yrs before Daft Punk, so this came first but music often borrows ideas and then improves or alters them. The robotic vocal says, “Dance to the beat”, then some more riffs enter but they quickly leave after 5 seconds then return again shortly after. This is more experimental house that was ahead of it’s time but I love listening to old tunes because you hear thing that were used that artists today use in similar form and think this is what gave them that idea.

10.Gerardo Frisina – Mas Eu Quer Ser

We start with bells here, the song gets going, it’s funky house, my favorite type of house. It makes use of a weird Latin vocal and I have no idea what they are saying but it sounds like it fits with the music, the background and the instrumentation. The song is just a funky Latin house song that would have been played by Erick Morillo, if he had deejayed back in the early 80’s. I like it, I think it works well and the CD so far has been a great history lesson of what worked well back then and what current artists should again take note of, this is how you properly do it.

11.Jackie Moore – This Time Baby

The third last song, on what I call the disco era CD is this track. It uses a powerful vocal, just like all the previous vocal songs, it is guitar driven, just like most of the others and it uses some nice drum taps, which is new for the songs on this CD. The vocal drives the song, it’s not quite as powerful as the others but the vocal works well.

12.Boys In Shock feat. Carol Leeming – Give Me Back Your Love

This goes straight into early house mode, a piano line backed by drums starts it off. The vocal is filtered at times, but it is a good variation. Song number twelve screams 1980’s all over it, the feel is just representative of the time. The track has that late 80’s, British Acid house feel, from the vocal to the acid lines at the back. I hate to beat a dead horse but this shows again what producers used to do right and how recent producers seem to use weak vocals and not learn from the old house producers. We need to go back into the past and start using concepts that they used well and applying those concepts to current songs today.

13.Denroy Morgan – I’ll Do Anything For You

The last track on the first CD, which is mostly a ride through disco, remember now disco led to house and house led to techno. So of course Jeff Mills was influenced greatly by disco, without it, I dare say he would not be the deejay he is today. The vocal sings “I’ll do anything for you”, it is not as powerful as the other songs but like the rest, it works well and fits perfectly. It shows that the electronic music fans have missed out on learning about this era, we seem to just say forget it and go on but this CD makes me want to learn even more about disco. It is a good track to end on, nothing terribly fancy but nothing terribly boring.

CD 2 Tracklist

1.Telex – Moskow Diskow
2.King Sun – On The Club Tip
3.DJ Q – We Are One (Carl Craig Remix)
4.Blake Baxter – Sexuality
5.Insync vs. Mysteron – Audiable Illusion
6.Change – End
7.Ramirez – El Ritmo Barbaro
8.Florence – Analogue Expressions
9.Bandulu – Serial Operators
10.Neil Howard – Indulge
11.Silent Phase – Meditive Fusion
12.Joey Beltram – South Pacific

1.Telex –Moskow Diskow

This is another track that was lost in the midsts of time. Moskow Diskow was a precursor to a lot of the techno creations. It is electro not techno but you can tell that music was heading down that techno path. We start with a train sound, then some claps come in and this annoying vocal enters, it talks in a European accent but it is just rambling. The track has an electro bassline and the train sound effects rumble in and out, giving you the impression, you are on a train. The main chorus is a deep male voice repeating “Disco Moskow, Moskow Disco”, it tends to add life into the song at this point and the background sound effects seem to get heavier at times. A true classic and a nice way to start off the second CD on this compilation

2.King Sun – On The Club Tip

Song number two highlights a part of music history that I missed learning about, this is what they called hip house in the mid 1980’s, it fused hip hop and house. The song starts bass heavy with an almost rumble, a vocal follows saying “First there was darkness, the sun, king sun universal”. The intro reminds me of “Cryin in the Rain” by Culture Beat at times, but it’s not Culture Beat. This housy riff comes in from the back and then the hip-hop influence comes in with a hip-hop riff with turntable scratches. You have elements working together here, hip-hop and house and they do work very well. The song sounds a little tribal in places but that’s not a bad thing. A male rapper starts to rap for a while, this coupled with the chugging bassline, gives this song some added kick. It goes back into the original mold till the end, it certainly is very unique.

3.DJ Q – We Are One (Carl Craig Remix)

What would a Jeff Mills compilation be without adding a track from one of his Detroit techno buddies? It would probably feel lifeless. For song three, Jeff Mills adds the amazing “We Are One” from Scottish DJ, Paul Flynn aka DJ Q. Both mixes were good but Mills went Carl Craig’s mix instead. The easiest way to describe this song is strings, strings, and more strings and that’s how it starts, with lots of strings and slowly they start to take over the song and take your attention. Shortly thereafter a funky bassline comes in with some weird sound effects. Like all of Carl Craig’s mixes, this is incredibly layered and he gently allows the track to gain steam. A saxophone riff appears after some time, it is more directed to the back but it does add a lot to the song, it gives it a kick in the pants. A weird rambling Scottish vocal comes in, that’s the only thing that I hated about the track from the start. The song then breaks down and goes completely silent, that certainly catches your attention. A housy bassline with a sound effect of an air horn comes in and some will question, have we moved on to another track but no, it’s just the track going in a different direction. The saxophone is still near the back and then the annoying vocal returns, after it finishes, the song then goes back to the sound from the beginning. It stays in that molds till the end.

4.Blake Baxter – Sexuality

As we progress deeper into the second CD, we come to a Blake Baxter production, this shows his brilliance and what he used to sound like before he ran into problems with Derrick May and he claims he was blackballed from Detroit but who knows. What this song shows is, Blake Baxter is a genius. Sexuality starts with some drums and some dirty house riffs, which was Baxter’s claim to fame, raw dirty tracks. A deep dark vocal comes in speaking “Sexuality, let your body be free” which is repeated. The dirty house bassline eventually takes on a life of it’s own and the song grows on you. It is always nice to see people still remember Baxter before he left Detroit after his problem with Derrick May.

5.Insync vs. Mysteron – Audiable Illusion

Out of all the tracks on both CDs, this has the best intro. It starts with dead silence for a good fifteen seconds and then a riff starts to move in slowly, with a few single drum hits in the background. Some glorious riffs now move in and they start to give the track, a more complete and accomplished sound. This was originally a release on the Peacefrog label, known for Pure Techno releases. The song then adds more percussion; it gives the CD life even more. About twenty seconds later, you hear what sounds like a CD skipping but it’s the sound effects and it was done intentionally. The song stays in the harmonic electronica mold till the end, Jeff Mills has alerted me to a true gem.

6.Change – End

“End” is an early electro song that came before techno. It starts with the 1980’s electro style riffs and bassline and slowly some unique electro riffs come in from the background but as they are making their way to the front, they gain this unexplainable power. They start at the back with no power and as they move forward, they gain power, to when it hits the front, it is glowing with power. This is a perfect example of what the sound was like before May and company got Techno going. It is interesting with this compilation that Mills is showing you tracks with sounds that you can tell eventually led to something else. In CD 1, we had disco tracks and you can see how they led to house music, on CD 2, you hear electro and you see how that led to techno. It is a true musical journey and a history lesson at times.

7.Ramirez – El Ritmo Barbaro

Now Ramirez was a big name group from Italy and from 1993-1994, they made some tracks that were well received but it seems that deejays are playing out their tunes again. Darren Emerson was a big fan of “Hablando” and Jeff Mills uses in “El Ritmo Barbaro” here. The song starts off with a Spanish vocal and some steel drums, which is unusual for a Ramirez track, they usually just start off full force. About fifty seconds in, we begin with the usual banging Ramirez bassline, which is usually a harsh tech-house bassline but at times, you think it is more techno. The song drives itself and the vocal comes in and out at times, about three minutes in, the harmonica riff (which is a Ramirez trademark) comes it, the song now sounds like “Hablando” in certain respects, not quite as bangin as the track I mentioned but still pretty powerful and damn good.

8.Florence – Analogue Expressions

Here we have an early trance sounding electronic track. We begin with great taps for percussion, the melody quickly joins in. As the song gets going, it has a fierce minimalist energy to it, almost like Nick Warren’s Global Underground. The song does not do much, it just seems to chug along but it gains a fierce minimal energy about it near the end

9.Bandulu – Serial Operators

If you have not heard this song before, you are not alone; they only pressed a few 100’s copies of this release, so the track is rare, and if you find it in your local record store, buy it. Here we have probably the most techno song of the entire CD. The song starts with a lot of percussion and the sounds are echoed at times. A subtle riff moves in, you get more of a mid 1990’s minimal techno feel here. Some strings then join the fray, which was an instrumental part of minimal techno. The song works well with the strings, the bassline does not change nor does anything fancy happen to the song, it just works well.

10.Neil Howard – Indulge

This song is important in music history because this was the catalyst for the famous “Pacific State”. We start with a 1980’s feel that gets only better when a cool piano line comes in. The song itself is rather simple; some bass stabs then come in, followed by some quirky riffs. It is simple but this important because Pacific State led to a lot of other songs.

11.Silent Phase – Meditive Fusion

The second last track here is an alias of another Detroit techno legend by the name of Stacy Pullen. “Meditive Fusion” is a brilliant track, starts with some cool drums and they tend to overlap at times. A nice keyboard riff comes in and the song is a groovy work of art. It starts to get going and once that happens, it works well. The work is so Stacy Pullen, who relies on the strings in most of his production. Such a nice work to put in, near the very end

12.Joey Beltram – South Pacific

The compilation ends with an experimental style track from Mr. Energy Flash aka Joey Beltram. The song is weird as heck, Beltram tries to make you feel like you are in a jungle, and he throws in some layered sound effects and weird spacey effects. It breaks the flow of the CD and ends on something completely different.

Conclusion:
Jeff Mills has delivered a unique compilation with the tracks that have influenced him. You understand that he has been around a long time, when it includes early disco, techno, house, electro and some other genres. Both CDs are great journeys into music history and both should be essential listening for anyone wanting to or in the process of learning about music and the history behind it. If you are looking for a brutal techno compilation, you won’t find it here, try Jeff Mills’ Exhibitionist CD or DVD, if you want to hear that. This shows what influenced him and as you read the CD inlay, you learn more about him and Detroit. Azuli does it again, another quality release.