I wanted to post about this for a while, but seeing as I’m bone idle, I never got round to it. Then I read what someone on discogs had written about it, and that finally spurred me into action. Talk about missing the point! As soon as I started to read about ‘bland and predictable tracks’, ‘amateur chop & stop mixes’, ‘lacking in track selection and panache’, and ‘laughable, clear-the-dancefloor moments’… well, I just had to laugh myself.
I first heard this back circa ’98, and I’ve never heard a mix since that blows me away like this does. From the first moments, with the eerie ‘if any member of the family should die whilst in the shelter from contamination, put them outside, but remember to tag them first for identification purposes‘ vocal leading into a spinback and then dropping to a slamming Chicago-style disco looper, I was hooked. Pal Joey’s classic ‘Dance’, under the Earth People moniker, swiftly follows, dropped into the mix alongside all manner of cuts, scratches, and start/stop button edits, swiftly followed by another slamming disco-looper on Funky Chocolate records. I was bobbing around like a hyperactive child by this point…. and then French Kiss lumps into the mix, seconds afterwards. When I heard the parts where he turns the power off on the turntable during the mix, cutting to another copy (or that’s how I guess he did it), I’d basically decided it was the best thing I’d ever heard. Now an anal person might say that the French Kiss mix was actually never quite properly in time… and you know what? They’d be right. But that doesn’t stop it being my single favourite segue of ALL TIME, for its rawness, its ‘What the fuck?!’ moments, and its sheer flying-by-the-seat-of-its-pants vibe. It still makes me jack, even if I’m sitting at home with a cup of tea and a biscuit.
May then proceeds to move the mix through some deep techno numbers, before cranking things up with Green Velvet’s insane ‘Preacher Man’, at one point seemingly just giving the pitch control a good yank and pitching it up by about +4! All sorts of styles get thrown into the pot, from warm, emotive techno to hard, loopy rhythmic beats and ethereal chanting, with a couple of early Basement Jaxx tracks making an appearance in the latter stages. Often just snippets of tracks appear before another track is overlaid and then cut to, resulting in many ‘did that really just happen?’ moments. It is truly a rollercoaster ride, from a man who is amongst the finest DJs electronic music has produced.
So i guess what I’m saying is… this mix rules. If you haven’t heard it, go buy it. If you have, listen again to a true master laying it down in utterly inimitable fashion. A DJing inspiration for like, ever, to me and all my old househead friends, this has soundtracked many an afterhours session, and remains the CD of choice before a night out. But hey, if you prefer ‘seamless transitions’ and ‘smooth blending’ to raw, inspired, next-level vinyl manipulation, you might wanna get a Progressive House CD instead.
In short, you need this in your life. And what I need in my life is a Vol.2 …. C’mon Derrick, whaddya say? It’s been 12 years!
This mix is in the same series as the excellent ‘Jeff Mills Live at the Liquid Room”. The Mix-up series also has entries from Fumiya Tanaka, Takkyu Ishino, and Ken Ishii.
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I’ve havent listened to this in a long time, I must find it again….
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being a bit of a younger cat(24) this was a mix I came across thanks to my dear friend Chris Schubert some 10 years ago. I will never be able to put in words how much it affected me. Its tru lee perfect!
Its inspired us to give it the “whatch me tear this sh*t up style” that seams more rare today than ever.
And with Derrick May closing DEMF on the final day(monday) this year, I will be turnin this mix out for the long trip.
Thank you. really.
A
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speak it my brothah! SOLID!
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Love it.
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Mix-Up Vol. 5 is one of the best mix albums I’ve ever owned. Especially the first half hour is amazing. Vol. 2 with Jeff Mills is top notch too. Still makes me want to go out and party.
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I was just about to speak on this, but you beat me to the puch, Tone…
This mix is a fucking monster – kills me every time.
I’m convinced he was “possessed” when he recorded this shit… higher-level type stuff… go read “The Future Of The Body” by Michael Murphy… this is the type of stuff I’m talking about
…either that, or it’s some clever reel-to-reel trickery.
Regardless, one for the ages
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msr. twon reply on April 5th, 2009 11:53 am:
“possessed” hahahahahahaha
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“But hey, if you prefer ’seamless transitions’ and ’smooth blending’ to raw, inspired, next-level vinyl manipulation, you might wanna get a Progressive House CD instead.”
DAMN FDUCKIN STR8!
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Each to their own.I’ve never understood that review on Discogs either !.I’ve got the Sony release of this and it is one of my all time favourite mixes.Quite a few Oggers chose it in a recent mix post as well.Classic.
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This was definitely one of the best two recorded mixes I’d heard when it came out, along with the Claude Young DJ Kicks. Then I saw him play for the first time in Seattle in ’97 and he was wicked, but he played loads of the same tracks as the Mayday mix. Then I saw him in Chicago later that year and he played practically the same set. It was a fantastic set, but he held on to a lot of these records in his crate for far too long and hasn’t done anything nearly as good for a long time. His last great mixing moment as far as I’m concerned was at the first DEMF. I’ve seen him a number of times before and after that, and many have been good, but none have been anything like what he delivered with the Mayday mix.
I remember a Jockey Slut interview with him from around the time of the Mayday Mix when he was talking about how Juan Atkins needed to step up and deliver what he was capable of, which was a bit ridiculous in the wake of Deep Space, but Derrick May has yet to step up and give us anything of this caliber for over ten years. It’s time for Derrick May to deliver!
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agree totally, this is one of my favorite mixes ever too. why don’t you post this article on discogs too?
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the mixup series had such a huge impact on me – this one, jeff’s and fumiya’s – these really set the template/benchmark for mix cds.
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Why do people bother to say things like that about a mix? I can never understand the whole this ‘thing is better than that’ argument. Anyway, I remember this mix well. On first listen it was like been hit by a comet. We always played it at after parties to keep the night bopping.
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haha…jitterbug i think I sent you an e-mail.
Anyways love your raw winter album, and who is DJ QU? That guy is NEXT level!
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I never did track this mix down but heard great things and my mouth watered at the sight of the tracklist. good to know it still stands up.
at Tristan: I saw Derrick in Seattle at that time too and it was positively amazing. I had seen him in Manchester the year before and it was equally great if not more impressive. had a copy of the set on tape but lost it…damn!
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Tristan reply on April 7th, 2009 5:14 pm:
Hey Kuri. Damn, I didn’t think there were many like-minded people in Seattle back then. I only lived there for six months though.
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absolutely agree! best dj-mix ever! and derrick is the best techno-dj in the world. right now i am listening on my ipod to a 4 hour mix he did on his birthday in Tel Aviv. Just blows you away with sheer energy. HE THE MAN!
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Odd discog review, was only listening to it recently and it’s quite an energetic mix, maybe the guy didn’t get the more disco/funk aspects of it. Incidentally, what’t the track at 43:25, analog stabs with dubby feel? I want.
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Yeah Tristan, I’ve seen Derrick many, many times and he likes to play practically the same set a lot. People in Detroit used to say ‘”Derrick May, ahh, French Kiss”.
Well you can also say, “He is a great DJ and what works, works.” Its a shame he stopped producing. The good thing is there’s no way of messing up what he’s done by putting out a bunch of garbage. May now will always be a great producer 
He was an influence for me as a young DJ. (most I was, by Kenny and Theo) I did see Jaun Atkins play two copies of a Metroplex Record, stop one, then use the dots on the platter and his fingers to beat match the record manually backwards, and mix it back in. It blew my mind man. Stacey Pullen and Wax Tax-N Dre too. These guys were seriously technical DJs. Claude Young used to do this thing with two copies where he would play them together, then live in the mix, pull one back one beat to make them double, then pull it back together again. It was ill.
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gmos reply on April 7th, 2009 5:06 am:
yeah, Claude Young’s got serious skills, he used to play in Dublin a lot in the 90s. not always my fav in terms of music but always exciting seeing him in action.
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Tristan reply on April 7th, 2009 5:19 pm:
Hey Scott. Sorry I didn’t have much time/attention to chat on Saturday. Pretty mad night.
I guess I cut DJs less slack when they don’t change their crate. They can be guilty of loads of things so long as they a) play good tunes and b) don’t play the same tunes every time I see them. Actually, scratch that – I’m hard to please with DJs.
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totally off the hook mix.
one of my all time favs.
i noticed on derricks myspace page months ago that he was working on the follow-up to the mayday mix for ministry of sound…
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Jitterbug reply on April 6th, 2009 2:02 pm:
NOW WE’RE TALKING
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Yeah, Tristan, I agree… I like to hear some new stuff in the mix here and there. Speaking of sets, yours was excellent. It was nice seeing you and hearing you. SOLID!
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Ah, cool. Glad you liked it, although I really struggled. The booth was a bit busy between Move D and Alan setting up. I recorded some preparation for it though if you want to hear how it could have turned out: http://www.phonopsia.co.uk/?p=605
Anyway… back on topic – a new Mayday mix would be sweet!
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