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Guest Mix: Paul Zykotik presents Something Darker Volume II

Percussive, hypnotic techno from Paul Zykotik

Something Darker

Paul Zykotik presents Something Darker Volume II

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Mixed in London, November 2010
(67:08, 123.07 MB, 320 KBPS MP3)

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Cue file

Style: Techno

Direct link to the mix:
http://sonicrampage.org/guestmixes/pzyk/PaulZykotik-SomethingDarkerVolumeII.mp3

Tracklisting:
01. British Murder Boys – Hate Is Such A Strong Word (Counterbalance)
02. Luka Baumann – Emergence Nine (Makaton Remix) (Emergence)
03. Mark Broom – Twenty Six (Unxplored Beats)
04. Grovskopa – Grow Lighter (Emergence)
05. Brethren – By An Animal (Pohjola)
06. Grovskopa – Jauhar (Oscar Mulero Remix) (Warm Up)
07. P.E.A.R.L. – Like A Terrorist (Tsunami)
08. Inaki Villasante – My Translator Mb (Manuke)
09. Paul Damage – Last Days (House Of God)
10. Marco Rane & Paul Boex – Azn Killers (Submissions)
11. Oscar Mulero – Big Bottom (Pure Plastic)
12. DJ Pepo – Wilson (My Dog) (CPU)
13. Fran Hartnett – Alpha (Mantrap)
14. Shed – The Lower Upside Down (Surgeon Remix) (Ostgut Ton)
15. BTrax – Just A Dream (Kne’ Deep)
16. DisX3 – Life’s A Bitch (Tresor)
17. Kuniaki Takenaga – Meltybladdia (Manuke)
18. Takaaki Itoh – Hear Nothing (MB Selektions)
19. Bas Mooy & Vincent De Wit – Chapter 1 (Planet Rhythm)
20. Luka Baumann – Son Of A Dawn (ARMS)
21. Grovskopa – Balamber (Labrynth)
22. Inaki Villasante – Forever FJV (Infecta)

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Paul Zykotik says hello

As I mentioned in the last post, this month is going to be an exciting one here at Sonicrampage – two new guest mixes and two new mixes from me (well, one for sure, the other one is contingent on me finding someone in Edinburgh who will let me record one in the next ten days!).

First up I’m very happy to present Paul Zykotik’s superb Something Darker Volume II. It’s been a while since I’ve posted a techno mix, so this is a bit of a treat! Paul has hooked us up with some top-quality dark, chunky, percussive techno, which is perfect for the wintry conditions out there, at least for those of us in northern Europe! Apparently Edinburgh has had its heaviest snowfall for over 50 years in the last two weeks, with nearly 80cm of snow falling on parts of the city, so this mix has been perfect for having on the iPod as I have been tromping through the snow over the past week.

Very suitable music for the moment … well, for most of us. For my southern hemisphere readers, you’ll just have to pretend for the moment. 😉

Originally from Scotland, Paul is an old acquaintance of mine from the London club scene, where we met going to parties like Zoology, Elation, and Redtrip. Funnily enough, though, it turns out that Paul was also going to all of the same Edinburgh parties like Pillbox and Apex that I discussed in my Squat Rocking 4 post, yet it wasn’t until he moved down to London that we actually met!

Over the years, we’ve stayed in touch here and there through message boards like USH and Harderfaster, as well as selling each other records at various times (as sad vinyl junkies like us tend to do!), and it was on USH a few months back that Paul posted a rather awesome old skool hardcore mix. I downloaded, chopped it up into individual tracks (since I’m nerdy like that), listened, loved it, and got in touch with Paul to offer him a guest mix if he was interested. He said sure, asked me if I cared what genre it was, and, after I said no, he then said he would be in touch.

So, after not hearing from him for a while and assuming he had lost interest/forgot/run away to join the Hare Krishnas, I opened up my email one day last week to find that he had completed a techno mix.

A quick listen confirmed that it was totally worth the wait.

In any case, that’s enough waffling from me – here are Paul’s own notes about the mix:

It was a few months ago that Pearsall asked me if I’d be interested in doing a mix for this blog. “Yeah, definitely!” I said, with the idea of getting it done in the next few days. Days became weeks … weeks became months … and then it got bloody cold, and that’s when I sprang into action. What better way to work up some much-needed warmth than getting in the mix?

I thought about doing an acid techno mix, so I spent a few days going through my collection and sorting out what I wanted to play. What should come up that week but Pearsall’s own Acid Test mix! Back to the drawing board. I wanted to keep in with the harder-edged theme of this blog, and so I opted for my main love – techno.

There’s not much techno that interests me these days – not much on vinyl anyway (yes, I’m one of those dinosaurs you’ve heard about). The minimal sound feels like it has been the in thing forever, and the reaction to this seems to have been the emergence of schranz. If you want something in between, you really have to search much harder to find it than you did a few years ago. But I like a challenge … and there’s some great rewards out there. As a result this mix is made up of some of my favourite finds in the last 3-4 years.

The style I’ve enjoyed most in recent years has been ‘darker’ techno, pioneered by the likes of Surgeon and Regis and their Birmingham sound. Oddly enough they don’t feature much in this mix, but they supply the opening track, a haunting tirade by Jim Jones of the People’s Temple cult, which sets the tone for what’s to follow. In the past I would have charged headlong into full-on hard techno and kept it going on the same level for an hour or so. Ok for the dancefloor, but not something to hold interest for long on your headphones. So what I’ve tried to do here is balance things out between deeper tracks and harder sounds, but all the while keeping that slightly sinister edge. Perfect for the dark winter mornings and early evenings …

I’ll make no bones about it. This isn’t a flawlessly beatmatched, 4 tracks running in parallel, Ableton monster with effects ejaculated all over it. It’s two decks, a stack of vinyl and a couple of beers. It’s also a selection of some bloody great tunes. So now you know what to expect, stick it on and enjoy!