Shows
DJ 2ripEpisode #43: Battlebots [2002 House & Hard House]Having learned about the beginnings of the rave scene around the United States the story always seems the same. House music was getting some play throughout the eighties but not quite catching on to the level where it could be played exclusively. Around the turn of the decade at the beginning of the nineties raves began to flourish around the United States and clubs that were playing a mixture of music began to hire dj’s that played strictly house music and techno. This story can be revisited in almost every major area city in the country; however it is...
2009-12-1445 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #42: PsilocybinGil The DJ aka Goal Gil grew up in California through the sixties and was attracted to the San Francisco concert scene ‘s sound & light shows. By 1969 he grew fed up with the number of junkies who had crowded into San Francisco so he moved to India, where he encountered the sadhus – Hinduism’s wandering holy men. Gil followed them around to live in caves and he even wore the same robes. He continued to make his way to Goa every winter where he banged on acoustic guitars at drum circles. Eventually a man named Alan Zion smuggled a Fend...
2009-11-2344 min
DJ 2ripEpisode 41: E-Tard [Hardhouse 1996-2001]In 1986 the Music Factory Mastermix DJ Service was organized, creating megamixes through a special license. These megamixes were for DJ use and were only available through very strict channels. Some of the earliest mixes were created by Andy Pickles and Martin Smith. A few years after, Amadeus Mozart and Guy Garrett joined the Mastermix team. Their duo was called The Two Little Boys. Their series known as "Hit The Decks" was later to become a massive influence on two young producers called Ben Keen and Nick Sentience. By 1993 Amadeus Mozart had developed a strong friendship with Andy...
2009-10-2333 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #40: New Frontiers [2001 Trance]On April 9, 2001 in Houston, Texas the owner of Club Waxx at 101 Leeland began receiving pressure from the local sports authority. The owner, Mike Jacksis, was advised to shut down Club Waxx to make way for a new basketball arena parking garage. Jacksis had intentions of keeping the club open, however an agreement was reached that relinquished his lease of the hip-hop & underground club. Club Waxx featured techno, trance and jungle since 1997. After the demolition of the club, Jacksis teamed up with Neil Heller who owned Club Hyperia at 2001 Commerce Street. Together they continued to host a variety of...
2009-08-2756 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #39: Down 2 Earth [2001 Progressive Trance]During the mid-nineties the sound of Northern California’s raves helped received it’s mold by DJs like Jeno, Galen, Solar and Spun. The scene in San Francisco was able to expand rapidly because there were no curfew laws and venues like Homebase and 85th & Baldwin were making it possible to host larger events. In the late nineties venues like Soma Art Museum, “Where The Wild Things Are” museum on top of the Sony metreon, and Maritime Hall were popular.At the end of the nineties, promoters had a variety of venues at their disposal ranging from war...
2009-08-2746 min
DJ 2ripEpisode 0A - Futuristic Method [1913-1964]“Ancient life was all silence. In the nineteenth century, with the invention of the machine, Noise was born. Today, Noise triumphs and reigns supreme over the sensibility of men. For many centuries life went by in silence, or at most in muted tones. The strongest noises which interrupted this silence were not intense or prolonged or varied. If we overlook such exceptional movements as earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, avalanches and waterfalls, nature is silent.Amidst this dearth of noises, the first sounds that man drew from a pieced reed or streched string were regarded with amazement as new an...
2009-07-2219 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #38: Agents of Change [2001 Minimal + Ambient]Underground Resistance was a musical collective from Detroit, Michigan. They were the most militantly political example of Detroit Techno with a grungy sound and an anti-mainstream business strategy. The collective formed near the end of the 80's and related their music to the President Reagan era inner-city economic recession. Robert Hood joined the group after the cross-over into the nineties.As rave music began to flourish in the early nineties and techno had turned into gabber, Robert Hood felt that the soul of techno was becoming lost. He disagreed with the notion of techno transforming to be...
2009-06-3029 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #37: Ravers To The Rescue [2001 breaks]Lonnie Fisher founded Ultraworld in 1992 after attending several Catastrophic raves that were hosted in DC by the Baez brothers. Ultraworld is known for throwing the first rave in Baltimore city on October 3, 1992 which was titled “Ultraworld Excursions.” The warehouse that this party was hosted in was located in a segment of Baltimore known as Canton. Canton is located along the outer harbor on the southeastern section of the city and is considered to be centered around O’Donnell Square. With an attendance of 600+ people, it was the first of over a decade of successful Ultraworld events.For the ne...
2009-06-1340 min
DJ 2ripEpisode 36: Late Night (2001)The evolution of house music in the UK in the mid 1990s led to the term "garage" to describe the style. It is said to have been previously coined by the Paradise Garage DJs in New York. Artists such as The Artful Dodger and Sillo brought garage music to the mainstream in the UK. Other artists like Dizzee Rascal were pushing an offshoot of the "garage" genre called "grime." Grime associated complex 2-step breakbeats, often between 130-140 beats per minute and incorporated hip hop and dancehall samples. While grime had become popular throughout the UK, major record...
2009-05-3029 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #35: Silver Moon [Progressive Trance 2000]On December 28, 2000 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported "Officials Cancel Party After Website Bills As Rave." The article then proceeded, "Washington County Fair Park officials have cancelled a contract for a New Year's Eve party after learning that it was being advertised as a rave party on the internet."The internet had become a major marketing tool since it's conception. Since then partykids and even federal & municipal authorities were using the internet to track down local raves. Websites like Hyperreal and email listserves were helping to spread the word of the next upcoming party. The irony is...
2009-04-2945 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #34: Vibe Alive [2000 House Music]During the early years, dissemination of "rave" within North American media was relatively slow. However during the late 1990s noise complaints were waking up neighbors in cities all over the continent. After the 90's more parties had media hype surrounding events as a result of overdoses, and other drug-related deaths such as overheating. Cities like Toronto, Phoenix and Pittsburgh were on the map after a small amount of drug related deaths which were associated with rave events. In 2000, Dateline NBC produced a segment titled "All The Rave" which showed footage of rave attendees talking about the drugs...
2009-04-0636 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #33: Higher Learning [2000 Tech-House]Humans have the tendency to demonstrate a need to connect with one another in some form of group activity. For all communities to be psychologically healthy there needs to be a way for people to gather and exchange ideas or expressions as well as share common goals. Primitive humans spent a lot of their time sitting around fires and staring at the dancing flames & smoky forms. Anyone who has done this can understand how relaxing it can be and it gives your mind a chance to wander. It allows your thoughts to become fluid yet abstract. This is...
2009-04-0543 min
DJ 2ripEpisode 32: Spiritual Light [1999 Progressive Trance]The year 1999 was said to have been the major explosion of the global rave culture. Just as the life of stars in our cosmos, the year 1999 built up to one of the last years of the main sequence which carried across the span of a decade. Interest had grown dramatically in the dance & rave scene despite many ups & downs. Since 1991 an event called Winter Music Conference had taken place in Miami's South Beach. The conference was aimed at record labels, producers, and dj's. However as time grew on the event became a catalyst...
2009-03-2337 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #31: The Burial [1999 drum & bass]In 1999 drum & bass some of the most popular drum & bass dj's were AK1200, Dara, Aphrodite, J Smooth and Dieselboy. Along with them was dj's like Shy FX, DJ SS, DB and John B were popular. J. Majik was continuing to innovate, having started his own label known as Infrared a few years prior, he then released the Nightvision EP. This 3 disk set contained music by Goldie, System 3, John B, and Total Science. Other notable releases were tracks like "Stalker" by Usual Suspects which was featured on Dieselboy's "A Soldiers Story.""A Soldiers Story" was aptly...
2009-03-2038 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #30: Alien Night 1999 [Techno]As the nineties rushed on the media hype surrounding raves continued to grow. Daily newspapers as well as the evening news dedicated themselves to attempting to uncover the underground world of the rave scene and educate the public about the events, selling the older demographic on the notion that raves were a danger and a threat. The coverage in many ways created a promotion for the rave culture and as interest in the parties grew, so did attendance, as well as the budgets for hosting these events.In Washington DC, Buzzlife had been successful with their event...
2009-03-0936 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #29: Stargasm [1999 HOUSE]The untold story of Chicago is that after the birth of house, the city developed a major underground scene that mirrored other areas of the United States. By 1993 the Chicago rave scene had really begun to flourish with parties like 100% Pure Hardcore which featured Phantom 45 & Hyperactive; Rejoice which hosted Dubtribe along with Terry Mullan & DB; and See The Light which hosted Moby, Orbital & Aphex Twin. Throughout the nineties other popular acts in Chicago were Danny Breaks, Ruffneck, Woody Mcbride, John Acquaviva, Sleepy C, and Underground Resistance. The rave scene in Chicago mostly carried over...
2009-02-2034 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #7: Field Trip [1990-1992]House music hit big internationally in 1987. It was popular in most big cities and in New York and Chicago it was primarily played in gay nightclubs. However in San Francisco, the gayest city in the United States, the crowds continued to listen to high energy disco. A lot of people felt that house music wasn't gay enough. It was too repetitive and too cold for many listeners. Similarly the majority of clubbers did not want to change. After the major AIDS breakouts in the eighties, people living in San Francisco wanted some stability and worrying about the hot new...
2009-02-1821 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #5: Summer of Love [1989-1991]1988-1991 was considered "The Summer of Love" because the expression of youth culture and their culmination at mass gatherings reflected the same sort of hedonism seen in the original Summer of Love in San Francisco in the 1960's. During this time warehouse parties began getting busted by the police frequently and nightclubs were becoming so overcrowded that it was necessary to enforce rigid door policies.In 1989 the scene made its way from the inner city clubs & warehouses to the countryside. Soon parties such as Sunrise, Biology, Energy, and World Dance came about. All of which maintained...
2009-02-1831 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #28: Deep Audio Release [1999]The underground scene of Australia in the 1980s was made up of artists such as Soho, Planet Patrol, Yaz, and Serious Intention. Many of which were producing a combination of electro, disco and funk. A popular form of dance called the Melbourne shuffle came out of this era. It was a fast heel-toe action that incorporated body movements suitable for underground dance music.Melbourne becamse a haven for large-scale raves in the nineties era. In 1992 a crew known as the Melbourne Underground Development (MUD) began a series of parties called Every Picture Tells a Story. The parties...
2009-02-1738 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #27: Future Teknology [1999]Owner of Marine Parade Records and one-half of the production crew Tsunami One, Adam Feeland, released a breaks album called "Coastal Breaks" in 1996. At that time Freeland, Rennie Pilgrem and Tayo were hosting a party called Friction. They coined the term "nu skool" to describe the music that they were playing. Other dj's and producers such as Uberzone, Plump DJ's and Aquasky have since pioneered the nu skool arena. Hybrid was one of the prominent artists to come out of this revolution. In 1999 they released their first album called Wide angle. The compilation was a combination of...
2009-02-0630 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #26: Liquid Groove [1998]In 1990 a teenager in Montreal named Ryan Lair had begun his days of partying in the gay house music scene. At the time the only place you could go to hear this type of music was at a club called Crisco. Within a year Ryan found himself promoting for the first rave in Montreal, titled Solstice. In 1991 the Montreal rave scene was made up of parties in warehouses. The early rave scene was a combination of the gay house music clubbers and a new breed of young party people. The vibe of Montreal throughout this time was centered primarily...
2009-01-1730 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #25: Continuum [1998]As the drum & bass sounds of the mid-nineties began to move towards lighter sounds such as that of intelligent or jazzy drum & bass. In 1996 there was a rise in drum & bass sub-genres such as "hardstep," "techstep," and "darkstep." These were attempts to bring the genre back towards it's darkcore roots. Techstep became a big deal leading up to the later portion of the decade. The genre, while deeply atmospheric, was often characterized by samples from science fiction themes mixed together with cold and complex percussion. By 1998 all of the genre splitting had...
2009-01-1526 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #23: GHETTO HOUSE [1995-1997]While Cybotron, the first major release from Juan Atkins in Detroit, may be considered the first techno record it is also arguably known as the first electro record. Across the United States, Afrika Bambaataa released "Planet Rock" in 1982 while Hashim released "Al-Naafiysh" in 1983. Electro was dominated by staccato, percussive rhythms with heavy use of effects such as reverbs and delays. Electro was a primary influence in the development of Miami Bass.Miami Bass became popular at the start of the 90's. The genre was a type of rap music that was geared towards fast-paced dancing. 2 Live Crew...
2008-12-2426 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #24: Mental [1997]Since 1990 Nicole Maalste had been studying drug use and drug cultures in the Netherlands. In 1995 she started a project, subsidized by the Ministry of Health, that would monitor "risky behavior" and drug use at raves. The study found that one-third of partygoers have felt ill at raves but only 10% actually sought out first aid which was typically provided at most large scale events. As raves continued to become more popular these facts were mirrored across the world.In 1997 a drug monitoring system reported that the ecstacy market had become polluted as chemists began using other drugs in...
2008-12-2440 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #22: Vision of Rhythm [1997]In 1995 a website named Erowid was founded by an organization called “Fire & Earth Erowid.” The site actually remained as a part-time project up until the end of the 90’s. The website specialized in the controversial niche of providing accurate, specific and responsible information about how psychoactives are used around the world. The site soon became a cross between a library and a journal.During that same year a jewelry maker named John Dwight wrote a letter to the city to request a traffic tunnel to shoot for a “promotional video compilation.” The idea was initially used during the...
2008-12-2331 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #21: Elevate [1997]Rewind to San Diego, 1986. Leading up to this year die-hard San Diego party kids make a 2 hour drive to downtown Los Angeles. Many of the popular Los Angeles parties in the mid-80s were hosted in hotel banquet rooms. One of the most famous was The Park Plaza Hotel. When Todd Zweig went on a trip to Ibiza, Spain that year he had a refreshing musical experience. The massive parties and Balearic dj style ignited his motivation to put an end to the two hour drive to LA and give people in San Diego an event that brings all...
2008-12-1032 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #20: Solar [1994-1996]In 1994 Paul Oakenfold broadcasted a set on BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix that was largely inspired by beach parties taking place in Goa, India. The two hour mix was seperated into two parts, one half being the Silver Mix and the other being the Gold Mix. This mix was a springboard for many producers such as Li Kwan, Salt Tank & Vanelis. Around this time the popularity of trance was beginning to rise. During 1994 the trance scene was continuing to develop. Listeners grew increasingly interested in trance not because of the complexity in rhythm but from the...
2008-12-0535 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #19: Evolutionary Rhythm [1995-1996]Between the year 1995 and 1996 jungle began splitting further into other sub-styles. What was once known as jungle was now being recognized as drum & bass by newcoming fans. During 1995, P-Funk introduced "P-Funk Era" which would revolutionize the sound of drum & bass as many artists began to incorporate more rolling basslines into their production.During this same year jungle became more commercialized. Though he was mostly intrigued by acid house and Detroit techno, Alex Reece rose to become a very influential name in the jazzy/intelligent drum & bass scene. Although remaining an underground genre, Goldie's "Timeless"...
2008-11-2142 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #18: Fantastic Voyage [1993-1996]Some Orlando, FL doctors estimate that there were approximately 60+ drug related deaths in the city between 1991 and 1997, many of which were linked to the Orlando rave scene. The city had risen quickly and fell quickly due to the widespread amount of excessive drug use. Heroine was very popular in Orlando during the mid-nineties and was actually so much of a problem throughout the city that the police worked to take control, creating "The Rave Review Board" which would impose a curfew on nightclubs which would end any afterhours activity. Since Orlando raves were always held in nightclubs their scene...
2008-11-0630 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #17: Pure Pleasure [1994-1995]After the 1994 Criminal Justice Act nearly left the British free party scene in ruins many traveler artists moved away from Britain to Europe, United States, Goa (India) and even Australia’s East Coast. The free party ideology spread through Eastern Europe. This period marked the rise in French, German and Dutch sound systems and Teknivals.A teknival is a free event where any artist who enters is encouraged to participate, often leading to several days worth of randomly placed sound systems, cafes, tents and vehicles. The most famous free party sound system was Spiral Tribe which originated in...
2008-10-2941 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #16: Turn It Up [1994]In 1994 Armand Van Helden released his first major track titled “Witch Doktor” which made it to the top 5 list on the Billboard Hot Dance chart. On the other hand Erick Morillo was continuing to pump out classic tracks. He had first gained speed with his productions under the pseudonyms Reel 2 Reel, RAW, and Lil’ Mo Ying Yang. In 1994 he produced “I Like To Move It” under the Reel 2 Reel name which hit #1 on the Billboard Club Play chart. He immediately began traveling the world to play gigs, eventually becoming a millionaire. The song was used in television as well as in the...
2008-10-2730 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #15: Arcadia [1993]In 1991 Chris & James Griffin started a small dance party in Cheltenham UK. This night eventually became known as Trance. Chris & James soon decided to part ways to hold their own individual parties. Chris formed Perception while James went on to organize Fantazia. New Years of 1992/1993 was the 6th Fantazia event and possibly their largest, with an attendance of 16,000. In 1992 Jaydee aka DJ Robin Albers released the classic hit called 'Plastic Dreams' on R&S Records. The track hit #1 on the US Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.With an idea originally...
2008-10-2632 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #14: Perception [1992-1994]As stated in Wikipedia the term "electronica" encompasses a wide range of contemporary electronic music. The music is designed for a wide range of uses which can include foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and also background music. Electronica soon became a catch-all phrase for ambient, chill-out, downtempo, downbeat, and any abstract forms of electronic music. The focus on songs, a fusion of styles, and combination of traditional along with electronic instruments often sets electronica apart from straight ahead styles like house, techno and trance.In 1991 Autechre released their first single titled "Cavity Job" but...
2008-10-1444 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #13: Raveworld [1992-1993]The Cleveland rave culture was inspired by a college radio dj from station WRUW named Stevie T. In 1992, he along with DJs Lars Fischer, Mike Filly, and Rob Bertrand attempted their first rave together. Unfortunately it was busted by the police before it even started. Soon after this, Mike Filly teamed up with DJ Rob Sherwood to form Tone Deaf and Color Blind Productions. In June of 1992 the crew hosted TIDAL RAVE featuring a live performance by 2 Unlimited. Their second event, KOOLAID in July of 1992 featured F.U.S.E. as well as Joey Beltram & Richie Hawtin. KOOLAID...
2008-10-1445 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #12: Freedom 2 Dance [1991-1994]Inspired by productions such as "Can You Feel It?" by Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers, deep house emerged from Chicago around the year of 1988. Producers such as Masters At Work and DJ Pierre helped define the genre leading up the 90's. Deep house tracks had a slightly dissonant feel as the jazz elements in many of it's tracks were brought out by using more complex chord structures than previous house music songs.At the start of the 90's there was much more happening all around the country, particularly in the New England & Mid-Atlantic region spanning from...
2008-09-2942 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #3: Rise Up [1983 - 1987]The following paragraphs are notes regarding major developments in house music in the United States. During this time there was consistent movement of records from the United States into Europe where the sounds of Chicago were motivating dj's in vacation places like Ibiza, Spain. In 1983 Jamie Principle released "Your Love" to a reel-to-reel cassette. To this day the original track is still unreleased although many bootlegs exist. Marshall Jefferson recalls in an interview on Pump Up The Volume "We thought Jamie was a god. We had no idea this was just some kid making music in his basement...
2008-09-2246 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #2: The House That Jack Built"In the beginning there was Jack... and Jack had a groove. And from this groove came the groove of all grooves. And while one day viciously throwing down on his box Jack boldly declared LET THERE BE HOUSE. And house music was born." Jacking was a form of dance that spawned from "punking out." Punking out involved bending a person over on the dancefloor and grinding on their backside. The humping motion carried over and people began doing humping, jumping & pushing motions that were then considered to be "jacking." People would be seen inside the clubs...
2008-09-1538 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #1: Precursor [1971 - 1987]It can be awe-inspiring to investigate the very roots of a culture and even more-so to realize how fast an evolution has spawned. The Moog synthesizer was developed in 1964 and was the first subtractive synthesizer to use a keyboard as a controller. Since it's conception we have seen electronic music develop for over 4 decades. Kraftwerk's album "Autobahn" from 1971 is often considered the first electronic music pressed to disc and marketed. During this time other electronic groups such as Tangerine Dream were also pressing discs. Such music had inspired Juan Atkins from Detroit who soon began a duo...
2008-09-0734 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #11: The New Sound Of HardcoreIn the context of Jamaican pop culture, a sound system was basically a group of DJs and MCs. The crews would load trucks with generators, turntables and huge speakers to set up street parties. Many of these dj's were very set on playing "exclusive" music which would only be shared amongst their own sound system. These exclusive records were pressed onto an acetate disc called dubplates. In the record industry these discs were used as test pressings to help master a recording before the track was pressed to vinyl and mass produced. After the break of 1994, the...
2008-08-2536 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #9: Pure X - Rave Enhancer [1991-1994]At the turn of the nineties techno had become a catch-all term denoting anything less traditionally soulful than house music. Hardcore techno was the first fully fledged genre of European rave music. Almost as soon as it was produced and imported DJ's like Fabio & Grooverider conducted experiments with house music records that employed breakbeats and sped them up to similar speeds of 200 beats per minute. They did this with records that had noticeable breakbeats such as music produced on the "Shut Up & Dance" record label and songs like "Humanoid" by Stakker. This sort of experimentation help pave...
2008-06-2441 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #8: Rave Krisp-E's [1993]During the same time that WICKED was hosting their Full Moon events another crew with likeminded ideals was formed by Malachy O'Brien, Martin O'Brien and Jason Walker. This crew started a nightclub party called Come-Unity at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco. They eventually formed an event called Gathering.San Francisco at this time was also enjoying the same Summer of Love feeling that had swept through Europe. In the 1960s people were taking acid and sharing their ideas and doing what they could to spread those ideas. At the turn of the 1990s the same notion was applying...
2008-05-2550 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #10: Deep Bass - Jungle Mix [1991-1993]Early jungle evolved from acid house productions that sampled breakbeats. Key acid house tunes during the evolution period from 1989-1992 were 808 State's "Cubik" and Stakker's "Humanoid." Also during the same time Frankie Bones released "Bones Breaks" which was one of the first "breakbeat" productions. In the early 90's hardcore music was perceived to have become too commercial. Producers like DJ Hype, Mickey Finn, Grooverider & Fabio began stripping down the elements of hardcore, removing the happy elements and replacing them with half-time basslines and multiple break structures. Many productions in this era were also taking samples from...
2008-05-2544 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #6: Techno Rave Candies [1990-1992]Germany's involvement with the dance music culture paralleled that in the UK. The German scene also revolved around the Chicago sound in 1987 and in 1988 acid house spread throughout the country. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, free underground techno parties were found all over East Berlin.During this time, Belgium became known as a prominent factor in the development of the second wave of techno. R&S Records had released tracks by artists like Joey Beltram and CJ Bolland. Their sound was rough and metalic with discordant synth lines. Joey Beltram invented a sound...
2008-02-0734 min
DJ 2ripEpisode #4: EVERYTHING BEGINS WITH E! [1987-1988]After Chicago's birth of acid house, vinyl was moving more rapidly across seas. In 1987 it seemed as if more people were catching on to what was coming out of the United States. "Acid house" was also a term being used in England to encompass any form of house music that sounded "crazy." This was the year when Ian St. Paul and Trevor Fung invited Paul Oakenfold to Ibiza to celebrate his birthday. Paul brought along Danny Rampling and Nicky Holloway and they spent the majority of their time between Amnesia nightclub and Cafe Del Mar. ...
2008-01-1629 min