Dieselboy

(Thx for the replies guys. I told myself I wouldn't be surprised or whatever if there was none, but it's cool to see that a few people looked at it. )





For my next entry I'm going to be discussing a weekly radio show. Well, I'm going to discuss this show first, and then review and offer to you a great example of said show actually.

The show I'm speaking of is easily one of the best weekly shows in the world. It's quite famous, and I'm sure many of you have heard it at least mentioned even if you are not a listener. This show is aptly named:

The Essential Mix

Started way back in 1993 by producer Eddie Gordan and host Pete Tong, they decided on a 2 hour format of uninterrupted music, which is now seems to be the norm in many electronica shows today. This format allows artists to create what has been described as, "A musical journey." instead of just a collection of songs.

It was a struggle at first to get big name DJs and artists to commit and pre-record a 2 hour set every week, and Tong actually ended up doing the first weeks show in the end. Slowly though, The Essential Mix began to gain cred in the years that followed. There is no shortage today of artists that would love to be invited to mix it up for this show, as it more or less means you've arrived.

On occasion though , the reins will be given to an artist on the rise and what could be called a "breakout mix", which has happened more than a few times, will occur. Where an artist is on the verge of becoming well known, and a good EM show will be their career turning point into the big time. Perhaps the best example of this would be Pendulum's EM from 2005/09/18. Pendulum was probably known to some at the time, but not to me, and not to many others as well. This show was played out right as their debut album Hold Your Colour was about to be released, and I really believe that this show was a huge stepping stone to advertise for this amazing album. They just rose to amazing heights from there. This mix is still highly worth checking out today, as it was almost strictly high energy and hard D&B, and an easy indicator as to why they became as huge as they did.

This show has introduced me quite a few other amazing artists over the years as well. The first time I ever heard the Scratch Perverts was on an EM mix in 2004 and more recently, Fake Blood from this past March. Both were astounding and made a fan out of me. Every time I see an artist scheduled whom I don't recognize I look forward to it with high hopes.

How To Tune In

If anyone is interested in checking the Essential Mix out, it airs every Saturday from 3:00-5:00 on BBC Radio. DON'T PANIC. I know that time is weird for people especially with the time zone differences between users on this board and all. LUCKILY, Radio 1 has the Iplayer on their site now so you can listen to any show they play, any time during the following week. I could seriously write a review of praise for this IPlayer in itself.

It's so easy to use as well:

Step 1 - Go to this site: BBC - BBC Radio 1 Programmes - BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix (EM main page)
Step 2 - There's a schedule link up top, as well as a genre link too, so finding the show or style you want shouldn't be a problem. Just find the show you want to hear and click on Listen Now. The show you picked will start playing in another window.
Step 3 - ???
Step 4 - Profit!

Nothing else required. Incredibly simple.

(Seriously, this thing still excites me to this day. I used to have to DL all these shows on torrent every week. ><)





But yeah, if you have any interest in staying current with who's hot in the current electronica scene atm, then this show is a great place to be. It's one that I do my best never to miss, and I highly recommend it.