Booka Shade - Essential Mix 07.02.06

Booka Shade, Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1 July 2, 2006 (tracklisting)

Ugh, crazy weekend. I've lost access to wireless at home, so look for massive bursts here and there for the next day or three. I'm working now in a cafe with . I'll have a later post filled with neuroses and unrequited love, but for now, I want to put up our weekly long mix from one of the big names of dance music.

This time, it's a name that we haven't mentioned here before, although I have repeatedly stated my intention to cover them, their label and their scene. Booka Shade have actually been around for a long time, unbeknownst to me. They started out in the early 90s as a synth pop act, moved onto trance in the mid 90s, before setting up their label, Get Physical, with M.A.N.D.Y. and DJ T at the end of the decade. A few years later, they would drop some of the biggest tunes of the year in the form of "Mandarine Girl" and "Body Language," creating some of the most beautiful house music ever. They haven't let up much since then, with a few more huge tunes, remixes, their live show.

This is their Essential Mix for BBC's Radio 1 from July 2, 2006, it's a unique one in that you get a live band set for the first hour, recorded in some BBC studio. The second hour is a DJ mix, as the boys take you through soulful house or whatever you want to call it. I really like it, both parts. Whenever I think of 'dance music,' this is the sound I imagine. It's not necessarily what I want to hear or what I consider the best, it's just got that beautiful, melodic house sound that I associate with dance music. It reminds me of disco stripped of the instruments with a more incessant beat, very nice. I'm gonna try to do a better job talking about this scene, as there's some great stuff going on that doesn't involve talking about blow jobs and asses. Hard to believe, but it's true. Hope you like the mix, more to come.