First, in one aspect I fully don’t agree with Jeff Mills. “Thirty years ago, Techno music was still in its infancy, still formulating itself and attempting to find firm footing in the genre of Dance Music”, he says about the seminal DJ session at Tokyo’s Liquid Room, which will be now reissued in CD and cassette formats.
In fact, the first half of the 1990’s had been extremely fruitful and innovative in techno. The genre in its purest and rawest form was about to reach its climax, before techno’s split into further directions. Can’t say that 1995 marked Mills’ own peak in rougher sounds, but the thrilling kind of brutality never returned in my view.
Needless to say, “Live at Liquid Room” is an indispensable session for everyone who wants to (re-)experience true spirit of 1990’s techno. For many it’s a trip down memory lane, for others a compendium for discovering the earlier sounds. A live recording with crowd enthusiasm, well captured during the gaps between segments, creates a genuine feeling of being there.
Cult tracks and artists featured
To a large extent, the mix is a showcase of Mills’ own early classics, such as “Changes Of Life”, “Step To Enchantment (Stringent)”, “Humana” and many more. It accommodates more than one track by Surgeon, Joey Beltram and DJ Funk. The list also features genre’s other luminaries Damon Wild, DJ Skull, The Advent, and a vital anthem from Detroit, “Strings Of Life”.
For the mix, Mills used ‘only’ two turntables, along with two reel-to-reel machines. With one of the latter, he premiered the track “i9”, which officially came out in 1996 on “The Other Day EP” and now a limited picture disc with a 2025 version was released. Soon Mills will embark on the “Live at Liquid Room” World Tour, returning to the epicenter of events in Tokyo on 15 November.
For a long reading experience about “”, head to a post by the fabulous Independent Electronics Commission blog.
Buy CD from:
Axis Records (US / International)
Juno (UK)
Disk Union (JP)