osymyso brings you – the art of flipping channels4 min read

the art of flipping the channel - osymyso mix osymyso was hailed by Q magazine as one of the 10 DJs you must see before you die. almost as good as seeing him is listening to him spin his tale of remote controls, tv gems and much much funky bass. a lame review.

i am holding in my hands the brandnew mix CD “osymyso brings you… the art of flipping channels” to be released soon – on 26th september 2005 to be more precise – and i am facing quite a peculiar challenge: how to write a review about a cd that i am really VERY exited about without sounding totally lame? fuck it, mang, i can’t pretend to be all jaded here. this dj mix is simply too great. so here we go. w00t! can’t seem to wipe that smirk out of my face.

oh wait, here’s another lame thing i do: i keep lists of things. i hasten to add that i did so pre-hornby, but uhm… the relevant information here is that “the art of flipping channels” [= AOFC] has just entered my top 3 mix CD list. the others in the top 3 are “80 minutes of madness” mixed by coldcut in 1995, “blech” on warp mixed by strictly kev and pc [1996] and “raiding the 21. century” mixed by dj food in 2002/4. i know, that makes 4 in total. you noticed, huh? well, yeah. my lists are flexible like that. ait. top 4 list then.
don’t get me wrong. there have been other great dj mixes over the years, obviously. but the true gems are rare and AOFC is one of them.

we all agree. mix CDs that come with lame dj mags that we buy when hanging around bored in airports are mostly crap. but sometimes they are actually worth having a listen to. i am glad that i did check out the “4am eternal” mix that came with the november 2000 MixMag. it introduced me to the world of osymyso. AND the mix has been in my top 3 list ever since; until AOFC has managed to replace it.

in my book a great dj is one who has such a unique style that sometimes when you hear a number you think “oh that’s a total *insert dj name here* track”. ever since i first discovered his work with the “4 am eternal” mix this has been the case for me with osymyso. how to explain it? “osymyso tracks” are quite usually bouncy, witty, and they come with funky ass basslines. nah. you’d have to hear it to understand…

similarly a good dj mix adds to the tracks in the sense that the next time you hear a track by itself you expect the mix to come in at any moment. osymyso’s musical selections manage to do that and more. they are all about telling a story, about building up the pressure, releasing it, introducing the goosebump section, the break. you would never find clashing harmonies in an osymyso mix and while i fully agree, that this should be obvious, i am always surprised how many DJs, including top names, do not adhere to that basic rule. but most importantly, let us not forget the sense of humour that always comes through in an osymyso mix via his use of samples added to the song lyrics. “do remember that the queen mother died listening to osymyso”.

as the title and the excellent cover artwork [by Douglas Pledger] suggest AOFC is dedicated to zapping, the remote control, flipping out, hah, just kiddin, and TV. actually i did flip out, but i know: lame. musically tv series and movie soundtracks have been mixed in and film clippings and TV promotional adverts heavily sampled. osymyso tells me about one particular clip, that he found literally one day before finishing his mix and added to the mix with great delight. the clip explains the remote control to people, because it was a brandnew invention at the time. the mix was done using ableton live. some post-production, like additional basslines, was added in cubase. two of his own tracks managed to slip into the mix, the return of an old friend and clonque rock, both of which stem from his excellent 05ymy50 project.

from osymyso’s website: “The Art Of Flipping Channels is an all new, fully legitimate, you can buy it in the shops mix CD brought to you by osymyso. It is released on the 26th September 2005. The label behind its release is Antidote who you may know from their past releases that include mixes from such greatness as DJ Yoda, Steinski, Cassette Boy, DJ Format and Prince Paul. It’s got plenty in there for those of you with a short attention span; Wagon Christ, Kid Koala, Prefuse 73, Depth Charge and Cabbage Boy all mushed together with some tasty themes such as Miami Vice, The Adams Family, Bewitched, The Incredible Hulk, Hill Street Blues and the Elmer Bernstein theme from Ghostbusters. CAT NO : ANTCD115

so now only one thing needs explaining, how did i manage to use the word lame 6 times for a mix CD that is so completely and utterly un-lame?
how?
please add this CD to your “one-to-buy” list. and i freely admit, i say this purely out of egotistical reasons. the more units are sold the better the chance that we will get to hear AOFC 2 sometime soon.

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