M&A #43: Milo West

Milo West kicked us off for this year in Michaelmas, and here he is in whatever term this technically is to return with something.. a bit different. He's best known as disco extraordinaire Grandma Groove Milo, but what have we here? Is that techno I hear? 

A soft vinyl crackle greets us as we start this one off, before a buzzing 80s opener corrals us into half an hour of sultry electro. Just as soon as you've settled, the mood turns darker and the kick gets harder, as we're ushered into the basement for a slightly different type of work out. Here we get shown a new side of Milo's music collection, one that features a sweatier bass line, dissonant synths and even a full on techno slammer at one hour in. This mix is a tantalising departure from Milo's disco days, one that leaves you gagging for the club, gagging for...well...anything goes down here.

How did you record the mix?

It was recorded using my new-ish Pioneer XDJ-RR.

What were you trying to do with it?

I still like disco, but I’ve gradually been getting into heavier and darker stuff. Being quarantined, I thought it was a decent opportunity to try something a bit different and play some of the harder tracks I’ve been collecting. It starts with a bit of italo disco and slowly climbs through some old school acid, before ramping up into a few techno slammers and rounding off with some ghetto house (and a breakbeat classic for good measure). I’ve been working on trying to build energy in my mixes through peaks and troughs, gradually building up and occasionally releasing energy to help sustain it, and I’d like to think I managed some of that here.

What’s coming up for you during/after quarantine?

I’ve not got much planned during quarantine, other than a lot of practising and continuing to trawl through DJ sets and playlists for new tracks. Once we’re all (hopefully) back in Cambridge come October, I’m hoping to branch out and play harder stuff, as well as continuing with Grandma Groove.

Milo’s Tracklist:

[00:00] Art Fine - Dark Silence (Art Fine Version) [SENSATION RECORDS, 1985]

[04:30] Company B - Fascinated (Club Mix) [ATLANTIC, 1986]

[08:30] Skatebård & Lauer - Volpi Polari [LIVE AT ROBERT JOHNSON, 2020]

[14:00] Jordan - Heat It Up [BELTERS, 2019]

[19:25] Bicep - Just [AUS MUSIC, 2015]

[24:30] Whitesquare - Jasmine (DJ Tennis Re-Match) [LIFE AND DEATH, 2019]

[29:40] Identified Patient & Sophie du Palais - Crush On You [PINKMAN, 2019]

[35:30] Nush - Nush 2 (Nobby’s 66 Mix) [BLUNTED, 1993]

[40:40] E Trax - Let’s Rock [TRADE, 1993]

[44:15] DJ Edge - S.F. (Acid Mix) [EDGE RECORDS, 1992]

[48:00] DFX - Relax Your Body (The Hacker Mix) [LASERGUN, 2007]

[54:30] Lauren Flax - (You Have To) Work [THE BUNKER NEW YORK, 2019]

[58:45] Amotik - Ek [AMOTIK, 2015]

[64:15] Johnny Vicious - Ecstasy (ft. Lula) (Take Your Shirts Off) (DJ Wout Remix) [LA TRIBU, 1998]

[70:00] Submission - Women Beat Their Men (Cevin’s Peak Hour Dub) [VELOCITY RECORDINGS, 1997]

[75:00] Eric Martin - Hit How U Want 2 [DANCE MANIA, 1996]

[79:00] Paul Johnson - No Big Thang [RELIEF RECORDS, 1996]

[82:30] Paul Johnson - Feel My M.F. Bass [DANCE MANIA, 1994]

[86:00] DJ Junk - Do It - Do It [JUNK, 1993]