Back around 1995 / 1996, two albums ignited an interest in electronic music in me that opened up a whole new world of possibilities. One of these albums was Paul Oakenfold's Goa Mix. While not strictly an album, I had a couple of old bootlegged cassettes knocking around for a while of what I still think to this day was probably one of the greatest DJ mix albums of all time.
The mix was originally aired on Radio 1 during the Radio 1 Essential Mix programme and it was never actually released as a product due to copyright issues. Well, 15 years later and (with a few slight adjustments) the mix has been redone and is now available in iTunes (and I'm sure, all good record stores). This is truly a seminal mix album, taking the Indian influenced psychedelic Goa Trance sound of the mid 90s underground scene and mixing it up with a selection of classical and film pieces. The two key featured artists on the album are Vangelis, through heavy use of music (and samples) from Blade Runner, and Man With No Name, whose first album 'Moment of Truth' was the second of the albums I mentioned at the beginning of the post.
What makes this mix so eminently listenable, other than the obvious nostalgia trip, is that the mix of styles means that the music, although heavy at times, always feels part of a bigger piece and never drives on too long as many dance mixes can do, there's always a contrast which enhances each element, never clearer is that shown than in the transition between the Blade Runner main title (complete with Harrison Ford voiceover) and Man With No Name's classic 'Floor Essence'.
The package on offer here doesn't stop with the mix itself though, on top of the excellent mix each individual track is included in it's entirety. This not only gives you a running time around 7 hours but allows you to appreciate how the mix is constructed. I remember fondly, desperately trying to track down several of these tracks during my brief time spinning decks 5 years later. At around £7.99, this is an absolute bargain.
