Oakenfold's 1999 World Tour was undoubtably his best material ever and reason why I began buying records, specifically some of the tracks he played on those sets. I caught him a few years later at some gigs here in Cali aswell as other states and his popularity was still fresh and he did play some good stuff which was cool. I think its very rare for some DJ's to stay on the top no matter how popular they may seem or how talented or gifted. Sometimes they may not be talented or gifted when you have companies throwing shitloads of money at you, your face on every magazine...people's perception of you then becomes that of a music god. I dont know, he doesnt do it for me anymore just like Sasha.
Im a big, big, big Sasha fan, been following him since the early 1990's and I have heard some amazing sets from him, been to some gigs where it's 6am and he's still spinning some fantastic uplifting trance but now, I wouldnt pay $35-50 to go see/hear him spin whatever electro crap he is spinning on...err.....ahem, I mean, whatever he has been downloading off Napster to his Mac for his weekend sets. That also has upset me mostly about these DJ's as of late. DJing was about skills, it was about going to the record to store, finding vinyl that no one else could and bringing it to a club and bangin' it to the masses and making them wonder "what record was that!". Now, anyone can be a DJ so its a skilless profession with CD players. No need to buy records anymore, just download what you need off the internet, pop it on a disc and youre ready to go...bah, all bullshit. What's next, hook up an Ipod to your Numarks and DJ off that?
Anyway, getting back on track, many good DJ's have made their mark/impression on us and many have paved a way for other DJ's to branch out and create new styles for the new age as we can only move forward. Whether you like, enjoy, love, dislike, utterly hate and despise house, trance, D&B, techno or whatever genre you consider good or bad, we all seem to find ourselves under the same roof when we seek to talk about or listen to our own fascinations and inspirations...be it here or on a dancefloor.
Old School Rava
