As a blogger/reviewer you get the privileges to receive great music via multiple channels, but sometimes people remind you (without it being their fault) of a mistake you made back in the 90s. That’s exactly what happened with the following mix CD I am talking about: Mazzo Presents: Manic Monday, released in 1994. I remember this album really well: it’s the only album I did NOT buy back in the 90s. I have had this album in my hands in a record store called ‘Free Record Store’ in Heerlen, and I always thought I should buy this, just to give it a go, but I was never interested. I did not understand Oldkool music back then, I was a full on Hardcore/Gabber fanatic, and thought this album was not my cup of tea. Oh the irony: I am a huge Oldskool music lover now!
Someone called Onderkoffer reminded me of this album, and I had a quick listen to it on Youtube, and realised that I made a huge mistake back in the 90s. I should have purchased this album. Why, you might ask? Well, it’s a fucking dope album! Mixed by two legends from the scene: DJ Dano and Jeroen Flamman. Yep, the one from Flamman & Abraxas. And for those who were raving the night away during the 90s, a quick reminder of what Mazzo was: it was a club in Amsterdam, and every week they held a ‘Manic Monday’ night.
Now this album is commemorating those nights. To get this album I could have bought it back in the 90s, which I didn’t. And to go now to Heerlen to the Free Record Store is a no-no, seeing as the company is bust. So the only way is Ebay, and thankfully I found a copy. A bit dirty and a few scratches, but still playable. Thanks Onderkoffer for making sure I would listen to a wonderful mix album. And now you all want to see the tracklist, right?
CD 1 01. Hypnotist – Pioneers Of The Warped Groove 02. The Todd Terry Project – Back To The Beat 03. Casanova’s Revenge – Let’s Work 04. Bazz – House Of Pax 05. Joey Beltram – Energy Flash 06. Second Phase – Mentasm 07. Phuture – We Are Phuture 08. Fierce Rulling Diva – Whipped Kream 09. Eternal – Eternal 10. Photon – Doin’ Our Thang 11. DJ Doc Scott – Surgery 12. Tronikhouse – Uptempo 13. The Prodigy – Charly 14. Marusha – Rave Channel 15. Set Up System – Fairy Dust 16. Fierce Rulling Diva – Rubb It In 17. E-Rection – Smoke My Dang Along 18. Spawn – Tension 19. Robert Armani – A.M.B.U.L.A.N.C.E. 20. Tyree – Video Crash 21. Church Of XTC – XTC 22. NRG – Never Lost His Hardcore 23. Immaginazione – Musica Del Futuro 24. Gateway Experience – Twin Freaks 25. Edge Of Motion – Set Up 707 26. Tellurians – The Navigator 27. TD5 – Cyber Trance 28. Nico – The Scream 29. Circuit Breaker – Trac-K 30. Edge #1 – Compnded
CD 2 01. Science Lab – Flesh & Blood 02. B Sides – Magic Orchestra 03. B Sides – Moribund (Remix) 04. Time Zone – Praise God 05. Da Posse – Searchin’ Hard 06. 2 In A Room – Somebody In The House (Say Yeah!!!) 07. Set Up System – Factory 08. Techno Grooves – Techno Slam 09. Space Trax – Atomic Playboy 10. Trancemission – No More Mindgames 11. Ace The Space – Nine Is A Classic (Ace The Space) 12. Overdog – Fuck You Up 13. The Mover – Nightflight 14. English Muffin – Ride 15. Mescalinum United – We Have Arrived 16. Monoton – Translated Realities 17. Nighttripper – Tone Exploitation 18. Altern8 – Activ 8 19. Kicks Like A Mule – The Bouncer 20. Inner City – Praise (United Mix) 21. The Prodigy – Android 22. Return Of The Living – Get Funky 23. Frequency – Kiss The Sky 24. CJ Bolland – Horsepower 25. Kicksquad – Soundclash 26. DHS – House Of God 27. Dr Kevorkian – Suicide Machine 28. D-Shake – Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah 29. Turntable Hype – Turntable Hype (A’Dam Mix) 30. Nico – So Light (On 45!) 31. Phrenetic System – Reality 32. English Muffin – You Should Have Been Smarter 33. O.S.P. – Ooooh Shit!
Wowzers! What a tracklist! And to think that back in 1994 they already concidered this to be ‘oldskool’ music. Hence the bit on the front of the album “a first lesson in rave history”. Yeah, this is Rave history! Carefully mixed and selected by Dano and Flamman. Bloody Nora, this album is great. A bit of everything is in here. From Dutch classics to British anthems, and we all know how much I like British anthems.
The first album is nice and relaxed, the second comes in harder than before. The focus on the second album is Hardcore, and boy, do they play the records hard. And it’s an unbelievable thing, this compilation. Both DJs have selected really cool records. And to think I left this on a shelf in a record store, what a stupid decision I made. But let’s not forget, I was born in 1983, I did not understand the power behind Rave music yet, I was 11 back in 1994 lol. So young and innocent.
It’s a tremendous album. I can not underline the fact that this is a must have album. I do that with a permanent marker. This is everything ravers need to have. They’ve done their best to make this album work, and it has worked beautifully. I can not point out one thing wrong with it.
The first disc’s best record…. simpel answer: ‘Circuit Breaker – Trac-k’. Brilliant record. Second disc’s best record ‘Nighttripper – Tone Exploitation’. Can’t go wrong with these two amazing records.
So all in all a wonderful album. Thanks Onderkoffer for reminding me what a fool I have been in the 90s. But it’s never too late to hallucinate!
DJs: Dano & Flamman Genre/Style: Hardcore, Acid, Techno Release Year: 1994 Album Info: A First Lesson In Rave History CDs: 2 (two) Length CDs: +/+ 2 hours Tracks: 63 (sixty-three) Label: EVA Product Number: 74321 246372 More Information: —————-