I’ve completed my first “DJ mix” project: “Destroy Rock (And Roll).” I’ve had the idea of doing a project like this for quite a few months now, but never had the software or confidence or whatever to finish it. So for about a month I’ve been playing around with MixMeister (thanks to Johan at Pop is Now King) and finally came up with something I like.

The mix starts with Mylo’s “Destroy Rock & Roll,” which I think is appropriate since it’s like me destroying my rock and roll past (like back when I wanted to be a bass player) and moving on to electronic music. The “VH1”/“In My Arms”/“Ready 2 Wear” segment goes together since “In My Arms” uses the same sample that “VH1” does and I’ve always thought the heavier beats in the Linus Loves remix of “In My Arms” were similar to those in Benny Benassi’s remix of “Ready 2 Wear.”

I just had to include “Hung Up” in the mix, though it took me a while to decide on which remix fit best. Then it was a matter of finding a song that you would never expect to find alongside Madonna, so “Destroy Everything You Touch” felt perfect… but that turned the whole project a little darker, so I followed it with “Silent Shout” (a rather creepy song, I think) and continued the “weird” theme with Bjork’s “Who Is It,” albeit a fast and heavy remix.

I knew I wanted to include Royksopp, but it was difficult finding a good song — especially one that would flow with the very heavy ending to “Who Is It.” In the end, the Headman remix of “Only This Moment” worked best, and provided a nice segue into “Electrobix.” Again, I had a tough time finding a good Scissor Sisters song to include. I know I wanted to put them in, but none of the songs were working out. Once I figured out that I could crop out the annoying intro/outro for “Electrobix,” it fit the mix pretty well.

“DARE” was another song I felt needed to be in the mix, but was a total pain in the ass to fit in. I would’ve preferred a more interesting remix than this Soulwax one, but it worked, so oh well. I love how at the end of it the pace really picks up as it matches the beats in “Monster Hospital.” I originally had a much faster song following “DARE” which made the ending go too fast, but I loved the idea, nonetheless, and it worked for “Monster Hospital” too since the Soulwax remix of “DARE” is fairly slow.

I’m not sure whether “Avalon” is a good fit for the mix, but I love the song and wanted to toss in a Jacques lu Cont/Thin White Duke remix (in addition to his SDP aliased remix of “Hung Up”). Then for the closing, like a good bookend, I used a remix of the song that started it all and inspired the mix: “Destroy Rock & Roll.”

Obviously, the mix isn’t perfect. The second time I listened to it I noticed a bunch of “flaws” that I didn’t hear the first time (imperfect beat matching, weird sound levels during transitions, etc.). I was going to go back and tweak it, but then I figured that this was my first stab at making a mix and I’d have plenty of chances to improve, so I left the flaws intact. They are a good way to track my progress.

What comes after this? Two things: First, another remix — probably more of a downtempo one. This one is pretty upbeat and more club-like, and I’d like to do something that incorporates slower music I like. Second, a real remix remix. That is, taking a song I love, and taking it apart, changing it around, and reassembling it. This is probably more like item 50, since I’m going to need to learn a lot, but it’s fun, so what the heck.

For those who want to follow along, here is the track list broken into times:

00:00 — “Destroy Rock & Roll” (radio edit) by Mylo
02:29 — “VH1” (radio edit) by Linus Loves
06:43 — “In My Arms” (Linus Loves remix) by Mylo
09:04 — “Ready 2 Wear” (Benny Benassi remix) by Felix da Housecat
13:50 — “Hung Up” (SDP extended vocal mix) by Madonna
21:21 — “Destroy Everything You Touch” by Ladytron
25:30 — “Silent Shout” by the Knife
29:34 — “Who Is It” (Vitalic remix) by Bjork
33:02 — “Only This Moment” (Headman remix) by Royksopp
39:20 — “Electrobix” (12″ mix) by Scissor Sisters
43:20 — “DARE” (Soulwax remix) by Gorillaz
48:24 — “Monster Hospital” (MSTRKRFT remix) by Metric
53:11 — “Avalon” (Jacques lu Cont Versus remix) by Juliet
59:46 — “Destroy Rock & Roll” (Riton Re-Rub) by Mylo

  Download “Destroy Rock (And Roll)” (very low-quality)

If you want a CD version of the mix, let me know and I might go ahead and send you one. I will be designing a CD cover and everything (and will update this post once that has happened).