Right then, another re-up from the 'Tourist' blog as we thought we'd bring you something a bit special to mark New Years Day. As such, we bring you the thoroughly bloody excellent 'Psyche Out' mix from 'Optimo'. A free roaming mixtape that brilliantly alternates between acid house, sleazy funk & psychedelic rock. The mix was released on the equally bloody wonderful 'Eskimo' label back in 2005. The surprise was that hardly any time had passed since the critically acclaimed 'Kill The DJ' mix had come out, in fact it was a matter of a few months. Now without being cynical and accusing the chaps of trying to flood the market in a way not seen since Sasha & Digweed in the late 90's this seemed a rather strange move. That is until we find out that there was actually meant to be a nine month gap between the two mixes coming out but due to various problems holding up the release of 'Kill The DJ' they ended up coming out far closer together than anyone intended.Anyway, with 'Psyche Out' they wanted to do something very different from the 'Kill The DJ' mix and came up with the idea of doing something vaguely psychedelic in flavour. They also wanted to let the tracks play a little longer which is why this mix has half the number of songs that 'Kill The DJ' did. Apart from a couple of tracks, almost everything on this mix is at least ten years old with a couple of songs dating back to the 1960's. The trade mark quality control that the Optimo lads are known for dictated that even with the 'Kill The DJ' album still warm on the shelves it would have been far easier for them to put together a bunch of what were then current 'killer' tracks and bang it out to make a quick buck, but as ever they wanted to ensure that everything on it was something they genuinely loved ensuring that it wouldn't date quickly.Coming only a few months after their How to Kill the DJ 2 mix, Psyche Out is indeed heavy. HTKTDJ was impossibly flashy and virtuosic - all jump cuts between scene, sound, and mood. Psyche Out is less manic, more rolling, brooding, cosmic. If anything unites the 40 years of music here, it's the compulsive, hypnotic power of repetition. From psyche rock to krautrock to disco to acid house, the tribe vibe of dancing your arse off in a dark, smoky room (or zoning out) though that takes us dangerously close to Lazer Floyd territory so best to keep moving). Still, that definitely does trump doing coke in the toilets and 'networking' all night long.
1. Vapourspace - Gravitational arch of 10
2. Hawkwind - Hash cake '77
3. Silver Apples - Oscillations
4. Delia Gonzales and Gavin Russome - Rise (DFA mix)
5. Dorau / Kohncke - Durch die nacht (Geiger mix)
6. Fast Eddie - Acid Thunder
7. Sinnamon - He's gonna take you home to his house (instrumental)
8. Herbie Hancock - Raindance
9. Sweet Exorcist - Mad Jack
10. Damien Donato - Life Support System
11. Throbbing Gristle - Hot on the heels of love (Carl Craig reversion)
12. Hole In One - Game from the planet onchet
13. The Stranglers - Bear cage
14. Mr. Fingers - Washing machine
15. Chris and Cosey - Walking through heaven
16. Skatt Bros - Walk the night
17. Acid Test - Test one / Simple Minds - Theme for great cities
18. The Step - Yeah you (Robert's mix)
19. Systeme Imaginique - The Sublime moment
20. The Temptations - Papa was a rollin' stone
21. Koenig Cylinders - Carousel
22. Dinosaur - Kiss me again
23. Chamber Bros. - Time has come today
24. Sons and Daughters - Johnny Cash
Optimo Present: Psyche Out.
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