The Antipodean "Captain Cook" Mix

Antipodean a.: Of the Antipodes.

Antipodes n.: 1. (geog.) The opposite point on the globe from a given location. 2. (hist.) Australia (because of usage by English and Western Europeans.)

Captain Cook vi.: (coll.) to survey, view, in the same manner as the British mariner Captain James Cook, who landed on and declared Australia a part of the British Empire in January 1788. (Rhyming slang.)

Living in Australia and listening to techno and trance music means that one ends up importing a large quantity of music from overseas. This can be seen both as a product of the origins of the genres and also in the fact that Australia as a marketplace for electronic instruments is a tiny fraction of the USA and European markets, and at a considerable distance. With a few (notable) exceptions, music in clubs and on radios in Australia is predominately imported as well, which only widens the gap between the buying public and Australian artists. Only in recent years, with artists like Quench and Itch-e and Scratch-e appearing on international compilations, and the youth network radio station Triple J interested in playing material from Australian artists, has the Australian techno and dance scene become accessible.

This is not to say that we only plugged in our 808s three years ago. Artists like Tom Ellard (lead man of Severed Heads) have been (often singlehandedly) pushing the Australian Electronic Music Frontier for thirty years. If one knew where to look, which labels to buy from, and which artists or names to buy, one could (and indeed, one does) have a reasonably respectable collection of music from the Land of the Parched Echidna. Labels like Shock, Prozaac, MDS, Volition and Psy Harmonics. Artists like beXta, South End, Severed Heads, Third Eye, Vision Four 5, Josh Abrahams and the chameleonic Itch-e & Scratch-e. Record Stores like Central Station, Reach'n Records, and Gaslight Music. Radio stations like 2SER, 4ZZZ, 3RRR, and the more mainstream Triple J. Tracing who was recording what where with whom is a challenge I haven't put myself to yet.

Of course, if you're not in Australia, you almost might as well not bother. A friend of mine tried to order a CD of Quench from Amazon.com, and after six weeks of being told “Your order will be another week”, gave up. I ordered them through Chaos Music (an Australian online CD store) and had them to him (in the UK) in ten days. Australians seem doomed to be ignored, even to the point of ignoring those lucky instances when they haven't been (an observation made by Bill Bryson). For me personally, those times that an international DJ has played an Australian track, or a foreign CD compilation (e.g. Trancemaster 7) contains work by an Australian artist, are few and far between. Israel or Latvia or Bucharest might be the next big thing for the Techno Scene, but Australia? Not likely.

So, for the edification of both Australian and international listeners, both looking for a broad collection of dance, trance and techno music from Australian artists, I have put together this mix. It is the first of three Antipodean Mixes, and covers what one might call 'Mainstream Techno and Trance'. Enjoy.

I don't pretend to be exhaustive in this. I don't have the complete collection of any artist – those limited-release singles are hard to get. And I'm fairly sure I've missed out artists, if nothing else because my budget is not unlimited and I haven't been fanatical about collecting Australian music over all else. I'd love to hear from people – nay, even artists! - who I haven't represented. On the other hand, there is a lot of stuff I haven't included – a whole CD of ambient and a whole CD of electro, and countless tracks of other CDs which don't quite fit the mood or pace of this compilation. When I started this process, I had over fourteen hours worth of music, after I had already been selective in what I chose. The process from there was like pulling my own teeth at times.

But, after much sweat, no tears but lots of joy, and countless moments of happy grinning at a mix or a favourite tune that still does that something to me after all these times I've heard it, here it is to share.

For those that recognise certain parts and even certain transitions of this mix from my Infinity One mix and ask 'Why', my answer is simple. Good, wasn't it?

Use this link to download this mix using BitTorrent (please!).

These mixes are only available as complete files and I do not trade in the albums that these tracks are compiled from. On the other hand, I welcome feedback of any description about the mix, especially if you have recommendations of tracks I might like. My email address is at the bottom of the page.

I welcome any suggestions, criticisms and recommendations for new music to listen to. I will consider doing specific mixes for people, but this is only a hobby. Hope to hear from you!