Pieces of Eight: A playlist with Dave Angel

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Music

Written by Alasdair King

A titan of UK dance music selects tracks which have informed his taste and broadened his horizons.

Dave Angel is an unsung hero of sorts – not an artist driven by the false promises of fame and glory but one who has stayed consistently humble and true to the origins of where Techno came from.

Over the years he has released iconic tracks and remixes, music which has truly stood the test of time which is perhaps best noted by the recent reissue of a number of records which first emerged in the 90’s. Take ‘Original Man’ for instance.

Born in Chelsea and influenced by Jazz and Blues, Dave grew up to be a prominent figure in the underground rave scene and graced the booth at many a legendary party back in the day.

He became revered within certain circles, applying a fast paced, energetic take on Dance music in the UK as it weaved away from breaks and entered the hard hitting era of Techno and Progressive House. His essential mix, to this day, remains an iconic moment in British dance music history and has acted as an inspiration to many a wannabe artist ever since.

Whilst has much has changed since those days way back when, Dave continues to progress as an artist and in our humble opinion remains one of the best DJ’s out there. With the reissue of much of his recent material of late we asked the man himself to grace us with some musical selections which he feels have inspired him past, present and future.

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Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro

“This was the very first record I remember hearing. My dad used to play it to me all the time when I was a baby, crying in the crib. He’d put this on as a lullaby and i’d stop crying, my legs would start kicking with my eyes wide open. I think the reason behind that now is because it has these gentle earthly tones all throughout the music.”

Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro

“This was the very first record I remember hearing. My dad used to play it to me all the time when I was a baby, crying in the crib. He’d put this on as a lullaby and i’d stop crying, my legs would start kicking with my eyes wide open. I think the reason behind that now is because it has these gentle earthly tones all throughout the music.”
Grace Jones - Slave To The Rhythm

“Whilst we can’t deny how great Grace is, this record connects with me because of its producer Trevor Horn. He is one of my favourite producers of all time. It was a time when I had a first SONY walkman, and that’s when I first discovered stereo in it’s true form listening to that album. Trevor is one of finest producers to ever walk this earth – seriously. He worked with the Eventide reverbs and delays, and that’s how he got that depth, and also the SSL desk – he worked with one of the finest SSL desks. Slave To The Rhythm just sounded like the future – I was listening to it through these walkman headphones going to school on the bus and it was just like, wow. I would play over and over and over.”
Change - Change Of Heart

“One word… Iconic. The two producers were Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam and those guys, well, their sound was the sound of the early ’80s for me. When I first heard that 808 kick-drum boom on the dancefloor, it changed me, something clicked inside me. I was like, WOW, I wanna get into this, this is special.”
Tom Misch - Geography

“Tom Misch, he’s a fucking G man, I love this kid. His voice is amazing. In terms of melody, playing and in terms of what he captures is just something special. He’s from Putney, from my area where I grew up – and I suppose that’s probably what made me fall in love with him a little. He’s released another two albums since ‘Geography’, but this one has a special place in my heart.”
D Train - You're the One for Me

“When I first began to go clubbing, I went to a club called the Lyceum, just off The Strand in London, and the DJ at the time was a guy called Steve Walsh. He played this, and I remember I went crazy over the synths, because it sounded so fresh – it sounded like nothing else at the time. A real moment for me.”
Garnett Silk - Zion In A Vision

““Garnet Silk bless him, you know, he died a tragic tragic death – he was supposed to be the new shining light, the NEW Bob Marley – and when you hear this guy sing, you know the truth, he’s just so convincing in what he’s saying and how he’s saying it. And the production on it, you know, you listen to the production on his tracks – in a little small studio in the middle Jamaica…. it’s just the best!! It’s the way these songs are mixed, you can hear there’s not much content in the tracks, which leaves a lot of space to really mix it down and get the best frequencies out of it – his voice just sounds like instant stereo. It’s just fucking AMAZING!”
Bob Marley - Natural Mystic

“The mix on this record, it just sounds like Jamaica, I can see the green fields – I can see it all. The stereo spread on that is just unbelievable – the production is so clean and polished and smooth.”
Curtis Mayfield - Here But I'm Gone

“The vocals and the story Curtis is telling is just dope, you know, he’s putting you in the room. It’s almost like he’s in a conservatory, and he’s barefooted with his guitar and his cigarette, smoking, and that’s what I get from that… it’s just fucking wicked!”