Wednesday, June 29, 2011

[Mix] Skrillex 'The Mothership' Mix & 'Live @ Rockness Mix'


Whats that? You like disgustingly filthy drops? Well then you have come to the right place! Although I may be getting sick of Skrillex I will never deny that he is one of the best producers at the moment, and as most of you know he puts on a sick show! So here I left you not one.. BUT TWO mixes!

The mothership mix is all the filthiest drops Skrillex could find put into a mix, some his own and some you'v probably heard before but you put this on at your nans next party and there will be more piss on the floor than in the mens urinals at the Portland.

The Mothership Mix by Skrillex

tracklist is after the jump!

I have also left here the mix he did live at Rockness. I wasn't there because of lack of funds (Im skint) but I saw a lot of people asking for it on Facebook recently so I thought I would leave it here

  Skrillex - Live at Rockness Festival (Scotland 06.10.2011) by JustDoHits

and you can also download it here

[Event] robo-Tone & Audiolife present: Gary Beck @ Cake


This week has set me up a lot to look forward to! First of all its my birthday on Saturday and what do you know, Gary Beck is playing Cake this Saturday! For those who don't know Gary Beck is one of the leading names in the underground techno scene. Still young he can boast support from names like Josh Wink, Dubfire, Chris Leibing, Len Faki, Slam and Richie Hawtin! In fact 'consumed' was signed to Richie Hawtin's 'Massive' label in 2008. After touring South America and Asia he debuted his first Essential Mix last June at Rockness next to Green Velvet, this year saw him playing Rockness again. On the night main room support comes from Alan MacPherson, Steven Flynn and Brian Mackenzie. And upstairs in room 2 is The Boomshank Redemption and Ross Lyall who both always put on a good night! So this weekend, don't settle for cheese... have a piece of Cake!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

[Mix] #001 Mark Mackenzie Mini Mix


To start of what will hopefully soon be a collection of guest mixes for the blog, I've put up a short 15 minute mix for you all to download free and listen to. This mix is really just a house mix which I like to do when I get a chance instead of my usual full on electro stuff. So crack it on and get warmed up for a good Saturday night!

  Mark Mackenzie 'Justice Never Sleeps #001' Mix by Mark Mackenzie

Thursday, June 23, 2011

[Tracks] Serving Up Some Justice 3.0


I haven't been updating the blog in the last while as much as I should of to be honest but we'r at that stage of deciding what we are actually doing with it and where we'r going at the moment. There is hopefully a lot of stuff happening soon i.e new artwork for the header, t-shirts etc. I'l be looking at getting some more interviews soon with local Producers and DJ's so if any of you would like to know more about a certain artist or would like to recommend someone to me for a 'introducing' interview then I would be happy to follow that up. Anyway back to the music! I've got a banging selection of tunes for you all this time and I recommend listening to them straight away because the last 'tracks' post I put up got taken down for some reason.


Starting off I'd like to take the opportunity to present local lads the L.E.D's remix of Dada Lifes 'Fight Club Is Closed' as well as my own. In this remix they've carried on their new dubstep sound from the last 'Sail' remix we posted of them.
  Dada Life - Fight Club Is Closed (LED Remix) by TheLED

Also you can download my remix here free.
  Dada Life - Fight Club Is Closed (Mark Mackenzie Remix) by Mark Mackenzie




Only discovered yesterday that Valerna is actually two people.. anyone that knows me will know I'm usually the first to correct someone if they say something like ''Oh Boys Noize.. they're awesome!''. Anywhooos! This track is tidy. Unfortunately no free download as of yet.. well none I can legally share with you. 
  Heavygrinder & Valerna - "HellHammer" by Valerna




Heres a remix of Underworlds 'Bird 1' from Scottish pair Clouds (Check out my interview with them here). If you heard this coming out of a good sound system you would freak... like rip the t-shirt of the person next to you. Or if your not like that then you would probably just be like 'I like this tune' and start dancing like most sane people.

Bird 1 (Clouds Remix) 320kbps






BOTNEK are some artists that I have now started taking seriously, the name definitely rings a bell and so I think I've probably heard a lot from these guys but i'm only just getting to get into that sound these days. If your into your thrash electro sound, then I don't recommend it, however if your a DJ or someone that appreciates good house music then take a listen. I don't know that much about them except they are from Canada... and like most house artists from Canada.. they're shit hot!








Another brute from Feed Me, this one 'Pink Lady' has got the 'Jodie' style intro with a massive bass drop that I love. His debut album 'Feed Me's Big Adventure' was signed by the Mau5trap label, and his newest E.P 'To The Stars' looks to be doing just as good.




Would also like to say if you have any of your own productions you would like me to post up on here then PLEASE let me know, I try to feature as much upcoming and local talent on here as possible but its hard to spend all my time looking for it. 

You can do that by dropping me your tune on soundcloud below
Send me your sounds

Or you can email me markmackenz at hotmail.co.uk 
I have so many more songs I would like to share with everyone but its a pain in the hoop to get it all on here, so stay close for the next couple of posts! 

[Dubstep] The Electric - Toot Toot (Zeds Dead Remix)


Not a big fan of dubstep nowadays but when a track like this comes along it makes me want to get back into mixing it. The Toronto pair never disappoint, every time I listen to a new one by these guys I know im in for a treat. With every remix/original they release you get a new bassline and that hasn't changed here. A blend of chill out vocals (almost like that KatyB/Grime sound) with some raw bass (listen at 1:31), something for everyone!

Toot Toot (Zeds Dead Remix) 320kbps

Friday, June 17, 2011

Felguk - Blow Out



You know when you hear a song and your just like 'Coooooooooooooool!'. This may be one of those tunes for you. Its not an obvious tune, its not going to come out with some 'already done a million times before wobbles' or 'glitch pops and synth drops' like most tunes. Its that kind of tune that gets everyone pumped up for a friday night and so what better time to discover it than on a friday night! According to Chemical Jump where I found this bad boy, it says this was dropped in a live show by Felguk six months ago. People who heard it loved it so much they demanded that it was made available and even made a website named whereisblowout.com! Determined to say the least, it looks like Blow Out could be the Blau of 2011.

Download the 192kbps copy here

  Felguk - Blow Out by felguk

Monday, June 13, 2011

Wanting a Free Music Video for your Band?

Our good friends at "Ignite Records" have been a charitable bunch recently and are offering a worthy unsigned band a FREE Music Video on them!

So if your band or a band you want to win were planning the cliché "Abandoned Warehouse" video down the road, filmed with their Dad's camera...... THINK AGAIN!
Take yourself over to Ignites Facebook page (here) and shout at them for your chance to Win!

If your wanting a taster of what the video could be like watch Hometown - Fatherson (Link) It's also an excuse to listen to a awesome song!

That's it for now Friends!


Saturday, June 11, 2011

[Tracks] F**k Rockness! I'v found some Pop Tarts!


So you've not gone to Rockness.. your bank account has run dry and your sitting aimlessly staring at the Facebook home page while your asshole friends post status's about their one off music experience which they seem to think makes them experts on who is 'good live'. However think about it, do you really want to wake up to the smell of stale urine, would you rather be charged £6 a filth infested burger and in return have to walk a mile to take a shit to then sit in someones excrement and find out everyone has stolen the toilet paper. At least when you make your way back from the shops today you won't trip over some guy ropes and impale yourself on someones camping chair which broke the minute they sat in it. At least thats the way i'm starting to see it! Oh yeah and to to top it off I found some Pop Tarts in amongst my college bag today.. Result! So look on the bright side people, your better off here where you can help yourself to these tasty numbers and sit back in the comfort of your own home. And when Belladrum comes around, maybe it will be your chance to live like a homeless refugee. Enjoy!

*(To download  press the arrow on the top of the player or follow the external link below it if there)

Some Moombah in this one, Im not usually a fan of Moombahton stuff but this is bouncing!

  Aylen - Drop The Bass (Original Mix) by Aylen

Local Producer/DJ's the L.E.D done an awesome job on this one! Really hoping they keep up this sound.

  AWOLNATION - Sail (LED Remix) by TheLED

Thortron keeps the cap locks on and fucks shit up with this, shit to sniff glue to! Although don't, you know maybe just have a few shots of vodka or something.

  PUNK IN KLUBLICK *¡FREE DOWNLOAD!* by THORTRON

This is a new one of mine. Really just a bootleg to give out free so don't expect much!

  Lucky Date - I love The Way You Move (Mark Mackenzie Bootleg) by Mark Mackenzie

Our friends Count Clockwork sent me this remix the other day, nice cut ups and distorted bass going in it. Take advantage of the free download!

  Missy Elliot - Get your freak on (Count Clockwork remix) by Count Clockwork

Solid electro, so solid it makes stones look like candy floss. Yeah thats right I used a metaphor, wanna fight about it?

  Tecktologic - We Can Dance Tecktonik (Funkk Frikz Remix) by FunkkFrikz
Downloads exceeded - So download here

Best tune for last. I've always been a fan of the original of this track, but this just blows it out of the water. Real bouncy electro with that choppy fidget feel. Definitely has a place in my next set.

  The Squatters - Superfly (Aniki Remix) by aniki
Download link exceeded - So download here

Also I would like to say good luck to the Filth DJ's Ross and Andrew, The L.E.D, Polymath, Abraham Thunderwolf, Soundclash DJ's and Audiolife for their Rockness sets. Its good to see local talent finally making an appearance at the festival.

Friday, June 10, 2011

[Introducing] Interview With Friday Night Lights + Free Track!

Driving back to Inverness one day my friend Michael pulled out a EP labelled "Friday Night Lights" out of his bag. "Listen to this man, you'll love it!" where his words has he threw my precious "Reuben" CD in the back seat.
He wasn't wrong.

Friday Night Lights instantly stuck me as a band that knew what they were doing and played with experience and maturity as guys twice their age. They held strong influences, some would say most notably "Twin Atlantic" with their distinctly Scottish twang and huge sound, but I feel Friday Night Lights have excelled themselves, listening to their songs it is clear to see they hold their own. They have many influences whilst still truly remaining unique. Their songs held the catchy choruses, righteous riffs, voluptuous verses all great songs should have and thanks to the guys being such spiffy chaps you will be able to see exactly what I mean with a free download from them at the end of this interview with their Lead Man Peter I was able to catch.

Q: If people come to see you Perform, what sort of music should they expect to hear?
(Laughs) An alternative pop punk crescendo from an orchestra of three people.

Q: When did you guys meet and decide to form a band and why?
This guy came up to me at a party once and said "We're in a band together now", that guy was our drummer Craig. Turns out our old guitarist Alex had been organizing a band, I was the second choice vocalist! Why did we decide to form it? We started off just playing covers, no intention of writing our own material, so I guess it was just that we like playing.

Q: Over the years who have been your biggest influences?
Im really into my metal, maybe wouldnt be able to tell from our music. But I guess my favourite bands are Megadeth, Metallica, Rammstein, Gojira, Muse, Biffy Clyro, Blink 182, Led Zeppelin, could go on forever...


Q:You’ve you recently just become a three piece from a four, how did this come about?
Things were'nt working out with out second guitarist. he could'nt make rehearsals and gigs due to work commitments. But now we are a 3 piece, I dont think we've sounded better.

Q: Do you see yourself going in a new direction with the change to a Three piece?
Yeah, were going to in a acid trance direction now.... seriously though, I don’t see our sound changing at all, maybe try and get ourselves sounding simpler and maybe even not so heavy for our next EP.

Q: What are your views on the music scene in Highlands and Caithness?
Its not as thriving as I'd like, but there are a few class bands kicking about. Most notably No Exit Wound from Thurso and He Slept On 57 from Inverness.

Q: If you had the power to change one thing about Highland and Caithness nightlife what would it be?
Tricky. I guess, If people made to the effort to go to every gig, it would attract the bigger touring acts they'd like to see. Sometimes the demographic that likes your bands type of music is'nt as big as you like, but its a small place. Im very grateful for the people who do like our music and come to the gigs, all 3 of them. I kid (Laughs).

Q: What do you plan on doing for the next year?
Think we are planning to book up a tour for the end of this year, song writing and rehearsals over the summer period and plans to record some new material early 2012.

Q: If you guys could have one conjoined super power what would it be?
Im speaking for the other two but, I guess flight would make travelling for gigs easier. (laughs)

Thank You
No Problem, thank you.

For "Friday Nights Lights" free download of "Fiasco" Click here, you won't be disappointed. You can also check out their "myspace" at http://www.myspace.com/fnlband for more Songs!


Friday, June 3, 2011

[Introducing] Interview with 'Polymath' + Free Track & Mixtape


I can remember listening to a remix of Felix Da Housecats 'Kickrdum' a few years back when I started out producing, it was completely different to all the music I listened to at the time and yet I couldn't stop listening to it. This was one of those 'I got to make this stuff' moments that made me run to the studio. Off course the creator this remix was Polymath. The Invernessian DJ/Producer has come on a lot further since then to become part of the backbone of the Inverness scene.. in fact hes gone a lot further, receiving plays from Wolfgang Gartner, Don Rimini, NT89, Punks Jump Up and many a like, also becoming a favorite of Kissy Sell Out with his tracks being played almost weekly on his Radio 1 show! His tracks are a fusion of glitch disco to electro acid making them very popular with DJs who know how to get people on the dancefloor. So when it came to names I could ask for our 'Introducing' interview, it was obvious Polymath was a must. Challenge accepted now shoot..



Q: If you had to describe your sound without saying what it is what would you describe it as?
Something with depth, a colourful personality, lots of extreme editing and maybe a little sense of humour thrown in there too, and bass, lots of that.

Q: If people come to see you dj what sound should they expect to hear?
Hopefully a lot of stuff they havent heard before, i like to mix it up quite a lot and my sets and i play stuff from plain old house music to some of the biggest techno bombs you can find, i also like to get a bit silly and throw a few curveballs in from time to time, my #1 curveball party tune at the moment is Duran duran - Girls on film (Richmanu carnival rework) it works everytime and even mixes well with Green velvets timeless classic La la land, found that mix out by accident at a recent gig in glasgow, was an amazing surprise to me that 2 very different tunes like that worked together.

Q: What was the first track that got you into electronic music?
Not an indivual track but probably The Prodigys very first and still best album 'Experience' Naturally moved on to more 4/4 stuff after and went from hardhouse to techno to electroclash and then to really whats shaping my sound at the moment, having 2 older brothers helped shape a lot of my musical inspirations.

Q: What is your production setup?
Nothing too fancy here and it usually surprises a lot of people but all i use is my laptop with FL Studio 9 & Ableton 7 for everything, of course aswell theres a lot of great vsts i use too, my current favourite at the moment is D-16 Phoscyon, its like a Roland TB-303 emulator but with a lot more to it, so good for getting those liquidyacid basslines, i have also gone back to a lot of the basic vsts that come with FL Studio, mainly because of they're ease of use and the fun factor.Im also finally getting my finger on the whole sound of my tracks with my own mastering, before i used to stick about 5 multiband compressors on my master channel but now i only use one if i can help it and that only goes on my kickdrums, from now on im going to try and master all my own tracks myself, when i was supporting Kissy sellout last month in Glasgow an amazing thing he said to me was that i can get the whole sound of my tracks absolutely spot on and pretty much said i should master myself as thats what he does, always great to hear that from an established producer and dj like Kissy, very overwhelming.

Q: What is your dj setup?
I can use any dj setup naturally from learning on those things called turntables, they seem a bit out of the loop at the moment but usually when it comes to it i just use a standard Pioneer Cdj and mixer setup, i would really like to get into the whole traktor/serato movement and use 1210s for all my sets but at the moment i dont have the luxury of having a laptop to take to gigs and my only laptop i use to make all my music on so naturally im terrified to take it into a club, especially some of the horror storys i hear about laptops in clubs, hopefully one day though.

Q: What is the best night you have ever played and why?
Hmm, there has been a lot of great nights i have played at in the last year its really hard for me to put my finger on one, although cake has given me a lot of great nights since it opened as a dj and a punter and of course just recently when we had Ado up for our clubnight' not that long ago was a good one, what i like about our night is the solid music flow, i think me and Mykol Blyth who i run the night with made and excellent decision choosing our residents Boomshank redemption and Abraham Thunderwolf as they know how to work the crowd really well and of course they boast the coolest dj names in Inverness. 

Q: What are your views on the Inverness music scene (specifically electronic music)
If you asked me this a year ago you might have gotten one major epic rant but the scene in Inverness is getting a lot better and i think it goes down mostly to Cake being there, at first when it opened a lot of people were quick to slate it which baffled me as its the only club in inverness that plays quality underground electronic music all weekend and people were screaming out for it before it opened, but now theres a really good community feel about the place and its always a very nice friendly vibe in there and theres hardly any trouble, just good shiney happy people out to enjoy themselves and out to enjoy some good music which is what its all about.

Q: If you had the power to change one thing about Inverness nightlife what would it be?
To get rid of love2love, haha! But in all seriousness it would be to make the scene a bit more like Glasgows which of course thrives on the student population there, i think once Inverness gets this supposed University it will create a lot more buzz about the town. I played a gig at 520 in Glasgow not too long ago on a Sunday night and the place was packed out and the crowd was amazing, so enthusiastic, you would be struggling to get that in this town sadly but hopefully one day.

Q: So you're playing Rockness, what sort of set should we expect to hear?
Yes! I am delighted with this as its my hometown festival and ive wanted to dj at it since the first one and its great that myself and my other dj comerades from inverness are finally gettinga chance to play there. Hopefully next year they get a whole tent dedicated to the local talent that Inverness has to offer. My set this year? i wont be holding anything back put it that way haha!

Q: What do you plan on doing in the next year?
Theres tons of exciting things happening soon, i have 3 EPs coming out 2 of which are pretty much finished, one of them will be released on Glasgow label 3rd Abstract records in the summer and the other 2 are on 2 cool new labels ran by some very cool people im very excited to be working with, cant say much more about it at the moment but its big! On top of this theres tons of remixes which will be released soon aswell, ive been on a bit of a roll recently with my remixes and its starting to pay off with some great remix offers from some very well known producers. Also gig wise aswell as rockness i will be playing the Reading rooms in Dundee not long after Rockness and hopefully some more gigs across Scotland and beyond for the rest of the year, the future is looking good.


Q: Whats your favourite milkshake?
Easy question, Banana.


Courtesy of Polymath is one of his new tracks 'Roast' which you can download FREE from this link!


Plus this 45min Mixtape mixed by Polymath including some of his newest tracks! Don't say he aint nice to you! Follow the link below to see the track list and remember to follow if your a soundcloud user.