27 September 2016: JJC Mixtape Archive 11 – Trippin’ at the (Nu) Disco

Trippin’ at the (Nu) Disco
July 2014

When I made this mixtape I selected tunes that were already at least five years old to raise the point that this “nu” disco thing wasn’t even all that new anymore. It’s not a point I care deeply about, but all the kids in my town were acting like Daft Punk invented a new genre with “Get Lucky,” so I wanted to put out some old favorites from the “nu” genre. I think one day it will all just be disco, cf. rock and classic rock and how the timeframe for that rock which is ‘classic’ is constantly creeping forward, staying about ten years behind the contemporary stuff.

A few tunes on this mixtape sort of push at the boundaries of the genre. There’s a strong rap vibe in the first half thanks to remixes from DJ Day, DJ Apt One, and DJ Ayres, and I think the Trans Am, IQU, and Matmos cuts wouldn’t have been labeled “nu disco” when they came out. !!! maybe, and DFA. Not that genre boundaries are super important to me; there’s probably stuff on here people would argue doesn’t fit at all. Spoon we could argue about, or Apt One’s all-electro Debbie Deb x DJ Mehdi mashup.

This marks the end of an era of JJC mixtapes, and now I’ll go back to writing the regular record show. Believe me I’ll write it daily because I’m excited to hit No. 200 and then drop the new mixtape I’ve been working on. There may even be more than one.