Ben XO and I are chatting back and forth today, on Facebook and he laughed a bit about Global Gathering, saying that Last.fm shows it to be a high-percentage match for his tastes. It’s about a 90% match for mine, as well.

So with that, I invite you to listen along with me to my work soundtrack for the day. Last.fm has graciously put together artists that will be there, as well as some that won’t be but perhaps should. If you have the Last.fm player, you can listen here.

Steve Hill – Tripoli Tracks Classic Mix, via http://masif.org/

First, I won’t be doing a show on an Internet radio station anymore. When I left BassDrive and joined the folks at DnB Radio, I thought I had narrowed down the problem. The more I try to do a show, though, the more I realize that I’m constrained and I don’t want to be.

It’s difficult to get up and be motivated to do a show at 8am on a Wednesday, but I chose that time myself. I can’t blame that on anyone else. What I can say, though, is that audiences have expectations and those expectations can become more harmful than good. People have a certain sound that they expect from my shows, and that limits my ability to branch out as much as I’d like without losing listeners, ultimately damaging the station.

I also feel that, right now, there are exponentially fewer dnb tracks being produced that I’d actually want to play. It’s cyclic, and it will change, but that’s the fact of the matter as it stands today. The tracks that I want, I’m not able to get. Either they’re not being signed so I can’t buy them, or I don’t have a working relationship with the producer in order to get the track prior to release.

I’m going to be working harder on the latter of those two problems, re-establishing contacts that I once had and networking in order to be able to bring more incredible music to the forefront, where it deserves to be. To those of you who have been sending me music, thank you. I’m humbled and constantly impressed by the quality that hits my desktop.

So what’s next? Here’s my direction:

I’m still playing. I might stop when I’m dead, but I’m not even sure of that. So rest assured that I’m still dropping beats and experimenting with new directions for my own work. I just won’t be playing on a “radio” station anymore.

There are a lot of outlets, such as MixCloud, Dubset and the like, where I can upload sets and have them heard by people in a more convenient manner. I also think that the potential reach of these sites is considerably larger, which puts the music in front of more people. At the end of the day, that’s what DJ’ing is all about — helping people to hear amazing music where they otherwise might have not.

The Cycle will continue as a weekly show, but I won’t be doing it live (except perhaps on Ustream). I want to do more justice to the music than I’ve been able to do before. Doing a live show at 8am on a Wednesday just isn’t conducive to that.

I’m also going to start a new show, called Flow. It’s going to be genre-agnostic, simply filled with the best stuff that I’ve found in the previous week. Sometimes it will be old Breakbeat cuts, other times maybe it will be the best new House track I’ve heard. Regardless, it’s foolish to think that there’s no merit to anything other than a single genre of music, and I’m a fool for having thought so for so long.

Thank you to each and every one of you who have listened to me over the years. It’s not the end, it’s just a different version of a beginning. Stay tuned. There’s more to come soon.

To do that, I could go into a long explanation, but I think it’s best if I just do this. Here’s a screenshot of the email that I sent to the Bassdrive crew mailing list so that there’s no mistaking what I’ve said:

So there you have it. There is no bad blood, I’m simply moving on. There are some reasons behind it that only a couple of people know, and it’s best left that way. I still firmly believe that Bassdrive is a great station, and I wish the crew and family there the very best. Some of those guys and girls are closer to me than my own blood and I’m sure they’ll continue to kill it.

So what’s next? That’s honestly a very good question. I do fully intend to bring The Cycle back. I’ve not yet made the final decision as to where that will be, but it will return. I do have one place in mind, and I’m awaiting a reply from the owners of that station, so rest assured that plans are in the works.

To the thousands of you who have listened for the past 3 1/2 years, I greatly appreciate it. Honestly. It’s been a blessing and an encouragement to me to be able to share the music with you. As a token of that appreciation, I’ve collected the sets since my previous update and I’ll be postin them here very soon. I promise.

Sam Sparro – Black and Gold (Komatic Remix)
Dan Marshall, Prime8 – Junglejazz (D Key Remix)
Lenzman – Emeralds feat. Jo-S
Lenzman – Mesmerized
Mage – If I Could
SpectraSoul – Alibi
Clarity – Mistaken
Netsky – Everyday
Screamheads feat. Camila Andrade – Under the Sun (Bungle Remix)
La Roux – In for the Kill (Calculon Bootleg)
Micken feat. Cityboy – Dreaming You
Michael Jackson – Butterflies (A-Sides Remix)