DJ OF THE WEEK 1.28.13: JEFF MILLS
We, here at 1200dreams, listen to music all the time. When I say “all the time”, that’s literal. We wake up to it, work to it, drive to it and, well… you get the idea. Needless to say, it’s our life, the blood that makes our hearts thump in rhythmic succession day after day.
We have our favorites. Who doesn’t? There are those who move us beyond the two dimensional platform of the virtual society. There are those who knock us about and make us pay attention, established and newly born to the scene. Some of the attention grabbing, scene stealing antics are probably best left in the dark. Others, however, like Detroit’s Techno icon Jeff “The Wizard” Mills retiring the historic moniker, need to be addressed. Loudly.
During a recent interview with Beatport, Jeff Mills was quoted as saying “The Wizard is a historic concept that will indefinitely rest.” This was based on his closing set at Detroit’s Movement Festival in 2012, where feedback led him to believe that his eclectic selections were not well received. How many of those critics do you think have been written up in Forbes?
Jeff Mills, who got his start in the early 1980s, is a longstanding icon in EDM, before it was EDM. He is known for beat juggling and scratching during his sets. He and former Parliament bass player “Mad” Mike Banks were part of the founding members of Detroit’s Underground Resistance. Since then, he has set up Axis Records with Detroit native Robert Hood and sub labels Purpose Maker, Tomorrow and 6277. He’s been known to use three decks, a drum machine and up to 70 records in an hour.
All these years later, Jeff Mills is still at it. He has steadily released music for over 20 years, performed all over the world and even re-scored Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis.
Are those voices getting farther away? I’m sorry, can’t hear you over the hum of “The Wizard” and his note worthy accomplishments. Retire “The Wizard” moniker? That doesn’t make sense to us, who love Jeff Mills and support him. The supposed bad feedback is not to be taken seriously in the face of the impact he has had on the industry; artistically, personally, musically. Bring “The Wizard” back to its rightful place, Jeff “The Wizard” Mills!
So, here we are, 2013 Detroit Movement Festival is looming and “The Wizard” is where? While the line up hasn’t been announced yet, Center Stage and closing is where he belongs. It’s up to US to make sure that is exactly where he is. Especially since his best performances are live and shouldn’t be missed.
We wanted to feature his 2012 DEMF set as uploaded by him to Soundcloud, but soon after his announcement all his mixes disappeared. I searched and searched and couldn’t find it anywhere. I did however manage to find one set, a tease really, from July 2010 and, you know what, this s**t is still good.
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