Chicagoist Mix #1: Sparkletone

By Jake Guidry in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 10, 2010 4:40PM

It's been a couple months in the making, but we are very excited to finally bring you a new feature titled Chicagoist Mix Series. The idea is very simple: we profile a (preferably local) DJ/producer, ask 'em a few questions, and give you a mix exclusively compiled for Chicagoist. Every couple weeks we'll offer up a fresh mix for you to enjoy. We've got some very special talent on board, so be on the lookout for great mixes that explore all different genres.

For our first mix we have Alex Goddard, a.k.a. Sparkletone, laying down some massive disco and house tunes for an hour-long dance romp. Sparkletone, 27, has played some crazy-good sets all over the city, including Smart Bar and Subterranean. This mix is perfect to get your weekend started. We asked Sparkletone a few questions and this is what he had to say:

Chicagoist: You're a Fort Wayne, Indiana native. What brought you to Chicago?

Sparkletone: I'd been coming to Chicago a lot while I was in college to go to shows. 99% rock stuff at the time, as I was only just starting to get into dance music when I started coming to Chicago a lot. Of the big cities I've been to, Chicago's always been by far my favorite, as well as the one I was most familiar with. Moving here felt like a pretty natural move; like I'd already adjusted to the city by visiting it a lot beforehand and I've felt more at home here than any of the other places I've lived.

C: People forget that most DJs have day jobs. What's yours?

S: I'm a web developer at a small software company.

C: What are your thoughts on the local music scene in Chicago?

S: It feels like a loose collection of a bunch of little scenes, some connected, but many not. Everyone's good about being really supportive of the people in their grouping in my experience, but there's not a lot of cross-over. In a city this size, that's understandable to a certain degree, but there's part of me that wishes there were a little more cross-pollination.

C: What have you been listening to lately?

S: It's not the only thing going in my ears right now, but the biggest thing this year for me has been UK Funky. Roska's Rinse.fm show, the Bok Bok/L-vis one too. Kode9's DJ Kicks. Nightslugs. Joy Orbison. Other related somewhat uncategorizable UK bass music, too. It's started to seep into my DJing a little bit, but I dunno how far I'd go in that direction, or any one particular direction. I find the stuff extremely rhythmically interesting, especially when set against the straighter rhythms in the disco and house that I play. A little bit of it can go a long way in spicing up the groove I'm in while playing. It can be hard to fit in because I play in a very different tempo range most of the time, but it's not like there's a bad time to play Claptrap, even if you have to slow it way down. I wish this stuff would get more play around town, since it doesn't really get any right now.

C: Biggest influence as a DJ?

S: This is a tough one! If I had to pick just one, I'd probably say James Murphy. Aesthetically in terms of what he plays, sure, but even more so a lot of the stuff he's said in interviews about DJing has rung true for me. About the only point of disagreement would be his instance on vinyl as the only way to go! A close second/tie would be Four Tet.

C: Can you tell us a little about the idea behind the mix?

S: I made the mix over Labor Day weekend using my normal DJ setup, which is Ableton Live and a MIDI controller. It's one take beginning to end, though definitely not the first take. I initially thought about making a mix that was heavier on my own production work (vain!), but that would force a certain melancholy tone and... It was a holiday weekend, and party jams felt like a much better idea. So I just stacked the thing with some of my favorite big tunes, and as much stuff made by friends of mine as I could cram in!

MP3: Sparkletone - Chicagoist Mix #1 (320)

Tracklist:
Sparkletone - Metamorphosis
Larry Heard Presents Mr. White - The Sun Can't Compare
Marvin Gaye - I Want You (Buzz Compass Extended Dance Mix)
Fabian - 2am
Still Going - Spaghetti Circus
Czr and Ito - Bringing the Funk (dub)
Spiller - Groovejet (Ghosts of Venice Edit)
Lexicondon - Student Body (Bit Funk Remix)
Brothers Johnson - Stomp (Only Children Edit)
Cajmere - The Percolator
Simian Mobile Disco - Audacity of Huge (Dada Life guerrila Fart)
OCD Automatic and Adulture - Paper Cat
Utern - Style Class Flair
Phantom's Revenge - Machine Gun Girl
Paul Johnson - Doo Doo Wop (Discipline Mix)
Rampage and Nader - Get Up
Hot City - No More
Annie - Heartbeat (Alan Braxe Remix)
Ben King - Stand By Me