1. Lil Louis – French Kiss [ffrr]
In 1989, when I was 15 years old, my sister took me to Amnesia and Es Parradis, and this was the first time I’d ever set foot in a club, that night changed my life and made me want to be a dj and this was one of the 2 records that blew me away!
2. Kariya – Baby Let Me Love you [Sleeping Bag]
This was the other track that along with French Kiss changed my life that night, and I actually heard it 2 weeks ago in Ibiza and I still got goosebumps!
3. Jam & Spoon – Stella [R&S]
This was the summer of 1992 and what a track! This was when Trance wasn’t a dirty word and this was a perfect example of a beautifully, hypnotic and dreamy track that for me defined the whole year, and this is still something I listen to all the time – so many great memories!
4. Cafe Del Mar Volume 1 – compiled by Jose Padilla [React]
This was also a huge turning point for me, I’d always collected down-tempo Balearic music after hearing people like Alfredo after my trip in 1989, but this came along in 1994 and cemented a new genre that became known as Chill Out and every track on here is very special to me. It was compiled by Jose Padilla who has been possibly my biggest influence.
5. 51 Days – Papermoon [Touche]
This was 1993, and a track I remember hearing Padilla play many times in Cafe Del mar, it was also the year I got heavily into Deep House and, excluding early Mr Fingers stuff on Trax Records from 1986, this is as good as it gets and also a track I put on my 2004 Cafe Mambo compilation on Defected Records.
6. Aphex Twin – We Are The Music Makers [R&S]
This was another track I heard Jose play in Cafe Del Mar in 1994, it’s taken from Aphex Twin’s amazing LP ‘Selected Ambient Works 1985 – 1992’. I first heard this when I started buying jose’s mix tapes off him in the bar and this was the track that made my summer holiday that year and something else that I put on one of my CAFE mambo compilations.
7. Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You [Roule]
Now I think it’s fair to say that this is one of the all time great house music records! The first time i heard it was 1998 and Dj Sneak was playing with me at Cafe Mambo while i was resident. He dropped this and I was blown away, he explained it was one of a handful of copies that Thomas Bangalter had given to a few of his mates and Sneak gave it to me – it’s still a treasured possession now. I used to get 2 copies and extend the intro for like 3 minutes and when the beat eventually kicked in every club would explode!
8. Roy Davis Jr – Gabrielle [Large]
This is one of my all time classic Cafe Mambo tracks, I played it maybe 2 times every night through the summer in 1997 and I was playing this before it was a big track and watched the reactions grow, everyone used to ask what it was.
9. Nalin& Kane – Beachball [HoojChoons]
This for me was a continuation of records like Jam & Spoon ‘Stella’ and Robert Miles ‘Children’ and reminds me of Alfredo playing it as the sun came up in Manumission when they were at their peak in 1997, this brings back so many amazing memories for me and I still love it today, in fact, me and James Doman remade it just for our dj sets 2 years ago.
10. Doctor Baker – Would You Like To Seduce Me [Flex]
This is one of my all time favorite sunset tracks, and I mean the track I played the moment the sun dropped below the horizon, it’s taken from one of the best Chill Out compilations I have ever heard that is so hard to get hold of. It was compiled by Danish Chill Out king Kenneth Bager, this track is also by him and makes every hair on my body stand up when I hear it and transports me back to Mambo playing a sunset, amazing!
Grum ‘Heartbeats’ OUT NOW
www.myspace.com/grummusic
