Listen: Paul Oakenfold returns to the Essential Mix

“I am focused on DJing and making music this year,” Perfecto boss Paul Oakenfold has said, and his worldwide tour will bring him to Australia in Spring. Part of that renewed focus on DJing led Oakey back to the BBC Radio 1 studio to helm his first Essential Mix in five years over the weekend. Despite the long break, he was the second name ever to record an Essential Mix back in 1993 and was the show’s resident DJ in 1999. The Goa set that he created for the show in 1994 is described by Pete Tong as “perhaps the most famous Essential Mix of them all”, capturing a moment in time (inthemix recently heard Above & Beyond’s Jono Grant quoting it as his introduction to dance music). Oakey’s new two-hour session is titled ‘Fluorescence’, inspired by the sound of his offshoot label Perfecto Fluoro.

“I wanted to make something really special for you guys – to take you on a real journey – and this mix is it,” Oakey writes. “It’s been a few months work to put it together and it’s packed with not only great melodic music but also samples from film, radio, speech and other audio sources. I hope you are going to like it and enjoy it as much as I did putting it together.” The tracklist includes a string of familiar names and lesser-known talents, with Melbourne’s own Ahmet Atasever represented.

Perfecto Fluoro figurehead John Askew recently took to his Facebook page to big-up his boss’s effort. “Sitting in the Perfecto office listening to Paul Oakenfold’s Essential Mix,” Askew wrote. “He’s called it ‘Fluorescence’, and I have to say – it’s incredible. Proper trance. Proper Goa. Proper psy. Proper breaks. It’s just fucking cool and fucking proper.” You can give it a “proper” listen over at the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix site, or hit play on the SOundcloud embed below.

S.I.N. (Sub Intelligence Noize) & Rory Tec – Nebula Rising (Progressive Transient Mix)
Mimax – Insomnia
06R – Air
Origin – Planet Cracker (Steve Birch Breaks N Kick Mix)
Ahmet Atasever – All Yours (Ovnimoon Remix)
Moonbeam – Hate is Killer (Arty Remix) (feat. Avis Vox)
Rory James – Memory Flush (Steve Haines Remix)
Adrian Lux – Burning (Topher Jones remix) (feat. Dante)
Snow Patrol – Called Out in The Dark (Flesh & Bone Remix)
Paul Oakenfold – Surrender (Protoculture Remix) (feat. J Hart)
Simon Le Grec – Hey DJ Play My Song
Light Year – Reversion
B.Exp – Overmind
Future Disciple – Nail the Nile
Steve Brian – Vueltas (Thomas Datt Remix)
Sezer Uysal – Nigah I Mestine
Alex Armes – Take This Way (Dankann Antillas Remix)
Armin van Buuren – We Are Here to Make Some Noize
Will Atkinson – Darker Shades of Black (Blazer Remix)
John O’Callaghan – Big Sky (Ben Gold 2012 Mix) (feat. Audrey Gallagher)
Easy Riders – Symbolic Flashback
Simon Patterson – Northern Lights
Armin van Buuren – Yet Another Day (Ben Gold 2012 Mix) (feat. ray Wilson)
Yahel – Now F* Dance
Easy Rider – Hamburger
Thomas Datt – Long Distance
Seth Vogt – Lost (Under This Remix) (feat. Goldillox)
Hard Noize – Breakaway (Blazer Remix)
Brian Cameron – Serotonin Syndrome (Eshericks Remix)
Santiago Niño – City Lights
Paul Oakenfold – Come Together
XGenic – Blaster
Mac & Monday – Yoruba
Planet Perfecto – Bullet in The Gun (Gary Maguire Remix)
Tristan & Magik – Wonderizer