Settle in with broadcasting legend Andi Durrant with a live recording from the first Dance Music Archive warehouse party at Project House, Leeds, in 2024.
Before we get to the mix, let’s get some context. There aren’t many people better placed to tell the story of dance music than Andi Durrant. With over 25 years in the game, he’s literally lived, shaped, and now archived it into Dancemusicarchive.com – one of the most valuable and engaging resources online for dance music and club culture. Born in lockdown, it’s a fully mapped archive chronicling 35 years of the scene told year-by-year through mixes, live sets, magazines, lost radio broadcasts, and forgotten gems.
At Decoded, we have long been fans of Andi’s track deconstruction videos with his forensic, nerdy dissections of iconic club records. Now a day-party warehouse series, Andi and the DMA crew are preparing to celebrate the first birthday on 5th April back at Project House, so we’re rewinding to that opening event.
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Submit your Mix of the Month DJ Competition entryThis recording with Andi selecting tracks from ’96-’98 is packed with atmosphere and crowd noise sounding just like an authentic, old-school rave tape. If you care about where dance music came from (and where it’s going), DMA is essential viewing, and this mix is living proof.
Dance Music Archive celebrates the first anniversary of its event series on 5th April at Leeds’s independent concept space, Project House, this time focusing on 1995 – 2000, welcoming a secret lineup to spin forgotten tracks, classic anthems, lesser known remixes and bootlegs from their chosen era. Grab tickets at https://www.dancemusicarchive.com/events.
If you care about where dance music came from (and where it’s going), Dance Music Archive is essential listening. There is real magic in the mixes gathered in the archive: raw recordings packed with atmosphere, crowd noise, and imperfections, an aural snapshot of rave culture. That’s why we were particularly pleased to get similar vibes from Andi’s own mix, which was recorded live at the first ever Dance Music Archive daytime warehouse party last year in Leeds and is now exclusively featured in our Decoded Mix Series.
Andi Durrant – “We started the Dance Music Archive as a little lockdown project back in 2020 – trying to organise the incredible history of UK electronic music and club culture into years and record the story of our scene. Soon after we launched the DMA radio on KISSTORY and through that and social media, we’ve brought together an amazing community of people from all ages and backgrounds. So, a year ago we decided to hire a former car garage and warehouse on the outskirts of Leeds and put on a party so we could all get together in person.
We accidentally created the most incredible party with a 1000-strong crowd who are genuinely passionate about the music and just want to come out and let go. There are very few phones out, people are talking to strangers and making new friends and there are even a lot of multi-generation groups where parents are bringing their teenage and 20s kids, and vice versa!
This set was one of the most enjoyable I’ve ever played – the energy the noise and the smiles from the crowd were insane and it felt like we’d stumbled on something a bit magical. I can’t wait for this Saturday when I’ll be playing a 1990-1993 set of rave classics and forgotten gems, and I’ll be joined by a secret line up of legends.”
Tracklisting
Full Intention – Saturday (Full Intention Club Mix) [1997]
Club 69 Featuring Suzanne Palmer – Much Better [1997]
Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You [1998]
Sandy B – Make The World Go Round [1996]
Praxis – Featuring Kathy Brown – Turn Me Out (Turn To Sugar) [1997]
Nuyorican Soul- Runaway (Mongoloids In Space) [1997]
Armand Van Helden Presents Old School Junkies – The Funk Phenomena [1997]
Sneaker Pimps – Spin Spin Sugar [1996]
Double 99 – Rip Groove [1997]
Montano vs The Trumpet Man – Itza Trumpet Thing [1998]
E’voke – Arms Of Loren (Steinway Mix) [1996]
Tin Tin Out – Strings For Yasmin [1997]
Lucid – I Can’t Help Myself (The Lucid Vocal Mix) [1997]
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Three ‘n One Remix) [1998]
Nalin & Kane – Beachball (Extended Vocal Mix) [1997]
Da Hool – Meet Her At The Love Parade [1997]
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