From UK Hardcore to early Hardstyle music: the last few days of 2021 will be glorious. I keep on finding gems on Soundcloud and Youtube (not Mixcloud, seems boring to me), and today I was actually looking for something specific. I remembered that back in the days I used to have a cassette of Lady Dana, and one of her sets on it. It was recorded directly from the radio, and I got curious for a second: I do not remember which set it was, but I was wondering if I could maybe find it somewhere? As long as I would hear the first few seconds of a Dana set, I would know immediately if it was exactly as the one from the tape or not. Sadly I did not find the set (as far as I can tell), but I did find a CD on Soundcloud from 2004. One I actually owned and loved.
I remember buying the first CD in the shortly lived 'ID&T Presents ... ' series (which was Dana's mix), and in 2004 I saw this disc in my local CD store (shoutout to Satisfaction in Heerlen, The Netherlands, for providing me with excellent music), and put the money down without blinking. Lady Dana, or Dana as she was known during the early years of Hardstyle, she can do no harm. She's the QUEEN. So the money was put in the till, and I walked home, happy as Larry.
Don't know where the CD has gone. Must have given it as a loan to one of my mates, and never had it returned. But thankfully the internet came to my rescue: nearly 18 years later. And now I'm going back in time, to the glorious years of Hardstyle. I do remember seeing her in 2003 at a club in Kerkrade called Vizion. And of course it left an impact on me, hence why I bought this CD a year later, and every CD her tracks were on.
Was this CD as good as the one she released back in 2002? Well, it might be, if you can compare the two. Here's the tracklist for this CD, if you are interested:
CD 1:
Powerplay - In Process (Start The Process)
Derb - Attack
Luca Antolini DJ - Secret Dream (Hard Mix)
J.Ru - Defected! (LaCargo Remix)
Emphasis - Scumbag (The Gladheadz M-Fucka Remix)
Dana - Unendlichkeit
Pino Maresca - Batuca Style
Spook-A-Tek - Unity Phase
Ultrasonic - Hysterya
Iron Cave Squad - Punk
Tatanka & Peter Damir - Kick It Hard
Donkey Rollers - Push 'm Up
Thomas Trouble - Massive Attack (Blutonium Boy Hardstyle Mix)
Pastamatik - Soul
Donkey Rollers - Hardstyle Rockers
Coretex - Out There
CD 2:
Powerplay - The Process (In Process)
Hard Boostok - Stop Now (Dark Mix)
DJ Seb.B - Mass Noise
DJ Ze Mig L - Squeeker Box
Passive Resistance - Praiseworthy Tunes (Hoipolloi Mix)
DK - Murder Was The Bass
Binum - Chapter Two
Dana - Restyled
Sandy Warez - Inderect Bass
Ultra Tech - Psyko Thrill
DJ Vicente - Music Is Coming
TNT - Freakuency
Jenny D Light - Reversity
Deimos - Patience vs Pressure
Lorenzo De Preti - Light On, Light Off
Catscan - End Of Tomorrow
Marshall Masters - World Evacuator
Oh, the nostalgia. This CD makes me feel young and exuberating. I feel alive and 18 again. Wait, how old was I back in 2004? Let me calculate: ah, I was already 21. Wish I could be 21 again, eh?
This CD contains every hard head wanted to hear back in 2004: a bit of Hardstyle, a bit of Hardcore, and a teeny little bit of Jumpstyle. It has got everything, including one of the most underrated Hardstyle anthems of all time. But we'll come to that in a minute.
It's a well balanced mix, and the tracks selected by Dana were all great. A sound that is no more. A sound so unique, and so Millennium-ish. It is a sound that I miss hearing on the dance floors. It's like it has vanished from the face of the Earth completely. And that's a shame.
It is good that Soundcloud is filled with these mix CDs from the Millennium era. A reminder of what once was.And these two discs are glorious to listen to. I would still classify the other Dana CD from 2002 as the best out of these two, but I would not say this CD is bad though. On the contrary, it's a magnificent CD.
OK, two CDs, two favourite records. First CD has to be 'Attack' by Serb. And the second CD? Well, it's Dana's own song 'Restyled'. When I first heard it many years ago, it blew me into smithereens. Fucking epic and rough song. You can tell she was once in the Hardcore scene: this song is borderline Hardcore. Rough as hell!
A wonderful compilation. Wish there were more Dana CDs out there. We all need a bit more Dana in our lives, right? Or Lady Dana, whichever you prefer!
DJ: Dana
Genre/Style: Hardstyle, Hardcore, Jumpstyle, Techno
CD Info: Dana - Mixed CD
CDs: 2 (two)
Length CDs: 02:33:49
Tracks: 33 (thirty-three)
Release Year: 2004
Label: Universal TV
Product Number: 9818806
More Information: -----
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