V/A :: Djax-Up-Beats 1990-2005: Volume 1 – The Acid Trip (Delsin)

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Once hard to make and harder to find, acid techno’s raw communal spirit is revived in Acid Trip, a deep-dig compilation that reconnects today’s algorithm-lost listeners with the fierce underground legacy of Djax-Up-Beats.

Djax Acid archives rewired for today

In the 1990s, electronic music was difficult. It was challenging to make. Expensive machines and kilometres of cabling. Hearing the music was also quite a feat. Record stores that catered to the sound were few and far between. Even radio shows that explored electronics were a rarity. This wasn’t an attempt at exclusivity; it was community. Music made to gather people. Music made to dance to. Fast forward to now and everything is beyond accessible. The algorithm leads the way.

Despite this democratization, the breadth, width and depth of entire catalogues online makes it a dizzier chore for the would-be enthusiast. Thankfully, there are labels still willing to offer a guiding ear and hand. Delsin take up this mantle as they take us on an Acid Trip into the archives of Djax-Up-Beats.

For those unfamiliar with Djax, it was founded in The Netherlands by Miss Djax aka Saskia Slegers way back in 1989. A tour-de-force, the label has been serving up hot and heavy techno slammers for more than three decades. Aggressive and unadulterated, this as the soundtrack to the Dutch club night. Acid Trip is a deep dive into that sound. Spanning three twelve-inches and fifteen years of archives, this first volume gathers original material from international musicians who graced the Eindhoven operation.

As the title may suggest, the focus of Acid Trip is on the TB303. A commercial failure, the bass machine threw off its intended purpose to become a central pillar of dance music in all its forms. Electro. house. techno. That unmistakable squawk sliced through styles like a blade, and continues to do so. The sound on these records is techno, raw and dripping in sweat with a smile stretched across its mischievous face.

Navigating this trip is Rush Hour co-founder Christiaan Macdonald, the curator of the Xenomaniacs series. Macdonald has sieved through a cache of releases and hand-selected a spread of tracks that will leave lungs throbbing and speaker cones groaning.

Excavating Djax’s untamed Acid legacy ::

Homegrown talent from The Netherlands abounds. Planet Gong, Random XS, Edge of Motion. Each deliver their own 303 musings that cross from rocket-fuel renditions to considered and thoughtful compositions. Acid Junkies, a staple of the label, bends and corrupts waveforms in the lost in a warehouse brilliance of “Telephone Error.” Macdonald has been meticulous in his excavation. From the gnarled “Epidemic Future” by Greyhawk and “Takaru” by Storm, red lights sprint up and down Roland’s silver box to the fog and strobe of yesteryear.

Djax’ geographical reach is clear to see in the track listing. Norway’s Ismistik, an artist who solely released on Djax until 2023, blends ambient techno leanings with bitter swirls for “Cassis.” Ludovic Navarre, a Frenchman, dons his Hexagone guise for the blistering “Burning Trash Floor” while Britain’s China White take their cue from the burgeoning IDM sound of their compatriots.

Few of those collected are household names. In fact, many of them did not release outside of Djax. Others simply found a home on the imprint. Mike Dearborn of Chicago crossed the Atlantic divide and brought his own distinctive sound. First signed at the tender age of twenty, two of Dearborn’s tracks occupy the D-Side. The prophetic and pounding “Raw Acid” is emblematic of this Illinois man’s uncompromising style. His “Outer Limits (Trance Mixx)” is an expression of the more mellow works, mellow to the extent it would still ignite a floor. Group X also joined Djax from the States. The team of Earl Smith Jr., Herbert Jackson, L.A. Williams—three powerhouses of machine music and alchemists of acid—have their nine-minute odyssey “Tranze X” revived in all its mutating glory.

And these tracks have been revived. All pieces have been remastered by Johanz Westerman aka Thee J Johanz, with every clap, cymbal, snare and acid barb brought into sharp focus. Staying true to Djax origins, Alan Oldham (DJ T-1000) provides brand new artwork for the compilation.

The collection of twenty tracks is capped by the pioneer who started it all; Miss Djax closes with “Killer Train.” Sirens blare below a barrage of bass and drum beat, a relentless stomper from the label’s founder.

And, in many respects, Acid Trip is as much a homage to Miss Djax as it is to the label she founded and its unique interpretation of acid. A trailblazer, Slegers is one of a kind. DJ, producer and imprint owner, she tore down the barriers of gender in an incredibly male dominated industry and continues to let the wrecking ball fly. To this day, Miss Djax is pushing limits and igniting dancefloors with the same fixity of intent with which she founded the label in 1989.

This is Volume 1 of the Djax retrospective. There will be six volumes in total, not to mention accompanying EPs. Delsin and Macdonald have turned back the clock and shone the light on a genre that still rebels just as much as it gathers people.

In a time where division is stoked, a collection that promotes the collective experience champions what Djax-Up-Beats was all about.

Forget what the algorithm tells you; this is the trip.