DONALD GLAUDE
Mixed Live (Buzz @ Nation, Washington, D.C.) (Moonshine)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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To fully grasp the feeling of what a DJ like Donald Gaude can put across you need to be out in the crowd, so he can feed off your energy and three thousand or so of your closest friends' too. To anybody else these would just be eighteen high energy dance songs. Put me on the turntables and I guarantee some bewildered, angry people asking for their money back. Being a halfway decent deejay is a lot more difficult than it's made to look. The less difficult it seems, the better the deejay. Now picture "Bob" (or whoever just spun at your birthday party for $40 and beer). Put him up in front of a rabid live audience who wants to d-a-n-c-e:

"Skruuuuuuuuuuuugh!"

Donald Glaude is now considered one of the DJ's on this Earth to keep your eye on, and he proves that amply with this 73 minute performance. Up until right now Glaude's stuff has never been issued on CD.

He just played literally up the street from my house, and now I'm kicking myself for not going. At least with this I can hear some of the sounds ("Twisted Pair," "Nick Hodler," "Jelo," "Player Three," "Filter Science," and more, plus two of his own songs revived and transformed) that I missed. One man, four turntables - where was I?

© 2001 - Jason Thornberry