gabriel and dresden essential mix

Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden are San Francisco-based djs and producers who have perfected a distinctive post-trance, progressive sound and mastered the art of the remix. At the end of this month they will release their first artist album, and to promote that effort they presented today’s Essential Mix.

Hosted by Pete Tong, the Essentail Mix is a weekly 2-hour, non-stop dance mix created by a top talent. Gabriel and Dresden don’t disappoint with a mix likely to be regarded as one of the best of the year. It is flawless technically, and the track selection is signature G&D. As a bonus, six cuts from the new album are included.

Listen via BBC Radio 1 (tracklist) The on-demand broadcast is available until 5/14

Gabriel and Dresden have been favorites of mine since their early remixes. They are responsible for the seminal versions of Way Out West’s “Mindcircus”, Tiesto’s “In My Memory” and Andain’s “Beautiful Things.” Their reworks of Duncan Shiek’s “On a High,” Depeche Mode’s “Here is the House,” Dido’s “Don’t Leave Home” and Sarah McLachlan’s “Fallen” may be even more inspired as they manage to transform these pop songs into huge main room tracks.

To highlight their remixing genius is not to ignore their artist efforts. As Motorcycle, they recorded the popular and overplayed “As The Rush Comes.” For their dj album, Bloom, they composed several storming productions. And tomorrow, “Tracking Treasure Down,” the first single from the new album, drops. It is large.

The best place to preview and buy G&D is at beatport, a digital download service that sells high quality mp3 and WAV files. Their tracks are watermarked to prevent re-distribution, but they are not encumbered with further DRM. You can play them on your computers and mp3 players and burn them to CDs without worrying about complex license management issues. Beatport has the new single, G&D’s major productions and their rare 2001 remix of “Travelling On.”

iTunes also has several G&D songs. The best are their collaboration with Markus Schulz on “Without You Near” and the edit of “Tracking Treasure Down” they prepared for the Nip and Tuck soundtrack. With the iTunes downloads you are more limited, but it is hard to match the convenience.

Bonus link 1: An excellent 2005 live G&D mix
Bonus link 2: Enter the Tracking Treasure Down remix contest