Hunab-ku Magik Mix Contest: The Winning Mix

Behold, the winner of the Hunab-ku Magik Mix Contest:

Entry #9: Djuna – Hunab-ku Contest Mix #9

Before talking about the winning mix, let me first say a huge thank you to all of the DJs who submitted mixes for this contest. Thanks to their hard work and love of this music, we’ve all been able to experience a very healthy dose of mid- to late-nineties Goa trance assembled together in some wicked mixes. Bravo to all of you who submitted, not just the winner!

I’d also like to thank all of the listeners out there who’ve followed along throughout the contest. It’s been a fun three months running this thing, and I truly hope you keep coming back to visit the Goat Ranch in the future – there’ll always be new old music available in the form of new mixes by myself and others.

Djuna’s Mix
I am being completely truthful when I tell you that picking the winning mix was quite stressful, and that I am, in a way, quite happy that this contest is over. As I mentioned, I have had fun running it, but there were so many good mixes created with so much effort by everyone, that I’m left wishing I had 14 copies of the CD to hand out. Being a DJ myself, I know that creating the “perfect” mix for oneself is difficult enough, but to create a mix for someone else that really resonates with them is somewhat of a crap shoot. Creating a mix that exists on a whole as greater than the sum of its tracks is a difficult task, but for my particular tastes, Mathias nailed it with Contest Mix. The craziness of the first third, the full-on rockin’ness of the second, and the melodic beauty of the last third really grabbed hold and didn’t let go until the last of the 81 minutes had played through. I had one of those moments during my first listen where I was transported to the forest, planted in front of the speaker stacks, living only in that moment where there is nothing else but music and movement. It is a beautiful place, and any piece of music that can take me there rates high in my book.

The Runners-Up (or, Deciding Was Hard)
This was by no means a “runaway” victory. Everyone really put together top-quality mixes, and the world is a better place for it. All of you should be proud of your entries – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. Here are some of the other front-runners that made the decision incredibly difficult:

Entry #3: DJ Nonsense – Ancient Mechanisms
When DJ Nonsense’s mix arrived early in the contest, I knew this thing was going to be successful. A genre-bending collection of finely-mixed slow Goa, slowly increasing in tempo throughout the mix. We all have these albums with eight stompers and one sleeper, and here we have a collection of the “sleepers” (that aren’t so sleepy, really) that works perfectly. A perfect party-starter.

Entry #6: The Goa Constrictor – 6 Degrees of Goa Trance
Adam’s entry shows his command of the genre, and regardless of how many Goa dork points I think I’ve amassed, he always seems to have just a few more. This mix was a hell of a lot of fun, and provided more than just the music contained within in the form of a game for us Goa-geeks. Totally awesome.

Entry #12: Jim Appleton – Spiritual Psychedelia
Jim’s mix simply contained a whole slough of tracks that I really, really dug, and was mixed well. It’s as simple as that.

What now?
Again, big, BIG thanks to everyone for participating! I now have a whole load of mixes that’ll be on repeat in the Winamp playlist for the next few months. In addition, I think we’ve done a good job of bringing everyone back to those golden years of Goa trance, and sharing the love is what it’s all about.

The next “event” on the Goat Ranch will be more of a collaborative group-effort, one where everyone wins. In the meantime, however, keep coming back  as I’ll continue to make old-school mixes available. If you mix up a new kickass set and would like it hosted on the Goat Ranch, shoot me an email and we’ll get ya setup.

Contest Stats (as of 06 Apr 2010)
Total Mixes Submitted: 17 (14 public)
Contest Mix Downloads: 505
Site views during contest: 3302

Prize pics
Just for fun, here’s what Mathias will be shipped:

See ya next time! 🙂