Cass and Slide, 'Essential Mix 2001 12 23'

Energized and refreshed after my long getaway, I’m blogging again. I have some posts in mind for later but today I wanted to reclaim Tuesday as my music posting day with this stellar Essential Mix by Cass and Slide, which I happily stumbled upon while searching for another mix from the same time.

Way back in December 2001, when I was freshman in college, I listened to an incredible mix on Radio 1. It was, if I remember correctly, a Monday night. I was in my dorm room whiling away the time before heading downtown to meet someone. At a certain point during the mix, I stopped whatever else I was doing on my computer to focus on the music, to experience the mastery of the mix without any other distractions. “Oh my God!” I thought at one point. “This is one of the most amazing things I have ever heard in my life!” The time came to leave but I kept listening. Mesmerized, I could not take my headphones off. I did eventually and left — and have been wondering who, what, and when ever since.

I did not write down any information about the mix so, in order to rediscover it, all I have is the fuzzy memory of that night. I am pretty sure it was a Monday in December. I was in my dorm so it had to have been finals week or maybe the week before. Was it an Essential Mix replay? Probably. I have no clue what else it could have been. And I have a very vague recollection that the mix was attributed to two artists.

There is a list of all Essential Mixes and the dates they aired on Wikipedia. None of those listed in December 2001 aired for the first time on a Monday, so the list is a dead end. However, I started listening through them anyway. Why not? That’s how I discovered this Cass and Slide mix.

Is it the mix I was thinking of? I don’t think so. It aired way too late in the month. It is a damn good mix though.

Using the Internet Archive: Wayback Machine, I was able to view Radio 1’s schedule for the first week of December 2001. What replayed on a Monday night (Iowa time)? This mix by Slam.

Is it the mix I have been thinking about? I could be. It’s not as impressive to me as it would have been back then (and the sound quality in the recording is hit and miss), but it could be the mix.