Carl Cox
Carl Cox is a British DJ and producer who rose out of the UK acid-house and rave explosion of the late 1980s, earning a reputation as a tireless three-deck mixer. His early records such as 'I Want You (Forever)' fused rave energy with the machine rhythms of Chicago house and Detroit techno, and through long residencies, most famously years headlining Space in Ibiza, he became one of the most recognizable ambassadors of techno and tech house. His booming, groove-driven sets carried the sound of house and techno's originators to arenas and festivals across the world.
Cox came up playing the imported Chicago house records that DJs like Frankie Knuckles pioneered, and that four-on-the-floor foundation, a steady kick, a rolling bassline and a soulful hook, sits under even his hardest rave material.
listen forSet Knuckles and Jamie Principle's 'Your Love' beside Cox's 'I Want You (Forever)' and hear how Cox keeps the warm house pulse and vocal refrain but winds up the tempo and intensity for the rave.
The Detroit techno lineage that runs back to Cybotron, hard machine-made electronic funk, is central to Cox's identity as a techno DJ, shaping the metallic drums and relentless drive of his mid-90s productions.
listen forPut Cybotron's 'Clear' next to Cox's 'Two Paintings and a Drum' and notice the same stripped, percussive electro-funk engine, all rhythm and low end with barely a melody in sight.
Moroder's pioneering use of the sequencer to build a relentless, pulsing electronic groove laid groundwork for the whole four-on-the-floor dance tradition Cox works in, and you can hear that hypnotic machine drive carried into his house and techno cuts.
listen forFollow Moroder's sequenced 'The Chase' with Cox's 'Sensual Sophis-ti-cat' and hear how a single arpeggiated electronic pattern, locked to a steady pulse, is left to hypnotize the floor.