Dave Angel

A child of the London acid-house explosion, British-born DJ and producer Dave Angel makes Detroit-styled techno with strong jazz and soul influences. One of the first artists of international renown to take Motor City futurism to a major-label level, Angel scored a U.K. pop hit with a remix of Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” in 1990, then released the full-lengths Tales of the Unexpected (1995) and Globetrotting (1997). He also released several mix CDs and numerous singles, many on his own Rotation Records. He remains an influential figure throughout the techno and tech-house scenes, and has continued touring and releasing material such as 2023′s “Glide.” Born David Gooden, Dave Angel is the brother of rapper Monie Love and singer Baz. The son of a jazz musician, Angel’s roots are in bebop and modern jazz (as both a fanatic and a radio jockey) as much as in the Detroit-styled techno he is more often known for. Self-taught as both a producer and musician, Angel drew heavily in style and mood from original Detroit luminaries such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Eddie Fowlkes. His musical career began when he borrowed a keyboard from a friend and produced a track which heavily sampled Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” He titled it the “Nightmare Mix” and pressed 500 copies of the track as a white label single. Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart approved the mix, and Angel recorded it in a professional studio; it was released by RCA and reached number 23 in the U.K. charts. Following the track’s success, Angel frequently DJ’ed on pirate radio alongside drum’n’bass pioneers Fabio and Grooverider, as well as throughout Europe, where he often found greater audiences than at home. He issued a string of EPs on labels like R&S, Love Records, and his own Rotation label. His EP In Flight Entertainment appeared on Island’s Blunted sub-label in 1994, and debut album Tales of the Unexpected arrived in 1995. His early R&S EPs were compiled on the 1996 released Classics, and second album Globetrotting was issued by 4th & Broadway in 1997. His many commercially issued mixes include a Mixmag session with Darren Emerson, a volume of the X-Mix series, and 1998′s 39 Flavours of Tech Funk. He also released three CDs on the Trust the DJ imprint, with 2002′s DA02 collecting his remixes for Model 500, James, Krust, and others, and the other two being continuous DJ mixes. Angel’s third album, Frame by Frame, was issued by Japanese label Plaza in Crowd in 2011. It included a collaboration with Ken Ishii, another early international proponent of Detroit-style techno. Angel continued performing across the globe and releasing material on labels such as Crosstown Rebels, Bedrock Records, and Halocyan. 2018′s “Belle Âme” marked the first Rotation release in over a decade, and 2023′s “Glide” appeared on Radio Slave’s REKIDS. ~ Paul Simpson & Sean Cooper