8 Early Tim Green Tracks that are a Far Cry from his Recent Music
Producer and DJ Tim Green is not one to shy away from experimentation. From creating luscious deep house under his given name to churning out blistering minimal techno with his APIR alias to generating pop music through his Invisible Minds moniker, Tim is always pushing musical boundaries.
When he first hit the scene, Tim was more interested in the minimal vibes emerging out of Germany, so that heavily influenced his sound. Surrounded by music while growing up, it was inevitable that Tim would eventually make it himself. But it took hearing Daft Punk’s album Discovery for him to truly become invested in making electronic music.
“They were sampling records that I knew, so I was hearing this music that I grew up with in a new light,” he told Gray Area during our Spotlight interview. “I was thinking, ‘How do you even do this? Why would you even do this?’”
Tim’s production prowess hasn’t gone unnoticed and even earned him the "Best Breakthrough Producer" award at DJ Mag’s Best of British Ceremony in 2010. But like many artists, so much has changed in Tim’s musical journey and he’s come a long way from his humble beginnings.
“I experimented a lot. I was still really learning,” he says of his origins. “I was at the beginning of my journey of learning how to fuse the music that I grew up with and loved into this new sound.”
If you’re only familiar with Tim Green’s recent musical offerings, take a listen to these eight songs we’ve chosen highlighting Tim’s former sound to get a sense of who he was way back when.
1. Little Flies
Let’s take it back to where it all began. Tim released “Little Flies” all the way back in 2006 on Four:Twenty Recordings. This minimal track is full of electro and tech house vibes, but still pretty simple, which was the perfect way for Tim to introduce himself to the world.
2. Rene
This next song starts out a bit slow and otherworldly, with lots of spacey effects. Then it segues into a glitchy yet melodic house track. It goes on to introduce danceable elements while still including some of the bleeps and boops that feature heavily in the beginning.
3. Test It
Continuing on his minimal theme, Tim returned with “Test It.” As he was still experimenting and learning the ropes with production, “Test It” ventures more into the house arena. It still features synths and drum machines, plus a methodically placed vocal interspersed throughout.
4. Iotan
In this next track, you can really hear Tim start to evolve as he takes a walk on the funky side. “Iotan” is a deep and melodic house track that’s got one driving bassline. It’s guaranteed to get any crowd piling onto the dancefloor.
5. Dodjo
“Dodjo” is a song off of Tim’s 2011 EP, Lemon. It includes three songs and “Dodjo” rounds it out with a decidedly more tropical sound than anything he’d put out up to that point. Walking the line between Caribbean infusion and formulaic, by-the-book production, Tim delivers a fun track that’s sure to be a fan favorite for years to come.
6. Swamp Girl
“Swamp Girl” is a deep house track filled with old school vocals. Grimier than Tim’s usual songs, it has a rolling bassline and syncopated drums, which add to the distinctive feel of the track.
7. Curious Smile
“Curious Smile” takes us back to Tim’s usual MO: synths and hypnotic vocals laid over a melodic techno beat. Released as part of Cocoon Recordings’ Cocoon Compilation L series, this song is a club-ready banger laced with scintillating keyboards.
8. Just People
Closing out this list is “Just People,” which was released as part of a two-track EP on Tim’s first label, Disc Over Music. This track is bold tech house, and it comes in hard with a banging bassline. Its breakdown is almost subdued until a piano crescendo breathes more life into the classic Tim Green tune.
