Mix-Up, also known as International DJ Syndicate, is a series of Japanese DJ mix discs which somehow manages to snag two of Detroit's best-known techno artists to do some turntable wizardry. All five of these (Takkyu Ishino, Jeff Mills, Ken Ishii, Fumiya Tanaka, and Derrick May) were released on Sony Japan and React. At least two were recorded in front of live audiences.

The first mix in the series is from Takkyu Ishino, a member of Denki Groove who sometimes goes by the name TakkQ. Ishino happens to be the coordinator of the entire series. He starts things off with a somewhat ravey mix, heavy on the drums. Some booty house makes it into the playlist, which is pretty normal for a guy with albums named 'Throbbing Disco Cat'.

Tracklisting
1. Dumdum TV - d.d.t.v. μ-ziq invade
2. Mijk's Magic Marble Box - gamer's night (takkyu ishino mix)
3. Joey Beltram - voyager
4. DJ Funk - knock knock
5. K. Hand featuring Parris Love - take it to the floor
6. the madkatt courtship - da mindfuck
7. Basic Channel - phylyps trak ii
8. Hardfloor - acperience 5
9. Maurizio - m 04
10. The Purpose Maker - in the bush
11. sensorama - nagelbrett
12. whirlpool productions - don't stop
13. mike ink, andreas dorau - das telefon sagt acid
14. traxmen - f****n suckin
15. mickee - mickee house 2
16. Fumiya Tanaka - micro 2
17. up & down - up & down
18. dogtrax - who da funk
19. natural born groovers - forerunner
20. takkyu ishino - i thought 3, but were 4 in fact (hamburgermix)

The second of the series is by many accounts one of the very finest DJ mixes ever released on an official recording. It was mixed live by Jeff Mills at the Liquid Room in Tokyo on October 28, 1995. This mix is edited into three segments.

The album has the quality of a decent bootleg. Sound is a bit muffled and boomy, and the crowd's cheers are audible.

The most noteworthy aspect of this mix is that it's almost terrible. Mills's beatmatching is far from perfect. However, he changes tracks within seconds of each other and corrects any problems almost instantly. There is a section of Segment with the beginnings of a complete trainwreck averted in less than one beat.

Segment 1 Tracklisting
1. jeff mills - utopia
2. jeff mills - the extremist
3. surgeon - magneeze
4. joey beltram - the start it up
5. millsart - step to enchantment (stringent)
6. jeff mills - life cycle
7. jeff mills - untitled a
8. dj funk - work that body
9. dj funk - run (u.k.)
10. dj joe vanelli - play with the voice in usa
11. wicked wipe - clementina
12. jeff mills - i9
13. jeff mills - changes of life
14. circuit breaker - overkill
15. io - eternal sun
16. joey beltram - gameform
17. club mcm - club mcm
18. jeff mills - ax-009
19. surgeon - move
20. traxmen - wet floor
21. jeff mills - detached
22. claude young - nocturnal

Segment 2
1. the advent - bad boy
2. dj skull - the 187 skillz
3. rhythim is rhythim - strings of life
4. jeff mills - loop 3
5. jeff mills - untitled b
6. ken ishii - extra (luke slater mix)
7. damon wild - avion
8. x-102 - x-102 intro
9. jeff mills - growth
10. h+m - suspense
11. the shadow - the other side
12. dan morgan - floorchild
13. hell+jonzon - bazetoya

Segment 3
1. jeff mills - casa
2. jeff mills - life cycle
3. millsart - step to enchantment (stringent)

The next entry in the series was actually my introduction to mixed techno. Long before I knew what good a turntable did, I was into anime and somehow this mix from Ken Ishii showed up in the store while a good friend and I were on an anime binge. We split the cost and I was hooked. I didn't realize it at the time, but this disc was also my introduction to drum and bass, which takes a significant portion of the album's latter half.

Tracklisting
1. ken ishii - kala
2. nu yorican soul - the nervous track (yellow mix) (nervous)
3. united future organization - united future airlines (astral hijack mix)
4. tronikhouse - multifunction
5. octave one - i believe
6. flare - finite time
7. low res - amuck
8. moebius-plank-neumeier - pitch control
9. bfc - static friendly
10. ken ishii - frame out
11. mk - decay
12. tyree - video crash (crash international)
13. moby- go (rainforest mix)
14. afrika bambaataa & the soulsonic force - planet rock
15. ryuichi sakamoto - riot in lagos
16. meat beat manifesto - strap down part 2
17. plug 2 - military jazz
18. the ballistic brothers - step into eden (rollin drum and bass mix)
19. remy & sven - piano power
20. rhythim is rhythim - strings of the strings of life
21. mr. fingers - can you feel it?

The fourth member of the series is the mix from Fumiya Tanaka, who records for Tresor, among other labels. I've not listened to this one, unfortunately. This was recorded live at Club Rockets in Osaka.

Tracklisting
1. fumiya tanaka - jammin' (mxu edit)
2. fumiya tanaka - insistence
3. regis - speak to me
4. dj funk - pump it
5. dj power out - hangover
6. millsart - step to enchantment (stringent)
7. fix - flash
8. robert armani - armani tracks part 2
9. wyndell long - wiggle
10. fumiya tanaka - gloss
11. jeff mills - the dancer
12. surgeon - language barrier
13. steve bicknell - why? + for whom?
14. morganistic - leaf
15. 2-men on wax - demolition man
16. tan-ru - toggle (original mix)
17. dj skull - distortion
18. wax master maurice - stop screamin
19. fumiya tanaka - #2 (mxu edit)
20. karafuto - funny squad
21. e-dancer - pump the move
22. blue maxx - relay
23. fumiya tanaka - #1 (mxu edit)
24. traxmen - wet floor
25. dean & deluca - no title
26. the purpose maker - reverting
27. morganistic - crimes & misdemeanours
28. outline - encounter
29. jeff mills - java
30. advent - it one (steve bicknell mix)
31. dj hell - allerseelen (jeff mills remix)
32. cyrus - enforcement (mills mix)
33. jeff mills - i9

The final compilation in this series is what may be the only officially released mix from Derrick May. May goes through all his Detroit buddies' releases, plus some of his usual suspects, like Li'l Louis's French Kiss.

Tracklisting
1. derrick may - maydays intro (a mayday mix thang)
2. fruit loops - the message is love
3. earth people - dance
4. the groove essentials - make up your mind
5. lil louis - french kiss
6. house proud people - lonely disco dancer
7. scuba - you are my heaven
8. dj sneak - soundz in my head
9. new soul fusion - prelude
10. paul johnson - a little suntin suntin
11. house of jazz featuring latina whitfield - time out for love (ebola mix)
12. green velvet - the preacher
13. gene farris - cosmic coast
14. the hayden andre project - tribal life
15. kramer dashwood - what has been joined by g.o.d.
16. jeff mills - alarm
17. phuture - spank spank
18. dj milton - 1999
19. designer music - good girls
20. club mcm - club mcm (k.a. happy mix)
21. jeff mills - masterplan
22. foundation sound works - serial operations
23. the purpose maker - the dancer
24. freaks - mindless funk
25. styles of the abstract - fructose
26. convextion - convextion
27. substance - relish
28. basement jaxx - get down get horny
29. aubrey - shimmer
30. jibaros - nite drive
31. basement jaxx - eu nao
32. silent phase - meditative fusion (kenny larkin mix)

As can be seen from looking at the playlists, the influence of American dance music on the Japanese DJs is astounding. The Fumiya Tanaka mix contains five tracks from Jeff Mills alone, and the Ken Ishii mix stops completely to let all sound get out of the way of Larry Heard's "Can You Feel It?". The inclusion of two American DJs in a Japan-only series is not easily disregarded either.