mnml ssgs mx43: lawrence english

this week we've got something a bit different from many of the previous mixes, and definitely contrasts with the intense techno we had last week with mike parker. mx43 comes from lawrence english, an australian artist who has been making some amazing and beautiful ambient, experimental and more abstract music for a while now. this is not a great way of describing his sounds, but he covers a fair bit of ground, and i am not sure how exactly to pin him in down in a sentence or two. but from what i can tell, quality and creativity are his defining trademarks.

i must confess, i was rather late to the lawrence english party, discovering him only last year with his stunning 'kiri no oto'. after boomkat gave the album a 'massive recommendation' i decided to check it out, and was not disappointed. 'kiri no oto' translates roughly to 'the sound of fog' and across the album he expertly explores those ideas. he followed it up this year with, 'a colour for autumn', which - as the title suggests - is conveying the feeling and sounds of autumn. if you haven't heard this, i strongly suggest tracking it down. 'a colour for autumn' is definitely in my top long players for 2009. intensely beautiful music. i cannot recommend it strongly enough.

as soon as i heard 'a colour for autumn', i immediately contacted lawrence about doing a mix. luckily he agreed. for me, at least, his mix reflects much of what i love about his music: it has an amazing depth and, in a strange way, a beautiful feeling of calm and tranquility. these are sounds to get lost in.

mnml ssgs mx43: lawrence english
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if you want more info about lawrence english, you can check out his website or have a look at the homepage his excellent label, room40, which continues to release some amazing stuff, including a lot of cool special projects like limited releases on tape. and if you happen to be in/around london, there is a 2 night room40 showcase taking place tonight and tomorrow (wednesday 9th and thursday 10th december). it is a fantastic lineup (including english) and i am seriously unhappy i'll be missing it by a day or two. definitely head down if you can.

huge thanks to lawrence for taking the time to make this mix, especially as he finished it while touring all around europe. we are very happy that we can present music like this here at mnml ssgs. our original desire was to include more mixes of this kind in the series, but this hasn't quite happened. so we are very glad we have beautiful contribution from lawrence english. enjoy.