mnml ssgs mx48: redshape

When SSGs first invisaged a mix series, the fundamental thing we agreed on was that the artists we chose chould be given a blank canvas: using a single mp3 file, preferably at 320, we just asked people whose music we love to make us something, anything.

Well, actually, an almost blank canvas. We did insist on a few conditions, which were these: go deep, follow your sound, make an emotional connection.

I’ve been really staggered by how positively people have responded to this over the course of the series. Not only have Chris and I been really blown away by how may of our favourite artists have agreed to be part of the project, but the quality and diversity of the mixes has been, I hope you’ll all agree, truly fucking magnificent and constantly surprising.

And now, well, what can I say? Redshape has come up with the goods, managing to do ‘all of the above’ as well as take the series in his own inimitable direction, with a mix that is boisterous, playful, and that reveals, to me at least, a whole bunch of different clues to the different parts of the redshaped world.

I won’t spoil the ride further by describing the scenery in detail, sufficed to say – this one’s a doozy.

Ladies, gentleman, machines, and other forms of extraterrestrial intelligence who are tuned in, we give you... Mr Shape.

mnml ssgs mx48 - redshape
sendspace mirror

For more info on Redshape, check his home page and myspace. As usual, tracklist to follow. Many thanks to Redshape for this.

sunday sounds: neel

i am a bit slow this sunday, but that's ok, because this beauty is good for any day of the week. neel has kindly passed on this new mix that he finished a few days ago, which is pushing on the deep house tip. for me, normally house goes better with summer, but this suits a cold winter sunday perfectly. all the records here are so warm and comforting - it is kind of like a lovely musical fire that heats you up. not much else to add, like most of the stuff i post on sunday, this is a mix filled with excellent records where the DJ lets each one breathe and speak. just how i like it.

neel - deep sesson vol. 1

big thanks to neel for sharing this with us. for more info, check his myspace. have a warm sunday peeps (except for everyone down in the southern hemisphere, in which case, stay cool!).

Reflections Part II: SOUNDS

Hello fellow SSGs,

today we continue our four part reflection on the year that was with part II: SOUNDS.


PC) sound: it doesn't matter where you put the kick


I think 2009 was an extraordinary year for sounds, perhaps as good as 2000/2001, when so many of the formative releases of the current waves of electronic music were released. In fact, while venues and profitability lurch from crisis to uncertainty, creation, production, reproduction and mutation all appear to be in rude health. Scenes full of sounds have never seemed so vibrant or creative, at least as far as memory and sentiment serves. I want to further and say: I think 2009 will be remembered as a watershed year for all kinds of exploratory music, electronic forms most definitely included. There are several reasons for this as I see it.

First and foremost, I really feel that a lot of the most interesting music makers have finally stopped worshipping laptops: remember when an intent face peering into an unseen screen meant that ‘the new’ was being created live? Remember when the apple glowing from the monitor lid somehow signified the interface avant garde? Well I really think that, this year, we can see a lot of people have begun using the interface after their own ends. I wanna speak about this at greater length in the fourth reflection (TECHNOLOGY), but I offer as exhibits A and B in this regard Carsten Nicolai and Robert Henke, whose works this year no longer sound like ‘laptops’.

This might also connect to the very widespread use of sampled instruments and atmospheric field recordings in many of the releases that I loved this year, which seemed to be both an implicit acceptance of the ‘fact’ that a well mic’ed recording is just inherently nicer/better/more sonically interesting than the same thing generated through digital means. I wanna say that I think this acceptance seemed to occur ‘somewhere’, ‘somehow’ as people also recognized the strengths and idiosyncrasies of analog synths, vintage drum machines, digital FX AND computer-based interfaces all at the same time. So please note well: this is an argument for MULTImedia. This seems to have resulted in more people pursuing more interesting and idiosyncratic sound designs – designs which are of their own imagining, not the result of just flicking through presets or imitating already-abundant records. I’m really so happy this has happened. Maybe we're seeing a bit less 'production', and a bit more 'creation'.

I do say acceptance ‘somewhere’, ‘somehow’, to underline the weirdness of these recognitions and changes. Where did this acceptance occur? Who accepted it? Somewhere between a weird Jungian collective unconscious and an orchestra without a conductor lies the way new harmonies emerge and the way certain points in time are shared, understood, overturned, questioned, reviled, etc… but this immediately connects me to the second point, which is that there is no longer a zeitgeist (singular) in any meaningful sense. What there are, instead, are clumped multiplicities resonating in sympathy with each other: sharing a ‘sound’ as theirs in a way that might not be immediately intelligible and recognizable as such to anyone approaching it from outside…. but that is there nonetheless. Seems like all you need is a little sympathy, and you can tune in to any number of local resonances. That was 2009.

2009 was also the year my metalhead friend was also listening to (and loving) Zomby, Harmonic 313, HudMo along with the usual amplifier worship; and this while so many techno kids were digging on doom. In terms of the sounds people digest, whole lot of either/or appears to have been replaced by a both/and: people who I talk to constantly surprise me with the voracious diversity of their listening practice, and this is something which you can also hear reflected in so much of the great music released this year.

All of the above strike me as parts of the strange, diffuse, social things happening between us this year – but where exactly? Is this the strange agency of the network, or just what the network renders audible and visible? Whatever it is, it’s intensely productive and exciting.

In terms of specific sounds, there are three strands that I wanna tug, things that I feel have been specific to 2009 that I’ve really appreciated.

The first of these is the large number of releases that take you, drop you, and leave you in an immersive soundworld of their own making – sometimes for hours. With little care for the time limits imposed by redundant (or at least, no longer hegemonic) mediums such as CD, and with equally little concern for the strictures of structures (be it pop, track, or bars and beats in four) these recordings bend mood, time and music into something fascinating and full of possibility. I can’t say I’m always in the mood for multiple hours of Leyland Kirby or Oneohtrix Point Never (fuck, even Animal Collective’s ‘My Girls’ feels like it could go on all day - queue someone releasing a 12 hour remix), but I’m so glad these kinds of releases exist, and that these explorations are happening. Enter Terre’s new 30 hour, 4 GB piano solo….

Strand two is the quiver of music with a new, strong, dark energy, an energy that I find overwhelming at times. Ben Frost’s By The Throat was the release that, more than any other, orbed me in this way. This music is almost too powerful, too strong. I add to that my favourite live set of the year, this one of Shed’s from Sonar. Fuck me. But I also get this from recent releases on Raster Noton from NHK, Aoki Takamasa and Mika Vainio, as well as from Ancient Methods and Oni Ayhun. There is something so vital, so kicking about all this music. Deeply emotive. But no, probably not emo.

Finally, the third strand I wanna pull has been sheltering under the steps, but is neither dubstep nor substep nor steptech but rather a whole new world of freestyle beat work. In his recent interview in The Wire, Robert Henke explained how he discovered that, really, it doesn’t matter where you put the kick – what’s far more interesting is the dynamic tensions this creates in the space between. Well, it’s not really a ‘discovery’ for a lot of people (duh, says Burnt Friedman or Sasu Ripatti), but nonetheless, judging from the astonishing things I’ve been hearing from Henke, Rene Pawlowitz, T++, Peverelist, 2562 and the like (as well as a bevvy of extremely young and fresh producers coming through, especially in Britain), it’s something that’s catching on, and it's a contagion among whose effects is the carving out of new grooves for new lines and new futures as yet unexplored.


CH) sound: sound, structure, time.

the first thing i'd say is that i agree with much/most of what pete has said. in particular, i'd like to really support and perhaps extend one or two of pete's points. where there are parallels with around the early '00s is that on the fringes of techno/house etc. exciting and important changes were happening that would later filter across into more mainstream sounds. this is what really excites me about guys like scuba, and some similar guys, t++ is another person who gives me a similar buzz, you can catch glimpses of a possible future in their sounds. actually this applies to most of the artists pete mentioned. vaguely related to this is pete's observation about the way people have been exploring the spaces in between the kicks. this is something i think has really great potential and excites me tremendously. saying that, i am sure i am influenced by the fact the last 2 acts i've seen have been basically electronic jam sessions: the moritz trio last night, and atom tm vs tobias a few weeks ago. there is not necessarily anything that new about it - most of it is emerging from analog gear - but i do feel we are beginning to witness a genuine expansion of the way techno music can be produced and presented. and in this regard, we probably should give some props to ricky v for helping to generate a much wider interest and acceptance with techno music that breaks out of the standard structure. following on from this thought, though, what i'd say is that to create this kind of techno which fucks with established techno structures and formats is coming from (and this should not necessarily be a surprise) people who really *know* music. you cant create this kind of shit just after a couple of months fucking about on ableton. the recent examples i've seen are from serious vets - moritz, sasu, and max, then uwe and tobias. think how many years behind knobs and mixing desks there is between all of them. i think the point i am trying to get to here is that this kind of techno, more improv, more jamming, looser structures, more noodling, less kicks (and more random ones) is much more likely to emerge from peeps who have a depth of experience with machines and basic musicality that much of the computer revolution of the past couple of years has obscured at times.

i am not sure how many points, if any, i've made so far, but what i'd like to highlight next is something which was one of the key defining traits of 2009. and that was a genuine renaissance in techno music. this has been commented on here, and elsewhere, so there is no need for me to go into much depth. but we are talking about the major features of last year, and this was definitely one of them. what i'd stress is that renaissance is the most appropriate word to describe what it was (and continues to be). look at the oxford english dictionary definition:

Renaissance, n.

1. a. With the. The revival of the arts and high culture under the influence of classical models, which began in Italy in the 14th cent. and spread throughout most of Europe by the end of the 16th; (also) the period during which this was in progress.
b. Any period of exceptional revival of the arts and intellectual culture.
c. A revival of, or renewal of interest in, something; (also) the process by which this occurs.

this is really what you had with techno. the sounds of the mid to late 90s served as a template and inspiration for producers, but they used these models creatively and productively to create something new and worthwhile. techno in 2009 was walking forwards. backwards. if that makes any sense. perfect examples of this would be shed, function and ancient methods. there are others. right now it is this dynamic that is really exciting me. there will come a point in time - perhaps not too far off - where the creative potential of this relationship expires, but there is still quite a lot of possibility left.

in comparison to the productive relationship that presently exists between harder techno and its earlier incarnations in the '90s, i think the past hangs like a dead weight around the neck of dub techno. for me one of the most important events of 2009 was the death of dub techno. it is completely devoid of new and interesting ideas, and just continues to operate with a very tired and worn out model. it was STL's release on echospace which led me to finally accept this depressing reality (i say this because i have been a very long supporter of dub techno). STL has been doing really amazing stuff over the last couple of years, but when he turns to dub techno he gets boring. quick. the difference between his silent state release on smallville - one of the highlights of 2009 - and his well produced, but ultimately not very exciting echospace EP. and thinking about it, i really cannot think of any dub techno releases that excited or amazed me. i can think of plenty of pleasant, nice, ok dub techno records, but i cant think of any great ones. there certainly arent any of my end of year list. i may have forgotten of something, if so, please suggest what it may have been. there is not much bad dub techno. but there isnt much/any great dub techno round any more either. just a huge mass of incredibly average, mediocre, similar sounding stuff. i am not sure if i should be pointing fingers, but i think echocord is perhaps the best example of this trend. even echospace has basically hit the wall. it is worthwhile comparing all of this average stuff with what moritz is doing now, which is so much more vital, fresh, interesting and *forward thinking*.

i'll leave it there, and hand it over to the others. to conclude what i'd like to see is more people having the courage to develop and pursue distinctive sound signatures. you can do this while working within (but perhaps renovating) the techno structures currently in place.

chris


PS) sound: as heard through a helmet lined with lavender


Here we go again:

Peter brings up the end of laptop worship. (And yeah, it was a form of worship, for a while there—I'm reminded of performance photos from the first couple of years of MUTEK, when the performer and his [almost always "his"] notebook seemed to signify a brave new minimalist fusion of creator and output, a kind of digital immediacy. The visible laptop was absolutely key to the aesthetic, simultaneously de-mystifying and hyper-mystifying the practice of composition and performance.) Before I agree with you, I only want to caution against slipping into an overly binary stance. Hell, it's been hip to bash laptops for years, now, and concomitant with the rise of the Nu-True School attitudes of the deep house revival (keepin' it real, takin' it back, goin' deep) has been plenty of knee-jerk, analog-is-better talk. Analog becomes its own fetish. But while I'll concede that machines (and samples of acoustic/electric music) tend to sound "better," "warmer," etc., than softsynths, using them doesn't automatically translate to better ideas. I'm reminded of Traxx's Faith, which was analog as you like, but sonically and structurally something of a retread, neither breaking new ground nor, most of the time, doing anything really exceptional with traditional elements. (An exception is "Enka," which uses just a handful of elements but winds up being something very strange indeed, thanks to its oddball melodies and otherworldly clash of timbres.) Villalobos has reportedly begun digging heavily into modular systems, but I'm not sure that I'm hearing its impact in his work yet; he doesn't need analog gear to turn out novel sounds, frankly.

But I do agree with you that, on balance, this shift back towards craft is a good thing. NSI's live performance at MUTEK (and archived as a Resident Advisor podcast) was the kind of thing only possible from musicians who know their instruments and their methods as well as Tobias Freund and Max Loderbauer do; and you got the same feeling from NSI and Odd Machine's releases, which bent decades-old machines to the artists' will in a breathtaking way. (Just listen to NSI's recent Eitherway EP for an example of how out they can go.) The Moritz von Oswald Trio, both live and on record, is another great example of musicians deeply in tune with their gear and their process.

A lot of the most sonically exciting music I heard this year came from outside techno. After several years of "indie" musicians claiming to take inspiration from places like Kompakt, but often coming up short on the execution front—using thin, presetty synths, or uninspired and unevolving drum sequences that signified "techno" without actually engaging with the form—more and more acts from the "rock" realm seem to have torn a page from the Knife's Silent Shout, the most genuinely techno record to ever come out of the indie-dance realm (or, at least, find most of its success there). Fuck Buttons and Weatherall managed an occasionally thrilling fusion of noise and dance music with Tarot Sport. And still to the left of them, Emeralds recorded even more immersive and incredible (as in, it's hard to believe how anyone could come up with a din like this) work. Both What Happened (No Fun) and their untitled album for Wagon/Gneiss Things were quicksilver oilslick Kraut-drone-kosmisch insanity; the opalescent "Alive in the Sea of Information" delivered exactly what the titled promised, a kind of pulsing, breathing affirmation of spirit rendered in an infinity of overtones. It felt like a kind of technological animism. (I occasionally got a similar sensation from Ethernet's 144 Pulsations of Light, though the latter record is more obviously inspired by Gas' school of granular pulsation.)

Of course, this all ties in with Peter's immersive soundworlds and dark energy. I think my most gratifying this revelation was the discovery of a wide swath of underground activity of which I'd never been aware before, one that ties together the cassette scene's DIY spirit and home-soldering prowess with a growing attention to mind-melting, transportive sound. There's No Fun Productions, responsible for both Emeralds' What Happened and Oneohtrix Point Never's Rifts and Russian Mind. (Emeralds' Steve Hauschildt has a couple of recent cassettes and CDRs of overdriven synth drone that are also well worth checking out.) There's Type Records, a label I never paid a lot of attention to, which came out with Black to Comm's electronic/acoustic wonderland Alphabet 1968, Richard Skelton's new Landings, and the upcoming Going Places by Yellow Swans--about whom I know nothing, but the album is amazing, a dusk-colored swirl of Philip Jeck and Flying Saucer Attack and Gas all playing at once. Type's also responsible for the 2008 release of Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill by Grouper, one of my favorite discoveries of 2009. At Unsound Krakow, she played in a mostly darkened movie theater and I sank deep into the cushioned seat before slipping into a truly hypnagogic state, astral traveling on rails glazed with feedback. My girlfriend and I went to see her again in Berlin, just a week later, and the setup couldn't have been more different—it was an intentionally shabby rock club in a former doctor's office, with ceramic tile teeth hanging jaggedly down from the ceiling where the walls had been knocked down by sledgehammers. Grouper (Portland, OR's Liz Harris) sat on stage with her guitar in her lap, spending a considerable time fiddling with an array of pedals at her feet. Her stage presence is a kind of anti-stage presence, but it works for her, shielded behind severe bangs and keeping her gaze locked downward. Five or six Walkman-style cassette players played back long strips of noise, feedback, loops, railroad clatter… it was hard to tell. But it all smeared together into a gorgeous, porous mass, led by spindly guitar lines and Harris' own considerable voice. (One suggestion: If you go see Grouper live in a rock-club sitting, position yourself at the front, and sit down.) Discovering Grouper led me to Jefre Cantu-Ledesma's Rootstrata label, which coincidentally enough also released a DVD-R by Oneohtrix Point Never and an album by Barn Owl, one of whose members is Jon Porras aka Elm, whose Nemcatacoa (Digitalis) hit a lot of the same sweet spots for me as did Emeralds and Black to Comm, if from a more acoustic perspective.

And I have to mention Kevin Drumm's Imperial Horizon (Hospital Productions), a near-perfect album of drone shimmer whose closest analogue is Folke Rabe's 1967 masterpiece What?! (briefly reissued on Dexter's Cigar, now out of print but available on a few MP3 blogs). If you love drones and haven't heard either of them, make haste. (If you've never listened to them together, simultaneously, it's well worth a try too, especially if you like freaky Radigue-style spatializations in the air around your head.)

Back to techno. I actually don't share Chris' frustration with the form. STL's Echospace 12" may not have been groundbreaking, but I have no problem sinking into it. It's not necessarily club music, but it's almost single-mindedly functional nonetheless, and all I can say is that it works for me. Berlin's Freund der Familie had a beautiful dub-techno release with "Symbian," with the title track pitched up to dubstep techno. Mobach's "Metrobots" (SD Records) was machine-centric dub techno, but even stranger; the title track has the crudely cut samples of Pepe Bradock or Theo Parish, and the sidelong "Alternate Moods" is a bizarre and wonderful kind of underwater carnival bluebeat, like Burial gone ska (and not quite so dour). Van Rivers' "Stretched Out on Pavement" (also SD) split the difference between dub techno and cutting, clattering warehouse techno and came up with something as good as anything on Modern Love. Where does dub-techo end, and warehouse techno begin? XDB's Lost Tape EP (Wave) asked that, as did Levon Vincent ("Late Night Jam," what a tune). In any case, yeah, techno feels exceptionally vital right now: trad, maybe, but not treading in place: just listen to that last EQD, which couldn't sound more classic, and yet seems to be pushing into a new terrain altogether. The B-side, with its collapsing beat, is tugged by competing degrees of swing into something unusually elastic. For being a question of two chords and a tuned conga sample, it's exceptionally musical. For all its simplicity, and for all its full-on energy, it's exceptionally smooth, yielding, enveloping—it's Scandinavian loop-techno as heard through a helmet lined with lavender.

Somewhere between techno and ambient lies that spongy terrain sometimes called "downtempo." (I wonder, is it the fault of the name that so much of the genre is crap? Would slow, murky, breakbeat-oriented music have remained a more vital field if it hadn't ended up with unfortunate tags like "trip-hop"?) I still haven't tired of Lukid's 2009 Foma nor his 2007 Onandon, which sound as much indebted to Dettinger or Jan Jelinek as it is did Dilla or Prefuse; they sound a little like Zomby working with September Collective's soundbanks, with warm, liquid acoustic sounds taking the place of square-wave jags and beeps. Ras G's Brotha from Anotha Planet (Brainfeeder) was similar in feel: nominally I suppose you'd call it instrumental hip-hop, but when was the last time you heard anything in hip-hop (even Flying Lotus, whose label released it) this far-out and weird? The rhythms remind me a little of Req, who had a couple of brutally minimalist albums of unquantized, dust-crusted boom-bap on Warp in the late '90s; but Ras G's deeper, richer sonics deliver exactly where Req always disappointed me a little. Listen to the sub-bass on "Earthly Matters"—this is heavy stuff. My only complaint might be that most of the tracks on Brotha from Anotha Planet feel like sketches—it'd be great to have some sustained, ecstatic jams; the way Ras G sources and combines his samples, I feel like there's some Theo Parish action in there waiting to get out. But for an album made up of two- and three-minute tracks, it's powerfully immersive stuff, like the Bomb Squad meets Staubgold—which seems like one pretty good model for "deep listening" in 2010.

Philip


TB) sound: Not new ways of old things either. Actual new things.


Hey fellas:

Glad to read your thoughts on the year that was sound-wise. Problem is, you seem to have covered most of what I'd offer up: The issues are much the same as they were last year, the bright hopes much the same as well. Outsiders will keep popping up, we'll keep lauding them, people will largely ignore them. The wheel, it keeps a-turning. Rather than documenting my obsessions from 2009, though, I did just want to add some thoughts on things already touched upon in your three pieces.


Peter

Rating the year: I'm kinda intrigued that you found 2009 to be such a great year. (And that it will have such an impact going forward.) I'm trying to remain as positive as possible, but so many of the artists that you list after you make this claim are old hands, people that I'd argue created their best work a few years ago. It doesn't feel to me like people are so much punching through walls as they are spinning their wheels in slightly different ways. The Monolake and Carsten Nicolai albums from 2009 sound great, no doubt, but it certainly doesn’t feel quite like this as "watershed"-esque as the arrival of Clicks and Cuts. (Although we need only look where that led to probably be thankful that it doesn't.) The guys you talk about never used the presets (or they used them in fascinating ways). What was really different about this year?

Finding the beat: I had the good fortune to see Monolake live at Tresor—a sneakily good club at times—late this year, and it was one of the most mindblowing shows that I saw all year. (I do choose the word mindblowing carefully there.) It was the first time I've heard a full surround sound system, and Henke put it through its paces, stuttering drum & bass-like beats throughout the hour and change that I was there so that every time that you moved throughout the room you had a completely different perspective on what was happening. I walked around a decent amount, and saw some of the most meaningful dancers that I've seen in Berlin. (Trying to find that kick, no doubt.) It was absolutely unrelenting—aside from a short breakdown here or there—the entire time. It was also incredibly playful, something that is sorely lacking from the music that we so often praise. You rarely see people freak out like this to deep house. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)


Chris

More noodling from the more experienced: To go back to my point about the people that are pushing things forward in Pete's opinion, I think Chris underlines my central worry: The guys who are doing this have almost exclusively been around for ages! It was inspiring to see the parade of old guard experimental techno folk destroying MUTEK this year in probably the same ways that you saw in Japan, Chris, but I wonder who arrives to take their place. This is perhaps why I feel myself being drawn further and further to the outer reaches of dubstep lately. Scuba, Martyn, James Blake, Untold: They all seem to be finding ways to say new things. Not new ways of old things either. Actual new things.

Dub techno: I'm not an enormous fan of the genre, perhaps because I often feel a bit overwhelmed by the stuff, but I empathize with Chris' thoughts. I think STL is a bit of genius, but his particular genius isn't well-suited to dub techno to my ears. He works in subtle, tiny modulations that add up over time. But he also knows, crucially, when to stop. Dub Techno Explorations and "Checkmate" didn't; they needed an editor. One more thing to add to Chris' argument: Even though after careful examination I realize that Deadbeat's upcoming mix has plenty of relatively contemporary productions on it, in my first scan over the tracklisting, I couldn't help but think that it was a historical document. (Again, I'm fully ready to admit that this is due to my severe lack of knowledge about dub techno.)


Philip

Indie/noise/crossover: Can't help but agree with you here. I was briefly e-mailing with a friend who claimed that he was putting together a mix that would help showcase the pretty solid link between certain noise musicians and electronic music. The two most telling things: He had to make it a two-disc compilation to fit everything in, and he had no idea who the Fuck Buttons were. Astral Social Club, Richard Youngs, Yellow Swans: Techno! Who knew? I spent a great deal of time daydreaming a few years ago about what a Fennesz microhouse record might sound like. Now I realize that it was probably released by someone in the interim. Shall we nominate the more experimental side of Oni Ayhun to these ranks as well? I went to see the producer play live in Berlin late last year, and there were more than a few techno producers in the audience.

mnml ssgs mx47: oni ayhun

last week levon vincent kicked off a special start to 2010 for the ssgs. this week we continue with another artist who really defined 2009 for us: oni ayhun.

i first heard of oni ayhun back in late may when OAR003 was released. hardwax described it just as 'atmospheric tripping techno', which was sufficient to get me curious. after hearing samples, it quickly became clear hardwax had been overly understated in their description. i checked oni's site and read the full description for the release, which commenced with these evocative words: 'discover steep, rugged canyons, painted rock minarets, desert vistas framed by blooming wildflowers, soaring raptors and singing canyon wrens on the wildest remaining rivers.' it was quickly becoming apparent to me that this oni ayhun was doing something very interesting. listening to the samples for OAR001 and OAR002 confirmed this. i emailed pete about all of this and went to bed. i woke up the next day with about three emails from pete, the first one agreeing with all of my thoughts, the second one suggesting we should ask oni for a mix, the third one i was cc'd on and was sent to oni asking for a mix... pete and i were agreed: oni ayhun had to be part of our mix series.

oni is exactly the kind of artist we believe in and wish to see more of: someone pursuing a distinctive, individual sound, doing it very well, and working with a concept, rather than just churning out releases. so far oni has had only 3 releases and a remix, each defined (for me at least) by the power of the sounds and the high quality production values. oni is constructing his own little universe, and that is good for all of us.

one thing we've tried really hard to do with this mix series is to get people that don't have (m)any recordings already on the net. plenty of people who would fit very well in the series we haven't considered simply because they have lots of mixes available elsewhere. oni's mix is keeping with this tradition. not only is it the first recording available online, it is also taken from the first ever live performance of oni ayhun, at the donau festival in austria on 30th april 2009. and it is exactly what you'd expect: distinctive, powerful, and seriously mindbending stuff.


mnml ssgs mx47: oni ayhun @ donau festival, 30.4.09
sendspace miror

huge thanks to oni for sharing this special recording with us. pete and myself are very proud and happy to have this in the mix series. if you want to experience more, oni ayhun is playing live at the excellent club transmediale festival in berlin on 4 february, and on 13 march at the panorama bar. and, it also looks like OAR004 is on the way soon... check oni ayhun's website for more info on what he is up to.

now enjoy the sounds of oni ayhun live. more heat next week...

sunday sounds

something a bit different for sunday sounds this week. sorry, no free mix today. but this one is so ridiculously cheap there is no good reason not to buy it.  brian morant's 'discrete head' mix on mordant music is very clearly one of my favourite releases of 2009. an under-appreciated gem. 42 minutes of ambient synths and drones. really beautiful stuff. it first came out as a limited cassette, but luckily it has been put out digitally too. you can get it through boomkat, zero ", but juno is clearly the cheapest. juno is selling it in wav for only £1.69 and in 320kbps mp3 for £1.10. i'm not posting this to promote juno or anything, it is just a fantastic release and when it is so cheap, there is no good reason not to give it a go. this is definitely in my top releases for 2010. so, this sunday, why not lash out and spend a pound or two on this excellent mix.

mx46: levon vincent - tracklisting

glad everyone has been feeling levon's mix. so beautifully composed... here is the tracklisting for it. more heat on monday. get ready for another special treat.

mnml ssgs mx46: levon vincent'

FRED P – NO LOOKING BACK
TEVO HOWARD – 06060606
MOLE PEOPLE – THE OCEAN
XDB – RISING SUN
OMAR S – QUADRAPOLEGIC COMPANION
CULTURAL VIBE – MA FOOM BEY
TRACK SHOW – TRACK 3
MIKE PERRAS – LITTLE BIT OF THIS
FRED P – DEEP HYPNOTIC (MARS MIX)
DJ DUKE – D2-D4
FAT CAT – You Figure it Out
DJ QU – BE FREE
LEVON VINCENT – DJSF 2
MOOD II SWING – MOVE ME
TEVO HOWARD – EVERYDAY HOUSE MUSIC

Reflections Part I: SPACE

Gravity Pleasure Switchback from Jessie Scott on Vimeo.


Hello fellow SSGs,

today we begin our four part reflection on the year that was. Yes, it is 2010. The mistake would be to imagine that, therefore, 2009 is over. We'll still be digesting (and regurgitating) what happened for the next thirty years, at least. Thought, unfortunately, is slower than media. That's why you have a headache.

An intro and 'reader's guide': I divided the reflections into four parts:

1) space
2) sounds
3) people
4) technology

For each of the four parts, I (PC) got the ball rolling with a polemical opener, eliciting responses from Chris, Todd Burns and Philip Sherburne that reply, build, and generate new lines. I speak for myself when I say: these words are intended to provoke thought. They also, due to their length, press against the limit of what blogspot 'prefers' (with its redundant 'dear diary' journal format). With this in mind, I/we would love it if you would take some time with the pieces, digest them, come back to them, read them again, etc. Refrain: thought is slower than media. And so, without further ado... ... oh, one more thing: set the video above to stream while you read...

click below to read what PC, chris, todd and philip have to say.

mnml ssgs mx46: levon vincent

we said we planned to start 2010 with some special mixes, and we were not kidding... over the next 3 weeks we have mixes from three artists that really defined 2009 for us, and make us feel very confident about the future of techno and house in 2010 and beyond. first up: mr levon vincent.

in february last year, i connected with anthony parasole during a trip to NY, and the plan was hatched for a collaboration between mnml ssgs and deconstruct - the label anthony and levon do together. the first result of this collab was an excellent mix from anthony, and now it is levon's turn... what to say about levon vincent? there is a pretty broad consensus that he was one of the guys who owned 2009. not only did he release some of the best and most distinctive records of the year on labels like deconstruct, novel sound, underground quality and ostgut, he probably had the best titles for his tracks too. fittingly, his final release for 2009 was entitled 'double jointed sex freak', which i think is his strongest EP to date. for those who have yet to hear any of his music, my suggestion would be to track down a copy of the underground quality tape club CD, which includes a contribution from levon that is a great introduction to his sound. in addition to his productions, levon's stature as a DJ has increased with equal speed following a string of impressive gigs throughout europe (we've been getting reports) and his RA podcast being one of the strongest mixes they've had. anyway, enough talking from me, here are some words levon wrote to go with the mix:

"My thought was to make a polite gesture as an opening for the new decade - to start the new year off right by giving a gift to everyone... I hope you enjoy it and my warmest wishes for 2010 and beyond." - Levon Vincent

mnml ssgs mx46: levon vincent
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i've also uploaded it onto our soundcloud. as always, tracklist to follow. for more info on levon vincent, check his myspace. our deepest thanks to levon for this special mix. a quality mix from a quality individual. exactly what mnml ssgs are about. we really can't think of a better way to start a new year and a new decade. so, to echo his sentiments, lets make 2010 a good one!

mx45: yves de mey - tracklisting

here's the tracklisting for yves' lovely mix. get ready, we've got a couple of absolute killers lined up in january for all the ssgs. first one should be up monday.

mnml ssgs mx45: yves de mey

Burlington, Vermont (05/12/09): Greg Davis
Melancholia XIV: William Basinski
Ice--IR: Yves De Mey (unreleased)
Bantu: Dirac
C A F 0.2n 1: Aleph-1
Entropy Track 02: Yui Onodera
Carl Michael Von Hausswolff: from Because Tomorrow Comes #4
Monochrome 02: Tu M'
Semi-impressionism: Track 1: Tetuzi Akiyama + Toshimaru Nakamura
Fifteen: Pillowdiver
Sunstroke: Peter Wright
Camp 1: Himalayan Nightflight: Geir Jenssen
Matter: Tamaru
Bury A Horses Head: Mika Vainio
Peace Of Mind: Andy Stott
Guma: Ekkehard Ehlers & Paul Wirkus
Subcolors: Radian

january

we feel like there is quite a strong little techno community out there, and we wanted to come up with a way to get everyone more involved. we dont have the IT skills or motivation to get a proper forum up and running, but what we thought we'd try is having one post each month where people can use the comments section in a similar way to a forum - talking about records, posting mixes they like, general observations about techno, whatever. we'll keep it pretty open but please no blatant promo and definitely do not post links to any copyright material. besides that, have fun with it.

a new experiment for the new year. we've got no idea if this will work or bomb, but lets give it a shot.

2009

given the amount of time i've spent travelling this year, this picture i took on one of my many flights felt appropriate for my final post for 2009. for me, this year has been incredibly intense. it feels like i have had about 2-3 years worth of experiences within the last 12 months. i am just starting to recover from much of it and beginning to process a lot of what has happened. intense is definitely the right word to describe 2009. there have been some amazing highs and these have been matched by some equally strong low points. for someone who always tries to be in control, it has been very difficult trying to deal with constantly feeling like i was not in control, as was the case for much of 2009. exhausted, beaten (but not totally broken) and chastened, i have made it through the year in one piece (just), and now very much looking forward to 2010.

throughout all the highs, lows, and instability, one constant throughout 2009 has been mnml ssgs and the network of friends and contributors around it. both pete and myself are very proud of how the blog has developed and 2009 has been a great year for us. the amount of readers we are getting is now almost double this time last year, and we are getting hits from about 100 different countries. this all gives us confidence in what we are doing. i know sometimes we do stuff that doesn't quite work or pisses people off, but we will keep experimenting and trying different things. even if the execution isn't always there, our hearts are in the right place. and we are proud of the fact that there is no advertising on this site. in a world where capitalism dominates, it is nice to have some spaces like this where it is not about money. and for people who have wondered, this is why we've never had a proper podcast for our mixes. we dont make any money out of the blog to pay for the kind of bandwith we'd need. but that's fine. i know it might not be as convenient, but it means you need to consciously choose to download the mix, which we hope increases the chances of it actually being listened to. so big ups to fairtilizer, who have been very supportive in hosting all our mixes.

so as the year comes to an end, thanks to everyone who has contributed to mnml ssgs in 2009. whether through their productions, mixes, writing, emails, comments, or just taking the time to have a read - your contribution has been greatly appreciated. in particular, i'd like to thank all the artists who have done mixes for us in 2009. we are very proud of the mix series and deeply appreciate that each contributor has really signed up to what we are trying to do. on a personal note, many of the people who i've met through mnml ssgs i have forged strong friendships with, and i'd like to thank them for their support during a very challenging year. in particular, i want to express my deep and heartfelt appreciation to a couple of people very close to me that have been a constant source of guidance and help during the most difficult year of my life: ben, dave, pete and yuri.

thanks to everyone for all your support. mnml ssgs will continue stronger in 2010 - we've got some absolute killers lined up to finish the mix series, pete is preparing what looks to be a really interesting series of pieces reflecting on 2009, and we've got some other collaborations and ideas on the boil. plenty to look forward to. thanks again and mnml ssgs wishes you all the best for 2010. lets make it a good one!

shining bright in '09

as 2009 comes to an end, i thought it'd be good to highlight some of the people that i thought really owned this year, took things up a level and pushed the sounds forward. this list is definitely not complete, but it's a start.

rené pawlowitz (shed): this guy is scary good. i dont think there are (m)any producers about the moment better at the moment. following up his breakout year, in 2009 everything he touched was bang on. i havent properly compiled my tracks of this year, but i can tell you 'wax20002' is right near the top. he is someone who makes me excited about the future of techno. cant wait to see what 2010 has in store for him.

levon vincent: an obvious choice, but hard to dispute. he came on strong in 2009 with a series of great releases, and fittingly his final EP for the year - 'double jointed sex freak' - is his best to date. he nailed his RA 'cast, making it clear that he can spin as well as he can produce. at a time when so much there is so much average shit about, levon really stands out.

paul rose (scuba): if there was a techno apocolypse and i was in charge of noah's techno ark, paul rose is one of the guys i'd be letting on board. this guy is a couple of steps ahead of everyone else. his SCB mix was the most popular ssg mix of 2010, hotflush was clearly one of the best labels about, and his own productions are of the highest order. respect.

robert henke (monolake): i know most people talk about him in revered tones, but truthfully, i have not been that impressed with much of his output for a while. his monolake stuff has never been bad, but for quite a while it definitely was not progressing. it was all getting a bit too cold and clinical. i am happy to admit that 2009 has been a change. it is definitely worth reflecting on how good and diverse a year henke has had, releasing 3 impressive albums: 'atom/document', 'indigo_transform', and 'silence'. of these, it is the last one that i've been most taken by. under his monolake guise he is really pushing things again. unfortunately it came out too late in the year for most lists, but 'silence' is definitely in my top albums of 2009.

sandwell district: ok, everyone else on this list are individual artists, but it feels a bit inappropriate to list the sandwell gang separately, because they are such a collective endeavour, as was made clear by the way 'variance' was released. silent servant continued his impressive run with 'negative fascinations', and a couple of killer mixes. meanwhile, with 'variance' function delivered perhaps the biggest techno bomb of 2009. not to mention his DJ sets - his 'cast for RA and the sandwell mix on beatport were of the highest order, and well, what more needs to be said about his set at labyrinth... he simply owned the festival. and we should not forget regis, who - from what i can gather - plays a huge role driving the whole sandwell thing and is probably producing more than we realise.

peter van hoesen: i'm definitely biased on this one. i consider peter a good friend after experiencing two labyrinths together. regardless, it is hard to dispute what a killer year he has had. a string of impressive releases have been matched by some super tight dj mixes floating around the net. but for me, it was his livepa at labyrinth in september that was his defining moment in 2009. like with function, a few months on and i'm still in shock. despite holding his productions in high regard, his livepa completely took me by surprise. it was ridiculously good. here's to another great year for the hose.

shackleton: again, an obvious choice, but impossible to leave off. like with scuba, this is definitely someone that gets a spot on the techno ark. i dont have much to say abot shackleton, i think we all know how good he is. in a world of similar sounds, he manages to sound unique. that ain't easy.

ancient methods: one thing which took us slightly by surprise was how big a reaction there was to the mix ancient methods did for us. of course we knew it was excellent, but it really exploded. it was the 2nd most popular ssg mix after SCB, and there was a huge amount of buzz about it. i dont know what exactly it is about their sound, but what ancient methods are doing is definitely a barometer of where the techno winds are blowing. they suffered a setback after having their laptops stolen off stage at a gig, but lets hope they are back big and better in 2010.

raster noton: again, like sandwell, it seems inappropriate to single out one person. these guys are light years ahead. techno for the future made in the now. i must admit, i've been very slow fully getting into the raster sound, but i'm glad i finally have. a seriously impressive year for raster noton, and you just know they will be pushing things further forward in the years to come.

stefan marx: ok, he doesn't make music (at least that i know of). but he makes art. and some art for music. specifically the smallville and mule labels. i've found his pictures and drawings a great source of inspiration and enjoyment over 2009 and while i dont know much about art, i love what he does (the picture above is one of my favourites of his).

anyway, i know there are plenty of other people, and this list is just a start. please add who you think have been the real standouts of 2009 in the comments.

sunday sounds

welcome to the last sunday of 2009.

butane - slow pitch vol. 1

nothing fancy, just great records put together. have a good one people.

mnml ssgs mx45 - yves de mey

last year, benjamin brunn gave us a special christmas ssg mix. we really liked the idea, and thought it'd be nice to do it again this year. perhaps this will become an annual ssg tradition, who knows... like with brunn, we wanted someone who kind of fits with christmas, someone that combines a warm personality with beautiful music. in this regard, we thought yves de mey (eavesdropper) would be perfect. yves is known for his work under his own name, as eavesdropper, and along with peter van hoesen as sendai. earlier this year, he released 'lichtung', a beautiful 35 minute piece that is one of my favourite albums of 2009. i'm not sure how best to categorise it - abstract/ambient/experimental/whatever - it is lovely and worth tracking down on the line label. anyway, i was lucky to meet yves at labyrinth in september and have struck up a friendship with him since then. i've discovered the warmth of his music strongly reflects his character. he really is perfect for doing the christmas mix for us. this is what he said about the mix:

"I became interested in ambient music in the early days of Techno, when every party night had an ambient after-party as a counterweight for the mayhem, the sweaty club rooms and the chemically fueled body workout. For a lot of people, ambient was nothing more than audible wallpaper, but I was immediately fascinated by the ever-changing textures, the stripped down rhythms and tempo and the time and space those ambient tracks imposed on the listening experience. During the last 2 decades I've spent an incredible amount of time listening to minimal music, avant-garde, drones... finding out there's a huge scene of artists who are not afraid of making essential music, essential as in reducing compositions to fundamental elements that evoke emotions and state of being.

The request for an ambient mix came at a good time: wintertime. Probably my favorite season with its crisp air, cosy warmth inside, more dark than light, and the occasional snowy landscapes. I wanted to combine certain tracks that have a strong emotional connection,
music that often sounds like frozen moments in time, compositions that take you from the outside to the inside, from cold to warm. I allowed the majority of the tracks to take their time to develop, to go slowly, at the pace of a glacier... This music makes me think of how a snow blanket makes everything look more uniform, flattened in a way, but more brilliant. And at times it reminds me of how an environment's sound becomes muffled when covered in ice and snow."

not much more to add... apologies to everyone down in the southern hemisphere, who are currently in the middle of summer (i am still not used to december being so cold). but for them, this mix could work nicely late at night to cool off slightly...

mnml ssgs mx45: yves de mey
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big thanks to yves for taking the time to produce this beautiful mix. for the moment he is working with peter van hoesen on their sendai project, and he recently started working on a new full album. with sendai he just released a various artists EP on time to express, and there is more to come next year. for more info, you can check his homepage.

that's it. a merry ssg christmas to you all!

mx44: eric cloutier - tracklisting

mnml ssgs mx44: eric cloutier

01. donato dozzy + lerosa - gas snake [apnea]

02. konrad black - a broken down mustang [240 volts]

03. iori - magnetic [prologue digital]

04. acid jesus - uraniumsmuggle [neuton]

05. kevin gorman - shakey (stripped) [mikrowave]

06. giorgio gigli - spazio [prologue]

07. david alvarado - blue [strive]

08. mike mind - resonate [turbo]

09. roberto bosco - login dub [mowar]

10. don williams - orderly kaos [a.r.t.less]

11. delano smith - this heart [mixmode recordings]

12. jesper dahlback - a day at work [svek]

13. baby ford - one for sorrow [background]

14. cheap + deep productions - tight [cheap + deep]

15. st. plomb - escape run [brut!]

16. obtane - thrilling love [prologue digital]

17. nuel - b1 [aquaplano ltd]

18. helical scan - index 1 [chain reaction]

go live

i have managed to catch some fantastic live techno this year, and the trend continued last weekend when i got to see atom tm vs tobias. for just over 90 minutes the two masters jammed on their machines, delivering a seriously awesome set of organic techno. what made it all the more impressive was how it was composed (or not as was the case): it was basically all improvised. atom told me they were using hired machines and all they'd prepared was the opening, the rest was on the fly. and they said about 2 words to each other across the whole set. there were some messy moments, but i found these enjoyable. and when they hit, wow. and like when i saw tobias. live earlier this year, no laptops at all. totally analog. nice. and to top it all off, it was an evening party. they had finished shortly after 10pm and i was home by 11pm. that made it so much more enjoyable. if there is one thing i wish there'd be more of, it is daytime and evening parties. i dont know why we are only supposed to enjoy techno and dance at ridiculous hours...


this impressive performance from atom tm and tobias followed on nicely from my recent trip to belgium, where i saw sendai's first livepa, a true audio-visual feast. my crappy pic above does not do justice to the show peter and yves put on. in brussels i was also finally was able to see vladislav delay live, which made me very very happy. when i get the chance i'll give a full report on cimatics festival.

i dont really have much more to say, i just wanted to make two points:
(1) live techno is totally awesome.
(2) atom tm and tobias are techno masters. give them respect! (and track down their live recordings on logistic records, if you have heard them).

mnml ssgs mx44 - eric cloutier

mx44 comes from a very good friend of the ssgs, eric cloutier. after an excellent first ssg mix, and then winning over the japanese crowd at his debut performance at labyrinth, we wanted another mix out of him and he agreed, so good news for everybody. and, as expected, he has really stepped up to the plate. i think this is probably my favourite mix i've heard from him. demonstrating his breadth, the sound is quite different from his earlier contribution, but there is one element that can be found in both, and that is the pitched down BPMs. if there is one thing i think defines eric's sets is that they are serious slow burners. he does a great job of getting maximum impact without jacking it up too much. this mix has a fantastic pace and flow throughout, building up nicely before really taking off around the 20 minute mark. and he gets bonus points for finishing with a record i love. i have a feeling a lot of ssgs are going to really enjoy this one...

mnml ssgs mx44 - eric cloutier
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if you want more info, check eric's myspace or homepage. you can catch him playing regularly around new york, and he is heading over to europe for some gigs in the 2nd half of february and early march 2010. a good opportunity to catch someone who is definitely on the rise.

big thanks to eric for the mix. don't worry, there is a tracklisting for this... next week we've got our christmas special, then a couple more mixes lined up to finish off '09 and start '10 in style...

quality, not quantity

well, it is getting to that time when charts and 'best of' lists appear for the year. i know pete has done some. to be honest, i'm not sure whether i have the energy or desire to. i certainly know i wont be compiling or publishing any lists yet, because 2009 hasnt ended. last time i checked a year had 12 months. it'll be interesting to see how dj sprinkles does in the charts, or whether he'll be forgotten due to the january release date.

anyway, what i might do if i have the motivation is offer some thoughts on interesting trends/developments etc in 2009. i can start writing this first one now because i doubt what i am going to say will be altered much in the next 2 or 3 weeks (unless any of these artists suddenly release a shitload of records, but i think it is a safe bet to presume they wont).

when i did have a brief think about some of my favourite EPs and tracks from 2009, i quickly noticed something. quite a lot were from artists who only had one or two releases this year. BUT. but the few tracks that did appear were such massive bombs the impact was far greater than a handful of EPs from many other artists.

probably the clearest example of this was function. as far as i know, he had only 2 tracks this year, his remix of miss kitten and the hacker, and the variance edit. can you tell me a techno track that has been more played, and has had a bigger impact than variance? there have not been many. i have seen this record in so many tracklists and heard it in so many mixes, but i am yet to get sick of it. i still get a shiver down my spine every time it drops.

pretty much the same could be said for function's label mate, silent servant. he has had one or two tracks on his split label with santiago salazar, plus his 'negative fascinations' EP on sandwell. and 'discipline' is my favourite techno track of the year hands down. my jaw dropped the first time i heard this record and like with 'variance', it still has a massive impact on me. also, mendez co-produced with camella lobo the tropic of cancer 10" on downwards, which is just quietly one of the best releases of 2009.






and then there is one of the biggest revelations of this year for me - oni ayhun. in 2009 oni only released one EP and a remix. just in these 3 tracks, though, are some of the most exciting and worthwhile sounds i've heard in 2009. in a year where i found plenty of music to get excited by, the B side of OAR003 hit me the hardest. there is nothing overly complex about the track, but much like donnacha costello's records, the impact comes from the reduced number of elements and the expert production. an impossibly beautiful record. much respect to oni. this is someone who has me excited about the future.

and when thinking about techno's future, in 2009 a lot of people realised kassem mosse is someone we should be putting our faith in. after a string of seriously good eps - which got us interested in him last year for a podcast - it was with workshop08 that people started to realise how special his sounds are. this was his only release in 2009 (i think), and that's just fine, when it is this good.

i could keep going, i am sure there are plenty of more examples - john roberts and tin man are 2 others that quickly come to mind. the lesson i take from this is the pretty obvious one: it is quality, not quantity that counts. this observation is all the more important at a time when digital technologies mean it much easier to make and release music. when combined with the considerable creativity and work ethic of many artists, there must be the temptation for some to put out more and more. even if m-nus completely fail to follow - or even understand - the concept, often there is definitely something to their formulation:
less = more.

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.

mx42: mike parker - tracklisting

mnml ssgs mx42: mike parker

01] :zoviet-france: / Signal
02] N/A / Variance III (Marcel Dettmann Edit)
03] Stanislav Tolkachev / Blue Mood
04] Samuli Kemppi / No One Can Hear Your Echo In Space
05] Sub Space / The Bi-Machine
06] Smear / Transect (Broadwave Execution Mix)
07] Kevin Gorman / Nearly (Original)
08] Sleeparchive / Hospital 04
09] VX / Particules
10] Miss Kittin & The Hacker / PPPO (Function's Sandwell Mix)
11] KS / Ice Sol
12] DJ Slip / Minneapolis Sessions C1
13] Traversable Wormhole / Superluminal
14] Zahgurim / New Flesh
15] Mike Parker / Caesura 2
16] Samuli Kemppi / Metal Space (Mike Dehnert Remix)
17] David Hykes & The Harmonic Choir / Harmonic Relation

glad everyone has been enjoying mike's super tight mix. the good news is that 2 more mixes arrived today, so you can expect more soon...

Sleepers, Wake!

chris says:

ok, so the RA top DJs for '09 list fucking blows. it is frankly embarrassing. and please dont start with the 'taste is subjective blah blah argument'. ok, i dont expect everyone to like what i like, but that doesn’t mean that if you call a piece of shit a bar of gold, it is suddenly gold. it is still shit. you are just an idiot for thinking it is gold. anyway, should we be surprised the list sucks so fucking hard? no. of course not. the warning signs have been there. every month the aggregated top 50 tracks for RA have been simply horrible, and getting worse. in november, the king of stink - johnny D - is at number 1. yep. if that ain’t a big fucking red light, i don’t know what is. and the thing is, i actually think charts like these are a good thing. there is a real danger that from reading places like mnml ssgs, some of the other blogs and a selection of the features and reviews on RA and FACT that you get a really distorted view on the current state of the techno/electronic music scene. at the end of the day, most of the stuff we pump here ain’t that popular, these arent the artists being booked every weekend and playing at massive festivals. there definitely are signs of hope, but the mainstream still sucks balls.

2009 has been a great year for electronic music, but not because of most of the people listed in the RA charts. most of them are part of the problem, not the solution. so we need to keep fighting against the constant acceptance of mediocrity, and instead keep pushing and supporting quality music and quality artists.... like these:

chris' top 5:

1. function

2. donato dozzy

3. silent servant

4. peter van hoesen

5. scuba/scb


PC says:

Well, it’s rare that any kind of EoY poll elicits a visceral reaction from me, carrying around, as I do, Dirty Harry’s famous maxim: ‘opinions are like assholes… everyone’s got one.’

What’s fascinating (and a bit frightening) about this poll is that it is not the amplified projection of a small number of geeks and tastemakers; it is, rather, an accurate representation of what the people who voted think is hot now when it comes to DJing.

And what’s striking about this list in particular is how many of the people in this top 20 are DJs whose best sets are at least 5+ years behind them. That’s the thing that jumps out at me: the people I voted for are people who I think are really hitting their straps right now.

So is this a reflection of the contemporary? At this point, I have to wonder about people’s methodology when choosing their faves… were these cautiously chosen? Whittled down? Remembered from a millennium nightclub? What else could explain Luciano arriving at number three… in 2009? Seriously, this is an artist who released an interesting but very flawed album and has been playing, well, boring dishwater. This is a talented guy who – in my deeply personal/subjective/prejudiced opinion – has had one of the least productive and interesting years of his recent career. His productions are the worst they’ve been in ages; Cadenza is a shadow of its former self; his DJing has lost almost all of its funk, daring, passion and historicity – in short, this is a dude who spent 2009 playing bongo dishwater for dollars.

Leaving aside this one egregious howler, a look up the list reveals a startlingly high percentage of legacy votes: has beens, sentimental favourites, unexamined choices (or are they?). Sasha… and Digweed? Steve Bug? The Wighnomy Brothers?? Derrick May??? It’s not that these people aren’t good DJs, the question is whether they merit inclusion in a ‘best of 2009’ list… I’m left with a number of possible provisional conclusions: 1) people’s choices are – statistically – sentimental favourites based on past experiences; 2) large numbers of people’s listening tastes are way behind the curve (ie people are still listening to, and digging, the same shit they were digging three, five, hell, even ten+ years back & so this IS a fair representation of who’s hitting their straps right now) ; 3) it is I who lives in a parallel universe; 4) opinions are like assholes…

All year in interviews, producers, musicians, DJs and the like have been grousing about the rot (just check recent interviews by Jeff Mills and DJ Bone that we linked here a week or two back). The thing about the rot is that it is very hard to put your finger on... yeah, of course, you can have a vague feeling that things suck when you go out, that there are a lot of lame, bland records around, but is that the rot? After looking at this, I wanna say that the rot is a lot; the rot is.... very popular indeed.

Oh, and these were my favourite DJs in 2009:

1. Scuba

2. Steffi

3. Donato Dozzy

4. Kevin Gorman

5. Sandwell District

...then check this out: http://www.djmag.com/top100

...yet another parallel universe, one which is bigger than ours by a factor of 10....


...

the purposemaker

"Dance Music producers have a strange habit of mimicking other producers. When this happens, large bodies of available tracks lean to a particular style - leaving certain areas of creativity un-explored and ignored. To be able to discovers these voids, I think one has to have a wide perspective on what other artists are doing and more importantly, why they're doing it."

"As a whole, I think that most Dance Music producers and DJs no longer produce at their highest level. Many simply do whatever it takes to get noticed and stay in minds of their audiences. It's a free and unstructured industry, so I guess there is room for everything(?)."

"I wish that people would demand more from producers/DJs, event organizers, club managers, media, etc. I believe a lot of negative things persist because we do not question others and ask for more."

"People are much more aware of what's available in the market now and I think the audiences listen more closely than ever before. It's a different time and it takes different applications. It would my great wish if this approach was applied not only by DJs/producers, but promoters, the production crew of clubs/venues and all others that work on events in this industry."

"I think that part of being a DJ is knowing the history and the possible future of what you’re dealing with."

"I think if DJs and producers begin to put more of themselves (not their machines/software) into their productions, try not to mimic and copy other people, adapt a mindset that any and everything is possible, we might have a chance of raising the level of the genre [techno] where new discoveries come more frequently then they have in the past decade."

"With the technology that most DJs and producers have and are using, we should be hearing many more interesting things. Perhaps it too early in the genre to measure what really hasn't been touched upon."

"Producers could consider making music without the objective of releasing vinyls, CDs, sounds files -- maybe they could make music for the sole reason of learning on how to make it differently. If this truly catches on, I do believe we would begin to hear extraordinary work."

"My perspective is that it [techno] isn't taken seriously enough. Just about any thriving art form takes a certain amount of attention in ensuring that the people are understanding and hearing as much as they want. I don't feel that this understanding is shared by most people in this industry. There are many people that make Dance Music for their life career, but when it comes to doing/saying things that may not be directly connected to themselves, they tend to not be involved or speak up/about. It's not like this in other genres of music, in art or in dance. It seems that Electronic Music distances itself by not being thoughtfully considered by those that are in the industry."

taken from soonnight.com

sunday sounds

something more upbeat this sunday. i don't have so many words right now, i just love this mix. for full disclosure, finn has invited me to contribute to one of his columns in the future. but this has nothing to do with why i'm posting this. there is just something in his dj'ing style that really appeals to me. it has a great pace and energy to it. and at a time when i'm getting sent so many dj mixes that sound the same, the distinctiveness of this mix really stands out.

finn johannsen - la maison des ingénieurs de l’aggro

sendspace mirror

Odd Machine – Phase Out
Instra:mental – Leave It All Behind
Zomby – Tarantula
Stress – Down In The Dungeon
Shake – Indagoo
Dread & Fred – Warriors Advance
Posthuman – Callisto
Paul Du Lac- Blow Back
Ricardo Jefferson – The Egg (Part One)
Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras – Memory Fails Me (Oni Ayhun Remix)
Mark Grusane & Mike Cole Feat. Deanna – Time & Space (Vocal)
Marcello Napoletano – Space Voodoo
B.D.I. – City & Industry
Anthony “Shake” Shakir – Arise
The Oliverwho Factory – Disco Nights
Rennie Foster – Good Time Charlie
Octave One – A World Divided (Jupiter II Mix)
Gesloten Cirkel – When It’s Late
Iamthatiam – Inri
Moderat – Seamonkey (Surgeon Remix)
Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras – Soon (KiNK Remix)
Ben Klock – Ok (Kenny Larkin Remix)
Optic Nerve – Origins
Oni Ayhun - OAR003-B
San Proper – December 10th
Dan Curtin – Other
Tama Sumo & Prosumer – Alien Mutts
Kirk Degiorgio – Isidora
Roska – Sheppard
Lowtec – Angstrom
Peter Kruder – After The Dawn
As One – Freefall
Newworldaquarium – The Force (Âme Remix)
dBridge – Wonder Where
Kinf Midas Sound – One Ting (Dabrye Rmx)

have a good sunday people.

tu m' - monochromes vol. 1

just a quick post. been meaning to write about this release for a while. tu m' are a new name to me, but they are now definitely on my radar after 'monochromes vol. 1', which has become one of my favourite albums of the year. despite the strong techno focus of my contribution to mnml ssgs, this year, and especially in recent months, i've come back to ambient in a big big way. and 'monochromes' is exactly the kind of ambient i like: atmospheric, tranquil, contemplative...

not knowing too much about this italian duo, from looking at their website, it appears there is a strong visual component to their work, and this certainly adds something to the monochromes project. here is one excerpt:

[i cant get the video working, you can view it here.]

the video gives a pretty good representation of the album. not much more to say really. if interested, they've got some other videos and various mp3s on their website. anyway, this has been one of my finds for 2009, so i just wanted to share it.

mnml ssgs mx42: mike parker

following on from last week's killer from jay ahern, now some more heat from a good friend of mnml ssgs, mike parker. this is his 2nd contribution to the series, the first being way back with mx6. things have developed a lot since then and the strength of the early mixes - from people like mike - were key in shaping the overall series. so we definitely owe him a debt of gratitude and we are very glad that he agreed to do another mix. the result is exactly what you'd expect: deep, dark, driving and hypnotic. this is a sound mnml ssgs has become well known for, and mike's mix was the 1st example of it here, so it is fitting it will probably also be the last mix of this kind in the series. beyond that i dont really have too much to say, the music speaks for itself, as does mike's distinctive take on techno.

mnml ssgs mx42: mike parker
sendspace

mike delivered a killer set of power techno at last year's labyrinth, and he is about to make his return visit to japan this week, playing in tokyo with another ssg favourite, cio d'or on saturday 5 december. for those lucky enough to be going, this is a great taste of what to expect, and for the rest of us, we still get to enjoy a prime techno cut from a quiet achiever.

mike is a man of many talents, as can be seen from the picture. for info on his various arts - visual and musical - check his website and his homepage. big thanks to mike for the mix.