Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Ssg Special: Donato Dozzy Kosmische Labyrinth mix


'Since this was to to be the tenth Labyrinth, I wanted to open the event with a set that had historic significance. The idea of showcasing Kosmische music (more commonly known as Krautrock) seemed an obvious choice.

I'm not very informed of this critical period, but the story of this music that so desperately tried to escape the oppressive gravity of German post-war legacies and Western rock's influence is fascinating to me. Even with casual listening, it's pretty easy to trace so much of modern electronic music back to those early pioneers, such as Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül II, Faust, Popol Vuh, Can, Cluster, and others. There are few periods where you can point to such an explosion of original, revolutionary, and mind-bending music.

So I started thinking about who would be a good DJ to book to present a Kosmische set that would reference the history of that music while pointing towards the sounds of today, towards that weekend's showcase of techno. Then I realized I already had one.

When I was in Italy earlier in the year for Donato Dozzy's wedding, I saw in his apartment a huge collection of vinyl covering these legends. After I asked him if he would be interested in playing a Kosmische set, he enthusiastically started pulling records off the shelves, saying "This one has to come, and this one, and this one!" On the couch quickly grew a stack of spirits who were to join us.

What I thought was a casual request to spin a few old dusty records turned into a bit of an obsession for Dozzy. To create something that really matched his vision of the Labyrinth sound, he went in the studio and created edits of all the tracks he wanted to play. Meanwhile I was building a timetable that would have him start the festival at exactly the same time that he would bring the cycle to an end two days later.

For that opening set, we were lucky that night to have a beautiful moon in the sky and a poetic atmosphere on the floor. And what we're lucky to have here is a studio mix that re-creates the opening set Dozzy played, which he has prepared to share with all of us. I think it's beautiful and profound, the kind of recording you want to save and listen to years down the road...

Enjoy.'

--Russ, "The Labyrinth"

Ssg Special: Donato Dozzy Kosmische Labyrinth mix

There is a tracklist for this, which we will put up next week. For now, Dozzy just wants to say that the final track in the mix is a tribute to a band that were not strictly part of the Kosmische period, but for him perfectly embody its spirit.

If you want to find out more about Kosmische, I'd strongly recommend starting with two recent documentaries: 'Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany' and 'Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution'. For more info on Dozzy, check his RA DJ page, and for bookings, he is now with Prologue Booking. Thanks to Donato and Russ for this. We are very happy and proud to be able to share this with you all. Consider it an early Christmas present...

23 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. ahh spectrum... the latest red krayola cover isn't nearly as good, but the laurie anderson cover on the flip is hot.

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  3. what a super pressie, big thanks dozz, russ, ssgs.

    (russ - please can you organise for the coach to leave Tokyo approx 4 hours earlier next year as I missed this opening set!)

    Merry xmas everyone, what a great year this has been

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  4. thanks donato, chris and russ for reviving this glorious moment.
    hippy cliché aside, this really feels like bathing in fresh spring water under the moonlight.
    intro of donato's set here :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-NOwOvlg6o

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  6. That picture makes me want to be back there so badly. Cannot fucking WAIT to get this on the go...

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  7. Awesome. Thanks so much.

    Early present? I hope this means our real present will be his last set from Labyrinth... or Shackleton's?

    I can always hope.

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  8. Well i gave it a try and couldn't get into it at all.

    I'm sure there's a time and place kind of things to this set, but I have had no tangible connection to music of this sort and so it doesn't speak to me in any way.

    Will try again in another way, but a bit flat for me.

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  9. To be perfectly honest, even though I follow various sites(such as this one), I don't listen to mixes that often. Something has to really stand out for me. I've been delving deep into kosmische/krautrock stuff for a good 10 years now, and play a lot of it when i DJ myself. I'm also a Dozzy fan. So, of course I had to download this on site, and then put it on immediately. 15 minutes in, and it's pretty fucking special already.

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  10. Fantastic mix, especially the second half, which totally monopolized my attention. You can't go wrong finishing with the Spacemen 3.

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  11. love it so far.. music for 18 musicians is a wonderful inclusion - can't wait to see steve reich at sónar this year.. hope dozzy comes too

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  12. Russ,
    When I read your blogs, sometimes I have trouble deciding what fascinates me more, the sets or your utterly vivid descriptions of them.
    One day, I would like to write like that.

    A fan of your writing! ;)

    And thank you for this "jewel"!

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  13. This is an incredible example of the sum being greater than the parts. Donato has created something out of the pieces, that stands independent of them. If the artistry of a DJ was was ever in doubt, then this surely explodes that doubt.

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  14. Nice mix of komische! For those interested in this sound, I'd recommend this almost 3 hour mix of similar stuff here:

    http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=4100

    been listening to it over and over...as I suspect I will with this Dozzy mix. Great for those just getting in to this stuff as I am. Thanks, as always, for this and all the quality mixes that have been posted lately here...I'm still working my way through it all, so much gold!

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  15. @Efrain,

    Happy you like the post, but the guys behind all those posts you like are Chris and PC. I'm just a guest here for this one post!

    Take it easy,
    Russ

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  16. This is a very, very special mix. Probably my favourite of 2010, in fact. Truly beautiful music (what an amazing period in 20th C art) mixed with a lot of love and care. Puts all those booming kick drums into perspective.

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  17. this is a gorgeous mix that I've listened to dozens of times since it was released on mnmlssg. thank you

    I just wonder what the song is around 17:30. I've heard it a number of times, but I can't recall where. Is there a setlist?

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  18. yes:

    http://mnmlssg.blogspot.com/2010/12/donato-dozzy-kosmische-mix-tracklist.html

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  19. I've just discovered this on Triplag...you're playing all my favourite music :))

    When Sehr Kosmisch came on I was in wonderland...brilliant!

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  20. me again...might as well show you my kosmische musik while i'm here :))

    http://dholl.bandcamp.com/album/seeds

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