Things I was excited about in 2009 pt.4
This is one of the best mixes I heard, ever. Why? Because of extremely deep and very natural integration of tunes, most of which I heard before but in the context of mix they got a new life, sometimes I almost felt as if I was listening to them for the first time; and even more importantly - because of the pace of the mix. It’s not a party mix, surely more for attentive listening at home or on a car-ride, and the way it takes me out there of this world is absolutely psychedelic.
Very tasty house music, varied, groovy though not peak-time, no cheese. Again, the ultimate reason for being my 2009 fave is the pace/development (modern classical intro (Max Richter), then slow-mo deep house from Sven himself, then unfolding and getting groovier, more minimal, dubbier, and all of sudden – you can hardly even noitice – we’re in 140bpm territory, and ending with Max Richter again) and the mixing style – two turntables and a CD mixer, totally natural flow but deep integrity and precision of an Ableton mix.
At the moment of writing, there are 6 other CX podcasts by Loxy in similar mnml dnb vein, and two others, less mnml/more traditional ones by guest mixers… But the one that rolled the ball still remains my favourite (well, CX3 is equally good). I guess I listened to this one at least 20 times since it was published… Deep as Mariana Trench, delicate as a Japanese massage, beautiful as a Wong Kar Wai movie, (subtly) rolling as a… mmm… the contents of your Rizla. Incredible stuff.
The XX is widely hyped as the best new indie band, and rightfully so – I totally agree and am a fan too. But if you checked their debut album and were a little bit underwhelmed by a bit too samey sound of gently flangered unfuzzed guitars and melancholic/husky murmur of vocalists (this is how КИНО should have sounded in 2009, hehe), check this mix, which in its 30 minutes features excerpts from “private” stripped-down bassy edits of some of the XX tracks from the album; a few dubstep tunes; a few alt-folk/hip-hop mutations; a drum solo; and a few pure pop/rnb/disco songs of various cheese levels, which all of a sudden resolve in another bassy edit. The pace here, again, is jaw-dropping: switching from mood to mood is absolutely effortless. While there is a lot of “normal” mixing, you will hear some of the best showcases of the non-beatmatched mixing “by mood/sound” – the way CocoRosie’s “Rafael” (an ultimately beautiful song, btw) segues into that extended drum solo, which in turn kickstarts a disco track, is nothing short of genius: it just sounds as if it was all meant to be that way.
Painstakingly compiled (in Ableton, I guess) as a showcase for artists to perform at Unsound festival (Poland, October 2009), this a genius masterpiece of a polystylistic mix. To be given a pre-selected playlist consisting of modern classical, ambient, experimental, drone (and drone-metal), techno, deep house, dubstep and singer-songwriter stuff, and blending them in a coherent whole is a very serious task. And it takes an experience, broad and ultimate taste of a seasoned music writer and DJ Philip Sherburne (I remember reading his columns way back in the 1990s yet) to get away with it, done perfectly.
The best showcase of a “funkstep” crossover disregarding if the name would stick or no – mixing dubstep of various blends, house, UK Funky, breaks, switching from straight to broken beat, from uplifting, sometimes tongue-in-cheek party tunes to serious bass bashment, never staying at one mood for more than 2-3 tracks… I only wish to hear things like these in Space: Garage (and I believe the party would be rocked hard!)
Autonomic Podcast #7 (The whole series is groundbreaking, and as a whole deserves a Palme D'Or, so see Autonomic Podcasts)
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