Getting on for a year ago, I decided to undertake the gargantuan task of listening to and reorganising my entire digital collection. Having spent the last several years up to that point predominantly collecting dancefloor-oriented techno, I had amassed a lot of dead-wood. I wanted to set myself the challenge of sifting ‘through the wreckage’ to extract the gold. It was a slow and painful process, but one which ultimately led me to make regular ‘Through The Wreckage’ mixtapes, as well as whipping my collection into some kind of order. I chose the name as it also felt like an appropriate metaphor for my life following the psychoses of 2019 and 2021 which blew my life off course, and prevented me from taking much interest in music for an extended period of time.

Now up to the ninth instalment, which I’m sharing for the first time here, the series offered a route back to working with music creatively in a very quick and intuitive way. The first instalment, ‘Unrequited Dub’, took a loosely dub-techno reference point, while subsequent mixtapes, like ‘From Dusk Til Dawn’, ‘Nitedrive To Heartbeat City’ and ‘A History Of Silence’ took the names of tracks at face value in order to weave a musically tenuous, yet satisfying narrative. ‘Strained Bedfellows’ was more sequenced and danceable than any other instalment thus far, and ‘Through Romance’ was something altogether more personal and emotional, as a snapshot of a time when I was supporting my partner through a long spell on a psychiatric ward (name a more psychotic duo!). All of which is a long-winded way of saying that pretty much anything goes with Through The Wreckage. Although there’s been a strong prevailing wind of ambient-ish influences thus far, I wouldn’t rule out any avenue of expression in future.

With regards to the aforementioned organisation of my collection, a conversation with a good DJ friend, Blind Observatory, persuaded me to organise everything in terms of imaginary dancefloors/contexts. For instance, although I had never previously DJed at The Gun, I set up a ‘Gun’ playlist for the type of music that I associate with the space and my many nights out there. Similarly, I have a ‘Berghain’ playlist for the type of techno that I used to, or could imagine, playing there. For the deeper strains of techno, which I was also fond of playing in the past, I have a ‘Labyrinth’ folder, with my attendance at the festival having such a strong impact on my taste and outlook. Although the curator of the festival turned out to be a meathead, the influence persists. I have a ‘Panoramabar’ folder for my house/house-party music, an ‘Oneiric’ folder for my beatless or ambient-adjacent music, a ‘Kaos’ folder for my industrial-tinged tunes and an ‘Unsound’ folder for my experimental tracks. There’s several more sub-divisions, including for specific genres, and radio-friendly music, but overall I’ve found it very helpful to imagine specific contexts when organising my music, new and old. It’s no coincidence that I’ve been playing at The Gun recently, as it was something that I was already very prepared for when the opportunity arose.

Back to Through The Wreckage - This time around, I’m happy to share the ninth instalment, ‘Manning Fall’. Describing it as ‘A meditation on the passage of time as we transition into Autumn‘, I feel like it’s one of my favourites in the series with ‘a satisfying blend of hyper-modern electronics brushing up against some poignant and cinematic moments’. If you enjoy this mixtape, I’d encourage you to travel back through the previous eight, as I really feel like there’s a lot of magic and a lot of ‘me’ to be found in them. And, of course, there’ll be more to come in the near future.

LISTEN HERE

TRACKLIST

COH ft. Little Annie - Curious Yellow (TOURETTE RECORDS, 2011)
Areliz Ramos - Euduvin (WHERE TO NOW?, 2022)
Mama Bubo - New Age In Prague (ENDLESS ILLUSION, 2017)
Ulla - Leaves & Wish (EXPERIENCES LTD, 2020)
Tristan Disco - Be On The Decrease (Civilistjävel Retake) (CAMISOLE RECORDS, 2022)
Steve Pepe - Marcia (INSIDE OUT RECORDS, 2020)
Pelican Daughters - Happiness (SILENT, 1994)
Roberto Musci - Improbably Music (RAW MATERIAL , 1984)
Eli Keszler - Landscape (LUCKYME, 2024)
Maria Somerville - Undoing (NOT ON LABEL, 2019)
Dorisburg & Sebastian Mullaert - Skyward (SPAZIO DISPONIBLE, 2023)
Evilgiane - Instant Death (SURF GANG, 2024)
Shuttle358 - Optimal (12K, 1999)
Robert Rental - Untitled (DARK ENTRIES, 2020)
Naemi ft. Jason Graf - Olivia Prime (3XL, 2024)
Xphresh - Myst (3XL, 2021)
Sabla - Vibrations (Muddy Mix) (GANG OF DUCKS, 2023)
Gulls - All Is In Movement (BOOMARM NATION, 2023)
A Produce - Raga Riley (TRANCE PORT, 2008)
Martin Glass - Silver Screen Wellness (GLOSSY MISTAKES, 2023)
Ke Lepo - Kamutza (Outro) (FORBIDDEN COLOURS, 2023)
Adaa - Tired (MAPPA, 2024)
Wladimir M - Autumn Leaves I (EEVO LUTE MUSIC, 1993)