Midweek Mixes (03/11/21)
A run-down of some of the mixes and radio shows that have been soundtracking my existence – from the box-fresh to the tried-and-tested, all guaranteed to brighten up your week.
Note: FLAMINGO will broadcast today from 16h GMT on www.radioquantica.com
Gwenan - Dekmantel Podcast 357
Gwenan’s DJing has previously been described as “music that soothes your ears but gives them a little scratch at the same time”, and it’s as apposite now as it was back when she started playing. I struggle to think of touchpoints because the sound is so singularly her own. From her old podcasts for Undersound or Sleepers and the recording of her playing at Freero, to her RA podcast, those elements are always there: slanted harmonies, textures that make curious bedfellows, left turns that come out right, and a sense of funk and groove that’s somehow both stealthy and striking.
Her new Dekmantel podcast is the same, but also not without its surprises. The hopeful bounce of Prosumer’s ‘Newborn’ is a classical opening, the first of many reminders that soul can be achieved with the minimum of gear and fuss. Distortion is used as a sort of instrument throughout, creating a textural narrative that plays out alongside the more familiar musical elements. The mixing technique feels organic but thought out, often turning on unexpected elements in the tracks - like the transition at 15 minutes where the piano stab of the outgoing track marries with the chorus pad on the incoming one. There are plenty of vocals and vocal-like elements, a welcome theme that I’ve not noticed so much in previous mixes (but have noticed in recent live DJ sets).
The final 20 minutes are especially exciting, diving off-piste into a very cool soundspace somewhere between Klein & MBO synth pop and 90s braindance. I know G has ended earlier mixes with (for example) Datassette, and is known to bang out Aphex Twin in the midst of more straight-up techno, but this feels like her most extended adventure yet into this particular soothey-scratchy world.
For me it acts as a sort of inviting open window into what might come next.
Mike Smaczylo - Rainy City Radio (08/10/21)
I mentioned at the end of my recap of Spaced at the weekend that I listened to this radio show on my long bus journey home, and that it provided a nice introspective contrast to the mad rush of people at the party earlier that night. Indeed, the first half of the mix contains a lot of poised, electronics-laced ambient that sounds like it’s from the early 90s - exactly the sort of sounds that I turn to for mind and body decompression. I haven’t cross-checked to see if any of these tracks are by The Detroit Escalator Co. but they very well could be.
Then at the midway point something curious and satisfying happens - a beat slowly emerges from the haze and what you could easily call a chug starts gathering its forces. Soon enough we’re stomping along with industrial beats, chants and very deep basslines. It’s invigorating to say the least, and carries us through until the last 5 minutes - a soft landing with Duckett’s delicate ‘Millions And Millions Of Palestinions’.