Midweek Mixes (11/08/21)
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.
Doildoshi - Outsiders @ Kiosk Radio
Bangkok record store and label More Rice recently invited Seoul’s Doildoshi aka Go Dam on to their show for Kiosk Radio and the results are predictably great.
From his output so far, and from his Instagram, it’s clear Go Dam is a fully signed up studio bod. As far as I can tell, he spent a significant proportion of the past year actually building a new studio - and by building I mean hiring power tools, refitting a whole room, constructing the units, soundproofing, the works. Hopefully this effort is a signal that there’s more material to come after his forthcoming release on More Rice (clips here), which picks up where the second EP on his own Braindance label left off last year.
And where is that exactly? Modern IDM with an 80s pop sensibility. East Asian melodic and harmonic signifiers that both gel with and purposefully interrupt Western frameworks - electro, breaks, acid house, freestyle, industrial, hi-NRG - in an invigoratingly original way. All sounding as fat and well balanced as you’d expect from a studio whizz. It’s basically music tailor made for me and I can’t get enough of it.
That’s why it’s also such a joy to hear an hour of Go Dam’s musical influences on this Kiosk show, interspersed with tracks from the new EP. From the coldest of coldwave to Severed Heads bangers to tight-trousered synth pop, the connections between this selection and the sounds he’s making himself are laid out for all to see.
Gifted & Blessed - Outsiders @ Kiosk Radio
Another Outsiders show from Kiosk. This time it’s curated by Italian label Neroli, who recently put out the latest record from Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker aka Gifted & Blessed. The Epileptix EP is a happy return to his Abstract Eye moniker, which I wrote about previously when covering the very first release from back in 2011. These are plaintive machine lullabies that in places (especially on the B1 track ‘Gears Not Working’) have more than a bit of Go Dam about them. Or is that the other way round?
This show is a kaleidoscopic mix of largely instrumental latin-adjacent music (my almost total ignorance in this area prevents me from being any more specific), shaken together in a way that gives it a real improvised feel - and not only because some of the tracks are clearly studio outtakes or live jams. I particularly like the crazy synthesized dissonance in Pedro Santos’s ‘Quem Sou Eu’, one of only a handful of songs in the mix, and then the final 15 minutes of bells- and drums-led meditation, like a closing ritual.
Suchi - Daytimers @ BR London
I watched this live the other evening and it was pure energy from start to finish. Daytimers is a collective in London named after the way young Indians in late 80s/early 90s England adapted to the curfews imposed on them by their parents: they’d go out and dance during the day instead (thank you top Youtube commenter!). Apt then that this event happened early on a Thursday evening and saw London’s South Asian dancers and DJs come out in full force - and in some cases full saris.
Around 18m30s in to this particular set, Suchi plays a track by Mumbai-based producer Sohail Arora aka Rafiki, founder of Krunk Kulture, which comes from a future release for Welt Discos (it should be WLTD007 if all goes to plan). It’s called, entirely appropriately, ‘London Sound’, and it’s a slamming house track that reminds me of Gemini at his raviest (like the perennial ‘Return To Jack’) with heaps of UK rave attitude on top. The cascading arpeggios that come in part way through take it up a notch further and you can see it in the face Suchi pulls: BANGER.
The whole set is great, starting with disco and synth oddities and moving through deeper and techier house, before everything explodes when she plays an edit of ‘Pedal’ with ‘I’m A Slave 4 U’ over the top it. It quickly becomes clear that both the producer (Provhat Rahman) and editor (Yourboykiran) are right there behind her, going crazy. You can tell what a moment it is for the Daytimers crew, and from the comments on the stream and IG videos it’s obvious that the whole event was a big moment for the South Asian community in London and beyond.
I should have more news about Sohail’s release later this year. Watch this space.