Midweek Mixes (26/10/23)
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.
Ben UFO - Hessle Audio @ Rinse FM (02/10/23)
Every so often I tune in to Ben’s shows on Rinse or The Lot Radio to remind myself just how good DJing can be, just how high the ceiling is in terms of selection and mixing and general chops. It’s always inspiring. I’m a fan.
The mixing in this particular show is insane and makes me want to do a sort of catalogue of all the inventive, energy-giving things he does with these tracks. Here’s just a handful:
Just past 31 mins in he cleverly blends the offbeat punk of ‘Suono Assente’ by Italian drummer Valentina Magaletti into the equally-offbeat ‘Camelia’ by Olof Dreijer. Now, I’m a naysayer when it comes to the latter track — to me it really does sound like a parody of ‘Inspector Norse’ — but that doesn’t mean I won’t acknowledge a crafty, percussion-led transition when I hear one. It’s quick and effective.
By 41 minutes in we’ve entered Zip territory, the murky Perlon fug of the outgoing track merging utterly seamlessly with the voice-like pad of the incoming track before first a huge kick and then an even huger bassline come in and seal the deal. The whole switch is over in about 30 seconds. It turns out this latter, almost electro-housey track, ‘Done In Two Days’, is by Tomie Nevada, a long-time fav of G’s and a musical reference since our early rave days back in Botley.
At 53 minutes we are deep into our sixth minute of the dusty, reduced Chicago house groove of Keita Sano’s ‘Sweet’, which believe it or not was released this year, on Morris Audio of all labels. (Another thing that always amazes me about Ben being the tracks he plays that break my preconceptions of what is current, who’s still doing what — see this track-by-entry for another example from a few years back.) He knits ‘Sweet’ into another rolling tune with a quick high pass filter, the kicks gelling completely and the big outgoing bassline becoming more of a percussive accent. For a moment you think maybe he’s done another Zip and the Sano track has been finessed away completely in seconds, but then almost a minute after the transition originally began he brings back that bassline for a single measure, as if to say “Look! it’s still here.” I’m sure we’ve all tried to pull this trick at one time or another, but I can confidently say I’ve never pulled it off with this much aplomb.
From 75 to 79 minutes Ben takes us from dubby minimal tech house (yes that’s a thing) through murky Dutch grime (yes that’s also a thing) and into killer breaksy electro, in a sequence that stays at a pretty constant 134bpm but to me sounds like it’s constantly speeding up. It’s a funny auditory illusion, rushy and full of anticipation, achieved by the groove switch from 4/4 to stepping to electro, plus the way the beat drops out for a long stretch of the middle track of the three. The breaksy track then slices through the grime, first with a solitary snare that goes ‘bap!’ at the end of each fourth measure, and then with the drop of the blunt, kicking beat in full just before the 79 minute mark. It’s a moment of pure exhilaration.
After that Ben brings us back down softly with cosmic ambient meditations for the final half hour. Compared to other shows of his this one is relatively restrained as far as mood and bpm go, but the brewing energy and creativity are present at every moment. I think that’s why it’s turned out to be one of my recent favourites.
Spaced w/Aaron Clark & Joe Delon @ Rinse FM (07/10/23)
For my episode of Spaced’s Rinse FM residency I hit up Aaron Clark from Honcho/Humanaut/Club Toilet to contribute a guest mix, and then added an hour’s live recording of my own. Aaron’s mix leads with grooving organic house tracks, one of which has the unmistakable swagger of Maurice Fulton. Is there any better way of enticing someone into a mix than with a bit of Maurice Fulton? I don’t think so. About a third of the way through he moves into moody, still housey electro and some techier business — but always maintaining the loose drums and percussion. He told me he dug out some old records from the midwest for this mix and I guess that’s why that groovy percussive vibe comes through. Towards the end of his hour Aaron drops Garrett David’s latest smash hit ‘Mi Casa’, bringing that Midwest vibe right up to date before finishing with a gorgeous broken beat record.
My hour is a recording from the Welt Discos night at Renate back in July. I just had to go and check if I wrote about that one and it turns out I did but only in brief. Stephen, who played before me, recorded the night on his trusty Tascam. What was less trusty was me, as at a certain point during my set I unplugged said Tascam. (In my defence, I was trying to switch one of the CDJs to a different channel after one of the cue buttons on the Xone 96 got stuck down. #teamxone92.) But at least we captured the first hour of my set, which you can listen back to here. There’s a moment where I move from ladsy tech house into techno that I’m pretty damn satisfied with, and I remember it going down well on the night too.
The recording excerpt finishes with Stephen Howe’s ‘Venise Celeste’, which is available now on the Mimesis EP on Welt Discos. A deeper dive on the production process for that record is coming soon so watch this space.
I hope you enjoy listening back!