Midweek Mixes (29/06/22)
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.
I’ve been in New York this past week with quite a lot of time to listen to stuff while bopping around not doing much. My sister and brother-in-law’s cats have been enjoying the tunes with me.
I’ll soon be posting my recent Midsummer-themed show for EOS Radio and my session at The Lot Radio this past Monday, which features plenty of new music and forthcoming Welt Discos business.
Tomorrow I get the train to Pittsburgh ready to play at Hot Mass this coming Saturday - tickets here if you’re in town!
The latest killer mix from livwutang, whose live recording from Sustain Release I wrote about earlier this year (here). This set starts in a similar vein with stripped-down polyrhythmic grooves and textures that percolate away until the emergence of a huge Amapiano tune - an unexpected but thrilling pop moment. In fact it’s these pop moments that make the mix for me: this one, the thumb piano moment midway through, and Matias Aguayo making an appearance a few tunes later. (The 2008 revival continues apace.)
There’s a playfulness in this selection that really appeals to me and I’m gutted I won’t see livwutang play on her current tour around Europe. If you’re in Manchester don’t miss her, CCL and Hayter Player at All Hands On Deck this Saturday.
Christa Belle - Bubble World @ Refuge Worldwide
Christa Belle’s latest episode of Bubble World on Refuge Worldwide features conversations with Terre Thaemlitz and director Serge Garcia, who recently made a documentary film featuring Thaemlitz called Grand Central Hotel and also makes music as Gordo. The talking is in the first hour - Garcia laconic except for when he’s reading, Thaemlitz as voluble as ever - and then Christa and Serge play music that riffs off their subject: DJ Sprinkles originals and remixes, some obscure Japanese finds, Gary Numan and forthcoming Gordo tunes.
As discussed with Thaemlitz in this interview, the film will only be showing at film festivals and won’t be available online - so an alternative is to check out RA’s feature on Thaemlitz, Give Up On Hopes And Dreams, which I wrote about here.
XDB - All Night Long @ Club Krokant
There is an immense satisfaction to seeing a great DJ take care of business from first to last record, and you can hear it palpably in this recent five hour recording from XDB. Half an hour of Rhythm & Sound is a tried and tested way of softening up a room early doors, and Kosta smoothly transitions from this into gliding house with carefully bumping basslines - just what the hips need to get moving.
The second hour gets more energetic, with chords- and fanfare-laden house giving way to electro and then, into the third hour, techno - though always with a soulful edge. The fourth hour sees him going a bit off-piste with some wonky rhythmic bangers at peak-time (further evidence of a night going really well), before the final hour takes things deeper into dub territory again, a nice counterpoint with where we started.
I don’t know when I’m going to get my next XDB fix but I sure hope it’s soon.