2022 Firestarters - Mixes To Start The Year With
Our mix selections are back to pump some energy into your ears and fight the winter blues
Nobody knows if your 2022 will be great or not - but whether it will be the year your rock the world or a boring one to pull through, wouldn't you like to have the right soundtrack? This mix selection can not only soundtrack your Winter but also, hopefully, give you the right energy hit to face the greyest days of the year.
Chill trip-hop, funky breaks, punchy house and some unapologetic techno beats - you'll find a lot of different moods in our new picks, with some of the recordings selected that are meant to fight off the Winter blues while others are supposed to give you a glimpse of sunshine for the darker days. Whatever is your current state of mind and mood, we hope you’ll find something special to enjoy here!
EOS radio | Super Venus | Dec 2021
I wasn't familiar with Super Venus but I was quite impressed by this trip-hop selection on EOS radio. Trip-hop is not exactly at the top of the trendiest genres of the moment, and it was a breath of fresh air to enjoy this hour of well-selected gems diving into the genre - as the description reads: “A mix of my favourite 90s trip-hop records people would listen to back then while getting high with their friends in their shared flat” - I think this pretty much sums up well the vibe of this mix. This makes for a perfect recording to stimulate your thoughts as you are studying or working, but also one to relax to with a glass of good wine at the end of the day.
Podcast Beau Mot Plage 5.02 - Maxime dB
This breaky and funky mix for Beau Mot Plage was simply a rip-roaring positive energy hit at this cold time of the year - Maxime dB’s flawlessly fits one track onto the other in an enthralling mix of banging yet consistently groovy breakbeat. As the female-vocal blissful track came in around the 7-minute mark I was completely sold, but the mix continued to surprise me with some delightful climaxes: at times house-oriented, at times funk-impregnated, at times tastefully poppy, but always, 110% groovy. After listening to this I hope to catch Maxime Db at some open-air party this summer.
Dekmantel Podcast 368 - Machine Woman
Machine Woman’s go at her Dekmantel recording has to be one of the best dub-techno deck works I heard in a while. From its theatrical ambient/glitch introduction to diving deep into elegantly slow techno rhythms, the mix is charmingly deep, sharply dubby and warming enveloping through the listening. Here Machine Woman not only offers a highly enjoyable take on dub-techno, but also doesn’t shy away from the glitch sound aesthetics that characterise her music, as well as inputting various influences into this hour (you will move through unique ambiences and even some Donato Dozzy classics to finish into pure techno beats). High quality and ultimately just a perfect mix to enjoy mid-January.
Conspiracy Tape 028 - Flo Massé
Flo Massè’s contribution to the Australian Conspiracy Music’s mix series is the kind of mix that projects your mind directly into the dancefloor, makes you curse at the latest corona wave and leaves you wiggling on your desk chair or around your living room. I feel like “stylishly punchy” is the best way to describe the neat mix of underground house tunes that Flo provides here - one track after the other, this makes for a well-done, groovy recording that certainly convinces us the French-Brazilian is one to keep an eye on this year.
Mantissa Mix 231: Chae
"Every day is a little adventure. Pack what you need, and set off to an island where you can be yourself. Have a delightful and playful trip!" - I am not sure if this quote is from Chae herself or someone from Mantissa commenting on the mix, but surely it’s a perfect accompaniment for the music. Dreamy and various, euphoric and fickle, this recording provides a nice blend of deep house and breakbeat tracks, well-merged and highly qualitative at its core. A very much recommended mix and a very much recommended artist to follow!
Criminal Cast 24 - Elnur
Kyiv’s Criminal Practice’s last Criminal Cast of 2021 hosted the local party organisation ‘Sure’ with the resident Elnur delivering. The one-hour recording is sharp and addictive from its inception - selecting ravey tech-house tracks with great taste while placing some true gems here and there. I’d really be curious to learn if most of the music in this mix is from older records or newer releases, it could very well be both. Either case is a convincing example of why you should try and catch a SURE night this year.
Interstellar Radio Transmissions 03 - Cleymoore
Rings of Neptune’s Interstellar Radio Transmissions are back with seventy minutes by one of its agency’s boss. Here Cleymoore provides an ethereal and funky selection - as oxymoronic as this may sound I think it’s the contraposition of deep and psychedelic atmospheres with enthralling grooves that mark his current, genre-bending dancefloor selections. Personally, I found this mix particularly fitting for the NYE mood of freezing cold outside but while having an intimate and cosy party time - it can very well work backing your next home dinner party as well as a solo introspective Sunday microdosing.
Lychee ☀ Sunrise at Locked Groove ☀ 11.13.2021
Even with Omicron take-overs and clubs closures I can’t help but feel like I need some nice techno treats every Winter. Lychee’s mix, recorded back in November at Locked Groove Brooklyn but just published recently, not only satisfied my techno cravings but also provided some interesting and unexpected explorations during its nearly 3-hours ride (I am thinking for example of old school dubstep sound taking over a good part of the mix from around the 1:45:00 minute mark). Bonus points: full tracklist included in the SC description!
O MATO Tapes - 012 - Markus Sommer
This time I want to wrap up these Winter picks with some summer energies to survive the rest of the season - and who’s better for this duty than Markus Sommer? I reckon this mix was recorded at one of O Mato’s parties from last summer at the beautiful Plotze location, a beach corner on a lake which provided some of the best moments for underground dance music in the city during the last warm season. I love hor Markus tastefully picks some house music with a notable harmonic composition compared to opting for dryer, hard-hitting grooves - a choice that’s not always easy for an underground DJ. In this beautifully fresh house music mix you can definitely feel the radiating summer vibes - we can only hope these will take over once again very soon.
