Slip Into Spring Mixes
Henry Ivry’s column is back with some spring allergy relieves in form of dj mixes - expect anything from 5 hours trips of ambient introspection and liquid drum and bass to instant classics of japanese house music
I want to preface this column by saying that I recently moved to Glasgow during what has been a remarkably nice spell of weather (big ups to the Anthropocene). If it hits double digits, the city turns into a Vitamin D-soaked paradise where the streets are awash in the godly ambrosia of fake tan and cider (there is even a website dedicated to letting you know if you should be taking your shirt off). This is all to say that my mood has been jubilant - buoyed by the fact that I know spring has arrived when I get to start popping my daily antihistamine (big ups to Claritin). My welcome to spring mixes try to showcase that sun-drunk excitement, that feeling of anticipation knowing that you'll be feeling seasick in a boat party toilet and realizing you're stuck onboard for the next 4 hours in just a few months.
Juanita's 420 Mix: DJ SWISHA
For the amount of passwords I have that involve some mutation of "420," I am not a huge fan of the way THC makes me feel. I'm a perennial paranoid weed smoker, just as likely to stay up all night wondering if I've left the oven on as I am to power through a full box of Lucky Charms. That's what makes DJ Swisha's mix for Juanita hit just right for me. I get the psychedelia of sativa and body high of indica all from the comfort of my office chair. And I mean, it's worth it for that acid and weed drenched version of "Tom's Diner," alone, yet alone the vintage house and g-funk tinted breaks that he gets into later on.
Club Fitness - Good Morning, Angels
Finn's Mixtape Club presents a pretty novel and exciting idea - paying DJs to turn in mixes for through a Patreon account. It's as intuitive as it is radical and the results are tangible - each mix showcases a DJ at their absolute best. London-via-Toronto DJ Club Fitness is no exception. This is an hour of some of the bounciest tech house you'll hear all year with just the right amount of techno acidity mixed in (check that Robert Dietz track for the perfect middle ground). Club Fitness mixes it all with a gentleness to complement the mix's title, "Good Morning, Angels."
Spaced 21 | Youandewan
Maybe it's the espresso talking, but I'd be willing to make a bold statement: there hasn't been a single producer who has been releasing records as consistently strong as Youandewan for the past couple of years. Ever since the Yorkshire expat traded in the sadboi vibes and leaned into the modular squish of tech house, he's moved from strength-to-strength with a sound that has become undeniably singular - there is not a dud amongst his releases! This mix for Spaced shows that he has the USB to match. The emphasis throughout is on the nether reaches of the cosmos as he provides tripped out house, techno, breakbeat all mixed with a bad man's funkiness and accented with the occasional 303 or dub delay.
DRUM SYRUP PODCAST 03 - ZEUS [BIZARRE TRAXX]
Zeus is a key behind-the-scenes player in the world of Berlin's hippest corner of dance music. And despite the alpha vibes from his DJ moniker, the PR guru and label boss of Bizarre Traxx keeps a relatively low profile when it comes to stepping up to the decks, but he graces us all with a blissed out mix of downtempo that sounds like the first tulip sprouting for Ba Dum Tish's Drum Syrup mix series. There is sluggish house and breakbeat here, a particularly strong run of vintage hip-hop in the middle, and even some bad trip acid jazz at points, all unfurling with the laziness of a Sunday morning spent in bed.
C.K - Safe Radio S06E01
Let me be the first to say it, I am an Aarhus fanboy. I've never been to the Danish city, but I've been building a picture of a vinyl-crackled paradise where dusty breaks come rolling off the rooftops with every sunrise. And while the release schedule has slowed from the Help Distribution camp, C.K.'s Safe Radio transmissions are a good temperature check for where the scene is currently at. Kicking off Season 6, this one is his longest session to date at over 5-hours. There is everything we've come to expect - ambient introspection, liquid drum 'n' bass, and, of course, plenty of vintage house that could have been released anytime between the early 90s and yesterday. The pacing is perfect as well - I would've been happy for another 6 hours.
Banana 'Cast 40 ➤ Adelina
It's hard not to feel the specter of the war in Ukraine over every aspect of dance music at the moment, but it's even harder not to listen to Adelina's mix for the London label Banoffee Pie without the weight and horror of the past few months. Released just before Putin's invasion, it is a masterclass in celebratory electro, fierce mentasm stabs, and even the occasional trance melody thrown in (oh and did I mention an electric guitar???). Adelina is a key member of the Oracool parties in Kyiv and listening to this, is a reminder of what we can all hope will return to the country's capital in the not-so-distant future.
Charly & Scotch - Trommel InSession 072
Charly and Scotch AKA Charlotte (of RA+RE fame) and record slinger Louison seemed to appear from the ether as a fully formed duo with a best-in-class mix. Since then, the duo have gone on to grace some of the hippest corners of the French underground (and beyond) with their crates of un-Shazamable deepness. This mix for Trommel is only their second and it's easy to see why the two have captured the cultural zeitgeist - we start in the thralls of dub, but move quickly into lethargic house selections that feel mixed with an unhurriedness as the blends stretch out with no rush. Things get a bit more jacking later on, but the duo keep it low and slow to finish.
Soichi Terada - Essential Mix 2022-03-05
I know that it might be a bit cringe to include an Essential Mix in this column (Pete Tong killing my underground bonafides), but is there anyone that has more fun in dance music than Soichi Terada? A song by the Japanese producer, DJ, and video game soundtrack creator is instantly recognizable - its joy bursting from tinny 8-bit melodies. But what makes this mix so impressive is how he makes the rest of the history of Japanese house that he explores sound like it could have been released by him. With just the occasional dose of melancholy, Terada offers a reminder of why Japan remains so central to the past, present, and future of house music.
Words by Henry Ivry
