One last mix for the year, this one is for Montreal boutique SSENSE, I tried to go a bit moody yet still build to some sort of drive. The mix contains a track from one of my favorites from Circlesquare and this years Shed LP, hope you enjoy.
POLISH-BORN BROOKLYN-BASED PRODUCER JAKUB ALEXANDER, BETTER KNOWN BY HIS STAGE NAME, HEATHERED PEARLS’ AMBIENT MIX OF PROGRESSIVE, STEADY RHYTHMS AND HYPNOTIC BASSLINES OPENS WITH A SYNTH-DRIVEN OFFERING FROM THE HYPERDUB-SIGNED NEW WAVE PROJECT, DARKSTAR, BEFORE ARTICULATING SMOOTHER SOUNDSCAPES, KICKLESS BEATS AND ETHEREAL VOCALS FROM THE LIKES OF CIRCLESQUARE, TROPIC OF CANCER AND PLANETARY ASSAULT SYSTEMS. SWEDISH PRODUCER MOKIRA’S EXPERIMENTAL SINGLE, TIME TRACK REMIXED BY SILENT SERVANT FILTERS IN A CONTEMPORARY TAKE ON AMBIENT ELECTRONIC FILLED WITH HAZY STATIC FOLLOWED BY TRACKS FROM FELLOW GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL-SIGNED DUO LUSINE + WINGO.
via SSENSE
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I did a mix and interview today for Stadiums & Shrines, the mix includes some exclusive edits of Com Truise and Black Marble along with some favorites from Byrne & Eno, radio recording of Panda Bear, and kicks off with OMD.
The guys over at S&S have great questions and post huge versions of images so its a great nice blog to explore. Its pretty much the first i’ve ever talked about my design and influences, let me know what you think.
Future Totems is playing right now (above). Where is this mix coming from…what kind of space does it live in?
Future Totems is similar to some of my other mixes which are about communicating the beauty of how I see sound expanding slowly. I see it living in a naturally carved out, small cove full of very simple, large vegetation surrounding a huge slow-moving body of water; it’s a calm place yet there’s plenty of moving parts, and once in awhile everything aligns and you get these still moments.
Read more…
Download the mix here
I did a 34 minute calming mix for Ryan Griffin’s perfect music site AStrangelyIsolatedPlace, I hope you all enjoy.
As with all isolatedmix curators I invite into the series, they have inspired me in one way or another. Jakub Alexander, is probably the only artist that actually started off inspiring me through words; his posts, his ears and links on ISO50 have been the only longstanding articles to remain in my reader for the last three or four years, constantly unearthing new artists and brilliant music – an approach I aspire to today. Recently, it’s Jakub’s music which has took this admiration to another level.
Jakub’s latest masterpiece is set to be released on Ghostly early next month and i’ve been lucky enough to wrap my ears around it several times already. For those familiar with Heathered Pearls earlier work (‘Vaults‘, or ‘Intervene‘ for example) you would have seen the potential Jakub has been cultivating for some time now. And it’s fair to say, that ‘Loyal’ is Heathered Pearls most defining moment so far.
‘Loyal’ came to life after an introduction to ambient music by his mother ten years ago and the album is Jakub’s dedication to that moment. His love for grainy, repetitive, processed textures is a dream approach for many of us and the most simple pictures come to life with subtle looping melodies and beautifully nurtured sounds that are easily visualised, imagined and immersed in. ‘Beach Shelter for example, available as a free download, is the perfect example of Jakub’s vivid imagination coming to life through constantly crashing, looping waves, a hazy blur from a low sunset, and a slow-motion pan across a heavenly vista. There’s hints of many of our favourite artists throughout Jakub’s work, from early Wolfgang Voigt (Gas), to his self proclaimed influence, Markus Guentner, who has provided a stunning bonus remix on the album alongside the equally legendary Loscil.
Until ‘Loyal’ sees the light of day on December 11th, we’re lucky enough to have an isolatedmix from Jakub, taking us through some of his inspirations. But before you indulge, I recommend you preview ‘Loyal’ over at Ghostly, then jump back into the mix to dissect the many forms and textures that have been instrumental in shaping Heathered Pearls most perfected sound to date.
DOWNLOAD THE MIX FOR FREE
Track notes
Tracknotes by Heathered Pearls:
1. Mr. Rogers Speech to Congress
My hero when I was little, I always tried to picture myself being able to deliver a speech like this, impossible.
2. KIDS Soundtrack – Second To Last Scene
This song always stuck with me, its one of those songs on my short list of songs I wish I made
3. Foxes In Fiction – Static Cults
Warren beautifully put together a state of in limbo in music form
4. Steve Hauschildt – The Impossible Flower
One of my favorite releases from last year, glides along with these perfect dips
5. Yagya – Rigning Níu
Yagya and a few others make up the 3% of newer trance that is well done
6. Cuppcave – Circuit Fade
I found this song to be that missing link to what I wish I made, the lo-fi silence with a pulse slowly swelling in and out, I truly wonder if it didn’t end I wonder how long i’d let it play for? 1 day? 1 week? who knows.
7. Pub – Derail
Pub is up there with Wolfgang Voigt, Erik Kowalski and Scott Morgan as my main reason I love to make music, when I first heard Derail I was soo floored by the control of how steady he kept this song, how he never used extremes but the whole song sounds like your standing in 100ft+ tall wind tunnel.
8. C V L T S – Realiser
lo-fi digital meditation zone
9. The Sight Below – Unforetold
The master of giving the ambient of shoegaze a pulse
10. Piano Magic – Halloween Boat
I have a soft spot for arpeggios and water
11. Loscil – Coyote
Scott has a way of making it okay to drop everything you’re doing and calm down, i’m sure if you were at work and your boss saw you stop working and then heard what you were listening to he’d understand and let the song finish, always powerful, heavy and genuine.
12. Heathered Pearls – Raising Our Ashes
The song title always felt a bit morbid after seeing it written down but has grown on me since thats the visual I get when I hear it again. This track was written when I wanted to imagine a song to play out that the whole venue could slowly leave the ground and it would be the last you’d ever hear because you’d just have tinnitus for the rest of your life.
13. Solar Year – Currents
These guys are my latest favorites, such a pleasure to hear vocals slowly swirling, I hope to work with them in the near future.
14. Boards Of Canada – Unknown
I got an email from Marcus once after sending BoC a package of Ghostly vinyl and cds, would it be odd to frame an email?
via ASIP
Cover Art For Heathered Pearls - Colossal Secret
I haven’t done continuous mixes in awhile but I just finished 3 completely different ones that i’ll be sharing in the next 2 months, here’s the first one I did for Incase, its strictly on the melodic side house and techno, would love your thoughts.
Colossal Secret compiles a selection of tracks that remind me of the days I DJed an on going weekly with Matthew Dear (Ghostly International) and Ryan Elliott (Spectral Sound) in Ann Arbor, MI in the early 2000s.
Like most mixes of mine they vary in the specific genre, some have been more representative of the slow disco I usually play out or the some are more low level ambience that are similar to my production but this one is special, its been in my system and it focuses on the dance floor and what I think is a passionately filled collection for people that love the deeper melodic end of House and Techno.
Mixed/Recorded on Technic MK1200’s and a Allen & Heath XONE:22
via Incase
Lorn fans: if you haven’t already, you need to go and download his latest free offering in the Lorn & Dolor beat-tape series. If you’ve been following these then you only need to download part IV – otherwise hit the PARTS I-IV link for the whole thing zipped up.
The series is compilation of unreleased material and sketches all with Lorn’s usual HEAVY hitting dark yet ethereal and beautiful sound. It might not flow like a ‘mix’ (it clearly wasn’t intended to), but it’s surprisingly cohesive, given the jumpy/cut nature of some of the transitions.
I’m not sure who this ‘mysterious’ Dolor fellow is – but judging from the severe lack of info on him online and the similarity in sound, I’m thinking it’s just an alias of Lorn himself. Then again, in 1996 when I first heard Feed Me Weird Things I was absolutely convinced Squarepusher was Richard D. James.
Oh, I also though Burial was Four yet. So there’s that.
Poster by: Rob Fissmer
Here’s a compilation I put together on Ghostly’s behalf for the Freunde von Freunden blog. It’s comprised entirely of Ghostly releases. Honestly it’s not hard to put something like this together, considering the depth of the Ghostly catalog. Endless gems. My three faves from this one are Shigeto’s Ann Arbor Part 1, Tycho’s Melanine, and of course Dabrye’s We’ve Got Commodity. I’ll never forget previewing One/Three on the busted turntables at Kim’s Video in NYC in 2001.
Freunde von Freunden is an online “interview magazine that portrays people of diverse creative and cultural backgrounds in their homes or within their daily working environments.” The latest feature is none other than Ed Templeton and his wife at their home in Los Angeles. Amazing. They have also been running a ‘mixtape’ series for some time, they are now on #29.
Brian from The Ghostly Store made this happen, and this is the second time Sam, Brian and I worked on a compilation together: the first was for Moss in 2006, delivered on a USB stick. (it was the FUTURE)
Easing you into this weekend is a mix from one of my favorite producers/DJs San Francisco’s The Beat Broker.
Tracklist:
Klaus Schönning – Cygnus (edit)
Farbror Resande Mac – Magma
Mouth – Udupu
Pharao Black Magic – Amulet (Begin Remix)
Apollo Heights – Sad Cabaret (Phil Mison mix)
Domes – Former State
Heion – Circus
Soft Rocks – Talking Jungle
Max Essa presents Jan Ken Po – Metropolitan Scene
Billy Bogus – Afro Comedy
Chautauqua – Nat’s Theme
Paresse – The Night Before You Came
Pablo – Stratus (Andrew Weatherall remix)
Also, if you’re in Miami tonight i’ll be DJing as Heathered Pearls along with Tycho’s previous tour supporters Beacon, email me if you want to get in jakub at iso50.
Scott and I put together a mix for Dazed Magazine last week, we wanted to make it a free download for you all. Below is the tracklist and link to the Tycho interview, enjoy.
TRACKLIST
Caribou – Sinuses
Com Truise – Karova
Broker/Dealer – On A Claire Day
Cloudland Canyon – Krautwerk
Tame Impala – Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?
Bibio – Saint Christopher
Black Moth Super Rainbow – From The See
Odd Nosdam – Up In Flames
Bonobo – Recurring
J Dilla – One
18 Carat Affair – Phil Spector Daydream
Broadcast & The Focus Group – One Million Years Ago
Ulrich Schnauss – Stars
Beck – Hotwax
READ THE TYCHO INTERVIEW ON DAZED MAG
DOWNLOAD THE MIX FREE
