ASIP - Reflection on 2020

As with all past ‘Reflection’ year-end mixes, I start with a collection of albums I have enjoyed over the year. Through the process of compiling a mix that flows well, songs are whittled down and selected from this collection. This means many of my favorite tracks and albums are often omitted in the process, due to the need for them to fit in a mix that comes together as organically as possible. As I say every year, this isn’t a definitive ‘best-of’ list, but a selection of some of my favorite music from the year in one easily listenable format. It’s the most enjoyable way for me to boil down music I’ve loved from the year using these self-imposed restrictions, for you to then enjoy and discover more. I encourage you to use the mix to jump off and explore each artist, album and label (and check the Buy Music Club list).

~

This year was different. Well, of course, in an obvious mask-over-the-face-lock-down kinda way, but all that aside, the amount of music made and consumed by all accounts was like no other year. No doubt, because everyone is locked-up inside, encouraged by platforms like Bandcamp and the now regular ‘Bandcamp Fridays’. As a result, this years Reflection mix started as a daunting effort and took me to developing a slightly new process to get it over the line.

Listening behaviors were forcibly changed for all of us. In addition to the crazy Bandcamp Friday release rampages, Live streams became the weekend plans and we had a brilliant year over on 9128.live hosting five weekend takeovers, which, by all accounts provided some amazing respite as we all hunkered down inside. We never would’ve guessed in August 2019 when we launched 9128.live, that online streaming events would be such a focus for the entire year ahead. As a result of the takeovers; the DJs; live acts; labels, and a bunch of listeners ID’ing music in the chat, music discovery accelerated even further (for me atleast) during these takeovers. An example track ID list from the last takeover can be found here.

This seems to be the first year I haven’t been able to keep up syncing purchases on my hard-drive (which is primed for mix prep due to my playlist organization OCD). I still listened to it all, but I listened even more through the Bandcamp app, so haven’t felt the need to obsessively download it all throughout the year. That was a problem if I was going to start compiling the mix in my usual way with digital files…

As a result, I decided to create even more self-imposed-restrictions (always needed given the enormity of choice) and began by mixing some vinyl from the past year.

I got about an hours worth of a good mix which I was happy with enough to exist online for eternity - just cherry-picking records from my 2020 collection, recording until I had a mix that sounded a bit shoddy. At that point, I was a little relieved, as a direction and vibe had already been set and would pave the way for the rest of the mix to be built. (It also gave me the opportunity to swap out the first track post recording, which began with some bad static for some reason). So the mix ended up being about an hours worth of vinyl, followed by digital. I know some people really don’t give a crap how a mix was made, but this helped with my overall curation process and ensured it actually got done!

Upon reflection, the mix manages to hit on my 2020 music spectrum and gives a good idea of what I’ve had on rotation. Lots of deep textured ambient (LOG, Slow Reels, KMRU, Patricia Wolf, Chronovalve etc - this part could go on forever), abstract beat driven atmospheres (Evan Caminiti, Daniel Avery, Space Afrika, Tomas Jirku etc) and the more joyous, playful, euphoric side of electronic music (Ian Boddy, Pub, DJ Lostboi, Rone etc). My rave roots rarely disappear it seems and muscle memory still finds a way through via Sophia Loizou and later on in full force with Wardown. Maybe in a desperate desire to return to events listening to DJs and Live acts, I wanted to end the mix on a high-note, and hopefully lift-up the terrible year it’s been for everyone.

This year’s mix; vinyl or not, every track is available on Bandcamp. Score any of them below using the Buy Music Club list and for even more music I’ve been enjoying this this year, see my Bandcamp collection.

Thank you for reading, listening, supporting in 2020, before and beyond. I hope you can escape for a few hours with this mix, as it ending up being a joy to piece together and reflect on the great music from the year, not only included in the mix, but also the many other albums I simply could not fit in but had fun revisiting during the process.

Listen on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, or the ASIP Podcast.

Download

astrangelyisolatedplace · ASIP - Reflection on 2020

Tracklist:

000.00. Yumiko Moriaka - 銀の船 (Métron Records)
004.41. LOG - Log 9 (Experiences Ltd)
008.19. Úlfur (Ft. Cellist Gyda Valtýsdóttir) - Feathered (Touch The Plants)
011.13. Yumi Iwaki - Initial Tidings (Mystery Circles)
015.00. Slow Reels - Miya (Morr Music)
016.45. Rafael Anton Irisarri - Arduous Clarity (Dais)
020.13. Ian Boddy - Omicron (Behind The Sky)
025.00. Jonathan Fitoussi - Oceans (Transversales Disques)
028.00. Evan Caminiti - Plume (Dust Editions)
031.20. LF58 - Iniziazione (Astral Industries)
034.45. Night Sea - This Will Take Time (Silent Season)
039.25. Neel - Alchemy (Ido)
043.20. Sophia Loizou - Vestal Waters (Houndstooth)
047.06. Tomas Jirku - Entropy 8 (Silent Season)
051.05. Daniel Avery - Into The Arms of Stillness (Phantasy Sound)
056.32. Abfahrt Hinwil - Phase4 (Lapsus Records)
059.00. Pub - Fragile Root (Ampoule)
1.03.10. Space Africa - Self (Self)
1.04.45. DJ Lostboi - Ordinary People (Queeste)
1.07.09. Lucy Gooch - We Carry (Looking Glass)
1.10.15. Robert Lippock - With Tomorrow (7K!)
1.12.30. HVL - newenslo (Self)
1.20.00 KMRU - ulmma (Seil)
1.23.10. Patricia Wolf - All Things Change (Beacon Sound)
1.25.17. Perila & Ulla - Every something is an echo of nothing (Silence)
1.27.53. Awakened Souls & Pepo Galán - Center of the Sea (Hush Hush)
1.30.25 Chronovalve - Breathing Space (Home Normal)
1.34.39. Adam Wiltzie - How to Disappear inside a thirty-piece Orchestra (7K!)
1.37.37. Epic 45 - Sidings (Wayside & Woodland)
1.39.24. Ocoeur - Ascent (n5MD)
1.43.47. nthng - With You (Lobster Theremin)
1.50.10. Wardown - Culverhouse (Blu Mar Ten)
1.53.17. Rone - Human (InFiné)
1.58.55. Malibu - Lost At Sea (Kelly Moran remix) (Uno NYC)
2.02.34. Il Quadro di Troisi - Real (Raster)
RIP Harold Budd, Pauline Anna Strom & José Padilla.

isolatedmix 105 - SaffronKeira

After a string of powerful albums with the Denovali label, Eugenio Caria is quickly becoming synonymous with the more epic and intense side of ambient music. Often introducing beats or IDM influences, amongst classical elements and big swells of atmospheric textures, with albums normally built upon strong, vivid concepts, SaffronKeira’s music draws you in for the full, immersive, storytelling experience.

Eugenio’s 2019 album ‘Automatism’, sat with many of my faves of the year, and with the new album ‘In Origine: The Field Of Repentance’ released just a few months ago, it’s clear that SaffronKeira has a lot to give. We sat down with Eugenio to ask a few questions to accompany his suitably powerful isolatedmix.

~

Hi Eugenio, thank you for the isolatedmix and for the brilliant new album.
Hi Ryan! Thanks to you!

Many will undoubtedly know you as a producer in your own right, but some keen eyes may have spotted you on the credits of our recent Blinkar från Norr record. Can you tell us about that experience?

Yes, working with Andrea it was a really good experience, also because here in Sardinia we are very few who produce this kind of music ... when I meet Andrea he showed me his knowledge and passion of “that kind of music” and I see again myself at his age…

Andrea in the beginning, was a student of mine, studying production and some skills started to appear from his mind pretty soon… he’s shy but with a lot of intelligence and musical culture from such a young age. In the few years he has been producing music I have seen him embark on a beautiful musical journey. I think ‘Metaphors For Things’ is a great album! Working in my studio at ‘Suvitas’ was a pleasure with lots of good times and shared comparisons and choices together with him.

What do you try and bring to a new production relationship like this? Can you describe the process with Andrea?

I try to take the production to a higher level - trying to fill some gaps and give a continuous mood/color. But I always respect the philosophy and the will of the artist and look for a compromise through a comparison between us, trying to establish a long-term relationship and trust. It is very difficult to get your hands on work of others without compromising their vision sometimes, as it is still something intimate and personal. From my point of view the additional production is a different example from mastering (for example). Mastering is an art undoubtedly, and in many cases it gives high value to potentially dull work, but a mix for example, can drastically change a piece of music. 

Regarding the process with Andrea, we worked on the original material to create new drone layering through the use of echo tapes such as Roland Space echo, Chorus Echo and different vintage outboards. We also used different delay and reverbs trying to better understand the spaces by finding the right balance and also trying to remove - in some cases - that digital touch, trying to make it warmer and more alive. Then we moved on to the arrangement.

Your new album, ‘In Origine: The Field Of Repentence’ incorporates Jazz artist Paolo Fresu - what was the idea behind this collaboration?

I already released an album - ‘Cause and effect’ in 2013 with another Sardinia Trumpeter and I was astonished of the power and soul of this instrument. Paolo Fresu is one of the best trumpet players in the world, and he has worked with other heroes such Jon Hassell, Nils Petter Molvaer and many others. Here in Sardinia he’s an institution and a legend and I’ve know him as an artist since when I was kid… It was one of my goals to make a record with him, so I started some years ago to write draft/landscape sounds thinking about his projection with his great instruments on top of my music, even before I knew he would accept this collaboration.

It may have also came about from the relationship we have with our magic island ‘Sardinia’…

Tell us about that… Sardinia seems to have a lot of great music exports - why do you think that is? How does the music scene differ from the mainland at all?

Yes it's true, the Sardinian scene really has a lot of talented artists who are making their way and exporting their sound all over the world. See for example artists like: Claudio PRC, Dusty Kid, Perry Frank, Paolo Angeli, Paolo Fresu, Stefano Guzzetti (and Blinkar från Norr) just to name a few. All different from each other but each with their own identity which I believe is also transmitted by the power and magic of this land.

I believe that being partially isolated, we withdraw into ourselves by isolating ourselves and allowing ourselves to be contaminated by the scents and climate of this land, sometimes even by the desolation that occurs in the winter months... in the end I think this answer has a connection with ASIP :) a strangely isolated place = that's what Sardinia is!

You’ve been releasing on Denovali since 2012 as your only label home. Can you tell us a about your relationship with them?\

Well, like you said it’s like my home now. They were the first to believe in my art…and I feel super comfortable without any kind of pressure. The first love is never forgotten

Where do you take your inspiration from musically?

I try to find inspiration continuously, traveling, knowing and confronting myself with new and different cultures. This has given me so much in terms of inspiration. Unfortunately for problems that we all know, we cannot travel and I miss this so much. But all of this is also a time for reflection and inspiration; when you are hungry for culture, traveling is like a drug!

It allows me to escape and paint new ideas in my head that I can turn into music, so now that all of this is missing it makes me think a lot…

Other sources of inspiration include the music itself, movies, books, and nature is obviously always in the foreground. But also a man in his actions of the past and present is a primary factor that leads me to be inspired to make music… In fact the concept of my new album ‘In Origine: The Field of Repentance’ came from here.

I see you play live and recently played the notorious Funkhaus in Germany. What elements do you incorporate into your live sets?

Yes, such a great experience, with a great audience; lineup; soundsystem and a magical place… If you have never been there you can’t imagine. The acoustics are fabulous.

Funkhaus is a temple of music, a journey through time. In this specific live set, I incorporated some draft and unfinished material from the new album and I used some trumpet loops that I had from Paolo Fresu’s recordings, processed live with a granular fx + some improvisation on a Eurorack system. Plus some unreleased material - I used a lot of beat, idm, ambient stuff.

Can you tell us about your isolatedmix and the idea behind it?

When I choose the music my main idea it was to have a continuous mood/status/path of thinking that would fit the ASIP world, but without using all music from the ASIP catalog. I hope that I reached this goal and the listener will have a good feeling… I’m huge fan of the isolated mix series!

Listen on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, or the ASIP Podcast.

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 105 - SaffronKeira

Download

Tracklist

01. Blinkar från Norr - Motionless
02. Biosphere - Birds Fly by Flapping Their Wings (v2)
03. Becoming Animal - The Sky Is Ever Falling (Abul Mogard Remix)
04. Emra Grid - Trace It Back
05. Lawrence English - Hapless Gatherer
06. Cristian Vogel - Signal Symbol
07. Emra Grid - Fifteen Day Trilogy
08. Rafael Anton Irisarri - Black Pitch
09. Siavash Amini and Saåad - Dragging the Harrow
10. LF58 - Metamorfosi
11. Alina Kalancea - Devil's Lullaby
12. Saffronkeira - Chthonian (w/Mia Zabelka)

SaffronKeira | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Denovali

todos – The Kilchurn Sessions

**Continually updated post with the latest mix in the series**

Kilchurn Session XVII debuted on our 9128.live radio platform last week and immediately garnered todos more deserved admirers for his crafted mixes. Episode 17 is an expansive and euphoric addition to the series, with clear ups-and-downs to hold the listeners attention amongst some lovely more melodic retrospective moments. As always, todos paints a spectrum of electronic music with his mixes, intertwining almost all elements in a creative and seamless construct.

~

A staple of ASIP since the site's inception, todos' mixes have become legendary with many of us. Spanning ambient, electronica, techno and everything in-between, todos spends months cultivating each mix, layering in samples and perfecting each transition. The over-used term, journey is often said to describe epic mixes like these, but todos has defined the very meaning of it across the expansive Kilchurn Sessions series.

These mixes should live forever, so I've taken the individual posts from the old ASIP site and combined them into this Todos super-post, along with his very latests sessions.

I'll run out of superlatives soon when it comes to his mixes, so I'll stop short of describing how epic these things are, and just let you digest the latest and greatest all below.

You can also jump straight in on this Soundcloud playlist

Session XVII

todos · Kilchurn Session XVII

Tracklist:

Anna Morley - ‘Amygdala’
Aes Dana - ‘The Gradual District’
Lorn - ‘Through The Fire’
Marc Romboy - ‘Voyage De La Planète’ (Ocoeur Remix)
Holden & Zimpel - ‘Saturday’
Lena Deen - ‘Lateral’
Jonas Munk - ‘Resonance’
Pass Into Silence - ‘Voices’
State Azure - ‘Celestial Ghost’
Lewis James - ‘No Team’ (feat Lorn)
Shasta Cults - ‘Hazel1’
Lorn - ‘The Slow Blade’
OKADA - ‘Killing Myself For Your Love’
Cliff Martinez - ‘They Broke His Pelvis’
Lorn - ‘Timesink’
Negative Neutron - ‘(spiral)’
Suumhow - ‘Cabin’

~

Session XVI

todos · Kilchurn Session XVI

Tracklist:

How To Disappear Completely - ‘Seraph VI’
Donnacha Costello - ‘Leeway Drift’
Blanck Mass - ‘Sifted Gold’
Substan - ‘Generated Memories’
Apart - ‘Encantamento’
Ryyba & Stephan Hinz - ‘The Echo Within’
Konchord - ‘Freedom Is’
Julianna Barwick - ‘Big Hollow’
Still Life - ‘Dancing / New Phases’
Woob - ‘Earlier’ / Olan Mill - ‘Ntr hs hr sy’
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - ‘Under The Midnight Sun’
Rosa Anschütz - ‘Diopter’
Pallas Kat - ‘Leirelva’
Philipp Otterbach - ‘The Roamer, Pt. 1 / Placid Angles - ‘1700’
Symphocat - ‘Fljuga Yfir Jokulsarlon’
Amotik - ‘Chatis’
Shasta Cults - ‘Looks Frozen’
ZHI16 - ‘Ocean’
How To Disappear Completely - ’Seraph II’
Brambles - ‘Spirits’

~

Session XV - Read the full ASIP blog feature here

todos · Kilchurn Session XV

Tracklist:

01. Inon Zur - ‘Liberty Lives’
02. Norwell - ‘TWB’ (Morning Edit)
03. Steve Hauschildt - ‘Same River Twice’ / Cut Copy - ‘January Tape Part 1’ Edit
04. Jonathan Fitoussi - ‘Oiseau de Paradis’ / Genesis - ‘The Fountain of Salmacis’ Edit
05. Scott Monteith - ‘Ghazal 7’
06. ADR - ‘King David’ Edit / VC-118A - ‘Specter’ / Barker & Baumecker - ‘Technogate’
07. 36 - ‘Expanse’ Edit / Norwell - ‘Brighter Days’
08. Barker & Baumecker - ‘Turnhalle’ Edit / Contrastate - ‘The True Believer’ Edit / Max Cooper & Tom Hodge - ’Symmetry’
09. FINK - ’Shakespeare’ (Nachbarn39) / Yann Tiersen - ‘Hurricane’ (Reprise)
10. Rain Dog - ‘Eyes On the Aether’ / Mike Luck - ‘Felt’
11. Barker & Baumecker - ‘Nocturnal’
12. Triames - ‘Closed Shell’ / Ian Boddy - ‘Quantum Of Memory’
13. Karnivool - ‘Om’
14. Lav & Purl - ‘Beyond Suffering’ (buy)
15. Lungwah - ‘Fond Embers’
16. Space Scavengers - ‘Sound Asleep’ / Grand Volume - ‘Fucker’ Edit
17. Shrine - ‘The Burden of Knowledge’
18. Negative Neutron - ‘Marked'
~

Session XIV - Read the full ASIP blog feature here

todos · Kilchurn Session XIV

Tracklist:

1. KRTS - ‘Sealed’ (Intro)
2. Danny Scrilla - ‘Cryosphere’
3. Darshan Atmosphere - ‘Vishuddha’
4. Frostbite - ‘The Spirit Stirs’
5. Dessin Bizarre - ‘Eidfjord’ / Memotone - She’s a Killer’ Edit / Dessin Bizarre - ‘Pressure’
6. Sasha - ‘Modcon’
7. DSR Lines - ‘Uitval’ / Dessin Bizarre - ‘Daylightmast’
8. Sasha - ‘Scarpa Falls’ / Boards Of Canada - ‘Trails’ (Recordssectionclip Slight Edit)
9. Cliff Martinez - ‘The Moon’s Light’
10. Dalhous -‘Response To Stimuli’
11. Rezo Glonti - ‘Line In’
12. Dessin Bizarre - ‘Air Frais’
13. Matt Dunkley - ‘Cycle 5 (Clint Mansell Remix)
14. Anders Brørby - ‘The Knives in Her Eyes’
15. Sophia Loizou - ‘Order of Elements’ / Carbon Based Lifeforms - ‘Endospore’ (Remastered)
16. Zahn | Hatami | McClure - ‘Vhaundt’
17. Leafar Legov - ‘Years’
18. Solar Bears - ‘Longer Life’ / Nils Quak - Future Mistakes’ / Dessin Bizarre - ‘Flow’
19. Melokind - ‘The Forester’ Extended Edit

~

Session XIII - Read the full ASIP Blog feature here

todos · Kilchurn Session XIII

Tracklist:

01. Zes - ‘Departure’ Edit
02. Samantha Glass - ‘Different Tissue’
03. Body Boys - ‘Yunnan’
04. Abul Mogard - ‘Slate-coloured Storm’
05. Nils Frahm - ‘Peter’ (Clark Remix) Edit
06. Alaskalaska - ‘Kings’
07. Russell. M. Harmon & Gavin Miller - ‘Vela’
08. Planet Boelex - ‘Moments’
09. DOGMA - ‘The Way Can Be Pretty Long’ Edit / (ghost) - '780.33'
10. Reinehr - ‘Lung’ / Library Tapes - ‘Fragment Li’
11. Lanterns On The Lake - ‘Green And Gold’
12. Ojan - ‘Intro’ / Hakobune & Dirk Serries - ‘The Slow Movement Of Thought’ Edit
13. Brother Blue - ‘Summoning UFOs’
14. Arandel - ‘Section 12’
15. Segue - ‘Identity Dub’
16. Synkro - ‘Overture’
17. Abereiddy Astronomical Society - ‘The Outsider’ (James Murray Remix)
18. Landside - ‘Wasteland'
19. Rival Consoles - ‘Looming’

~

Session XII

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Sigur Ros - ‘Jodrell Bank Intro’ / Devoted Enemies - ‘etchBelly'
02. Negative Neutron - ‘Not Broken’
03. English Ghosts - ‘Epoch’
04. Application - ‘Front End’ (Pye Corner Audio Remix) Edit
05. Slam - ‘Reverse Proceed’ / Brooke Blair & Will Blair - ‘The Keys Are In The Car’
06. Agnes Obel - ‘Fivefold’
07. Braille - ‘Future Mistakes’ Edit
08. (ghost) - ‘Invisible Handcuffs’
09. Bazten - ‘Stop The World’
10. Weval - ‘Gimme Some’ / Kiasmos - ‘Dragged’ Edit
11. Slam - ‘Relevant Question’ / Devoted Enemies - ‘Hut 8’
12. scntst - ‘Flight’ / Horizontal Excursions - ‘Garajonay’ Edit / Boards of Canada - ‘Light, Clear Hair, P.C.’ Edit
13. Thylacine - ‘Pleasure’
14. Casa Del Mirto - ‘Paralyzed’
15. scntst - ‘Zuge’
16. Orbital - ‘Dwr Budr’
17. Steve Hauschildt - ‘Watertowers’
18. Apothek - ‘Waiting For The Thunder'

Session XI

Download

Tracklist:

01. Jonas Woehl – ‘The Place Part 1’
02. Jonas Woehl – ‘White Sheets’ / Vondelpark – ‘Closer’ (Faulty DL Remix) Edit
03. Adam Michalak – ‘Sparkles’
04. Applescal & Ryan Davis – ‘Creatures’ (Despine Ambient Version)
05. Tresors – ‘Pleine Lune’ (Steve Moore Remix)
06. Deadmau5 – ‘Coelacanth I’
07. Joergmueller – ‘Common Ground’
08. Negative Neutron – ‘Tales of the Uninterested’
09. Mogwai – ‘Wizard Motor’ Edit
10. West Portal – ‘Across The Skies’
11. Nadim Mishlawi – ‘Memory 2’
12. Deadmau5 – ‘Rlyehs Lament’
13. KOAN Sound – ‘Lost In Thought’
14. Tallesen – ‘Strike Silver Love Green’
15. Daniel Ruane – ‘Leaf’
16. GoGo Penguin – ‘Murmuration’

(Plus a tonne of other bits)

Session X (isolatedmix 42)

For the complete article, please read here. 

Download

Tracklist:

01. todos – ‘Intro’
02. Abstract World – ‘Mirage’
03. Sigur Ros – ‘Varðeldur’ / Sigur Ros – ‘Ég anda’ edit
04. Jon Hopkins – ‘The Wider Sun’ / King Creosote & Jon Hopkins ‘First Watch’ edit
05. Kiyoko – ‘Something To Think About’ / Jon Hopkins ‘The River’
06. Devoted Enemies – ‘Anx’
07. Nils Petter Molvær – ‘A Small Realm’
08. Apparat – ‘Tod’
09. Mogwai – ‘Letters to the Metro’ edit / S O H N – ‘Bloodflows’ / The XX – ‘Chained’ (Sasha Beatless Mix) edit
10. Oxia – ‘Exaila’
11. Abstract World – ‘Path’
12. Agnes Obel – ‘The Curse’
13. Sin Fang – ‘Young Boys’ (Jonsi Remix)
14. Nathan Fake – Paean (Coda)
15. Pye Corner Audio – ‘Toward Light’
16. Moderat – ‘The Mark (Interlude) / Boards Of Canada – ‘Nothing Is Real’ edit
17. Lowb – ‘Whealer Dealer Healer’
18. Boards Of Canada – ‘Telepath’
19. Daniel Avery – ‘Platform Zero’
20. Clark – ‘Black Stone’ / todos – ‘Subway’
21. Cotton Wolf – ‘Cassette 98
22. Alt Fenster – ‘Sur Cette Feuille’
23. Borealis – ‘Nightfall’ (Ben Lukas Boysen remix)

Session IX

Download

Tracklist:

1. Arc Of Doves – ‘Intro’
2. Alix Perez – ‘1984’
3. Synkro – ‘In Transit’
4. Shigeto – ‘What We Held On To’
5. Gold Panda – ‘You’
6. Unknown Artist – ‘Portishead Remix’
7. Pitch Black – ‘Harmonia’ (Deep Seed’s Beware Of The Dubmonster Mix)
8. Negative Neutron – ‘Parallax Error’
9. Atheus – ‘Stratagem’
10. Alva Noto – ‘Garment’ (For A Garment)
11. Yoursck – ‘In Between’ (Dorntec Remix)
12. Luke Abbott – ‘Brazil’

Session VIII

Download

Tracklist:

1. Alexey V – ‘Invisible’ (Part 2)
2. Creative Response – ‘After Darkness’
3. Creative Response – ‘After Light’
4. Inch Time – ‘Aurora’ / Luisne – ‘Two Dots’ Edit
5. Lusine – ‘Two Dots’
6. Erik Jackson – ‘Falling Leaves’
7. Nitrada – ‘Fading Away’ (Apparat Remix)
8. Alexander Daf – ‘Lost In Flames’
9. Charlie May – ‘Midnight’
10. Grad U – ‘AG’ (Undepressed Dub) / Boards Of Canada – ‘Amo Bishop Roden’ Edit
11. Freeland – ‘Burn The Clock’
12. Moderat – ‘Out Of Sight’
13. Apparat – ‘Sayulita’

Session VII

Download

Tracklist:

1. Sigur Ros – Ba Ba
2. Helios – First Dream Called Ocean
3. Apparat – Negro Modelo
4. Tycho – Adrift Edit
5. Helios – Vargtimme
6. Jonsi & Alex – Happiness
7. M83- You Appearing
8. Slam – Subject Invisible
9. Glen McArdle – Miller & Rollnick
10. Abdomen Burst – Syntagma (Negative Neutron Mix)
11. Jonsi & Alex – Boy 1904
12. Ekkehard Ehlers – John Cassavetes (2)
13. Alla Farmer – Elektike Sunrize
14. Alva Noto- Xerrox Tek (Part 1)
15. 2562 – Redux
16. Mirrors Edge – Ropeburn
17. Gianluca Angelini – E
18. The Future Sound Of London – Lizzard Crawl
19. RJD2 – Chicken-Bone Circuit / Orbital – Halcyon+On+On Edit

In loving memory of EJ. x

Session VI

Download

Tracklist:

01. Rennie Foster – ‘Devil’s Water (Reprise)
02. Donald Wilborn – ‘Cairo’ (Ambient Reprise)
03. Donald Wilborn- ‘Cairo’ / Jon Hopkins – ‘Second Sense’ Edit
04. Play At Dawn – ‘Traffic’
05. Eyecam – ‘Underground Airport’
06. Miika Kuisma – ‘Abyss’
07. Yoursck & Tekin Kesen – ‘For My Lost Soul’ (Julien Mier Voyage Remix) / UNKLE – 08. ‘Heaven’ (King Unique Accapella) Edit
09. Nor Elle – ‘The Truth’ (V For Volkan Remix) / Orbital – ‘The Girl With The Sun In 10. Her Head’ Edit
11. Telefon Tel Aviv – ‘Your Mouth’
12. Leitstrahl – ‘Kalimba’
13. Telefon Tel Aviv – ‘The Birds’

In Memory of Charles Wesley Cooper III

Session V

Download

Tracklist:

01. Francesco Giomi – ‘Flic Flac 2′ Edit
02. Jocelyn Pook – ‘Masked Ball’ Edit / Anders Ilar – ‘Rain In All Familiar Places’ / The 03. Orb – ‘Outlands’ (LP Version) Edit
04. Michele Cecchi – ‘The Beautiful Flower’
05. Negative Neutron – ‘Plainsong’
06. Esque – ‘Azure Plane’
07. The Hybridizer – ‘Your Light’
08. The Oscillatorz – ‘I Can’
09. Poratz – ‘A Boat In My Mind (City Rain AM Fog Remix)
10. Mike Sheridan – ‘Morgentimer’
11. Negative Neutron – ‘Game Time’
12. Esque – ‘Ripple’
13. Mikroformas – ‘Screwed’
14. Sascha Funke – ‘Mango’ (Special Berlin Calling Edit)
15. Myrkur – ‘Skttrbrain’

Session IV

Download

Tracklist:

01. Mike Sheridan – ‘Stjernekiggeri’ / John Digweed – ‘Gridlock’ Edit
02. Apparat – ‘Interrupt’
03. Apparat – ‘Wooden’ / Helios – ‘For Years And Years’ Edit
04. Paul Kalkbrenner – ‘Absynth’ Edit / Poratz – ‘At Wu Pu’ / Moby –
05. ‘My Weakness’ Edit
06. Irukandji – ‘Whales Street’
07. Girls In Hawaii – ‘Flavor’ (Sasha Invol2ver Remix)
08. Boards Of Canada – ‘Music Is Math’ Edit
09. Mike Sheridan – ‘For Tæt På’
10. Agoria – ‘Round The Corner’ Edit
11. Scuba – ‘From WIthin’
12. Burial – ‘UK’ Edit
13. Moog Dub – ‘2562′ / The Prodigy – ‘Climbatize’ Edit
14. Ame – ‘Doldrums’
15. Luke Abbott – ‘Melody120′ / Sam Taylor-Wood – ‘I’m In Love With A
16. German Film Star (PSB Symphonic Mix) Edit
17. NBG – ‘Cell#1

Session III

Download

Tracklist:

01. Intro / Marching Band
02. Negative Neutron – ‘Proxy’
03. David Helpling & Jon Jenkins – ‘Beyond Words’
04. Nils Petter Molvær – ‘Little Indian’ / ‘Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out’
05. Coldplay – ‘Violet Hill’ Edit
06. I:Cube – ‘Nuees Ardentes’
07. Portishead – ‘Machine Gun’ Edit
08. Alexander Popov – ‘Hypnotize’ (Lo Tide’s Mix)
09. Burger & Voigt – ‘Ebertplatz’
10. Wahn – ‘Mexican Megaphone’
11. AIR – ‘Run’ Edit / Orbital – ‘Time Becomes’
12. Mike Sheridan – ‘Stilhed (Med Frida Hilarius) / Sasha – ‘Who Killed
13. Sparky?’ (Radio Slave’s Brooklyn Dub) Edit
14. The Unique Matter – ‘Mospad’ Edit
15. Deep Space Organisms – ‘Pilot Wave’
16. Dumblazy – ‘Babylon’
17. M83 – ‘Highway Of Endless Dreams’
18. Shed – ‘Ostrich-Mountain-Square’
19. Apparat – ‘Arcadia

Session II

Download

Tracklist:

01. Sigur Ros – ‘Takk’
02. Burial – ‘Etched Headplate’
03. Nathan Fake – ‘Falmer’
04. Koma & Bones – ‘Pusherman’ / Boards Of Canada – ‘Opening The Mouth’
05. The Stone Roses – ‘She Bangs The Drums’ (Elephant Remix) Edit
06. Boards Of Canada – ‘You Could Feel The Sky’ / Jamie Jones – ‘Panic’ Edit
07. Kenneth Bager – ‘Fragment Eleven’ (Part 2)
08. Paul Kalkbrenner – ‘Altes Kamuffel’ Edit
09. Henrik Schwarz – ‘Walk Music’ Edit / Partial Arts – ‘Trauermusik’
10. Ailo – ‘Inner Chill’
11. Studio – ‘West Side’ (Part 1)
12. Nathan Fake – ‘Bumblechord’ Edit
13. Shiloh – ‘Bleed’
14. Boards Of Canada – ‘Trails’ Edit
15. The Last Atlant – ‘Twin Of The Sun’
16. Williams – ‘Love On A Real Train’
17. Boards Of Canada – ‘Opener’ (Helios Remix)
18. Phil Hartnoll – ‘Lie Down’
19. Unit 21 – ‘Recommand’ (U21 Re-Run)
20. In Flagranti – ‘Additional Alpha Blocker’
21. In Flagranti – Effective Placebo Affect’
22. 51 Days – ‘Paper Moon’ / Martin Buttrich – ‘What Is Your Name’ Edit
23. Black Devil Disco Club – ‘I Regret The Flower Power’ (Fragments Of Fear) With Quiet Village
24. Banco De Gaia – ‘887′ (Structure)
25. Leftfield – ‘Fanfare Of Life’
26. Aphex Twin – ‘Lichen’
27. Aphex Twin – ‘Lichen’ (1136 Mix)

Session I

Download

Tracklist:

1. Swayzak – Smile And Receive (Apparat Remix) Edit
2. Ambivalent – R U OK
3. Sinner DC – Lady March Water Lilly Edit
4. Banco de Gaia – Last Train To Lhasa Edit
5. Orb/Keiichi Suzuki – Satellite Serenade (Trans Asian Express Mix)
6. Boards Of Canada – Telephasic Workshop
7. Daft Punk – On Off
8. The Chemical Brothers – A Path To Follow
9. Cantoma Ft. Pathaan – The Call
10. Umek – Ricochet Effect Edit
11. Madam Vs Bipath – Penetration
12. Four Tet – She Moves She
13. James Holden – Lumpette
14. Chymera – Umbrella (Beatless Mix)
15. Sugardaddy – Wack
16. M83 – Slight Night Shiver
17. Kenneth Bager – Fragment Eleven Part 3
18. Boards Of Canada – Olson
19. Coldcut – Timbre Edit
20. Hatchback – White Diamond
21. Ulrich Schnauss – Between Us And Them
22. Negative Neutron – One Day I Just Changed
23. Four Tet – No More Mosquitos
24. Aphex Twin – Shiny Metal Rods (1159 Mix)

isolatedmix 104 - Optic Echo

I feel a sense of nostalgia for this isolatedmix, for several reasons:

Firstly, Mike Jedlicka (Optic Echo) and I go back for some time now after initially meeting in Portland (Oregon) amongst the amazing ambient scene at the time. We would often find ourselves at the same shows in what is a small city, and both of us would make the trip up to Seattle for Rafael Anton Irisarri’s Substrata Festival (with one such memory being a field recording trip where I must’ve been the only one not knowing what the hell I was doing at the time).

Second, the artwork chosen by Mike for the captures the heart of Oregon, a place I still admire and go back to often. The shot of the Colombia River Gorge is synonymous with the good feelings of summer hikes amongst nature’s finest and ending the day at a brewery.

And lastly, the mix. Not only is Mike an avid-vinyl enthusiast, spinning vinyl-only for his Optic Echo Presents radio show mixes and applauded end of year lists, but his isolatedmix continues this theme with what I can only describe as some essential ASIP-loved vinyl. Many of the artists featured in the mix evoke memories of early ASIP blog days; such as Night Sequels, 36, Eluvium, and of course Wanderwelle all contributing isolatedmixes in the past at the very least - the tracklist strikes at the heart of the ASIP ethos.

Enough of my sentimental musings. To go into a bit more detail with Mike and his mix, I sent over a few questions:

Hi Mike, let’s start with how some people here may know you - making some great year-end mixes and hosting them with our friends at Headphone Commute - how do you go about choosing your favorite vinyl of the year?

Hi Ryan, we miss you here in Portland!

I have been trying to be mindful of new artists and non-mainstream records that I have enjoyed / been intrigued by over the year. I start by compiling a list of possible albums, usually 50+ records. It's helpful that I can look over my OEP playlists to see if I missed anything. In December I whittle it down a bit, pull all the records, and sort them into genres. I start experimenting with them, mapping out the mix around mid Dec. I'm usually receiving records till late December that I want to give a good listen, so I usually don't record the mix till the very end of the year or on NYD. I am thankful for Mike of Headphone Commute for giving me the opportunity every year!

Like me you now have a little one running (crawling?) about the house. How has having a child impacted your music life? Are you still buying as many records!?

It has been a monumental change in my life when he joined our family, and mostly positive. I had to restructure my priorities, as I haven't written my own music in a couple years. But I've kept up with my weekly 2-hour radio show on XRAY. I also attended way less live shows (pre-COVID-19) after he was born.

I had to slim down on buying physical records (my wife may disagree) by maybe 20%, which I really needed to do and probably should do more. I don't have nearly as much money to throw around.

As I mentioned above, I still miss the Portland ambient scene from a few years back. How has it changed over recent years?

I feel that I have not had my finger on the PDX ambient music pulse for the past 2-5 years as I used to, so I'd be better at telling my story. I was deep in it back when I threw the Aleatoric monthly starting ~2007. That merged into different monthlies with Coco Madrid and side shows with Tim Westcott (wndfrm) at Leaven and different churches around town. I've learned through experience to choose different venues (art studios, churches, community spots, outdoor events, etc.) instead of bars for ambient gigs, as people would listen more instead of talking while drinking.

My last show that I curated was Marcus Fischer, Simon Scott (of Slowdive), and Rafael Anton Irisarri. Tim had a contact that could get large venue speakers for a decent price, and we got a great deal for a nice Meyer system with a HUGE sub. That led to getting shut down by the police ... for an ambient gig. Perfect way to throw in the towel.

After that I chose to pull back and just do support work for different ambient events, and I'm pretty good at working the door. I really dropped off the map by ... I want to say 2017.

I know Beacon Sound was a staple Portland record store, and is unfortunately shutting down, but I’ve seen quite a few new shops pop-up since I left, do you still dig locally? What’s your go to now?

I loved BeaconSound so much, its closing was terrible news but understandable in this time. They had (in my opinion) the best selection in town and Andrew is a wonderful human. His store was the last show I attended, a few weeks before COVID hit the US. I have been taking the quarantine seriously, which means I get most of my vinyl currently from Bandcamp.

Other record stores I enjoy in town (assuming they are still open due to the pandemic) are Exiled, Little Axe, and Clinton Street. I really miss record diving :(

Your isolatedmix sticks to your theme of vinyl only - what was the thinking behind the mix?

I did not have a theme per se, but I leaned more on the tempo / structured side of things, longer mixes, a few more classics, and less experimental music than my normal Optic Echo Presents mixes. I hold your isolatedmix series in high regard, so I took my time to get you something that I was happy with, while not playing it safe.

You've written some extensive mix notes detailing your transitions too - do you always do this? Why do you feel it’s important to highlight the technical aspect of a mix?

The notes were for you personally since I thought you might be interested, although I don't mind you sharing publicly. I preplan all of my OEP sets in this way, which takes way more time but will consistently give me the quality of mixes that I desire. It also makes it easier to live mix my FM broadcast (we are currently pre-recording shows due to COVID-19) or record at home, so the transitions come out to my expectations. I have an excel database that I've updated since my college downtempo DJ days 20 years ago of every (tempo driven) record that I own, so I am able to search for a specific BPM when I'm coming up with ideas to beat matching records.

Listen on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, or the ASIP Podcast.

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 104 - Optic Echo

Download

Tracklist:

01. The Orb- Orbvs Terrarvm  c1.1
02. Pinkcourtesyphone- Sentimental Something  b1
03. W Tang- Instrumentals  b1
04. Night Sequels- Children of the Night Make Music  c2
05. 36- Dream Tempest  b
06. Lucy Gooch- Rushing  a2
07. Eluvium- Life Through Bombardment vol2  f1.2
08. William S Burroughs- Break Through in Grey Room  b4
09. Wanderwelle- A State of Decrepitude  a3
10. Future Sound of London- Lifeforms  b3
11. Clickits- Moteer 001  b4
12. Orla Wren- Butterfly Wings Make  a4
13. Ceeys & Constant Presence- Thesis 17  a1
14. Hildur Gudnadóttir- Chernobyl  a1
15. Four Tet- Sixteen Oceans  a4
16. Tom Scott- Hilldrop  b1
17. Dakota Suite (Hauschka remix)- The Night Just Keeps Coming In  a4

Optic Echo’s Mix notes:
The Orb- Orbvs Terrarvm c 1.1

Pinkcourtesyphone- Sentimental Something b1 na // -low, start w/ O, O out bef beat

W Tang- Instrumentals b1 90 // in ½ through P, start v low vol slow up but keep lower, play slow w/ WT EQs (keep low)

Night Sequels- Children of the Night… c2 90 // -mid, mix (+1.9) in WT end 20-25s, WT – mids end 7s

36- Dream Tempest b2 90 // mix in NS end 45s, keep mix lower vol

Lucy Gooch- Rushing a2 63 // @45, in on beat 5-10s bef 36 end lull, in at lower vol, don’t play last ½ 36 end lull

Eluvium- LTB vol 2 f1.2 na // -mid, f1.2=mid static 45-60s bef 2nd ½ pads, in LG end 1/3rd–¼th, mids in slow LG end 10s

William S Burroughs- Break Through in…b4 na // in r after LG out (3TT 3-7s bef LG out), keep at lower vol

Wanderwelle- A State of Decrepitude a3 na // -mid, in E 1/3rd through, take out E mids 1/3rd through W (keep out till W end 20-30s)

FSOL- Lifeforms b3 na-120 // in E at end lull, start 20s b2 end at lower vol

Clickits- Moteer 001 b4 120 // @45, -mid, mix (+1) 4 beats in F end beat only part (end 40s), mids in F beat out, F -mids ½ end 15s + lower vol

Orla Wren- Butterfly Wings Make a4 60 // mix (+0.5) in C end 30s

Ceeys & Constant Presence- Thesis 17 a1 100 // in at OW beat out (end 15s)

Hildur Gudnadóttir- Chernobyl a1 100 // mix (+0.5) in CCP ½ through, play w/ eqs, H fluctuates a bit

Four Tet- Sixteen Oceans a4 98 // -mid, mix (+2) v low vol 10s through CCP end 60s lull, FT mids & vol in at beat only 2nd part

Tom Scott- Hilldrop b1 na // in FT end 30-40s

Dakota Suite- The Night Just… a4 na// in 1/3rd-½ through TS

Optic Echo | Mixcloud | Twitter | Radio/Podcast

ASIP - Cabin In The Woods

Just finished up a lovely session with the Modern Therapy crew who hosted a massive 24+hr Halloween takeover on Twitch also featuring Mr C, Bunny from Rabbit in the Moon, Jon Charnis, Tara Brooks + more. I prepared a 2hr trip into the woods - dark, weird, trippy and storied to bring in Sunday morning, scare the beats off, and raise the… living.

It features a few upcoming ASIP releases too for good measure. Halloween may be over but everyone likes a trip to the dark side every now and then.

Download

astrangelyisolatedplace · ASIP - Cabin In The Woods

Tracklist (Buy Music Club list here + embedded below):

1. Patricia Wolf - Sauvie Island Wilderness Area (pitched)
2. Secret Pyramid - Ceremony I
3. Tomas Jirku - A Warm Place
4. (Forthcoming on ASIP)
5. Higher Intelligence Agency + Biosphere - Meltwater
6. (Excerpt) (Forthcoming on ASIP)
7. FRKTL - Sól tér sortna, sígr fold í mar (pitched)
8. Faith Coloccia - Voice II Imprint
9. ASC - Cycle 9 (Subroutine)
10. (Forthcoming on ASIP)
11. Berangere Maxim - Free Verse
12. Quiet Places - Track 7
13. Max Würden - 00.00.00.00
14. Seth Cooke - In The Air Tonight (Snared 1000 Cuts remix)
15. Aphex Twin - Matchsticks
16. Berangere Maxim - Wax Melody
17. Gadi Sassoon - Black Hole Fanfare (Forthcoming on ASIP)
18. Wanderwelle - The Becoming (+ Sample)
19. Mount Shrine - Foggy Deck
20. qebrµs - ฌฎ๒๓๔ญ°°°°
21. William Basinski - O, My Daughter, O, My Sorrow.
22. DJ Healer - Hopes and Fears
23. (House on Haunted Hill Post Credit Scene)
24. Vernal Equinox - Autumn Sunset