friday funk: a love from outer space

here's something particularly funky for your friday, thanks to a mix-of-the-day nod at RA...

a love from outer space is a party thrown in london (and beyond, occasionally) by UK stalwart andrew weatherall and DJing partner sean johnston. low-slung jams of all shapes and sizes - that appears to be the sound of the series, so this two-hour recording should be a perfect way to wind down your week (or wind up your weekend). fantastically diverse selection here, so expected the unexpected, and also some steve miller somewhere in the middle!



(oh, and you can hear the full four-hour set on mixcloud.)

monday moods: more drexciya reissues

after beginning last week with abdulla rashim's uniquely splendid techno trip (ie anatomy 20), it's time to start this week with some classic electro sounds. try out the latest compilation of reissued drexciya tracks, journey of the deep sea dweller III, which comes out next monday. you can stream the whole set in full at RA by going here now! "sea snake" and "you don't know" are the ones for me at the moment.

anatomy 20 - abdulla rashim

i am quite excited to share this. it's the twentieth anatomy mix, and it comes from abdulla rashim!

abdulla rashim is an artist from stockholm, sweden with a remarkably elegant, open-ended take on techno. his debut EP came out, not even two years ago, via his own abdulla rashim records. since then he's made tracks and remixes for a handful of like-minded deep-dwelling imprints, such as prologue and silent season. last month, he released what might be his most enthralling work yet: ARR003, endasilasie.

and now here's this mix. anatomy 20 is a heavily atmospheric, 84-minute long voyage. be patient: there's plenty of subtle dynamics and intense moments to be enjoyed throughout. it is, from the beginning to the very end, brilliantly evocative. basically, it's a perfect contribution to this blog's mix series.

no interview, no tracklist, and only a few more words; abdulla rashim likes to keep a low profile. let's just listen in and find out what he has to share.

dropbox download link
abdulla rashim soundcloud download/stream link

big thanks to abdulla rashim for joining the fun here and creating such an inspiring set of sounds. i can't wait to see what he does next... looking forward, for now: he'll release ARR004 at the beginning of next year, and along with some further work on prologue, his upcoming appearances on a select few other labels should certainly turn heads. stateside fans, alert! he'll cross the atlantic for a US tour early next year. more details TBA, of course, so for more information, upcoming gigs, and anything else, it would be wise to follow abdulla rashim's RA page and soundcloud (where he has another link to this mix.)

enjoy! this one is a great way to celebrate twenty anatomy mixes here at smilecoldanatomy, i think. stay tuned for a few more before the year is over.

various - the expression of emotions in man and animals

happy saturday! now time for the expression of emotions in man and animals, a fine three-track, three-artist EP from the electronique.it label.

the EP is the second part of a trilogy dedicated to charles darwin's studies of mind and nature. to my ears it's a more cohesive listen than the label's first vinyl the power of movement in plants, released back in the spring. like that one, a whole side of the expression is devoted to one very long track: "cascade," from portland artist yard. his effort blurs together tense drones and echo-laden snare hits to draw out one gradually intensifying moment.



but compared to that one - and the similarly shorter flip-side tracks on the power - i'm more easily moved by the expression's two a-side tracks. plant43, who earlier this year crafted one of 2012's best records, dreams of the sentient city on semantica, provides another gem here. the simple, neon-tinged melodies of his "blue skyways" are sure to attract those (like me!) who enjoy the moodier, more atmospheric forms of electro.





"gallano" from little-known artist(s?) valmass, provides a different sort of melancholy: a sub-100bpm journey through an endlessly modulated acid line, minor-key chords, and strange, subtle bits of noise. importantly, both "gallano" and "blue skyways" contribute to the emotional themes of the EP without seeming overly insistent (something i felt with that first EP) - to me, that's a mark of a label refining its sound. overall a very nice sophomore record for electronique.it - looking forward to the next one!

friday funk - mixes

time for a frank friday funk discussion of some mixes, new and old, that you should check out this weekend:

juho kahilainen - end of irony | mixtape 2012 it's always a pleasure to see (hear) juho in the mix and here is a nifty selection, as usual, from the finnish artist. it features some stuff from the limited EP he put out this summer on M_REC LTD, we heard it coming (which i happily reviewed on RA), along with tracks from the likes of rrose and jeff mills... do it to it!

big strick - LWE podcast 144 super-dope deep house and raw techno from a detroit dj and producer. big strick has put out some very nice records on FXHE and his own label, 7 days ent., and here he wins extra points for mixing in a couple of my personal favorites from rick wade and gunnar wendel (aka kassem mosse).

Ø [phase] - RA.337 belgian imprint token has been one to watch recently, thanks in part to phase, who in early 2012 crafted one of the year's most anthemic techno records, binary opposition. (an excellent release that i think was subjected to an overly indulgent remix treatment.) this dj mix is one is for those who like their jams hard and fast.

abdulla rashim - prologue portefeuille podcast 04 an artist to watch, i say. abdulla rashim's tracks reveal a penchant for the driving, textured sounds that i'm such a big fan of, and his mixes are just as good. this one for prologue has been on constant repeat. it's easily one of my favorite mixes of the year, and working in what just might be my favorite track from giorgio gigli, "introspection," is always a huge plus.

neel - voices from the lake mix this set is a few years old, i think, and it 'pre-dates' the excellent voices from the lake collaborative album from neel and donato dozzy. if it's not obvious: all things deep are covered here. (thanks to mnml ssgs for posting a new official.fm link.)

that's all for now but be sure to watch this space next week for another mix: anatomy 20 is incoming...

friday funk: new record upcoming on haknam

fresh and exciting news from haknam - a shadowy berlin-based label whose slow but steady vinyl output has been very impressive: from emad parandian's marangai waikawa to last summer's fourth record, hubble's floating souls. next up, finally, is the fifth EP from the equally mysterious (to me at least) cyl. more deep, eclectic moods abound, along with some evocative photo artwork (seemingly from esther suave, who has done haknam's other vinyl artwork)... try out the samples below and check soundcloud for more details.