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HEADPHONESEX

I’ve always had a deep deep love for Detroit Techno. Those soulful strings. Those beats that swing your hips rather than clench your fists. Often imitated but never surpassed.

When composing this mix I wanted to do something slightly different to my usual selections, and straight away thought of making some kind of tribute to Detroit . Initially I thought of producing some kind of ‘best of Detroit ’, but I found this too difficult to pin down. If you’re defining something as the ‘best of’ it put a lot of pressure on your selections…. and I was finding it hard to leave things out. Plus I use vinyl, and some (but not many) of the tracks I wanted to use I didn’t have on wax.

Then I thought it may be a good idea to do a Carl Craig mix. I have a LOT of Carl Craig records, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. But I found the same problem of being unable to leave tracks out. I wanted to represent him well and there were too many hard choices.

So in the end I just pulled out a load of tunes from the shelf…. flicked through & filtered out some of the best…. and set to it without worrying too much. I’m pretty pleased with the result. There’s sprinkling of House & Electro among the Techno classics, and the set seemed to fit together nicely. Derrick May is a glaring omission, and I would have liked to include some more Drexciya & some more recent Carl Craig. But overall there should be a good selection of tracks you do know, and hopefully some tracks you don’t. I think a DJ should always play some familiar tunes, as well as some things to surprise and delight.

The mixing isn’t perfect by any means, but hopefully the quality of the records will keep you listening through the mistakes.

headphonesex - process part 048 (if it aint from detroit) by modyfier

01. Tres Demented - Tres Demented (Planet E, 2003)
02. Paperclip People - Throw (Planet E, 1994)
03. Moodymann - I Can't Kick This Feeling When It Hits (Planet E, 1997)
04. The Other People Place - Sorrow & A Cup Of Joe (Clone, 2002)
05. John Tejada - Working Night (Rolando Remix) (Logistic, 2002)
06. World Class Wreckin' Crew - Surgery (Kru Cut, 1984)
07. Model 500 - No UFO’s (Metroplex, 1985)
08. Moodymann - Shades Of Jae (Kdj, 1999)
09. S'Express - Theme From S'Express (Carl Craig Remix) (Rhythm King, 1996)
10. Richie Hawtin - Minus Orange (M_Nus, 1999)
11. Purpose Maker - In The Bush (Axis, 1995)
12. Purpose Maker - Java (Axis, 1996)
13. Purpose Maker - Casa (Axis, 1995)
14. Channel One - Technicolor (Metroplex, 1986)
15. Model 500 - Night Drive (Metroplex, 1985)
16. Underground Resistance - Electronic Warfare (Underground Resistance, 1996)
17. Dj Rolando - Knights of the Jaguar (Underground Resistance, 2000)
18. Davina - Don't You Want It (Underground Resistance, 1992)
19. Model 500 - I Wanna Be There (R&S, 1994)

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ANDREA SARTORI

Il Tagliacode (title explanation as written by andrea, translated by touane, edited by modyfier)

Sound: The title "Il Tagliacode", refers to a special editing technique of cutting the acoustic samples, emphasizing the harmonic frequencies that are contained in the chords, and accenting the sounds' attack. These harmonics appear just in the sustained parts, that is, in the tail of the sampled sound.

Sentimento: Like sounds, feelings can also be generated in an instant. For example, imagine a spectrum where a particular color dominates at first and then changes with time, moving towards other tones. It gets impressed in the mind with a different sentimental content, a different thought; lucid but also far away from reality.

Il Tagliacode ( the tail-cutter) is an imaginary character who cannot live a sentimental path. Constructed of attacks and releases, he decides to live in a world that is made of only the traces left by emotion. In every one of these tracks, all the melodic and rhythmic elements derive from the tail of the sounds that the Tagliacode decides to maintain.

In this entirely instrumental album, I create a new mode to translate abstract content into music that I call, "emotional settling".

Study of the Arrangements: Since 2005, I've spent my days in Bologna in front of a pc, focusing on timbral research and melodic phrases that differ from classic pop melodies (the kind that are easily found in much of contemporary electronic music).

The first aim is to find melodic solutions that are original but not atonal (or typically noise-glitchy). Using mostly soft synths and virtual drum machines, I craft the embryonic arrangements and textures that will form the world of Il Tagliacode. The cold sounds, typical of digital instruments, do not satisfy me. There is an emotional revoking process that should come out from the initial idea, and the need for acoustic instruments becomes a prioritary issue for me.

The Recording Sessions: During the summer of 2006, Giampiero Stramaccia, an electronic musician with whom I had already started some collaborations, heard some of the proto-versions I was working on and invited me to do some recording sessions in his studio in Foligno (a calm city in Umbria, Italy and a burrow for many talented upcoming Italian Jazz artists). I delightfully accepted and with my external hard disk and some mics moved into the studio for one week (sleeping on a small couch close to the sampler). For seven days I was visited by the sportiest musicians in the Umbrian scene, and while listening to them play, I'd explain the themes I was interested in having them develop. They would instantly improvise great tunes without knowing that they are already "on air" on the sampler. At night, I cleaned up and integrated the material that had been recorded during the day.

The Post-Production: Back in my studio in Bologna, I started to work on the recorded material. I found I was facing big problems in trying to merge the depth of the acoustic samples with the linearity of the sounds (the ones that form the sequences that structure the tracks).

Trying to mix water and oil, I found what I needed were analog fat busters and digital ointments. The purchase of a spring reverb and the discovery of some old plug-ins provided the keys to finally realizing this fusion. A lot of time passed between the initial sketched arrangements and the finished product. I needed a real time recording rather than a rendering because the tracks were being processed by analog effects. Also, my studio is really close to the railroad which provided another challenge because it created interferences into the spring of the reverb (making annoying chops). Not everyone knows that Bologna is one of the biggest railroad ties in Italy, with a train passing by every 3 minutes. So, at every strike, a part of the record is completed.

andrea sartori - process part 047 (il tagliacode) by modyfier

rigour...
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...:::...i've been attentive to 'rigour' lately...finding the more discipline i apply to things, the easier they eventually become. it creates a framework for more play and flow...

i practice blinking slowly (somehow it makes me happy)...

i wonder about isolating 'feeling' all on its own, without comparison (see: a duck, a taxi, a school bus. how many shades of yellow?)...however, i find this hurts my head and prefer in the end to let my emotions see-saw between my experience (doing things) and awareness (observing things)...phenomenology aside.

practicing this loosens my imagination (untethered, it twists and turns, finds every tired joint and rotates through them...such an insatiable appetite for flexibility!)...gives it license to create it's own landscapes and syncopated narratives. to be wild or calm. to hopscotch. fold time, origami-like...

neither navigating nor riding...i am in a space where total compression only provides more opportunity to expand (instead of holding my breath in my lungs, i store it wholly in my muscles and bones). these possibilities and so much more, i find, a rigourous imagination brings...:::...

download: 071016-modyfier part 01

michelle amador – because of you (polar pair mix) : oct 2007 on sick trumpet
tone control – love thing featuring lady j (small arms fiya remix) : oct 2007 on tone control
phresh n low – zapped (dicky trisko cosmic edit) : aug 2007 on deep freeze recordings
drei farben house – exception day : oct 2007 on kupei musika
3 channels – incoming : oct 2007 on trapez
phonique – space cruise feat. gui boratto (phonique version) : sep 2007 on dessous recordings
lazy fat people – pixel girl (carl craig mix) : oct 2007 on plant e communications
the coconut wireless – get the fuck up (the havana boys remix) : aug 2007 on moonbootique
robosonic – die verwandlung (jan hertz remix) : jun 2007 on diskomafia
le noir – eleny (radio slave’s panorama remix) : sep 2007 on fling recordings
inaqui marin – my little box : oct 2007 on tiny sticks
the black ghosts – some way through this (plastician & scream remix) : oct 2007 on southern fried records
susumu yokota – kawano hotorino kinoshitade 1998 : oct 2007 on lo recordings

download: 071016-modyfier part 02

louderbach – season 6 (ellen alien away remix) : oct 2007 on underline
paul ritch – swartz : sep 2007 on resopal schallware
sono – all those city lights (phonique dub) : sep 2007 on pias
lopazz – riders on the floor : oct 2007 on get physical music
chymera – a question : oct 2007 on nrk
sian - apple tree (efdemin remix) : sep 2007 on aus music
miguel toro – cure (oil of mars vs samim remix) : oct 2007 on moon harbour
tiger stripes – mad at me : oct 2007 on get physical music
susumu yokota – kodomotachi : oct 2007 on lo recordings
drei farben house – exception day : oct 2007 on kupei musika

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MONTY LUKE aka ML TRONIK

Well, there you have it. The mix is called "Love's Fall." It's about relationships. That's really all I want to say about the theme.

It was recorded live, in one take, with two turntables. That was the process.

monty luke aka ml tronik - process part 046 (love's fall) by modyfier

01. Max Berlin - Elle et Moi (Joakim Remix) - Get Physical

02. Project Sandro - Blazer - Sentrall

03. The Persuader - Centralbron - Svek

04. Frankie Valentine - World of What - Sunshine Enterprises

05. Orgue Electronique - Rootbound - Creme Organization

06. Eyerer & Namito - Reel Thing (Markus Guntner Remix) - Multicolor Recordings

07. Master C&J - Face It - State Street Records

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PATRICK RADDATZ

when it comes down to a good mix, be it music or food, fine ingredients are mandatory, forming olfactoric and gastronomic arrays of elements, each one individual on it's own. the purpose of preparation can be manifold as it's technique involved, the lucullian pleasures as individual as it's ingredients. how does your music taste, how do you eat?

food...notice that instant rush of saliva when seeing, smelling a mouth watering dish of your favorite meal music...feel that small but intense physical sensation of hairs rising, on your arms and your head, listening to that track, listening to the blending of sounds and rhythms, that passage of acoustic notions. sensual sensations. many say that to be moved by music, on dancefloors, in their minds by other minds, to cite an old motto of plus 8 records. although being a very commonplace idea, i prefer to be sensually touched by music than just moved as it encompasses a bouquet of actions not only inside your head and body, triggered by music in contextual relationships. going to clubs with plugged ears, still hearing the music just loud enough to remind you where you are, the usual arduous hustling rolls off your conscience, leaving yourself wide awake for the sensual sensations like the warmth of people coming closer, the air pressure and movement in the vicinity of the speakers...did you see the flame of your lighter shaking to the bass while lighting up your cigarette? the low sound level contrasts to all the action around you, amplifying the experience like a slow motion film scene. so many details that usually, literally, get blown away...without substance abuse that is.

stir it up, boil it down. preparation is part of the process, when it comes to food and eating. chemical processes, small acidic molecules roaming around the taste buds, swirls of tasty streaks like chocolate stirred with fresh milk and honey, fruits and curry, light and sweet. mixing music is so much like preparing food, where connaisseurship meets technique, artistry meets science.

patrick raddatz - process part 045 (die vernunft der nacht) by modyfier

01. High Quality Schall - Jin Choi
02. High Quality Schall (Baby Ford Remix) - Jin Choi
03. All Night Blahblah (Jackmate Mix) - Bruno Pronsato
04. Touch - Pig & Dan
05. Poor People Must Work (Carl Craig Remix) - Rhythm & Sound
06. Free Your Mind - Social Being
07. Rose Rouge (Tak Su Mix) - Tak Su
08. Evolved - Soul Capsule Prod.
09. Son Of Raw (Loco Dice Remix) - Dennis Ferrer
10. Catabolism (Efdemin Remix) - Henry & Denis
11. *not to be disclosed*
12. Blank Images - The Viewers
13. Sakadat - Petre Inspirescu
14. Lowdown - Marek Hemmann
15. Sick Certificate - Piemont
16. Just a Woman (Audion version - Ellen Allien)
17. Prosa - Touane
18. Sleepy Hollow Version - Stefan Goldmann & Âme
19. From Disco Top Disco (Whighnomy Bros. Mix) - Whirlpool Productions
20. Shake The Doom (Arto's Bubbles In The Bathtub Shake) - Jahcoozi
21. Part Time Police Detective - Freddy Moonlight
22. Grey Clouds (2020 Balearic Bastards Mix) - 2020 SoundSystem
23. State Of Mind - Motorcitysoul
24. Aye Aya Ashawa (Mathias Kaden Remix) - Pheek
25. Heater - Samim
26. Charlotte - Reboot
27. Back To The Time (Original Mix) - Paul Ritch28. Perce-Neige (Original Mix) - Pheek
29. The Grass Is Always Greener - Jichael Mackson
30. Rej - Âme
31. In White Rooms (Elektrochemie Remix) - Booka Shade
32. Ewilco - Cab Drivers
33. Remember Love - Nôze
34. Soul in a Bottle - Jay Haze featuring Big Bully & Sven VT
35. Programmer - Martin Buttrich
36. Nightshade (AlexKid Club Remix) - AlexKid & Liset Alea
37. E.C.G'ed (REKID Remix) - Mr. G
38. Reflection Nebula 056N (Original Mix) - Tadeo
39. Honolulu (Digitalines Kamehameha Version) - Digitaline

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MICKEY MOONLIGHT

do as little as possible, as quickly as possible, with as little thought as possible.

i am not being flipant, i really do mean it.
generally i believe this philosophy makes for "better" results. but it's not as easy as it sounds.

this song is taken from the album mickey moonlight & the time axis manipulation corporation. thirteen brief and inconsequential images...glimpses of scenes flickering by...

mickey moonlight - process part 044 (music for responsible reprogenetics public service broadcast) by modyfier