Each week, FACT trawls through the untamed world of free mixes, radio specials and live blends so you don’t have to.
Hyperdub pop fantasist and YMO-ultrafan Jessy Lanza leads this week’s picks, alongside mixes from UK techno producer Mark Forshaw and New York-based MPC enthusiast Gut Nose. For something completely different, there’s also a mix of Iranian women singers and musicians.
Jessy Lanza
NTS Radio, February 15
Jessy Lanza appeared in the famous NTS Radio cabin for a one-off show this week, and it was filled with ‘80s classics, contemporary R&B jams and club bangers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear Janet Jackson in the same mix as Detroit minimal legend Daniel Bell, this is your chance.
Sim Hutchins
Mix for The Astral Plane
Tapping into memories of home-spun tape adventures, Sim Hutchins’ mix for The Astral Plane is in thrall to exactly the right kind of nostalgia. The Body Count cohort chops together edits of DJ Fatz, DJ Assault, Kerri Chandler and more for a super crunchy mix that sounds like DJ Screw being whizzed up in a NutriBullet. Hutchins himself says it’s “a nod to screw tapes, lo-fi ish and cassette hiss (parental advisory sticker pending).”
Gut Nose
IA Mix 205
New Yorker Gut Nose smacks together a smog-laced mix of busted house moves and hip-hop memories on his beloved MPC to celebrate the release of Escape The Matrix, which appears on one of FACT’s labels-to-watch this year, Styles Upon Styles. “The MPC is like an extension of my mind,” he told Inverted Audio. *Hits blunt*
Arandel
Bog Bog: The Electronic Ladyland mixtape
A celebration of oestrogen-powered electronic legends covering the years 1937-1990? Yes please. French producer Arandel has packed 35 female artists into a 45-minute homage of sci-fi sounds, featuring household names Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, Pauline Oliveiros and Laurie Spiegel, as well as recently unearthed outsider The Space Lady. It also pays heed to lesser-known talents like Maggi Payne.
Mark Forshaw
February 2016 DJ Mix
UK techno producer Mark Forshaw has been gaining a formidable reputation with belters for Tabernacle, Mathematics and Berceuse Heroique over the past few years. His DJ mixes are just as fearsome, blending the best techno from Detroit, Berlin, the UK and beyond into a maelstrom of kick drums and acid basslines. Expect Voices From The Lake, Joe Claussell, Mike Dehnert, Stanislav Tolkachev and more.
Moji Taali
Voice Of Iranian Women #01
And now for something completely different: an hour-long mix of Iranian women singers and musicians. Their voices have been suppressed in their own country in recent years, with women forbidden from singing unless they are accompanying a man. Moji Taali, the Berlin-based fan who compiled the songs, turns the tables on this sexist divide by relegating the men to supporting musicians.
