Each week, FACT trawls through the untamed world of free mixes, radio specials and live blends so you don’t have to.
This week, we’ve got techno from Young Male, a chakra-aligning mix from Christina Vantzou, Hyetal, Deadboy on NTS and an all-Drake special.
Hyetal
MISSYOU mix
Hyetal’s always loved tugging at heartstrings, so no surprise that this new mix – which features some of the UK artist’s first new music in a while – features plenty of weepies, from doo-wop to post-punk to new Hyetal sketches and ideas, all bathed in neon lights. It is called MISSYOU, after all.
Deadboy
Fireworks Special
The Guy Fawkes of grimbient settles in for his now-traditional Fireworks Night set on NTS, treating us to sparklers like Hunee’s quivering prog journey ‘Bruises’, Scott Walker’s impossibly majestic ‘Boy Child’ and the charred rumblings of Lee Gamble’s ‘M25 Echo’. He’s got rather good taste, that Deadboy.
Christina Vantzou with John Also Bennett
Norman Records Podcast #12
This chakra-aligning mix by Kranky composer Christina Vantzou and sound artist John Also Bennett, made to highlight the release of Vantzou’s new record No.3, will manoeuvre your garbage-addled mind into lotus position in no time. Synth whorls float into choral clouds twist into gut-soothing drones across pieces by Popul Vuh, Dolphins into the Future, Steve Hauschildt and Jeff Bridges; let it sink all the way in.
Hipsters Don’t Dance
Drake & Friends Special
In case the endless ‘Hotline Bling’ talk hasn’t put you off Drake for life, Hipsters Don’t Dance played two hours of his tracks and guest spots on Radar Radio this week. If you’re on the other side of the coin and the memes have left you wondering who exactly this Drake guy is, then this is about as good a primer as you could hope for.
Romare
Rough Autumn Mix
Some wickedly overdriven, sweat-soaked, bish-bashing house in this “rough autumn mix” by Ninja Tune’s Romare, who nails that mulchy midnight mood by weaving together tracks from Mr. G, The Black Madonna and UTTU’s Night Owl and giving the faders a workout to boot. One to push your house party into “fuck it, the neighbours hate us anyway” territory.
Young Male
IA Mix 195
Young Male has always taken a slightly more hard-edged approach than his White Material cohorts. His style hasn’t mellowed in the years since his first release, but it has been refined to resemble something much sleeker and more incisive as this mix for Inverted Audio shows, which contains tracks from Alvin Aronson, Terrence Dixon and more. If you like what you hear, he’s playing London’s Bussey Building tonight.
