The Manchester-based head of YOUTH draws us into a hazy interzone of gauzy electronics and downbeat techno.
Over the past decade, Andrew Lyster has quietly gained a reputation as one of Manchester’s most esteemed DJs and label owners. As one of the team behind the cult club night meandyou., Lyster was responsible for early UK bookings of cult artists such as Frak, Kassem Mosse and Rezzett, cultivating his own style as a selector that leans towards foggy techno, 5am ambient and abstract dub frequencies.
Since 2017, Lyster has been the driving force behind YOUTH, a label whose output of scuzzy electronics and downbeat techno sits in an alternate musical universe. It’s a zone where likeminded artists such as Sockethead, FUMU and Shamos exist alongside the Transatlantic experimentation of Sharp Veins, Georgia and Bryce Hackford, a place that’s refreshingly removed from prevailing trends.
Lyster’s DJ sets and occasional radio appearances share the same exploratory spirit, looking between the cracks for sounds, artists and moods that elude many other selectors. DJ Lyster’s Fact Mix, which was recorded “on a lazy afternoon at Soup, Manchester,” is a set that effortlessly shifts between texture and tempo, combining music from Turinn, Kelman Duran, Silvia Kastel, Sockethead, 1012 and more.
“[The mix includes] quite a few bits that are coming up on the label this year, and a few bits that ‘never leave the usb’ lol,” Lyster writes. “Enjoyed putting this together, finding nice layer combinations and interesting segues.”
Find YOUTH’s catalogue on Bandcamp.
Tracklist:
Hajj – ‘Loosing U 4 Ever’ [Unreleased]
INFX – ‘Low Repeats’ [Klammklang]
Stonecirclesampler & Scott King – ‘Sheffield City Cuts’ (My Mind – Industrial Coast Mix)
Silvia Kastel – ‘Mantide’ [Unreleased]
Turinn – ‘Untitled’ [Unreleased]
Ottoswed – ‘وناس تموت حلو’ [Unreleased]
Sockethead – ‘Sian’ [Unreleased]
La Union Metalurgica – ‘Hora De Trabajar’ [Forthcoming L.I.E.S.]
FUMU – ‘Right Future Bounce’ [Unreleased]
Hanah – ‘Ou7ro5p3c71on’ [High Digital]
Hajj – ‘Reverse Catharsis’ [Unreleased]
1012 – ‘Untitled’ [Unreleased]
FUMU – ‘Untitled’ [Unreleased]
Martin Hannett – ‘First Aspect Of The Same Thing’ [Factory Benelux]
Kelman Duran – ‘For Whitney’ – [Boomkat Editions]
J – ‘Yellow Leaf Flutters On A Nail’ (mu tate remix) [Daisart]
Wojciech Rusin feat. Eden Girma – ‘Glass Coil’ [AD93]
SALELE – ‘LELELE For Pitch Division’ [Ominira]
Listen next: Fact Mix 846: Ehua
