A Strangely Isolated Place

As someone who enjoys the process of putting together mixes- specifically more conceptual ambient leaning mixes- I often think about how I would approach playing an event designed for sleep. I’m yet to play a set like this live, but I did tackle something similar in the Portals series by roughly mixing styles that aligned to specific sleep stages (eg, REM, deep etc). But in person, sleep is never as predictable as hypothetical sleep stages in a recorded mix, let alone the idea of a room full of people mirroring these stages at the same time. To approach an in-person set designed for sleep would be a daunting undertaking, but an extremely rewarding experience for both DJ and listener - the career highlight for an ambient DJ, maybe... They say the warm-up set is the hardest test for a DJ and I would tend to agree. But I’d love to see some of the world’s best DJs execute 3.5 hours of music for a room full of people looking to do the exact opposite of dancing, or even listening, for the entire duration...

Sa Pa has executed this concept flawlessly.

No stranger to the minutia and atmosphere needed to transport someone from a horizontal state into an elevated lucid dream, I can hardly think of anyone better to take control of such a situation than Berlin-based artist, Sa Pa. His latest release for Astral Industries (the undisputed label kings of lucid states, no doubt) is the perfect example of transportive and psychedelic ambient music down to the finest grain of sound, sample and texture.

If Sa Pa’s productions weren’t enough to demonstrate his transportive power and worldbuilding tendencies, then his recent captures from his own Absurd Lustre events, or his mix for one of our 9128.live takeovers, may have provided an additional glimpse of what to expect when he was given the reigns for an all-night sleep in event recently, in Leipzig.

“For years I've kept a mental cache of what music would I'd love to play at a sleep in, but was never really sure if there'd be a chance, so small some dreams came true that night for me too - it was a pretty rare experience I'd say especially with everyone there really taking part in the concept”.

It’s not often we get the chance to host a set from an event that by its very nature, is designed to be experienced in person, but after several trials of this mix (on a plane, going to sleep, and waking up from sleep, then all states in between), the concept translates to an outstanding headphone session and the perfect concept for a defining moment in the isolatedmix series of concepts and sounds.

“I think it was one of the deepest and most solitary DJing experiences I have ever been part of, and driving a three and half hour cloud through the pitch darkness was a beautifully liminal journey, caring for the dreams of those in the room, some 100-200 people or so”.

A 3.5hr liminal state available for your own time and place, in the gentle hands and ears of Sa Pa, displaying the very essence of horizontal ambient music designed to immerse, weave and transport. Featuring tracks from, Luc Ferrari, Zenxen, Pinkcourtesyphone, cv313, Jason Lescalleet, Yann Novak, BJ Nilsen, Robert Henke, Rod Modell, Ryoji Ikeda, Steve Roach and Sa Pa, himself.

Introduction and words from Sa Pa - ‘Diary of a Lonely DJ’:

There’s something about gazing out of a train window or being 30-thousand feet high up in the troposphere, that evokes a feeling of what we try best to describe as liminality. With this in mind, Deutsche Bahn had me scuttling toward Leipzig from Berlin on a typically stark and windy day that could of been taken right out of a Wim Wenders classic; the treetops lining Urbanstraße on the way to Hauptbahnhof looking as stripped and brittle as burnt skeletons in the snow.

Some 8-to-10 degrees warmer in Saxony, I arrived at a city shrouded in mist, with the darkness of the early afternoon somehow made a touch warmer by that first Friday-feeling of the year. Onwards to Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei - a converted cotton mill where this evening’s ‘Sleep In’ would take place - the 14 tram would rumble past the pink and lilac glow of the city’s opera house. Sleep Ins are no new thing, and to be in the arms of the proverbial morpheus with some 200 people in an industrial estate does have its abstract appeal, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a fan of the concept.

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As with all past ‘Reflection’ year-end mixes, I start with a collection of albums, EPs, and compilations I have enjoyed over the past year. Through the process of compiling a mix, tracks are selected from this extensive collection. This ultimately means many of my favorite tracks and albums are often omitted in this process, due to the organic process of compiling a mix, things don’t fit, or fall by the wayside. There are many albums I had on high rotation missing from this mix, but I have to stop somewhere. As I say every year, this isn’t a definitive ‘best-of’ list, but a selection of *some* of my favorite music from the year in one listenable format. It’s the most enjoyable way for me to boil down the music I’ve loved from the year using these self-imposed restrictions, for you to enjoy and hopefully discover more, and for me to reflect on time and time again - like a photograph that captures the year in music.

I encourage you to use the mix to explore each artist, listen to the album in full, and explore each label (and check the Buy Music Club list at the bottom). If you want to see the majority of music I’ve been supporting this year, head over to my Bandcamp collection. For the ASIP year-end label compilation, see the feature and mix here.

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Yikes, I crossed the 3-hour mark! Well, that speaks volumes to the amount of great music that was released this year, and I’m already feeling guilty about omissions from this mix. But alas, it needs to stop somewhere, the Holiday’s are coming...

This edition marks the tenth year in succession (2010 was the first mix but I skipped doing this for two years for some reason) and it is an extremely enjoyable exercise I look forward to every year. Revisiting many of the albums I’ve purchased throughout the year, and records from my shelf, then taking the time to absorb more recent releases - the process is cathartic (after the slight anxiety that builds knowing I have a beast of a mix to tackle, and hard decisions to be made).

Looking back at previous Reflection mixes, I am evidently a creature of habit and seem to gravitate to certain artists more than most over the years (we all have our faves), but I also take a lot of time to dig for new artists and approaches to music in this realm, and this year’s edition is probably the most varied in music styles since the Reflection series began. Ambient, field recordings, drone (Power-ambient, even), big saxophones (the flute revival didn’t make it ;-), Japanese left-field pop, deep techno, chugging techno, modern classical, experimental, jungle, breaks, dub and more... as you might imagine, this is a 3hr mix that feels more like a showcase than a DJ mix in the traditional sense, as I’m focusing on creating chapters of different styles, but I hope makes for an attentive listen if you’ve got 3hrs to spare.

Am I going to write about all 42 tracks? Not this time, as I don’t think there’s much I can illustrate other than ‘go listen to that entire album!’ but I will make a few observations on themes that emerged as I was going through this process.

Firstly, the far corners of Bandcamp are very much alive, so for anyone looking for alternatives given all the talk with Bandcamp this year, please don’t hit the escape button and continue to support us- I continued to find so many new labels and artists, some of which are included here such as Liis Ring, Etüüd, ǝɯǝɐ, Azu Tiwaline and not to forget a kick-ass Jungle community throwing out some lovely 90’s infused comps. Bandcamp keeps small labels and artists alive right now (only two of these tracks were physical releases and not on Bandcamp - #19 & #42).

I spent a lot of time listening to music that would work for the two shows I played in Japan earlier this year, and for those who listened back to one of the sets I posted, you may notice a few similar tracks/artists appearing here again which I’ve held in high regard since their release, such as Jo Johnson, Field Lines Cartographer and Endurance. On reflection, there was a lot of deepness for me this year that came from preparing for and inspired by those sets, sitting on the edges of techno with lots of synthesizer/Berlin school projects (as well as a couple of ...

ASIP is going on fifteen years of existence now (as a website and blog at least), and a few things have remained a constant over the years helping keep us going. One of them has been the support of Juno and in particular, Milo Bragg, who was the first distributor to take us on as a label back in 2013.

As many labels and musicians will know, it’s pretty hard to get your start in this world, and Juno can be held up as one of only a few who have kept an open ear to our style of music and given it a home (and subsequently many other labels like us). Over these past ten years or so, Milo and I have gotten to know each other relatively well, and more recently Milo has stepped into the label game with Future Primitive Records and can be found putting together some sublime vinyl-forward mixes.

I’m excited to find our worlds overlap here in the isolatedmix series, as Milo recorded a vinyl-only set a few months back and sent it my way, (after a long delay - sorry Milo - Good things come... etc etc.). Featuring several tracks and albums that have been on high rotation for me, it’s a superb trip that I think many of you will enjoy.

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You’ve worked at Juno for many years now, how has this shaped you musically? For example, I imagine getting exposed to a great amount of music over the years...

It’s definitely helped me find what I do and don’t like for myself. When I first started in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s I’d sit and listen through a massive pile of records at the end of each day and didn’t have to pay attention to press or DJs like most people back then, I could find the good shit for myself! Listening to the new releases in an office environment shaped my taste to be more chilled too. It just suits the environment, when I first started I was predominantly into hard club bangers :)

I’m interested to know a bit about your view on record labels within your role and what you think it takes to succeed as a label nowadays. Everyone knows pressing vinyl is hard, and securing a great distributor like Juno is just as hard and critical for further exposure. How have you seen things change for labels since you started at Juno all those years ago?

It’s so tough for vinyl labels now especially the new smaller ones doing really interesting stuff sadly. The visual side of things has become so important with stores using Instagram so much they need the record to look good. I think the “anti-marketing” days of just putting some clips up on Soundcloud are over sadly, I’m always so stoked on DJs/artists/labels that aren’t on Instagram but I don’t think you can escape it anymore, especially if you’re just starting out.

Juno has always been a great supporter of ambient music in general, giving a platform to many small labels such as ourselves over the years. What does it take in your opinion to secure a distributor like Juno?

Yeah, my boss Richard (one of Juno’s founders) loves his ambient :) If you’re not going to get a well-known artist involved at the early stages to help bring attention and get the label off the ground, the music (and artwork) had better be bloody good!

You’ve got your own projects going on too, with the Club Rooted mix series and the Future Primitive label, can you give us a brief intro into these?

Club Rooted was a product of listening to records in the Juno office with Matthew Kent (Blowing Up The Workshop/Mana) and suddenly realising they weren’t dance music anymore but still very much rooted in club culture. I got really excited about that zone and thread that runs through electronic music’s history. There are so many good labels pushing stuff that rides this line, and events too like Absurde Lustre (& more recently A New Wave) in Berlin run by Sa Pa & Blume.

How or why did you decide to start Future Primitive? (Did seeing labels at Juno all those years make you want to do something similar?!)

I’ve always been obsessed with vinyl labels so of course I’d want my own and it was a way of contributing to the scene without being a producer + I came across a lot of music through work by artists like Murcof & DJ Guy that was CD or tape only the label was a way of me getting those tracks onto wax! The original of The Leo Anibaldi track “Aeon Fusion I” from FPR001 was ...

The Observatory is a new mix series curated by Jay Keegan and has already featured a few of my favorite artists and DJs since its recent inception. I can tell that Jay has an ear for great sound and curators, so I’m excited to see where the series goes in the future and was honored to play a part in its path forward.

I took the opportunity to spotlight a few unreleased gems in this mix, as well as two very exciting ASIP releases in the works...

Recent contributions have come from the likes of, Jo Johnson, Toner (Liminal Dreams) , Gentle Force and Patricia Wolf. Listen to the full series on Soundcloud.

Here’s what I had to say about the mix when sending it over to Jay.

This mix came together over a 2/3 month period, as I've spent a large part of the summer between Oregon and California with family and haven't had much dedicated time to focus on a mix. Normally I approach mixes more conceptually, but this one came to life organically in pieces, over time. In hindsight, the mix reflects a specific period in time for me and a lot of my life musically over the past few months. From the unfortunate passing of Brian McBride (Stars of The Lid) and revisiting those brilliant albums nearly every evening; anticipating the new Lord of The Isles album after his standout isolatedmix this year; our latest label addition from Mary Yalex; music being sent to my inbox from new artists; and of course, a couple of upcoming ASIP releases that are keeping me busy lately. Thank you for having me as part of the series.