FMB MIXTAPE 32 | LEISUREWARE

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Feel My Bicep

leisure

Back on the blog we got one of our favourite selectors Will Smith AKA Leisureware  up on the mixtape.  Last time we had him in the mix for the blog was back in December 2012, so its very nice to get him back 3 years down the line. Still throwing parties and now a regular radio show, we caught up with Will to ask him a little more about what else he is up to and about the mixtape…

“Pouring my energies into The Occasional Feel-Good, a cosmic little party that I run in a Herne Hill railway arch. Details are sent to a private mailing list, so there’s no Facebook spamming etc. Give me a shout if you’re interested: leisureware at gmail dot com.

I’ve also just started a regular slot on the most excellent Balamii Radio in Peckham, mainly playing krautrock and weird 80s bits.

The emphasis here is less on mix, more on tape. I was too busy making cocktails (1 part ice, 3 parts rum) to match beats. Once the lava lamps in my sweet new pad were fired up, the tracks chose themselves.

My selection is pitched somewhere between the dancefloor and a deckchair. Strange samples, foreign tongues and aquatic sound effects. (Perhaps some Simply Red…) Pretty much what you’ll hear at the night, albeit a bit more coherent.”

Up next…

“The Occasional Feel-Good is next happening on Friday 11th December at Island Arts Studio in Herne Hill. My Balamii slot is at 1pm on the first Saturday of every month from January. Aside from music, I’m currently perfecting my rustic bolognese recipe.”

FMB MIXTAPE 32 | LEISUREWARE 

FMB MIXTAPE 32 | LEISUREWARE (iTUNES)

FMB MIXTAPE 32 | LEISUREWARE (320 DOWNLOAD)

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FMB MIXTAPE 31 | DESERT SOUND COLONY

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Feel My Bicep

dsc

Been really enjoying the Desert Sound Colony project for a while now, mesmerising dreamy stuff! Can’t wait to hear his debut album next year and the forthcoming EP! Until there, he’s turned in a cracker mix for us! We caught up to see what else is in the pipeline:

“Last month I was lucky enough to go on a US tour with Bob Moses. We did 14 cities in 3 weeks on a bus and as you can imagine much hilarity ensued. Aside from the obvious messing about and stuffing our faces with American food we truly had some amazing experiences and the gigs were incredible!
 
The mix was recorded  at the studio on Traktor while drinking a nice hot mug of coffee and shacking out in my chair.
 
The previous mixes that I have recorded as DSC have all been for home listening and about as deep as the Mariana Trench. This time I wanted to showcase another side of my music collection and this mix is far more in tune with what I play towards the end of a set in the club, dark and grooving. Most definitely one for big speakers or decent headphones with low-end frequency response.”

Up next…

“We are working hard on music for a new EP and for our first album. These will be the first tracks that we record as a three piece in the studio so I am majorly looking forward to that. We are also off on a small European tour with Bob Moses next week starting in Amsterdam.”

FMB MIXTAPE 31 | DESERT SOUND COLONY

FMB MIXTAPE 31 | DESERT SOUND COLONY (320 DOWNLOAD)

FMB MIXTAPE 31 | DESERT SOUND COLONY (iTUNES)

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FMB MIXTAPE 30 | MELLA DEE

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Feel My Bicep

mella

Really been into lots of Mella Dee’s dreamy take on jungle, so we’re super excited to have him in the mix for us! His track Heaven was a big one in our sets this year and his forthcoming bomb “Deep Soul” is set to light things up further! We caught up with Donny lad to see what he’s been up to: 

“The same as always, I’m constantly writing new music and seeing what comes out. I recently started working on some new stuff with a friend in his studio, which has been a nice change. It’s been inspiring and a bit of a break from the battle it can be sometimes when working on music alone.  

This is mixed live, with the help of a friends studio in West London. Space is at a premium in my flat.

It’s a snapshot of where my head is at musically, and the sort of stuff that I find interesting at the moment across techno, house and breakbeat sounds. I’m trying to focus on new music, and the way things are heading. It’s quite dark and heavy in general, that tends to be the way I play. “

Up next…

“More music, more releases, just experimenting and trying to see where I can go with sounds. I’m also working on stuff for my ‘Noface’ project, which is more tougher, techno sound and just generally looking forward to what’s in the future and the shows that I’ve got coming up. “

FMB MIXTAPE 30 | MELLA DEE

FMB MIXTAPE 30 | MELLA DEE (iTUNES)

FMB MIXTAPE 30 | MELLA DEE (320 DOWNLOAD)

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FMB MIXTAPE 29 | JAS SHAW

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Feel My Bicep

jas

Awesome mix from Jas Shaw, one half of the mighty Simian Mobile Disco! Many of you will remember the track we did together, Sacrifice, which was our first taste of working in a proper studio! These guys have been a big inspiration so it’s a pleasure and honour to have Jas turn in an amazing mix! 

“I’ve been alternating between making techno and building a studio. Building a studio really but that’s quite a chore if you just do that so I’ve been rewarding myself for plugging in and testing some outboard or synths by spending the rest of the day messing with them, the residue is techno. This whole process has been punctuated by weekends djing. It’s been great, I’ve made stacks of music and learnt a lot about building studios. It’s got to be said, I could do with a break from racking up gear and testing leads, I have a pretty high tolerance for that stuff but I reckon that I might have had enough of that for a bit.

I’m doing this in my studio, now I’ve got fancy pants monitors, a spinny chair and a treated room I’m completely spoilt and never want to leave.

At the risk of sounding like a just threw this together in a haphazard way, which I would never do, especially for you guys, there isn’t really a theory or concept attached to this mix. It would be disingenuous for me to claim that this is a musical voyage deep in the ocean of our collective consciousness. Now that you have mentioned it though I suppose that it’s kind of an indicator of some of the music that I’ve been gravitating to recently and the kind of thing that I’ve always bought but increasingly have the opportunity to play. While James has been away most of this year I’ve played quite a few smaller clubs where they let you play longer and the crowd are open minded. Without really thinking about it it’s pushed me to play in a slightly more confrontational way, actually that sounds mean which isn’t my intention. I guess I’ve just had more opportunities to make a crowd dance for a bit and then later get a bit more atonal. You know, really take them on a voyage deep into the ocean of… I’ll get my coat.”

Up Next…

“James is back in the UK, he’s spent most of is year producing records for bands so rather than take a well earned rest we have done what we always end up doing, we have set the live rig up in my studio and are mucking about.”

 

FMB MIXTAPE 29 | JAS SHAW 

FMB MIXTAPE 29 | JAS SHAW (iTUNES)

FMB MIXTAPE 29 | JAS SHAW (320 DOWNLOAD)

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FMB MIXTAPE 28 | GRATTS

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Feel My Bicep

gratts

Next up we got one of our  favourite Belgians in the mix Gratts. Like us he also curates a playlist for 22tracks for the Belgium edition. Now Berlin based together with Dj Kong he’s the founder of ‘ensemble’. He also runs various club nights there, including this party on Friday. We caught up with him to ask what he has on the horizon and what he has been up to.

“I’m moving house, which made me realize that I should probably let go off some records. Also my girlfriend Eluize and I started this new show in which we share some of our favourite records new and old. It’s called ‘Together’ which refers to ‘ensemble’, the name the Brussels based nights / label that Kong and I have been running for a good few years. Other than that I’ve been collecting some more studio bits and try to spend more time recording. October also saw the last edition of my club night ‘Beyond The Clouds’ in Berlin with some of my favourite London selectors, Toby Tobias and Jane Fitz. There haven’t been a lot of long walks on the beach, unfortunately.

The mix was recorded live at Spreewaldplatz on the very hottest day of Berlin summer.

Every day I’m pulling out records which always results in big piles everywhere in the room. One of those contained some dusty vinyls that I hadn’t played in a while and I felt like they could make sense together. So I spontaneously started recording and pressed stop a good hour later. Afterwards I threw in a spoken word favourite that I’ve been using in my dj-sets lately for good measure.”

Up next..

“Kong and I are releasing ensemble003 soon: remixes of two tracks taken from Belgian cult LP ‘Onze Danses Pour Combattre La Migraine’ (1977) recorded by Marc Moulin, Vincent Kenis and Marc Hollander. Actually the whole album was well ahead of its time, with elements of jazz, minimalism, ethnic music, classical and proto-techno. Parisian dj/producer Krikor spontaneously reworked two of the tracks to fit them into his dj-sets and we’re extremely happy to release them with the kind permission of Crammed (Marc Hollander’s own label). 
The last two months of 2015 will be spent at various spots in cold Europe until I jet off to Australasia in January to escape the Berlin winter. There are some cool shows lined up in Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne among other places. I especially can’t wait to take a long walk on the beach.”

FMB MIXTAPE 28 | GRATTS

FMB MIXTAPE 28 | GRATTS (iTUNES)

FMB MIXTAPE 28 | GRATTS (320 DOWNLOAD)

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