Mixes

Weird Trip

seebillah

Forest Drive West's DJ set at Monument Festival last year was an unforgettable experience, featuring a mesmerizing blend of mid-tempo rollers, tribal sounds, and seamless transitions between drum n bass and techno that kept the crowd dancing in the light rain of the Sunday afternoon.
 
His masterful mixing skills were on full display, showcasing why he is one of the most innovative artists in the scene.

Have you secured your ticket for this years edition yet? Glamping Lavvos are finally available as well. Check https://festival.mnmt.no/

Join the Festival 2023

Monument Festival 2022: Forest Drive West

DSS 095 comes from the German town of Stuttgart. Nils Edte has developed a rather recognisable sound when it comes to his productions. Blending deep, organic and ambient sounds to create hypnotic and atmospherical tracks.
Together with Laima Adelaide and Tama, he runs Predawn Records. A perfect platform to promote and develop his vision on electronic music even further.

@edte-1

DSS 095 | Nils Edte

recording of my opening set for the Crevasse IX Party w/ Kontinum, Medha, Satoru @ Unter Null, Leipzig - 07.12.2024

Crevasse IX @ Unter Null Leipzig 07.12.2024

Recording of my opening set for the KassaClub Party w/ Mareena & Hannes @ Kassablanca Jena 25.10.2024

KassaClub w/ Mareena & Hannes - Opening Set @ Kassablanca Jena 25.10.2024

We first came across Funes through his engaging sets, continuously unfolding layers that pull you deeper in. When we got in touch, he shared his perspective on music beyond the club, how he uses it as a personal outlet to channel emotions and craft something beautiful. For Funes, music isn't just something you listen to; it's a space to reflect, lose yourself, and create a meaningful connection with the world around you, something we deeply resonate with. This podcast is a continuation of his exploration of sound and self.

Through this mix, Funes invites you to experience deep, melancholic pads, cinematic textures, hypnotic rhythms, and the heartbeat of techno, dub, noise, and experimental elements. He also integrates music without a beat, reflecting his love for breaks and bass. His vision extends beyond the dance floor: "With my music, I want to create a special sphere that goes on a deeper level where you have to engage seriously with what you are listening to," he shares. “Music for me also has a significant relevance at alternative spaces, i.e., at home, where it is possible to take you on a kind of dreamy journey and open your mind in another way."

The release of Agonia in 2021 marked a defining moment in Funes's path. Self-released on Bandcamp, the album was deeply personal, created as a way to process the loss of his father who passed away three years earlier. “Life is very complex, and with music, you can give it a kind of sonic picture,” he explains. This powerful emotional outlet has become central to his artistic identity, allowing him to transform life’s contrasts—the dark and the bright—into inspiration.

By combining the track selection for this mix, Funes hopes to create spaces to forget, gain spirituality, and find meaning. 

We invite you to listen with the same openness that has fueled his creative evolution.

Tracklist:
Sa Pa - Deepwater Reprise
Loek Frey - Evane
Marco Shuttle - Ritmo Elegante
Formant Value - Funzione II
Crossing Avenue - Santica
Solma - Dry
Absis - The Wire
Vardae - San Caravan
Pianeti Sintetici - Gloomy Tundra
Minùr - October
Sciama - Charon
Sindh - Massane
Reeko - Urmah 5
Priori, Al Wootton - Seclusion
R-010 - Exhaust Pipes (Absis Remix)
Stenny - In a Distant Light

Follow Funes: 
https://soundcloud.com/fun_s
https://funes171.bandcamp.com/ 

Artwork by Nathalie Valenta

SKIN #029 Funes

@E2-E8's Luca journeys through an eclectic mix of Italian folk, psychedelia, and classic ambient works from the 70s to today at the Burning of The Clavie at @markandmarko.

The artwork is a collaboration between Adam and Mark to create cymatics from his sonic experimentation, and with each installment of the series we will explore turning a fraction of sound into light. 🎨

You can listen on Soundcloud, there’s a link above in the tree 🌲 X

Tracklist:
Alessandro Pizzin – Sunset On The Hill (Selected Works 1981-1993)
Walter Maioli, Nirodh Fortini – Esecuzione di suoni campionati con l’aggiunta di filtri (2001)
Telaio Magnetico – Live ’75 Parte III (1995)
Nirodh Fortini, Walter Maioli, Fred Gales, Raffaele Serra, John Zandijk, 
Edward Luyken – Ethnoelectronics (1986)
Juri Camisasca – Evoluzione Interiore (2018, Recorded in 1978)
Futuro Antico – Isole Del Suono (2016, Recorded in 1980)
Rosso Polare – Mana (2023)
Giovanni Di Domenico – Duos With Guitars (With Norberto Lobo) (2015)
Moon On The Water – Song Of The Veil Nebula (1985)
Valentina Magaletti – Rotta, Part One (2022)
Alessandro Cortini – Spie, Ovest (2016)
Donato Dozzy & Daniele Di Gregorio – Buchla & Marimba, Sessione 5 (2021)
Tommaso Cappellato & Astral Travel – World Traveller (Sitting Under A Tree Donato Dozzy Remix) (2016)

episode III ~ w/ Luca

It's an honour to welcome the lovely Joan Gila to The Observatory <3

A passionate music lover and record collector for over half his life, Joan is the curator of HOC Radio and a really beautiful label known as red edge (highly recommended if you're not familiar! stunning releases by ABSIS and Bastien <3). Alongside Javi .apart and his friend Jordi, with whom he runs the Binomi project, he co-hosts MostRadio.

https://soundcloud.com/joan-gila
https://soundcloud.com/hoc-radio
https://soundcloud.com/red-edge-label
https://soundcloud.com/binomi
https://soundcloud.com/mostrabcn
https://rededge.bandcamp.com/music

Some words by Joan about the mix:

"I always like to conceptualize my mixes. It helps me set boundaries and avoid falling into the endless musical rabbit hole - which, frankly, can be overwhelming. This particular mix took me time to find its definitive form. After my latest vinyl purchases over the past few months, as well as an exploration of CDs (a whole fascinating world in itself), I was finally able to define its premise.

The mix unfolds across four movements. Three of them are based on a deconstruction of a long-form minimalist drone composition, layering elements of field recordings, electroacoustics & musique concrète, or additional drones. Each movement explores textures, dialectics, and microtonalism respectively. In between, the remaining movement serves as a purely experimental interlude.

This time, I can’t provide a tracklist - I couldn’t even say exactly what I used or in what proportion. The selection flows together in a way that’s hard to pinpoint, with a mix of works and pieces that come together naturally. That said, I can share that it features a strong presence of musique concrète and electroacoustic works from the '70s and '80s, including artists like Jep Nuix, Olly Wilson, Hans Roosenschon, and Anne Ben Hammou, along with revered names in drone and minimalism like Éliane Radigue, Bernhard Günter, Sarah Davachi, or Toshiya Tsunoda. There are also more recent sonic experiments and compositions – names like Richard Chartier, Steve Roden, Pablo Diserens, Jana Winderen, ENA, or Lotus Eater - some of which we’ll have the chance to experience at Mostra. And of course, there are also tracks from friends - this time, Oisatsana, ABSIS, and Menhir."

Artwork by Clayton Ciolac
https://www.instagram.com/cccccclaytonciolac/

The Observatory - Joan Gila

"In every world where time takes flight,
Where dawns are born in endless night,
I search for you through stars unknown,
In realms of dream, my heart is sown."

Storytelling by @kontinum of @aequalmusic / @nebulakollektiv / @mnestic_records

✢

MFIS LX ✢ Kontinum

@syberkid creates a journey through the flames, leaving us with the burning embers of an eclectic mix of drone and ambient harmony. This was recorded live at the ‘Burning of The Clavie’ at MKII in London, on January 11th 2025.

This artwork is a collaboration between Sybil, Adam, and Mark, creating cymatics of sonic experimentation, and with each installment of the series, we will explore turning a fraction of sound into light. 🎨

episode IV ~ w/ Sybil

This contribution is a very special one, as it marks a new chapter in The Observatory’s sound… 

We will always be a home for ambient and experimental sounds. But, moving forward, we will also be exploring our love for dance music, with a particular focus on the deep end.

To begin this new journey and warm things up, we are so happy to welcome back Timnah, who gifts us with a two-hour recording of her set at Omen Wapta, ADE’24. A mind-bending traversal through ambient, drone, and halftime experiments, exploring the liminal spaces between the listening room and the dance floor.
~~
Timnah lives, works and feeds the cats in the Northwestern extremities of Switzerland. Brought up in her parents’ jazz clubs and deeply influenced by her brother’s love for dub and soundsystem culture, she started DJing just after the massively feared Millenium Bug had threatened to offset our relation to time and space. Dedicated to drawing her own map of late 20th century sonic landscapes, she spent the early 2000s exploring 90s electronics including breakbeat, triphop, ambient techno, drum&bass, house and jungle. After a short but sweet excursion into producing in the early 2010s, Timnah dedicated herself fully to spinning the wheels and transversing genres, gravitating towards her current signature sound that spans immersive sound baths and intergalactic carpet rides in half-time. Timnah is a member of Amenthia Recordings and a recent addition to the A Walking Contradiction Collective.
~~
Artist Support:

https://soundcloud.com/timnah-sommerfeldt
https://ra.co/dj/timnahsommerfeldt
https://www.instagram.com/timnah_amenthia

Artwork by Clayton Ciolac
https://www.instagram.com/cccccclaytonciolac/

The Observatory - Timnah @ Omen Wapta, ADE, 2024

INVEINS x Mostra \ Podcast \ OCCA

★‿★
recorded @abovebelowfestival 2024

e25.orbit01 - kim kenis

Funes!

steht für einen Sound zwischen Tiefe, Melancholie und cineastischer Atmosphäre. Hypnotische Pads, schwere Kicks, Breaks und beatlose Momente prägen den Stil kombiniert mit Einflüssen aus Dub, Noise und experimenteller Elektronik.

Inspiration zieht Funes aus dem Leben selbst, mit all seinen Höhen und Tiefen. Musik ist Ausdruck innerer Prozesse so etwa beim Debütalbum Agonia (2021), das als Selbstveröffentlichung auf Bandcamp erschien und den Verlust des Vaters verarbeitet.

DJ-Sets von Funes sind mehr als Tanzflächenbeschallung: Sie laden ein zur Reise, zum Innehalten, zum Eintauchen. Ob im Club oder zu Hause es geht um Räume, in denen Bedeutung, Spiritualität und Emotion entstehen können.

Seit fast zehn Jahren folgt Funes einem fein geschulten, intuitiven Musikgespür. Die Trackauswahl folgt keinem Schema, sondern einem inneren Filter, der sich ständig weiterentwickelt. Podcasts und Sets spiegeln persönliche Phasen und aktuelle Einflüsse immer mit dem Ziel, durch die Musik anderer Künstler*innen neue Klangwelten zu erschaffen.

[ENG]

Funes!

Stands for a sound that lies between depth, melancholy, and cinematic atmosphere. Hypnotic pads, heavy kicks, breaks, and beatless moments shape the style, combined with influences from dub, noise, and experimental electronics.

Funes draws inspiration from life itself, with all its highs and lows. Music is an expression of inner processes as in the debut album Agonia (2021), a self-release on Bandcamp that processes the loss of a father.

Funes’ DJ sets are more than just soundtracks for the dancefloor: they invite listeners on a journey to pause, to immerse. Whether in the club or at home, it's about creating spaces where meaning, spirituality, and emotion can arise.

For almost ten years, Funes has followed a finely tuned, intuitive sense of music. The track selection follows no fixed pattern but rather an internal filter that constantly evolves. Podcasts and sets reflect personal phases and current influences always with the aim of creating new sonic worlds through the music of other artists.




quartal. podcast with Funes

July is coming to an end and we're happy to present you our latest podcast by the Leipzig (Germany) based DJ and producer https://soundcloud.com/fun_s. Last year we heard Funes at the Kassablanca and he played an outstanding opening set. We had to ask him for a podcast and here we go. Enjoy this 65 minute vinyl only journey between ambient and dub techno!

Crevasse IX @ Unter Null Leipzig 07.12.2024

Fᴜɴes