"Between floating and intertwining layers of sound, balance is a subtle play of control and drift. Three sonic voices converse, shifting through the haze of effects - sometimes in harmony, sometimes unruly. At Temple, listening becomes a journey, a space where time suspends and the imagination tunes into its own frequency."

kitty soul (@kitty-soul) is a DJ, sound engineer, and producer, and the founder of the Oigovisiones Label (@oigovisiones-label), established in 2012, which specialises in ambient and experimental music. His musical style draws from genres such as noise rock, shoegaze, trip hop, jungle, and breakbeat, with a significant influence from post-rock and a conceptual approach inspired by John Cage. Using Technics and effect pedals as his main compositional tools, his sessions take on an experimental tone, designed for deep listening and the images evoked by sound. As a sound engineer, he has worked for over 15 years in the performing arts, providing sound for and collaborating with dance, theatre, and circus companies such as Ximena Carnevale (Ella, Demasiado Oscuro, Mise en Abyme), Cristina Quijera, and flamenco dancer Sergio Aranda. He has also composed pieces for audiovisual installations by artists such as Azael Ferrer (Wrapping Illusions, Kaleidescape) and Juan Carlos Tamajón (Decide, Shift).

Author's note: After more than two years without DJing, I had accumulated quite a few new records. The invitation to Temple was a great opportunity to debut them. Honestly, I didn’t expect the selection to turn out so deliberately Drone or meditative, as someone in the audience pointed out after the session, but after listening to it, I admit it’s very drone. I enjoy playing with three tracks at once, observing how they interact, and manipulating the mix with pedals, trying to maintain a balance between the artist's composition and the effects. Sometimes, it slips out of my control. This time, the set included tremolo and octave pedals, in addition to my usual reverb and delay effects.

Recorded at Espacio Perpendicular (@espacio-perpendicular) during the temple chptr. 7 † musical bond for listeners † 04·01·2025 w/ dj ilmajaam  ‡ kyria libia & laura lavigny ‡ milo ‡ truglut ‡

#temple_for_listeners is an event dedicated to attentive listening and static dance, curated by Camu and Josephine's Soundscapes for Espacio Perpendicular.+

HOCast #230 x temple chptr. 7 - kitty soul

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

"A voyage through shifting soundscapes, where sound mutates, evolves, and flows like a dream. Fragments of time, woven into an endless story, shifting between the familiar and the unexplored. A trip through textures and harmonies, where meaning dissolves and reassembles, guided by intuition. The destination is unknown, but the journey resonates long after the last note fades."

Âsan (@hassansiddiqui90) is a New York-based producer and DJ, and the co-runner of the prestigious underground label and mix series platform Cellar Doors (@cellardoorspace), alongside his friend Marek.

Author's Note:

I met Joan in the spring of 2024 when he visited New York for the Delayed Getaway in the Catskills. He’s one of those people who immediately draws you in - bubbly and lively. There’s a curiosity and energy about him, but also a certain mystery that makes you want to keep the conversation going. And that’s exactly what we did. We had long, winding discussions about all kinds of music - the kind you wouldn’t usually hear on a dance floor. It’s the kind of thing you only discover when music nerds get together. Our talks stretched from Japanese jazz to Sufi artists, and somewhere in between.
I already knew about the platform and the incredible artists who had been featured, so when Joan invited me to contribute, I was thrilled - but also a little lost. I had no idea what I wanted it to sound like. I knew I wanted to create something special (doesn’t everyone?), especially since I don’t often explore experimental or ambient mixes. That’s not to say HOC Radio is limited to that- there’s everything from drum & bass to techno, deep house, deep techno, and beyond. For six to eight months, I searched for tracks that could fit, some from my collection and others from my wishlist. I attempted the mix a few times, but it never fully clicked. The tracks were great individually, but together, something felt off. Sometimes, that just happens.
Then, a few weeks ago, a friend lent me his Sherman Filterbank and suggested I try it out, knowing I love alienating sounds. I hooked it up to my computer, ran samples, speeches, chords- anything I could find - through it, and spent weeks jamming. That experiment led to an hour-long piece that finally felt right - it became the foundation of my mix. Like a novel with a continuous backstory, this piece became my anchor, while my own music from the past two years fit in naturally as its chapters. I had finally found what I was looking for.

HOCast #232 - Âsan - LIVE

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

"Floating in an astral haze, where echoes dissolve and reappear - soft fractures of time bending into light. Melodies weave like distant tides, shifting without urgency, carrying you through unseen corridors. No gravity, no pulse, just the gentle drift of sound folding into silence, then back again."

Jay Keegan (@jaykeegan) is a passionate music lover, collector, and DJ living on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation (Sydney). He curates The Observatory (@thetheobservatory), a mix series exploring ambient and experimental music.

Mastered by Marcus Miller ( insta: holosuite_mastering)

HOCast #233 -  Jay Keegan

"We took our stuff to the moon, and we left it there."

A new interstellar adventure by Moon Patrol aka @irina-kotik & @gilleswasserman of @itsdelayed

✢

MFIS LXI  ✢ Moon Patrol

On April 22nd, Mostra took over Espacio Perpendicular for a few hours.

Mostra is an independent, small-scale festival of avant-garde and experimental electronic music that was born four years ago to nurture the Barcelona scene. Mostra is local, inclusive, and sustainable. An independent festival made in Barcelona for Barcelonans, but with international vision and reach.

The event, which took place during the day, featured performances by Mattikk, Emilia Grima, Pillen, Doozer, Haara, and F-on.

Mattikk @ ExtraMostra x Espacio Perpendicular

@ultramarin-blau - Recorded at Box of Tangerine in October 2024

HARDCORE CHILLOUT 021 ULTRAMARIN

Snow on April 6th

25 4-6 renous

DM-77

Holmur's Dementophobia is a haunting exploration of the mental and emotional toll of dementia. A soundscape album that delves deep into the struggles of memory loss, confusion, and the disintegration of the self. Each track on this melancholic journey addresses a different facet of the disease – from insomnia and anxiety to the trauma of lost identity and the overwhelming effects of hallucinations. With its raw, atmospheric tones and heavy themes, Dementophobia offers a deeply immersive, unsettling experience that will resonate with anyone who has witnessed the devastating impact of dementia.

Marketed by Noisj
Published by Zero Tolerance Publishing

Holmur - Insomnia

Barcelona-based mix series, curated by @joan-gila
Supporting label @red-edge-label
Media for @mostrabcn



· News

RE_02: https://rededge.bandcamp.com/album/temps-boro
2025/04/17-20, Mostra 25 (https://ra.co/events/2039682)

· Events

TBA

Past

2024/11/09, Laut, HOC_04 w/Sciama, o.utlier
2024/06/20, Solstici by HOC, w/Breixo Martínez & Ivy Barkakati 
2024/03/28-31, Mostra Festival 24 
2023/04/6-9, Mostra Festival 23 
2023/01/14, Laut, HOC_03 w/Eric Cloutier, Nico 
2022/04/11-17, Mostra Festival 22
2020/05/16, Streaming, Σ_HOC w/Warks, Binomi
2019/12/6, Laut, HOC_02 w/C.P.I., Golden Bug, Binomi
2019/07/11, Abaixadors10, HOC presenta "Tremendo line up" w/AntiDroneSquad, D&G, Binomi b2b Melens 
2019/05/17, Laut, HOC_01 w/Marc Piñol, Binomi

HOCast #232 - Âsan - LIVE

HOC Radio

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