Our mix series 'Look at the State of It' hopes to examine the state of contemporary music, with a focus on 'functional' music. Its curation is a broad selection of well-informed musicians and DJs, who are asked what they think about the state of music, and where it stands in contemporary art and culture. The mixtapes are accompanied by a piece of writing, that should help the listener to understand where these perspectives come from.

Look at the State of It:

music is resistance
music is therapy

I listen and I feel
I feel and I understand
I understand, maybe stumble
then realize that what I heard is something I haven’t heard before.
and it makes me question:
if I never experienced this so far
could this be another truth ?
could this be another fantasy ?
Is there an answer to my question of longing ?

this set shows a lot of my favorite artists and spotlights juke and
jungle and everything hybrid in between and around as the styles that
influences me most: they can be soothing, stressful, weird, funny,
groovy. challenging our listening and dancing behavior and I can’t
express my gratitude for these genres & their artists.

@jpeglove

Tracklist:

Totems - Twin Sepal
DJ Noir x Sonic D x Jae - State of Emergency
3LLL - Waverhythm
Djrum - Sex
Etch - Lost Angeles
N9oc - 171119
Paz China - Digital Sleep (Unposed)
Nara Vaez - (brilhou parceira)
RP Boo - 02-52-03
808 Catz - Roses
DJ CRAIG - stayjazzy
DJ Mastercard - without sound 2k17
Kush Jones - Tales
DJ Mastercard - KILLA
DJ Earl - Forgiveness N 2020
Gator Preserve - Mulholland Drive
Premis - D’tone (Unposed)
Totems - Suspend/Murex Snail
Ray Kandinski - Sunrise
Xyla - Ways
Jana Rush - Divine
Marcelulose - Ketabeat
Machine Girl - Electronic Gimp Music (Satan is my GF Mix)

#11 LATSOI: jpeg.love

"Here's me getting overly excited about LIFE becoming functional again. I think this sentiment can shine through the void that many of us have. I've also consumed way too much science fiction over lockdown so maybe the most apt destination for this mix is the one we wake up to shortly, idk. Either way, some angular music pieced together with the body in mind, plus a little added friction synthesised from the air we don't want to breathe" - Acrobatics

#12 LATSOI: Acrobatics

"In this mix I explore the modulation, segmenting, processing and, abstraction of voice as a unifying element. I like to imagine the meaning and message imparted by them vs. derived by me, thru the semantics of selection and omission, vs. the way it makes me feel. Even ‘meaningless’ phonemes and non-lexical vocalisations become imbued with signification — when contextualised in2 rhythm, texture, grain, and other sonic elements that resonate with heightened aural, tactile & optic experience" – @sequentia666

Listening suggestion: wonked out solitary confinement

Hope you enjoy! Big ups to all the artists and n go $upport them

Tracklist:
Mistareez - Affection
First Epoque - Epoque No. 7
Ramses - Mankey Version
Cassius Select - Fake Death
Zuli - Robotic Handshakes in 4D
Deadhand ft. Sensational - Touch (ETCH’s Pink Ladies in Space Remix)
DJ Pitch - Think I Didn’t
Kincaid - Inside (feat. J. Caesar)
Vanessa Worm - 0000
Low Khey - Click of Death
Box 5ive - Brick
Eyra - Rucula
Syz - Bunzunkunzun (Yushh's Droop Remix)
FAFF - Flan
Debba - Shimmer
Korin Complex - Wait
Honeydrip - Outta Here
Supreems - Two Faces

#13 LATSOI: Sequentia

Potato knishes
Potato knishes
I love potato knishes
This machine creates potato knishes
This is where I make potato knishes
The magic and the mystery of potato knishes
Little black squash balls
This machine creates little black squash balls
It turns potato pancakes into little black squash balls
This is where I make centipedes
I sure love to make centipedes
I turn little black worms into centipedes
I turn little black worms into centipedes

by WEȽ∝KER [@dujat & @joebeedles]

#14 LATSOI: WEȽ∝KER

We are beaming to introduce to you our mix series - 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 - with a mix recorded live on a drizzly night, by a true aficionado of all manner of music. To accompany the occasion: a pensive and delicate poem by another magnificent Scot, shrouded with just a little melancholy.

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙,
𝙄𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚,
𝙄𝙩 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙖."

(Robert Louis Stevenson)

#01 LATSOI: Murray CY

“Sound in our understanding is the ultimate nature and foundation of all reality which is vibratory in nature. In other words, matter is simply vibration at a certain harmonic. Consequently, as one shifts the harmonics one can move out of matter into energy. The ships that we originally used for space exploration and for entering your solar system were based on sound or vibration.”

(𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭: 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 1996.)
 
Selected and mixed by @tadan127

#02 LATSOI: Tadan

We’ve been soundless on the mix front of late - been busy. Busy, busy in vacuums of other systems. All this wandering inside, outside of Space has jaded us. But that’s how we met Uasmi Nasser, on a serendipitous and distant orbit way out near Epsilon 42...

He shared with us a live transmission, and wanted us to imagine it as a journey through diverse planetary cultural experiences. He told us that this journey, is all about the listener. It's like how a DJ interacts with people on dancefloors, how they dramatically change the story of their mix. He wants to achieve this with his live set: flexibility and intrigue, unexpectedness.

You know, he reckons we will see some huge leap. Something will change in music, and it will feel like something big. Right now, we all try to disrupt it, only to come up with something radically new. 

With that, we leave you to consider this quote, while you delve into the probing mind of Uasmi Nasser: 

“It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.” Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1979)

#03 LATSOI: Uasmi Nasser

We asked Benny Video of the 'World Crime League' what he thought of the State of Music and how it fits into spaces as functional art forms.

The League responded. Here is what they thought: (click play)

#04 LATSOI: World Crime League

"'the music's back on the internet now' - that one, like I downloaded it all, and now it's back, it's where ppl listen, find and forage. Can't say I find too much music off it." - Fray Mysterio.

#05 LATSOI: Fray Mysterio

"Without looking at any definitions of functional music, all music is functional 2 me. At least the music I interact with. Every melody, every sound, creates and expresses particular feelings - containing a function. This mix of sounds and melodies focuses on flowing energy through different territories without reaching the peak, carrying a function of physical interaction with more delicate/deep emotions/feelings" 

- @drmystery

tracklist: 

buttechno - dungeon 2 
VC-118A - protocol
Metrist - Ol Face You Got 
Umwelt - Reflections On A Strange existence 
L.F.T - Endless Octopus
Minimum Syndicat - dx renegade 
Robert Armani - Canon
Dj Deeon - 604 
Toni Moralez - Ghetto techno 
Omma - 1905
Jam City - Barely a trak 
Galaxian - External Observer
Skee Mask - TH808
Pavilion 
Gooooose -  Integer 
Simo Cell - A wink gone wrong 
Erik B + Rakim - paid in full

#06 LATSOI: DR MYSTERY

"Music, more than any other art, has an extensive neuropsychological representation, with direct access to affectivity, control of impulses and emotions, and motivation. It exerts great influence on the individual's behaviour, it is one of the fastest and most effective ways to promote the balance between the human being's physiological and emotional state, and that brings them physical and psychological well-being. It produces an exciting effect by increasing the rhythm of breathing, blood pressure and heart rate as a result of sympathetic autonomic activation that produces a feeling of increased alertness."

@albindj
@yellowislandrecords

#08 LATSOI: ALBIN

"I put this mix together hoping to make something with peaks and valleys. Moments to move your body and moments to take a break. My sensibilities lean on softer and dreamier, but not exclusively. I also tried to put together music with distinctly different environments, like scenes in a movie. I find that my favorite mixes usually do this. All recorded in one take, so there’s a few seams showing, but I like it that way. From my ears to yours, hope you enjoy!" - @cofaxx

#09 LATSOI: Cofaxx

Life-changing
Near-death experience
Mystical-type exploration
Long-term therapy
Resource for mental well-being
Pain reliever
Ceremony or ritual
Transcendental meditation
Timeless attitude
Lighting phenomenon
Death anxiety reducer
Awaking ritual for sensuality existence

Music-based culture as a modern mantra:
 "make them dance, and make them think." — DJ Spooky

— One body - one mind

@mimilk
@mitaminelab

Look at the State of It:

INDEX:Records