Name: The Science of Preference by Joshua Warmuth
Duration: 4 min 31 s
Description: Discover the fascinating process of how our preferences form and evolve through exposure to new experiences. This piece dives into the science behind neural networks, how familiarity shapes our likes and dislikes, and why embracing the unfamiliar can expand creativity, empathy, and personal growth. Perfect for those curious about the interplay between psychology and self-discovery!

Discover the fascinating process of how our preferences form and evolve through exposure to new experiences. This piece dives into the science behind neural networks, how familiarity shapes our likes and dislikes, and why embracing the unfamiliar can expand creativity, empathy, and personal growth. Perfect for those curious about the interplay between psychology and self-discovery!

The Science of Preference

Pingipung Podcast 178 is here and it comes with exciting news. We’re thrilled to welcome Iko Chérie to the Pingipung family. Her debut single will be released with us this September, followed by a full album in November. More on that soon.

The London-based artist says about her mix: 

"My mixes usually start with a little spark and then become stories running on free associations, this is how this one goes:
 
Someone very dear to my heart once told me love was a choice. I found this idea both interesting and slightly mind contorting. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. It’s the love versus fear thing, I realise you do have to be brave to chose love because there is vulnerability attached to it. 
Love is the thread running through this mix. 
Starting with Chantage, an amazing 80s project by Vivien Goldman and Eve Blouin, opening with the moment they sing about love as a scary feeling. We leave the apprehension behind, take a deep breath and dive in! 
Next comes Brenda Ray, she is a huge influence on me. Love Is The Most is such a great title, it is indeed the big everything, which naturally leads me to The Bigger Tuttiby my precious friends Valentina Magaletti and Zongamin, who I love very much and who, like me, are fans of Mad Professor, here dubbing out Massive Attack. Teardrop was written by Elizabeth Fraser in memory of Jeff Buckley, whom I discovered because the coolest boy at school had lent me his CD of Grace, I got into The Cocteau Twins much much later when I moved to London as an adult, but I still love both to this day. One of the best things about music is that it can transcend time. There is always so much to discover! For example this Lazy Love Dub, which is new in my life! Time Capsule has done such a wonderful job compiling Japanese dub gems, their Tokyo Riddim series is brilliant. Following up is some Capybara appreciation, I was very lucky to go to Haruomi Hosono’s London concert in July and that was my favourite gig of 2025 so far. It was extremely inspiring, really great musicians being so present in the moment and jamming those fantastic songs without being ostentatious in any way, just feeling it. That made me happy. Is Happiness also a choice? Maybe more of a state, impermanent in essence as sung by Gina Birch… I had the pleasure of playing drums, singing and co arranging this song with Gina. I am proud of that one, a lot of love went into it. 
Next is a Pingipung number, Marewrew perfectly remixed by Elijah Minnelli, this 7 inch has been in my DJ bag for a while, it goes with everything, for example this Housey banger by Fcukers which I put in the tracklist because bass is one of my favourite things “Come and hit me with that bass” would be my request to the DJ most times…  Froid Dub also have a thing with bass, I am super excited about a remix they have just done of one of my songs that will soon come out on Pingipung, On The Nose is an extract from their latest album. 
As this mix comes to an end I wanted to express my love for Palestine so I chose this track by Faten Kanaan from a compilation called Letters To The Sun, full of amazing music and raising funds for The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature. The atrocities must end and the perpetrators be judged. International law has been flouted for too long in the name of greed and hatred. Private Armies resonates deeply here, what is going on is really out of order. This mix starts and ends with the voice of Vivien Goldman because she is a visionary with an essential message that is so relevant today. I was lucky to play percussion for her in London and when we sung the lyrics “Blood everywhere” I really felt it. I hope we make the right choice very soon, love could bring so much joy if we gave it a chance."

@iko-ch-rie
https://www.instagram.com/iko_cherie

For any track list requests please send us a private message.
Up next: Mme Bing

Pingipung Podcast 178: Iko Chérie - The State of Love (Summer of 2025)

Pingipung proudly introduces Iko Chérie, the experimental pop project of French multiinstrumentalist Marie Merlet. The 7'' single "Ghosted Ghosters of the Holy G" offers a first glimpse into her forthcoming LP, Soft Centre (Pingipung 093, 7th Nov 2025) — a hypnotic blend of dub-infused songwriting and blissful noise.On the flipside, French electro-dub visionaries Froid Dub unravel the track into a shadowy, slowmotion version, with a solid sub-bass, flickering delays and half-heard whispers.

Iko Chérie says about the single: “The melody and structure came to me in one go – I recorded a
draft on my phone at a party. It’s a playful take on ghosting karma, with ooh-oohs and a vocal line
inspired by the vibes of Lovers Rock.”

Trained in classical piano as a child, Marie Merlet shifted to teaching herself the guitar when she
discovered the DIY indie punk scene, she then studied jazz singing and electro acoustic
composition in Bordeaux before moving to London to play bass in Monade alongside Laetitia
Sadier (Stereolab).

With her solo project Iko Chérie, she crafts a surreal sound world of woozy incantations, Casio
drones, and reverb-drenched guitars, woven with processed spoken-word samples.
Beyond Iko Chérie, Marie Merlet tours globally with Gina Birch (The Raincoats) and is the
guitarist in psychedelic cumbia outfit Malphino. She also hosts a monthly Soho Radio show
championing women in music and curates a film & performance series at London’s Cinema
Museum.

Ghosted Ghosters of the Holy G

Get 7" / digital

Iko Chérie: Ghosted Ghosters of the Holy G (Pingipung 092 / 7", digital)

Schlammpeitziger from Cologne is making unique electronic music since the early '90s. His tracks are full of wordoplay and twisted melodies. 

Schlammpeitziger is releasing records on labels such as Kompakt, Bureau B and Pingipung. What is often forgotten: He is a great DJ, too. 

🌐 "Outsiders" is our daily show hosted by labels, collectives, venues, clubs, ... worldwide 
📡 Connect with the Outsiders, every day, at 9 am or 9 pm CET 
🔗 kioskradio.com

Outsiders: Pingipung w/ Schlammpeitziger @ Kiosk Radio 23.09.2025

Iko Chérie: Ghosted Ghosters of the Holy G (Froid Dub Remix) (Pingipung 092 / 7", digital)

A short story inspired by the mix:

A séance conducted in foreign tongues is interrupted by whirlwinds that engulf and carry away the bodies of the participants. At the same time, several hundred metres below the surface in a stalactite cave: if you listen carefully, you can hear fragments of a heated discussion taking place while strange artefacts are being packed away. The melody of a sitar plays on the radio, but the radio waves are repeatedly disrupted by the presence of the artefacts. Annoying. We return to the planet's surface, where the swirling winds have dissipated and the participants in the séance have been released. They now make their way to a temple to devote themselves to the next ritual. Apparently, they cannot get enough. But what is that? Outside, a formation of shooting stars, attracted by the rhythmic ringing of bells during the ritual, begins to fly around the building, disturbing the concentration of the participants who are in the process of falling into a trance state. Upset, the people rush outside and want to catch the cheeky rascals. A wild chase ensues. One of the participants manages to grab hold of a glowing tail and is pulled upwards into the galaxy. As the two fly together through the dark expanses, they observe strange beings on a silver planet forming a mysterious sculpture out of light. When they land, they notice that this object appears to be being erected as part of a celebration. They see a parade approaching, consisting of constantly morphing, transparent creatures performing their ecstatic dances before their astonished eyes. In disbelief and amazement, the human rubs his eyes, but the journey has only just begun...

https://soundcloud.com/baldruin
baldruin.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/johannes_schebler

For any track list requests please send us a private message.
Up next: Heiko Gogolin

Pingipung Podcast 179: Baldruin - Kaleidoskopische Phantasmen

Soft Centre is the new album by Iko Chérie, the solo project of French-born, London-based multi-instrumentalist Marie Merlet. She blends dub-inflected textures, pop tinged vocals, reverb-drenched guitars, Casio drones, and warm experimental noises – creating her own intimate, fragile sound. 

Self-produced and largely performed by Merlet, the album grew from an introspective process, with many sketches recorded in transit between tours. The result is a deeply personal work, balancing light and dark in a Lynchian dream-pop haze. Songs such as We Smoke That Peace Pipe and Bilbao shimmer between vulnerability and resilience, while the single Ghosted Ghosters of the Holy G captures the immediacy of a one-take dub bass. Some pieces retain the quality of improvised snapshots (Intelligent Women, Half a Metaphor) while others reveal her meticulous production process and songwriting craft (Tears in the Sea, Luciférine). Merlet defines Soft Centre as alive in radical tenderness, unguarded, open, and vivid.

Influenced by Clarice Lispector’s prose, Diane di Prima’s poetry and Rachel Carson’s environmentalist writing, as well as Marie’s fascination with a vintage Roland Space Echo, the album is an invitation to connection that she describes as “... hopefully a meditation into healing.” 

A versatile musician trained in classical piano, jazz, and electroacoustic composition, Merlet has long moved between different worlds of sound. She has worked with Laetitia Sadier in Monade, performs with Gina Birch (The Raincoats), Malphino, Yama Warashi, and several other groups, she recently appeared on the latest Stereolab album.  
Her debut solo LP, Dreaming On (Elefant Records, 2015), revealed her singular melodic instincts; with Soft Centre she ventures further inward, shaping her own distinctive voice in experimental pop.

“Through an unseen threshold lies a room of warmth, stitched with melodies of quiet hope"
Valentina Magaletti

“Marie Merlet aka Iko Chérie has landed new music of a divine nature. Divine because it speaks of the Ocean, it speaks of witches, it speaks of justice and things unseen, it speaks to sensitive people who know that there is importance in telling our truth and making a just noise that may find its echo in the dark, amplified by the atoms of resonance, coming to life through a song with a wholesome story.”
Laetitia Sadier

“Iko Chérie has the soundtrack for your dreams. A soft and warm embrace that invites us to navigate this world with an open heart.”
Coco Maria

Get LP / digital

Iko Chérie: We Smoke That Peace Pipe (Pingipung 093 / LP, digital)

https://soundcloud.com/heiko-h-gogolin
https://www.instagram.com/gogolinho303

For any track list requests please send us a private message.
Foto: Janina Hille

Up next:  Donna Luetjen

Pingipung Podcast 180: Heiko Gogolin - An Excellent Word About Silence

A trip to space and back with Iko Chérie for Kiosk Radio.
 
I have always been fascinated by the idea of travelling into space. Not through the use of rockets but through the power of the mind, connecting to the incredible reality of galaxies, solar systems and constellations by zooming into them internally from a comfortable place on Earth… 

The best way for me to do so has always been through music and meditation, so here are a few trippy numbers for that purpose, from ambient to jazz, for discovering alien pebbles when you stare long enough in your lover’s eyes.

🌐 “Outsiders” is our daily show hosted by labels, collectives, venues, clubs, … worldwide
📡 Connect with the Outsiders, every day, at 9 am or 9 pm CET
🔗 kioskradio.com


Outsiders: Pingipung w/ Iko Chérie @ Kiosk Radio 25.11.2025

(A little ode to the minor key)
This mix holds 16 tracks—14 of them in minor. Not by design; I just gravitate toward minor the way a cat curls up by a warm stove. Heavy, hazy, comforting. When November’s first grey, misty days drift in, I start to bloom. Minor, to me, is comfort and quiet bliss— a kind of longing that doesn’t need to be fulfilled, because the longing itself is the beauty.
Welcome to my world.
(If you can spot the two major-key tracks, tell me—I'll send you two more in minor as a gift)

https://soundcloud.com/donna-luetjen

For any track list requests please send us a private message.
Photo: Maneki Neko

Up next: Sallad Egg

Pingipung Podcast 181: Donna Luetjen - A place to fall apart

Hello, I run a massage business in Fitzroy North Melbourne proudly named Balanced Bodywork. I have been creating meditations and allowing others to enjoy the benefits of relaxation and positive thinking. Please enjoy the paraliminals which are filled with positive messages and visualisation to increase success in your life.

The Science of Preference

Joshua Warmuth

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