apr20

Up next are our dear friends The Zenmenn (@user-847972032) with whom we have a new 7" and more coming up soon. For the special occasion they came up with an unexpected mix extraordinaire while being generous in answering our questions. Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: When did the first idea for The Zenmenn project present itself? Did it start with a few existing songs, or is it a conceptual project?

ZM: A couple of years back we got the opportunity to join this cool studio run by a gentleman called Franz. We did some stuff with friends and at the same time we just began jamming and recording what we did, and eventually we had a couple of songs in our hands, that we thought sounded interesting, and it dawned upon us that we should spend our time working on our own stuff. The name The Zenmenn came later, probably most of the album was recorded by then. There are still some old jams on the Zenmenn hard drive filed under Pharaohs Lounge, which is one of the earlier name ideas stolen from an alcohol free coctail bar near the studio.

MFM: Quite some fans refer in their comments on the LP to the '80s and include terms like 'melancholic' and 'nostalgic'. What are your thoughts on comments like these? 

ZM: Oh that’s nice. It’s generally very nice to hear people describe our music. Today a guy told us he thought we sounded like an Ethiopian band played on 45 with John Mayer on top… could be something to it. 
But true - it’s not really a party record and some of the songs like topaz or homage to a friendship certainly have a nostalgic, melancholic tone. Also the 80s vibe is well helped along by the Dx7 that features on every song. The presets we use are mostly the legendary e piano which features in all the 80s power ballads and the amazing fretless bass that still sounds better than any of the other fretless bass presets we’ve come across. Harp and steel drum are also great.

MFM: If all your current equipment would break down and you'd have to work with newer instruments of modern technology instead, how would that affect your music? Do you think you'd still non-mistakenly sound like The Zenmenn?

ZM: Most of our keyboards are from the 90s or even early 2000s, like the Triton Le and the Casio Ctk900 with which we recorded this whole mix. The 90s stuff is way more affordable. In some way we would probably sound the same cause we don’t loop, quantize or produce music in a contemporary fashion, and we’re into certain chord progressions and grooves. If we wanna play one pattern for 5 minutes, that’s what we mostly do, and then you always end up with some embellishments and quirks. But making music comes a lot down to workflow and if we had some fancy new synth in your hands with a thousand effects, sequences and menu diving we would probably do something different. That could be cool too,  but at the moment we prefer the old school approach. 

MFM: Thanks so much for this very special "mix". Tell us about it please?!

ZM: We made a mix of tracks we liked but it didn’t really come across too original so we decided to take another approach. Magnus plays around on keyboards whenever he can, and the way we make music is mostly just jamming something and then giving it structure as we go along. Magnus made 2 jams and we put them together and chopped out things that didn’t seem to fit, but mostly everything is recorded in one go. Our friend Helen Wells came by and played some harmonica, guitar and tweaked some pedals. We overdubbed some Casio, cool voices etc. Ben had a couple of curatorial suggestions in the end and did some great spoken words. Since our first little tour this summer Magnus has been carrying around some small drawing books and has been noodling away. This has been a great influence on this mix where all the decisions have been quick, with a loose hand and not too many layers. We’re happy to have the opportunity to make a mix and we’re very inspired to do more just like this.

MFM Mix 037: The Zenmenn

I got to know Laurel (@silver-side-pony) via the growing bin website. Always loved their picks from the bin and so I got curious. Then I heard one of Laurels mixes and was sold. I am superhappy to share this almost 4 hour long sandwich with you... now handing over the keyboard. 
"Laurel hails from the rural North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) of Aotearoa, New Zealand. They enjoyed a few years observing Pōneke (Wellington)’s rambunctious and delightfully strange music scene at venues like Puppies and the revered Camp a Low Hum, before moving to Berlin.
This mix is the result of many quiet lockdown nights trawling bandcamp, deep dives into the (Growing) Bin, and excavating their record collection. Winding in and out of new music and old gems over 3.5 hours, the mix reflects their unease and excitement of heading back to parties after a long break. Laurel made sure to include some old well-trodden favourites, doing a big middle finger to the pressure to play new and “rare” tracks at every single outing.
Big shout outs go to Eyeliner (@disasterradio), Tania (@taniajust), Castro & Nemo (@sound-metaphors), Cáit (@caitfa), and Stella (@stella-zekri-ouiddir) for inspiration." 
Thanks a TON for this yummy mix Laurel!!

Laurel - Growing Bin Sandwich (Guest Mix, 2023)

https://www.nts.live/shows/panorama-heaven/episodes/panorama-heaven-7th-september-2022

Panorama Heaven w/ Bianca Lexis - Tracey Thorn special 070922

Recording of DJ Sundae's set at Dekmantel Selectors 2022.

Dekmantel Selectors 2022

DJ Sundae at Dekmantel Selectors 2022

"She rode with her hat pulled down in the front and fastened under her chin with a drawtie and as she rode her black hair twisted and blew about her shoulders and the lightning fell silently through the black clouds behind her and she rode all seeming unaware down through the low hills while the first spits of rain blew on the wind and onto the upper pasturelands and past the pale and reedy lakes riding erect and stately until the rain caught her up and shrouded her figure away in that wild summer landscape: real horse, real rider, real land and sky 
and yet a dream withal."

Artwork by @tamara-marrington

Cassette

...and yet a dream withal

Efficient Space's Swiss connection Ivan Liechti expands on his Ghost Riders compilation with an hour of North American coming of age garage ballads, salad day hymns and small town criers.

Image Credit: Elise Gagnebin-de Bons

https://www.nts.live/shows/efficient-space/episodes/efficient-space-20th-october-2022

Efficient Space w/ Ivan Liechti 201022

Delighted to host Brandon Hocura Influence mix on Oddity Radio for @seance-centre.

Brandon Hocura : Thinking back to my formative musical experiences brought back places, moods, and memories, mostly from my late teens and early twenties. For the mix, I wanted to connect those salad days with my long-term interests; basically I chose some foundational favorites and filled the spaces between them with sonic portals, linking then and now in my mind.

Turn on, tune in and don't drop out!

For regular updates please follow : www.instagram.com/oddityradio.fm/

Brandon Hocura - Oddity Influence Mix

Originally released as a cassette on 20 February 2021.

Mixed by @SKYRAGER

GMT28

GMT28 Skyrager - Rhizosphere (Side B)

The breezy sound of the Canadian Riviera, from Mood Hut's Pender Street Steppers.

https://www.nts.live/shows/pender-street-steppers/episodes/pender-street-steppers-7th-february-2023

Pender Street Steppers 070223

Recording of Terekke's set at the listening stage during Dekmantel Festival 2019.

Dekmantel Festival 2019

Listening Stage: Terekke at Dekmantel Festival 2019

BFTT - intimacy in breaks

Canadian DJ and producer Adam Feingold aka Ex-Terrestrial joins us for the 10th edition of the Off The Record Mix Series with an extra deep and ambient recording. Enjoy!

Off The Record Mix Series 10: Ex-Terrestrial

A collection of introspective pop... featuring some of my favorite female vocals from the '80s, '90s and today ~
- @biancalexis

Tracklist: mmarzmix.com/062

mmarz 062 | bianca lexis: much to think about

012 - ĀBNAMĀ

Lighght - DXDF2020 - 03282020

mixes from special guests around the globe, and rotations by residents:

max (@maxsalty)
mikayla (@rulingplanet)
ariella (@saffronnnnnn)
radha (@radha_v)
zach (@znivens)

mmarz 062 | bianca lexis: much to think about

mmarz

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