Rerecording of my set at the Cosmic Gathering in Chemnitz august 2021

Nixxon - Cosmic Gathering 2021

B.P.T. Radio 036: Tornado Wallace

From Oakland with love comes the 50th submission in the mix series comes by the hand of prolific producer and deejay Space Ghost (@space-ghost-1). Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com 

MFM: Hey Sudi. How's life in California, what's been keeping you busy?

SG: Hey, not much! Just trying to enjoy the summer with friends and get in the studio when I can.

MFM: Looking at your discography it seems that you favor the LP over the EP format, having released well over a dozen albums. How come?

SG: I can’t say that I favor one over the other, just seems that as a musician you strive to write full length LPs. I enjoy LPs for home listening and it feels good to create a nice body of work that flows through a journey. Writing dance singles and eps are trickier for me. It feels harder to write 1-4 really good stand alone songs.

MFM: With such a prolific output, does writing music come easily to you? Can you tell us a bit about how you go about writing and recording, is there a certain flow or method?

SG: Hmm I wouldn’t necessarily say it comes comes easy but I’ve definitely gotten a lot better at getting ideas in my head out into my recordings. It’s still a process of getting into the studio and spending time on it. Sometimes I can spend a whole day or two just spinning my wheels and not being able to get my ideas out. But once I get that perfect dose of creativity and I’m in the right mood, then things can definitely start flowing out. When writing music I often need to start with a very specific idea based on a song I’m listening to at the time. It’s helpful for me to start out with that initial inspiration, whether some chords, style of drums, bassline or a tempo or something. Once I get a few elements working around that idea the song can start to morph and move in any direction, but I really need that specific direction to start. I find that I can often make a rudimentary idea fairly quickly this way and then if it’s inspiring me, I’ll start to try a little bit harder and flush out more of the idea.

MFM: How do you cope with not being inspired or motivated when in the studio?

SG: Honestly it can be a bummer to be in the studio and the ideas aren’t flowing. I’ll just have to step away and do something totally unrelated for a few days.

MFM: Your sound overall has a very soft and melodic touch. The mellow part may be from living close to the Pacific and nature, but where does the melodic part come from? Did you ever learn how to read and play notes?

SG: You know I’m really not sure if I can pinpoint my melodies and where they came from but ya I grew up taking music lessons of all sorts. Piano, drums, guitar, band class, all that stuff. I wasn’t the best at reading music, I learned basic stuff but eventually didn’t progress much farther. Now everything I do is by feel.

MFM: Is there some kind of masterplan for Space Ghost? Like, do you have certain goals to achieve or dreams to chase?

SG: I think my master plan would involve me getting to focus on writing music full time. Honestly I’m not really sure how to get there specifically, seems like everyone gets there on their own path so hopefully mine will end up there as well.

MFM: Tell us about the mix. How did you go about selecting and recording it? Does it have a certain theme or idea to it?

SG: I’ve been wanting to put out a nice lil ambient sort of electronic mix for awhile. Really soft deep introspective vibes. I’ve been holding on to a lot of these tunes for awhile and just listening to my playlist of ambient tunes while traveling or relaxing with friends. After coming back from my NZ/Australian tour, I was ready to play some non dance music for a sec and listen to some other stuff. This mix is just a nice break from DJing a party. I also really want to make an ambient album soon if I have the time, so there are a lot inspirations in this mix.

MFM Mix 050: Space Ghost

Continuing the series is Mancunian producer, dj and music teacher Tom Burford who just released his LP 'Elevations' with us as Contours (@contoursmusic). Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hey Tom. You just returned from a big hike, how was it?

TC: Hey! Yeah, we were able to get out on some beautiful hikes around the Anaga national park in the north of Tenerife. It’s a stunning landscape and a nice change from the overbearing grey we get in Manchester for half the year. 

MFM: Does nature play an important role in your life and music?

JC: Definitely in life, and then I guess that just seeps into my music. I grew up in a pretty rural part of Cumbria. It was very beautiful landscape but with very little to do from an entertainment perspective, so getting out in the landscape or jamming with friends always felt like the two most freeing things to do. 

MFM: About jamming with friends... Your new album Elevations includes a lot of collaborations with other musicians, of which you did the recordings yourself. Can you highlight one special moment from those recording sessions?

TC: When recording Pots, I had initially written and recorded the percussion and synth parts at home and hit up Abraham to see if he wanted to add some Trumpet parts. He is based in London and so he recorded initial takes remotely and sent them through. They sounded great, but I really wanted to transform and process his parts for the track to manipulate them into sounding more synth like at points. Doing, that without him in the space felt like there was dialogue missing. In the end I went down to London and we recorded and dubbed them out in the same space at the Rhythm Section studio (shouts to Mali on engineering duties). Being able to respond to his playing and him in turn being able to respond to the dubbing of his parts felt like it was able to capture some really special elements.  

MFM: The A side of your new LP has Elevations 1, 2 and 3. Was it intentional for these tracks to end up separately or did they used to be one larger piece?

TC: When I started writing Elevations 1, 2 and 3 it just began as a series of jams and recording sessions in my flat bouncing ideas back and forth between myself, Beka, Abel and Simmy. These sessions were always just me and one other collaborator at a time, partly down to schedules, the size of the flat, but also the chance to not have to rush the process and to really dig into how we worked together. I continued building out the same project over multiple sessions so that I could have access to all the material collated in one place. Specific sections and ideas started to come together, but I liked the idea of them forging part of a wider piece. I’d previously worked in a largely self-contained track basis but had been listening to a lot of pieces like Six Marimbas, Music for 18 musicians and Tehillim by Steve Reich that build over a long period and loved the scope this gave to get completely lost in the music. I love the hypnotic nature created when polyrhythms morph over each other for a long enough period, shifting emphasis and eventually melting away.  

MFM: What can you tell about the mix you've made?

TC: I wanted to create a mix that was able to showcase the variety of sounds that influence me, both as a DJ and Producer. I love listening to mixes and radio at home and the best club experiences I’ve had have always been when a DJ is able to surprise you and really take you on a journey. The album makes heavy use of strings through the violin and cello, but also the Guzheng, a Chinese Zither and the Clàrsach a Celtic Harp. The initial three tracks of the mix focus on these sounds before skirting into more percussive and jazz focused influences and then into some deeper acid-tinged downtempo tracks and sub heavy club sounds. Hopefully this mix takes people on a journey and is something for people to get lost in.

MFM Mix 051: Contours

June (i)tunes playlist  (Athens, 06-06-24, 37°C)


Isabel Zeumer, Karl Heinz Stegmann, Heinz Becker - Abends
Th Blisks - E v E 
L'Homme Statue - Jardim Secreto
Imaginaria - A State Of Mind
Rex Ilusivii - Letenje Jedrilice
Akis - Erotica
Arp - Il Sogno Di Monica 
Akis - At Sirius
Suso Saiz - Banana Buango-Mix
Sub Sub - Coast
Peak of Normal - Hava 
Folie 2 - SG Supersound 
Alex Ho - Tell Me 
David Datunashvili - Mixed Feelings
Alex Ho - Move
Paris Bis - Unis Dans La Nuit
Ghia - Keep Your House in Disorder 
Con Act - Lucky Dog
Hiroki Ishiguro - Unity
John Beltran - Em Trancoso
Cherly Glasgow - Glued to the Spot

Music For Heatwave I

Mix of the Week #553 is by Earl Orlog
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More from Earl Orlog => https://linktr.ee/EarlOrlog

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Mix of the Week #553: Earl Orlog

SWAYMIX 012 - Tako Reyenga

Co-Label Owner of Avec Plaisir, full blood Selector and good friend since more than a decade now @hendrik_stein gifted us with a 3 hour deep dive and answered some questions about his musical socialization & his youth. have the full read on our website.

--> https://riolabel.com/riocasts

INTERVIEW

RIOCAST14 Hendrik Stein - Guten Flug Baby

030 Steve & Dj Earl Grey

DJ Earl Grey & Steve have been hosting a monthly Wednesday date-night residency for over a year, sharing the sensitive, soulful, and deep cuts from their record collection. Their shared love for each other - as well as jazz, soul, ambient, and rock - forms the foundation of their Waxflower mix.

This year, they launched Tender, a 'third space' offering yoga classes, deep listening sessions, movie screenings, exhibitions, workshops, and Naarm’s smallest record store.

Recorded live @waxflowerbar with @dj.earlgrey and @fax_lyrical

030 - Steve & Dj Earl Grey

It was exciting to share my vision of psychedelia at the favourite Berlin spot @Sameheads. There truly are not many places in the world where one would feel such freedom and have such open audience.

Enjoy it as a warm-up for the @zmarfestival taking place August 15-17.

Mike.H @ ZMAR x Sameheads (12-07-2025)

Rendition of my set at Listen Listen summer party 2025

Nixxon - Cosmic Gathering 2021

Nixxon (Nikolaj Birgens)