A previous guest of honor at H.A.N.D. as we debuted the series with a recording of his first class workings at Have A Nice Day a few years back - Piers Harrison presents us with yet another generous offering to our new mix series. One of the minds at Test pressing and 1/4 of team Soft Rocks, Piers' insightful relationship with music and dance floor culture has clearly led to a discerning understanding in a wide range of genres - kindly displayed in this pleasant excursion - listen carefully :)
@soft-rocks

Sound Metaphors Mix Series 04 : Piers Harrison

Love On The Rocks invites special guest Fantastic Man.

LOTR X RWW - Fantastic Man - 27 February 2023

Mehmet Aslan, a DJ and producer of Turkish descent, was raised in Basel, Switzerland, where his passion for music grew from Turkish roots to an eclectic mix of global sounds. An avid record collector, he transformed rare and unconventional records into dancefloor hits, quickly earning a reputation in the underground scene for his bold and inventive edits. His breakthrough came in 2014 with the EP ‘Mechanical Turk,’ showcasing his signature blend of Turkish-European influences with contemporary electronic beats.

Aslan's unique approach has since led to acclaimed albums like ‘The Sun Is Parallel,’ where he fused ambient, experimental, and folk elements into deeply evocative compositions. Alongside his studio work, his curatorial talent shined through projects like the compilation ‘Senza Decoro’ for Strut Recordings, which highlighted his knack for uncovering hidden musical gems. Collaborations with artists such as Valentina Magaletti and Nino de Elche have cemented his place as a forward-thinking producer unafraid to challenge genre boundaries, garnering praise from critics and fans alike.

In 2024, Aslan released ‘Auguri,’ a deeply ambitious album rooted in ambient and experimental music, inspired by bird migration patterns and themes of climate change. Emerging from a creative lab at the French festival Nuits Sonores, the project reflects his evolving musical vision while maintaining his trademark lightness of touch. Whether performing live or curating unique musical narratives, Aslan continues to connect genres, cultures, and eras, creating a distinct soundscape that’s entirely his own.

MIXES

Sound Metaphors Mix Series 31 : Mehmet Aslan

Jordi, aka Llupe, and Nico, aka DJ Aficionado, share quite a few things in common: Catalan origins, a love for all things Balearic, the same street in Berlin and shows on Refuge Worldwide. They both certainly appreciate a good party, too.

Organizing parties and playing together was a natural direction for them. Their party series, Orbita, launched earlier this year, aims to create ample space for quality adult dance music. It seems to be working well, as they’ve been fortunate to host guests like Apiento, Tom of England, and Sianza, to name a few.

This mix is a recording from the last Orbita party, held at Fitzroy on what many described as the last day of summer in Berlin. For those who remember, it was a dreamy and sensual Sunday, filled with music that sounded just right in that room. It felt nice and cosy and the dancers seemed to be momentarily free from any kind of Monday angst. Playful and light, yet seriously good. Feel the magic, times two.

Sound Metaphors Mix Series 29 : DJ Aficionado & Llupe

These two were so great. ddwy are making brilliant music right now and they showed their influences when they came down to play an hour of music for us. Very much a blissed out sound running from Underworld to slowed down Hypnotone and on... It was such a nice session and they nailed it.

TP532 ddwy (Love International Sunrise Sessions)

Loud E giving a master class in cosmic Euro disco vinyl splicing at a recent Diskomo Anti Scoial Club party.

Thanks to Benji & Rena for such a fun wig out xxx

Basement Parties 

Loud E - Diskomo Anti-Social Club @ Sameheads 22.11.24

Compact Disco w/ Old & Rich | Shella Radio 29.12.2024

Recorded live at Club Liesituuletin private houseparty on Vappu / May Day eve. Contains FInnish Music from 60s to 00's, with focus on synth music from 80's. Lot's of cover versions of famous hits, you might recognise a few. Many tracks discovered originally from Mikko Mattlar's Synteettinen Suomi mix series. Set recorded at about 05.00-07.00 in the morning with vinyl only.

Club Liesituuletin, Suomidisko Set 30-04-2025 (Olli Koponen)

DITA  — Forbidden Fruit — Wonderfruit 2023

This Was Belgium 1987-89 - 2 hours of New Beat favourites

New Beat was born and initially exploded in 1987, went supernova (in Belgium) in 1988 and then the formula morphed a bit and was declared dead in 1989. It was slow and initially all about the atmosphere with industrial strength beats - the main form of rhythmic propulsion being the pounding kick and heavy snare. It was often mainly instrumental and when there was lyrical content it often became more about slogans and giving commands - "Move Your Ass And Feel The Beat!", "Let There Be Brightness!", "Shout Out Loud!". While not really New Beat, it's no surprise Technotronic's "Pump Up Jam" was produced by a crew who had produced a ton of New Beat gems.

In 1989 one of New Beat's founders, Marc Grouls said "New Beat is atmosphere, beats, no lyrics, and sure as hell not commercial!!!!!" But, it was already too late. A zillion bandwagon jumpers had diluted the music and flooded the market with too many sub standard 12" singles. New Beat temple, the legendary Boccaccio nightclub, in Destelbergen, near Ghent, had been closed down and it looked like it was all over, but really, it was just the beginning. New Beat morphed into Hard Beat (many of the tracks on this mix are from the Hard Beat era) which quickly morphed into Belgian Rave, which was huge and hugely influential in the UK and is an often overlooked part of the DNA of UK Hardcore, and all that came after. Then from Ghent, R&S Records established itself as thee European Techno label and a huge wave of incredible Techno records emanated from it and many other mighty Belgian labels, but that is another story. 

New Beat arrived just as I first started DJing and I played a lot of it in my DJ sets and built up connections with several of the leading Belgian labels who would send me 12" singles so I had records nobody else here had any idea even existed. I would compile New Beat charts for the music paper The NME which may have given the impression there was a thriving New Beat scene in Scotland. The reality was very different; people here, many of whom would embrace the rave just a little while later never really took to it in a big way.

This mix is comprised of many of my personal favourites that I have loved since they came out (and two I missed at the time and only heard later). I think the tracks have aged like a fine wine, often sounding as good if not better today as they did then. There is definitely a faint whiff of fromage and a big dollop of stoopid in several of these tracks. Of course, it is not all about the cheese and many of these adhere to the "atmosphere, beats, no lyrics, and sure as hell not commercial" rule mentioned above. Some of the best programmed 303 Acid basslines ever made can be heard here along with transcendental hypno synths and those Belgian beats going on and on....! Slow and low, from under 100bpm up to 116, New Beat doesn't chug, it swings in a very distinct way. If you get to see any videos of Belgian clubs of the era, the way people moved to this music is incredible and so different to any dancing we see today.

Many of these tracks are made by the same people under various aliases, which will perhaps be audibly evident. Most of the names have been forgotten, if they were ever even known outside their native Belgium at all, but all are legends to me. 

This mix isn't any kind of attempt to tell the story of New Beat but rather a mix 33 of my favourite 12" singles from that era showing many of the various strains of the New Beat and Hard Beat sound. A lot of love went into this and I hope someone somewhere discovers this music for the first time and falls in love with it as I did way back when. This was Belgium!

This Was Belgium 1987-89 - 2 hours of New Beat favourites

Tofistock Bazaar Mix 37 || @Roza-Terenzi

a visionary mix by an extremely unique musical diamond.

artwork: Hadar Barak

Bazaar 37 || Roza Terenzi

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Sound Metaphors Mix Series 31 : Mehmet Aslan

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