Full tracklist and notes on creative murmuration here: https://shrptyp.co/sharpfm008

This is ambient music as a mode of transport, but the tracks are generous enough to sit in the background, too. Choose your own adventure, but here's hoping you take the immersive approach :) 

Ian Kim Judd’s long-running NTS show Fifth World is a far-out flight into the world of ambient music, serving as a monthly beacon of genuine optimism and ultimate freshness. We asked him to make the first in a new meditation mix subseries for Sharp FM, with a cover and tracklist designed by the inimitable artist Laurel Schwulst, which features her custom Energy Spheres and highlights Connor Davenport’s typeface Greenstone.

008: Ian Kim Judd

Full track list and feature here: https://shrptyp.co/SharpFM009

“The feel-bad mix of the summer!”

From Tornado Wallace: 
"It contains only music used in films from 1987-2001: Chungking Express, Lost Highway, Opera, Perfect Blue, Trainspotting, Leon: The Professional, Fallen Angels, Cruel Intentions, Hackers, Johnny Mnemonic, Cool World, Strange Days, Ghost In The Shell, and more. Perhaps there's some commonality there. I wanted to conceptualise this mix in this way as movies have really been resonating with my songwriting at the moment, and I wanted to celebrate particular films that have been extra inspirational for that process.”"

Tornado Wallace aka Lewie Day is a Berlin-based producer, DJ, and musician whose genre-spanning dance sets and studio releases are loosely defined by their generous ambience and cinematic immersiveness. Appropriately, every song here is pulled from a Letterboxd lover’s delight of international films.

You'll find your memory pleasantly jogged as these songs are given new context here. Sensual trip hop lamentations and shoegazing walls of guitar find common ground, and when’s the last time you heard Faye Wong and U2 in the same mix? These songs pull from the well of cultural nostalgia and, yet, the sum of their parts feels half a step ahead of the zeitgeist.

009: Tornado Wallace

Full feature plus "tracklist" here: https://sharptype.co/news/sharp-fm-010-triad-god-feat-palmistry-leo-23/

"I don't do many mixes, quite rare, it will have my influences, saving most new material for my next record but there will be some new stuff of course." - Triad God

Triad God is the nom de guerre of London-based rapper Vinh Soi Ngan. If you’re a fan, you know his output is minimal, so it’s all the more exciting that he made a mix for Sharp FM with some extra love from producer Palmistry. This is a wild one, moving from 90s Hong Kong pop to remixes of contemporary K-pop, gayageum instrumentals, and bits and clips from the world of gangster cinema: Andrew Lau's Young & Dangerous, Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine, Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. Triad does not disappoint and also includes edits of old songs and some brand-new material.

When we asked for a track list, the response was: "Track list is 黑社會", and the poem he sent instead was unexpected but beautiful and true to his unique voice: https://shrptyp.co/triad

010: Triad God feat. Palmistry

For tracklist and full feature: https://shrptyp.co/lovefingers

For our 11th release, pioneering selector Andrew "Lovefingers" Hogge presents a mix that feels like we’re listening to records with him in his backyard in LA. The music is cinematic, intimate, and easy to love. Perfect for the weather—inside and out—as summer blends into autumn.

“Some of my all time favorite oddballs. Not too much mixing, an ideal mix for just hanging out. Summertime vibes.”

Andrew's deft, intuitive approach to DJing extends beyond the decks: He runs the esteemed ESP Institute label and is a well-established graphic designer and creative director. His work is infused with a warmth and enthusiasm that was readily apparent in our exchanges as we discussed this mix.

011: Lovefingers' Lazy Summer Mix

Full tracklist and feature here: https://shrptyp.co/yusu

Yu Su for Sharp FM!

A DJ, producer, live-band leader, and chef—Yu Su's place in music feels charmingly larger than the world of contemporary club culture. Her rural roots in central China and classical piano education preceded a conversion to electronic dance music after attending a rave in Vancouver during college. These biographical details combine with her no-nonsense confidence and dedication to craft, resulting in a sound that has a singular warmth and texture. This mix is appropriately varied, too. It's a mid-tempo ride where Bollywood covers and steel pedal guitar filigrees blend seamlessly, a dubbed-out montage that tours the gorgeous freak terrains of the Fourth World.

013: Yu Su

“This mix is about the possibility of being in love while international war rages on.” –Ivan Berko

Full tracklist and feature: https://shrptyp.co/ivanberko

Big thanks to our friend Ivan Berko for jumpstarting the year with our first Sharp FM mix of 2024.  The opening soft battalion of soaring, warming vocal-driven gems is highlighted by Bronski Beat's 80s classic "No War"; Jimmy Somerville's levitation-inducing vocals set the tone before things really take flight—the percussive second half peaks with the synth-fuelled neon boogie of Roberto Lodola's ode to Paul Renner, "Futura's Dreaming". 

Ivan's been a fixture and guiding light within the New York music scene for many years. His blend of all things synth-y, sleaze-y, tech-y, proggy, and, of course, Balearic are always surprising and have an unmistakable depth of feeling. Ivan's inexhaustible love for music really comes through in his sets, which showcase his ability to recontextualize dance classics alongside contemporary deep cuts—the man is always on the pulse of things. "Come early, stay late, leave sweaty!"

Read more about Ivan and the mix here: https://shrptyp.co/ivanberko

015: Ivan Berko

Our latest guest mix comes from harpist Ange Halliwell. Based in the verdant countryside of Southwest France, he continues to make harp music with hypnotic arpeggios and sung, spoken or shouted voices. Halliwell's compositions are intimately linked to nature and have a contemporary consciousness of tradition.

Featuring unreleased personal material in addition to selections that unexpectedly glide from pastoral instrumentals to gauzy halcyon pop and grinding black metal, this is a mix that offers an intimate window into an artist's interior world.

"These music are precious to me. Some of them are from my childhood, where my parents or my brother used to listen to them. I discovered the others from my personal listening. They inspire me a lot and I love when they create an emotion inside of me. Here is a little compilation of my favourites of the moment." -Ange Halliwell

This mix comes ahead of Sharp FM’s first concert on Friday, April 26, taking place in a gorgeous church sanctuary in Brooklyn and headlined by Ange, who is visiting NYC. Tickets and more info here: https://ra.co/events/1910399

Cover art features Sharp Fraktur Thin
Artwork by Chris Lloyd
Design by Kimberly Bager

017: Ange Halliwell

"Gen X meets Gen Z.
Love, love, love…
L’amour, l’amour, l’amour…
Dedicated to the encounters and love between music-loving people from different spheres." - POiSON GiRL FRiEND

Tracklist here: https://www.sharptype.co/fm/sharp-fm-018-poison-girl-friend-for-sharp-freehand

We are thrilled to release an exclusive mix by POiSON GiRL FRiEND, the beloved Tokyo-based DJ and singer whose iconic album, Melting Moment, was recently released on vinyl for the first time since its original CD release in 1992.

POiSON GiRL FRiEND is the alias of Noriko Sekiguchi, whose house and breakbeat infused pop and R&B productions were originally released in the '90s and have gained cult status within club circles and by aficionados of underground Japanese pop. Her dreamy, swooning music is a homecoming of sorts: she was born in Tokyo, raised in Brazil, educated in French schools, and discovered UK house music and club culture in London before returning to Japan, where she began releasing her own music and DJing.

Like the shapes of Sharp Freehand, which grace the cover, POiSON GiRL FRiEND's music is uniquely familiar—an amalgamation of specific influences that is rooted in an era and place, but is also timeless in its quality. This mix has a similar appeal, combining songs from the 90s with the present, and even includes an unreleased PGF track!

018: POiSON GiRL FRiEND

We asked one of NYC’s mixing masters, Oscar Nñ, to put together a special release for Sharp FM, and he did not disappoint. The music here is pure club bliss, showcasing Oscar’s trademark flair for pulling together infectious dance rhythms with unexpected samples that is altogether accessible, yet often unexpected. Marc Rouault pulled from a host of influences in designing the upcoming DOSS family, but rave flyers and hi-fi brand logos figured prominently, making this new typeface release a perfect choice for the cover and tracklist graphics. 

“This mix is dedicated to those sexy drums that you hear in club music. I was inspired by the different drum patterns and instruments that make us dance. At 160-140 bpm, this is one of the hardest mixes I’ve recorded but also one of the most free and unexpected. As you keep listening to the mix, you’ll hear a lot of different club genres from the Americas, including footwork, euro trance, dembow, and Brazilian funk.”

Tracklist coming soon!

019: Oscar Nñ

“This is a NYC springtime mix, defrosting from interior emotional space, out to the street, the b-ball courts, the club, n2 tha night…” - Blazer Sound System

Distinctive rhythms, unexpected cuts, inventive homage... these dovetailing descriptions define our latest typeface Eterne, and our latest mix by our friends Rainstick and Zebrablood, who are known together as Blazer Sound System. Full of air and light, you'll also encounter bass tones that go deeper than the Marianas—holding opposites together with seasoned legerdemain is a magical Blazer signature.

Original productions by Rainstick and Zebrablood commingle with exclusive Janet and Aaliyah edits, Brazilian phonk by way of Khazakhstan, and an anchoring roster of past and future UK club legends. Good for a long day's journey into night, be it a solo flight or taken in communion. This one's been incubating for over a year, and you know what they say about things of quality... Full track list here:

022: Blazer Sound System for Eterne

Sharp FM is the audio channel of Sharp Type, a global type design studio.

We collaborate on each mix with a DJ, producer, or musician and offer them a platform to share something unique and new. We design the covers and tracklist graphics to showcase our typefaces.

Curated and produced by Theodore Jahng and Justin Hunt Sloane.

Thanks for listening :)

New tracks tagged #SharpFM