Incredibly diverse track selection, leading to a truly spellbinding set!🤍

Chapter II

The next chapter begins…

We are so pleased to welcome one of the most prolific artists in the field of ambient and experimental music. An unstoppable creative force, whose music has deeply inspired us over the years..... Ishq…

A mix composed entirely of his own music, and mostly forthcoming releases, Ishq takes us on a mind-bending journey through unknown environments.

“In the winter months, as darkness falls, I tend to gravitate more towards deeper and immersive music. Often themes based around space, science fiction, the other-worldly, and the imaginary.

I tend to work on a lot of music this time of year that’s more about painting a landscape or creating a journey, and it’s also an excuse for me to explore the synthesis of sounds, and in particular, the idea of other dimensions of mind or reality. 

It’s all in the imagination, and the mind is free to explore these things. Thats what art is about, in part, and so there is some escapism to the music, as well as a focus on creating moments of peace for the listener.

This mix ends a long period of working on this particular form of sound, as I now move back into more structured music and other forms, so it's been a nice way to bring an end to a phase of creative work. I'm now ready for the new year, and a new energy." - Ishq

Thank you, Matt. It’s truly an honour <3

Artwork by Clayton Ciolac

Bandcamp: https://ishq.bandcamp.com

The Observatory - Ishq

For our second offering of the year, we welcome a very talented artist and event organiser, based in Osaka, Japan..... Loe...

After meeting Loe in Osaka last year, and witnessing her perform a mind-bending techno set at a beautiful Muzan Editions x Astral Industries event, we connected through our mutual interest in the power of ambient music and its unique way of processing emotions. A form of therapy, if you will…

This mix is a beautifully woven narrative for cold nights and deep introspection…

Thank you, Loe <3

~~

“My hometown, where I was born and raised, is Matsumoto City in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The city is rich in nature, with a view of the Japanese Alps mountain range.

It is a cold area, and when I was a child, it was not unusual to have heavy snowfalls. At night, when there is a lot of snow as far as the eye can see, it is quiet. The snow reflects the moonlight, and the sky becomes bluish and faintly bright.

The big tree that I could see from my room, which was usually swaying in the wind, was covered with snow and quiet on such a day.

It was a very lyrical scene, even to my childish mind, and I felt a sense of awe and fear mixed with affection, which made me wonder. But I felt somewhat lonely, and I didn’t want the morning to come. I was more inclined to bury myself in the silence forever.

I put the original landscape of my heart into this mix. Please enjoy.” - Loe

~~

Mix mastered by Yori
Artwork by Clayton Ciolac

~~

~~ About Loe ~~

Loe was born in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, and is the grandniece of avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama. She started her career as a techno DJ in the Kansai region in 2005, and after appearing at DOMMUNE supporting techno heavyweight Reeko's first solo gig in Osaka, she expanded her activities to the whole of Japan. She organises an ambient event known as "SLOWMOTION", in collaboration with AOKI takamasa and Endurance. Her storytelling development and layering techniques are her specialities, and her play style, which maximises the trippy immersive feeling that is the real appeal of techno music, has gained enthusiastic support from the scene.

The Observatory - Loe

So pleased to welcome our next guest...

An incredibly talented producer and DJ, who captured our heart and has gifted us with so much inspiration over the years..... ma lo...

“A collection of personally significant & beautiful works from various incredible artists. Layered with field recordings from time living in the mountains on magical Dharug & Gudungurra Country”

This mix is very special to us. Feelings of nostalgia. It takes us back to when we first fell in love with ma lo’s sound… <3

Dive deep…

Composed and recorded on Dharug Country 🌱

https://soundcloud.com/mahlomusic

Artwork by Clayton Ciolac

The Observatory - ma lo

Our mid-week listening session comes courtesy of multi-disciplinary Japanese artist, Makiko Iwaki, under her DJ alias, Iwamaki.

Aside from gracing the world with beautifully woven, introspective DJ sets, she performs live, and produces stunning drone and deep techno sounds under her alias, Menou. Having performed live at Barcelona’s Mostra festival, and releasing music on a string of labels, such as Orbitando, Initiate, and Accents, Iwamaki’s journey as an artist is one to keep your eyes on.

This mix is a live DJ set, recorded just three-weeks ago from MIMINOIMI at Polaris Tokyo, where she layered many sounds, and a unique fusion was born in that very moment.

Tracklist:

Abul Mogard & KMRU - Drawing Water on Matching Teal Surfaces
VAGALLY VAKANS - 852Hz + Pink Noise + Womb Sounds + (宮崎・天安河原の自然音)
Anthony Child - Turn on to the Hall of Perpetual Rotation
Patricia Wolf - Lay to Rest
Night Sea - Off Grid
Material Object - Exit
Rod Modell - Side B
William Selman - Frigidaire Idylls
Celestial Seed Sound - Pain and Tension Relief (174hz)
Individuo Atemporal - Abyssal Rhythms
Kali Malone - Living Torch II
Ancestral Landscapes - Old Timer
Ishtadi - Subheccha 01
Respira - Luminescent Lunar Master

https://soundcloud.com/makiko-iwaki

Artwork by Clayton Ciolac

The Observatory - Iwamaki

Very excited to welcome our next guest…

Timnah is one of our favourite artists, and a true master of her craft. Not a week goes by without listening to one of her immersive sonic creations. They hold a special place in our heart <3

Over the years, she has crafted a very unique sonic language that transcends the dance floor, into subliminal rhythmic, ambient, and experimental territories. She has a gift for conjuring dynamic narratives that evoke powerful emotions and otherworldly visualisations.

Timnah has a unique way of drawing the listener into her world, rather than guiding them through their own….. and it’s a beautiful place to be.

https://soundcloud.com/timnah-sommerfeldt

Artwork by Clayton Ciolac

The Observatory - Timnah

For our next offering, we warmly welcome Mara, a remarkably talented musician, composer, curator, and prominent member of Eora/ Sydney's experimental community. 

Mara recently released a stunning new album on https://soundcloud.com/purespacefm, "At Every Corner", which is absolutely worth treating your ears with.

Tracklist:

Fursaxa – Bells of Capistrano
Lyra Pramuk – Witness
[Field Recording] Tour of Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta, September 2024
gi – knots
Laurie Anderson – My Right Eye
[Field Recording] Street movements, Jakarta, September 2024
Mara – Code Switch
Arvo Pärt – My Heart’s in the Highlands
[Field Recording] Morning in the garden, Bingie, July 2024
R.Beuzeville – Earthside
Smerz – Craig
[Field Recording] Listening to tapes at M Bloc, Jakarta, September 2024
Waljinah – Dadi Ati
Caterina Barbieri – How to Decode an Illusion
[Live Recording Excerpt] Tobira Records, 07 October 2023
[Field Recording] Street movements, Jakarta, September 2024
Tashi Wada – Revealed Night
Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld – And still they move
ugne&maria – Healing
Mara – Tokyo in 30,000 Steps
Astrid Sonne, Hvad – Light and Heavy (Hvad Edit)
[Field Recording] Bells in the wind, Itoshima, September 2023

Artist Support:

http://maraschwerdtfeger.com/
https://maramaramara.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/maramaramusic
https://www.instagram.com/mara.mara.mara/

Artwork by Clayton Ciolac
https://www.instagram.com/cccccclaytonciolac/

The Observatory - Mara

Ahead of her kinetic debut this weekend, we asked untitled 909 / wav world / g force head honcho and one of our favourite people @basicchanel to join us for our 37th podcast.

After a pretty incredible break out year which has seen her support the likes of upsammy, lena wilikens + bruce to name a few, she's put together an incredible mix exploring her new favourite music movement, 'low end psychedlia'

you can catch her playing at our event in Paris this saturday alongside softi, Dj wiggles & B.Mcqueen - https://ra.co/events/2032390

--

𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 / 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔 / 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆
Chanel, she/her, london 

𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒙
This mix is something I’ve been thinking about for a while - the reemergence of low end psychedelia. I call it a reemergence as I feel like it could be linked to the trippy side of dubstep with the likes of Skull Disco and that sound coming back but on a much broader scale. I spoke about it in an interview recently as something I’ve become obsessed with, in particular this year, and I don’t really see any platforms covering it or trying to encapsulate this really exciting musical movement. Low end psychedelia can range from techno, trance, drum & bass, dubstep and more but the through line is this deep, trippy soundscape. The mix I’ve created highlights this push and pull between the slow/fast side of this sound where it ranges from 85 to 170 bpm, weaving through spacey, swampy and wonked-out techno, drum & bass and IDM. Something that’s worth mentioning is that a lot of the artists who are coming through in this scene are based in France, most notably Lyon and that’s what I want to write about and get to the bottom of, what’s the history there and what’s going on in France right now that’s influencing this movement. Some artists and labels to shout out include Christian Coiffure, Vardae, Comic Sans Records, SousTraitance, Beatrice M., Hewan Aman, Blue Night Jungle, Monochrome Records, sindh, kick21, minú jr and many more! 

𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘, 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒙. 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒔?
Ambient music was really my saviour during lockdown. I was going through my first heartbreak and living in a different country, which I moved to 6 months before the lockdown happened. There was no escaping your feelings during this time, you had to face them head on, as soon as they appeared, so I started building these playlists filled with ambient music as a way of giving myself some headspace during particularly tricky times. Or they would be what I would listen to on my ‘sanity walks’, something I still make sure I do everyday. I have such an emotional connection to this music and there was one really tough Christmas period where I decided to turn these playlists into the sounds of healing mix series - the first edition is literally the first ever playlist I made during this time and the Refuge Worldwide show was an extension of that, showing other strings of ambient music that might not necessarily fit within the ‘healing’ theme. Stating the obvious here but music is a really powerful tool for addressing emotions and this was my way of connecting with that. 

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒙 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔
Low end psychedelia aha 

full interview via our substack: https://allmovingobjects.substack.com/p/kinetic-mix-037-basic-chanel-low

kinetic mix 037: basic chanel "low end psychedelia "

Exploring fifty shades of dub influenced sounds. But not only.

Dub Delights XV : Hewan Aman b2b Beatrice M. - 21 Février 2025

buttechno DJ @ Tresor Globus, 07/02/2025

https://tihkallabel.bandcamp.com/album/tihkal001-st-amp

@saint-amp
@wordcolour
@netil-radio

netil radio ~ spiralling, naturally 009 w/ st. amp + wordcolour (19 03 2025)

subcast is born, an incantation of adventurous sonic alchemy behind radiant subs. The inimitable Razrbark kicks things off. Strap in for a chemistry-altering ride.
@razrbark's interview below--->

ℚ: ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕓𝕖 ℝ𝕒𝕫𝕣𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕗𝕖𝕨 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤?

A: Live edge, live wire

Q: Describe the story behind Razrbark's Specific Heat.

A: Specific Heat measures how resistant (or not) substances are to temperature changes, specifically how much energy is needed to raise the temperature of something by one degree. This concept from chemistry has always stuck with me and is something I thought of after listening to the finished product of this mix/let's be real I just think it sounds cool.

When I first started prepping for this mix, I went in a very different direction and had a rough draft, but it felt tedious, trying to force ideas and tracks in a way that required a lot of energy with little output. Sometimes, things pour out of you and sometimes, they don't. 

One day, a very exciting booking came through (spoiler alert: it was Honcho @ Hot Mass). With the adrenaline rush of the booking, I immediately started mixing tracks from the extremes of my USB, and everything flowed really easily. I decided to hit record, and it came together in a way that felt much more organic. I also unearthed many tracks I had forgotten about that were collecting cobwebs on my stick but that I always loved.

Anyway, all this to say, just like in chemistry, sometimes you need the right conditions for a reaction to truly take off~~~

Q: What is your ideal dancefloor (fictional or real).

The Bronze.

Q: When is the last track that made subs glow for you?

A: Two specific tracks come to mind:
https://snappedankles.bandcamp.com/track/come-play-the-trees-crooked-ankles-2
To me this is the perfect track. I played it at Hot Mass in Pittsburgh sometime after 6am a bit slower than this. I love how it has so much raw power behind it. Big chug NRG. I've always loved this song from the same band. It has a very Iggy Pop/Plastic Bertrand sensibility to it, but I've never been able to play it on a dance floor, so I was happy when I found this edit that is a bit more dance floor friendly and still has the rock/dance vibe that I feel is a hallmark of my sound.

Another track:
I just played this song towards the end of my set at Afterlife in Seattle this weekend. The bass was so intense my drink literally bounced across a table and fell to the floor. I'd say the subs were glowing hard.
https://normalpleasure.bandcamp.com/track/heart-palpitations-on-the-m1

Q: What track/artist was a musical game-changer for you?

A: Föllakzoid. It's psych rock, it's techno, it's everything. Each time I've seen them play, it's world-building and expansive. 

Q: If this mix was a book or a movie what would it be? 

A: It would be in Walk Hard Part 2, when Dewey goes through his drum and bass era.

subcast #1 ✹ Razrbark's Specific Heat

Performed live for "Live in Translation" 11pm-12am on April 5, 2025 at La Fabrica in Washington, DC. Presented by Heaven Dancing Club x Avant-Hard on the Eklektik Elektrik Turbosound system. Live recording mastered by Matthew Cha. Featured installation artwork by VI_VI_VI.

Contributing musicians:
San Huan (voice, synths, percussion, etc.)
Raz Mesinai (flutes, percussion, synths, voice)
Shahzad Ismaily (percussion, synths)
Matthew Cha (synths)
Shape Language (flute)
DJ Temporary (synths)
George De Moura (synths)

Live in Translation ~ San Huan Live Set @ La Fabrica 2025

@salmarosa & @sleek-fata

Photo: Romain Guede

Salma Rosa & Sleek Fata at pe:rsona 2024

In "Falling" Sasha Di Bartolomeo tells a very personal story. The song captures the moment when you become aware of your feelings and realise that you are getting involved in a new, deep connection. The lyrics are honest and direct, and the melody emphasises the emotional depth of the theme. Thanks for listening to my music

Falling

Something stolen

Девушка-Осень

Curated by @jaykeegan

Artwork by Clayton Ciolac
https://claytonciolac.com
https://www.instagram.com/cccccclaytonciolac/

The Observatory - Mara

The Observatory

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