ZSonic's Week 1 mix challenge "Dark Turn" - start your mix out happy, then at some point it turns dark. It's up to you how happy and how dark, and when it takes the turn. Get creative with it!

For this mix, I wanted to capture the inspiration and essence of the Space Time residency and what started it all, ambient and experimental music. This hour contains snippets and fragments that have been intros, interludes, outros, overlays, interjections and intersections while embracing this week's challenge by moving between light and dark. 

Tony Rohr- I Come in Pieces(s) [H-Productions] 
Future Sound Of London- Papua New Guinea(Original Mix)(Intro) [Jumpin' & Pumpin']
Monolake- Inwards [Label Imbalance Computer Music]
Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch- Wallace [Epic]
Slam- Tokyo Subway [Soma Record]
Layo & Bushwacka!- Tender Lover (Original Mix) [Olmeto Records]
Autechre- carefree counter dronal (Original Mix) [Warp Records]
Eloim- Il sutra [Complex Textures]
Sendai- Terminal Silver Box (Original Mix) [Time To Express]
Dasha Rush- Sail Away To Her (Original Mix) [Raster-Noton]
Becker / Stegmann / Zeumer- Abends [Tresorusic From Memory]
Monoloc- Revive (Original Mix)  [Dystopian]
Crystal Maze- XR84 [Echovolt]
Donato Dozzy- Il Canto Della Maga [Stroboscopic Artefacts]
Function- Ember (Field) [Sandwell District]
I:Cube- Sequence III (Original Mix) [Versatile Records]
Plastikman- Drp [Plus 8]
Shed- Waved Mind/Archived Document [Ostgut Ton]
Porter Ricks- Harbour Chart [Tresor]
Alessandro Cortini- Perdere [The Point of Departure Recording Company]
Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow- The Test Worked [Back Lot Music]
Nobuo Uematsu- Listen to the Cries of the Planet [Square Enix]

04-07-2019

Ode To Space Time

ZSonic's Week 2 mix challenge "Weird Load" - I wanna hear the weirdest business you got in your crates. Dig deep. Harness your inner alien. Get creative with it!

For the second mix challenge, I wanted to take the main theme (weird load) a couple steps further. A tribute could be looked at as being both good and bad, however it's been something on my mind that I've wanted explore for awhile. All tracks in this set are from the same artist, some solo and some collaborative. This particular artist has a body of work that I have admired for years, finding inspiration in his multi-tempo sound and explorative use of instruments in his productions. This mix holds to the challenge by getting into some weird material and it picks up where week 1 mix left off, ambient and experimental space pushed into a slow continual climb from 70bpm downtempo to a chill mid-tempo bounce of 114bpm. Hope you like it!   


Tracklist:
Brian Eno- LUX (Nicolas Jaar Remix) [Warp Records]
Nicolas Jaar- Balance Her In Between Your Eyes [Circus Company]
Nicolas Jaar- Don't Break My Love [Clown and Sunset]
Nicolas Jaar- Wouh (Original Mix) [Double Standard Records]
Darkside- A2 [Clown and Sunset]
Nicolas Jaar- Specters Of The Future [CircusCompany]
Darkside- A1 [Clown and Sunset]
Darkside- Golden Arrow [Matador]
Darkside- A3 [Clown and Sunset]
Nicolas Jaar- Variations [Circus Company]
Grizzly Bear- Sleeping Ute (Nicolas Jaar Remix)
Nicolas Jaar- Angles [Warp Records]
Nicolas Jaar- Time For Us [Wolf + Lamb Records]

04-15-2019

Space Is Only Noise (Tribute Mix)

ZSonic’s Week 3 mix challenge. This week I decided to take on my own challenge. I wanted to record a mix that appealed to a broader and more mainstream audience by infusing radio songs into a mix. Many of these tracks have been in my crates from years to decades and have never been captured in a mix until now. Programming the track list was reminiscent of putting together a mix tape in middle school, almost every track contains lyrics full of soul, mood and vibe. It’s a perfect complement to a sunny day with a cocktail in hand chilling beside a pool. Includes tracks from LTJ Bukem, Broken Bells, Thievery Corp, DJ Krush, Beastie Boys, Gorillaz, Pretty Lights, Sylvan Esso, KC & The Sunshine Band, Depeche Mode and an unreleased track from a friend up north, Aaron Litschke.  

85bpm to 110bpm

Tracklist:
LTJ Bukem feat. Elliot- Sunrain [Good Looking Records]
Aaron Litschke- Unreleased 
Broken Bells- Trap Door [Columbia]
Thievery Corporation- All That We Perceive [ESL Music]
DJ Krush feat Esthero- Final Home (Piano Mix) [Sony]
Beastie Boys- Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament [Capitol]
Gorillaz- Tomorrow Never Comes [EMI]
Beck- Que Onda Guero [Geffen]
Pretty Lights- Finally Moving [Pretty Lights Music]
Sylvan Esso- Die Young [Loma Vista Recordings]
The Black Ghosts- Full Moon [Southern Fried]
KC & The Sunshine Band- I Get Lifted [T.K. Disco]
Nightmares On Wax- You Wish [Warp]
Desert Sound Colony- I Get Fixed [Scissor & Thread]
Bob Moses- Far From The Tree [Scissor & Thread]
Depeche Mode- Policy of Truth [Mute]

04-22-2019

Days Gone By

With a well-honed ear from early influences of experimental sounds such as Plastikman, Aphex Twin and Orbital, Todd Howard draws inspiration from the connection that stems between Detroit and Berlin. His taste constantly shifts, blurring the lines between deep house, minimal tech, tech house and techno. Favorite artists including Nice7, Franck Roger, Tale of Us, Hector, Daypayk, and Rrose and labels such as Leftroom, Life and Death, Items and Things, Visionquest, Suara, and Stroboscopic Artefacts are regulary featured in his sets.

Since joining kansascitytechno.com in 2009, Todd has increasingly become more active. Locally, he has competed as a finalist in the Wakarusa DJ Winter Classic, played Global Dance Festival KC and was named the Pitch’s 2012 Readers Choice #1 Best Club/Party DJ. He has shared the bill with Chris Liebing and Mark Farina, and played regionally at venues in St. Louis, Chicago and Minneapolis.

Todd has become a cornerstone of kansascitytechno.com and his involvement with kctdc goes beyond the DJ booth. He is one of the primary contributors to the website’s blog and leads the effort on design and procurement of the group’s merchandise.

Recently, Todd’s focus has been on his monthly residency, jux·ta·pose, at the Uptown Arts Bar in midtown KC. Themed around comparison and contrast, the night brings together a wide range of electronic music and has featured talent from Lance DeSardi, Tyrel Williams, Summer (Brendon Collins), Pat Nice, Demencha Mag, Lotus Camp and Disorder Crew.

For bookings: todd-howard@hotmail.com

Todd Howard

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