For OUEMS Mix #019, we have Oxford-based Wotunaz and Sines of Change as part of their newly-formed collective Port of Call, providing us with a lush 60-minute mix that glides through syncopated, atmospheric percussion and immersive reverb-soaked ambience. 

The mix reflects the duo’s move to deep psychedelic dance music - shifting away from their previous focus on high-energy 90s UK dance and Global South genres, and the banality of the many mainstream contemporary electronic spaces. Sines of Change, founder of the Oxford club night ‘Gro-FM’, infuses into the mix his passion for soundsystem music and leftfield electronica, while Wotunaz aims to emulate the campfire drum-circle sound of underground, journey-focused European hubs like Scandinavia and Spain. The result is a firmly club-ready piece which maintains an intricacy and textural hypnoticism equally suitable for thoroughly enjoyable headphone listening too. 

We are eased into the set with the seamlessly interwoven soft synth flourishes of Etch’s ‘Liz’s Track’ and Synkro’s ‘King’s Chamber’. The off-beat drum textures of DJ Ojo slice through the ambience, before Olorun’s ‘Unexpected Pearls’ steadies the beat and guides us softly but surely into club territory. Picking up the tempo with Beatrice Dillon and Call Super’s seminal Hessle Audio release ‘Fluo’, the set settles into an ambient techno groove, peppered with dub-inspired, heavily processed vocal interjections and asymmetric percussion hits.

As we hit half-way, the soaring, delay-riddled arpeggios of Cameo Blush introduce a new movement, defined by more melody, intense percussion, and timbral variety. Tension builds big-time with the rolling snares and fizzing synth design of ‘Cave Walk’ by Soreab, before a 303 acid bassline from contemporary electro legend James Shinra creeps in, subtly hammering away, a nod to the duo’s 90s-inspired dance music background. In the set’s last quarter, the dub influence persists while the ambience returns to the fore, skipping through the minimalist, haunting tones of Sub Basics’ ‘Basement’ before the fluttering melodies of Yushh guide us out. Port of Call bend and warp its pitch, ending the set on that haunting, ambient note so central to the duo’s refined sound. 

The pair, among others, are launching a new project out of Oxford/London focusing on this more long-form, subtle and hypnotic dance music. Tired of increasingly commercial EDM, their aim is to build a passionate and like-minded dance floor, and their OUEMS mix is a perfect showcase. Producers and DJs - message to get involved!

Tracklist:
Etch - Liz's Track
Synkro - Kings Chamber
DJ Ojo - Precise Device
Olorun - Unexpected Pearls (Simone Bauer Rework)
Simone Bauer - Yma [CRSCNT02]
Kato De Vidts ft. J. Noon - Ground Symptoms (Original Mix)
Beatrice Dillon - Fluo
Dark Sky - Hequon
Djrum - The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn (Undercoat Part 2)
Cameo Blush - in cadence (a1)
Soreab - Cave
James Shinra - Gyorgy
Fefe - Trudd
Mala - Kotos (feat. Asociacion Juvenil Puno)
Beatrice M. - Poison
Nomine - Nomine's Robot
Shackleton - Fireworks
Oceanic - Sulphur Stream
Sub Basics - Basement
Tom Place - Deep Cutzzz
Yush- <3URNRG

OUEMS mix #019 - Port of Call

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OUEMS mix #019 - Port of Call

Oxford University Electronic Music Society