00 - My Sincerest Thanks

8 January 2023

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A couple of weeks ago I posted #01, a selection I'd intended to close out my year of mixes which was all about raising some funds for the work of the wonderful charity Sue Ryder and I'll come onto the fundraising aspect later in my post. 

 

I don't feel that I closed the year off particularly well, either in terms of the musical output nor the commentary that I'd put alongside some of the posts. I want to close the series of mixes off with a mix that to my mind / ears has a slightly more positive feel and sound about it. It's up to you whether that is the case or not.

 

I do feel conscious that throughout the year, and likely beyond, the posts I have put up here for the most part have not been particularly positive in nature and I do want to try and close this off with some sense of positivity. I'll caveat this by saying that positivity has long been in short supply for me and although I've perhaps given a flavour of where I've been, how I've felt or what particular hurdle may have been in the way, nothing I have posted here is a true reflection of my day in, day out over a very long period of time; it's probably fair to say it's a more challenging place than that and it's not easy to find the right words or the right balance while remaining true. Here's the positive though, I haven't given up on myself to this point and despite how it might look from the outside, there's a positive in the sense that I have always tried to approach things with a sense of hope and dare I say it, with love. I guess my tendency to have always worn my heart on my sleeve is something that trips me up in more ways than one. 

 

Although this year did not really go as well as I had hoped there are things that I know I should try to feel pleased about. At the start of this year of weekly mixes I really wished that I could have driven this forward and raised more funds / appreciation for the work of Sue Ryder, especially among those who may never have heard of the work they do. I hoped if this project had been a success that it may also have given me more confidence, belief in myself, a feeling of being a part of something and if I'm really shooting for the moon, perhaps contributed to some direction in my life. The reality is, well, you can look back at previous posts, but in summary, none of the above and in some senses it dented me even more. Perhaps if I'm being really honest, I don't even know how I'd have handled things if it had ticked all those boxes. Probably not very well is the truthful answer and in all honesty, I have to probably find a way to focus on getting myself into a better place. certainly health wise, before I could think about coping with anything else.


I don't want none of the disappointment I have felt along the way to give off the wrong impression though. I am so very grateful to those that have taken the time to listen, share, comment and donate to this worthwhile cause, I don't feel that I really have adequate words to express myself in this regard. The numbers and donations may not have gone where I dreamed they might go but my sincerest thanks go out to those who have engaged in any capacity. To Lisa, Matt, David, Alison, Linda, Giel, Johnny, Tom and Brian & Danielle and any 'anon' donors, I send my sincerest thanks to you all and dedicate this final mix to you and to anyone else who took the time to listen or read my nonsensical ramblings.

 

For 2023 (and likely beyond if the universe smiles upon me) I am going to need to find a way to spend time to focus on myself, try and get on top of some health issues and work towards finding a place in society that fits me. I have no idea how to start, where to look or whether I will make it, but that's what I must try and aim for before life really starts to evaporate. I'll likely be taking a break from here, I'll certainly be posting much less and likely be less active on Twitter too (not that I'm terribly active on there anyway). That's not to say it's the end of the road, that's not to say that it isn't. Let's just go with the flow for now, eh?

 

Finally before I sign off, I must make a final push for my fundraising. In Aberdeen, Sue Ryder is a facility that provides a home for people with serious neurological health conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (M.S), Motor Neurone Disease (M.N.D) / Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (A.L.S), Huntington's, Parkinson's, as well as those who have suffered brain trauma through injury or illness such as strokes.

 

My Mum had Secondary Progressive M.S, a form of the illness which led to a slow and steady decline in her health and motor functions. She was diagnosed around 1995, but had symptoms of the illness for several years before diagnosis. Of course these were not her only challenges in life, she also had two husbands that let her down, on both occasions where she would have really needed them most. What she did have was a Mum, Son & Daughter, as well as a devoted Daughter-In-Law in Lisa, that loved her. For my own part I did my best for her through my own challenging times and I think she knew that. Sue Ryder came to her life in the final 3 years, and honestly, I look back and think of the places the care system tried to shoehorn her into and dread to think how those final years might have looked but it was a battle to get there. Was it perfect? No, sometimes things didn't go right, but in a challenging system, with people who had very individual and the most complex of needs and staff who for the most part are often undervalued in society themselves, even before they take on employment as a carer, I can't think of anywhere that was safer, more caring and at least gave her the opportunity to live out those years with as much dignity as could be afforded with an illness that strips you of every ounce of that. I miss her greatly and my motivation for this last year was mostly about trying to add some much needed funds to the kitty of a resource that is underfunded, over burdened and does not receive the coverage that many other charities receive, not to mention the lower level of coverage and understanding of the conditions of people they support.

 

The bottom line is that it's an organisation with genuine care at the heart of it. It needs as much support as it can get so that they can provide as good a service as they possibly can. You can find out more via their own website and my own Just Giving page, where 100% of donations goes directly to Sue Ryder. My page will remain open through 2023, so please, if you are in a position to donate and you've listened / enjoyed any of the mixes I have posted, make a small contribution and know that it is for a very worthy cause.

 

As always, you will find a linked up tracklist below where you can support the artists and labels who release the music I have included. They too need support, so if you enjoy the music, you can buy it legally and also perhaps go find them on social media, engage with them, stream their music etc. It all helps.

 

Thank you,

Mark



Tracklist

Man Watching The Stars - Avoir Une Belle Jounrée (CIÛIN)

Yumiko Morioka - Moon Ring (Métron Records)

 

Steve Kemner - You Awoke (Facture)

Ishmael Ensemble - Solace (Banoffee Pies)

Nala Sinephro - Space 4 (Warp Records)

Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison & John Also Bennett - Tilang (Séance Centre)

Evadney - Ready (Self Release)

Rich Ruth - Doxology (Third Man Records)

East Forest & Ram Dass - Love Everybody (Aquilo Records)

Satoshi Ashikawa - Still Space (Light In The Attic)

Tiny Isles - Thoughts Borrowed From Books

 

Textural Being - Vantage Points (A Strangely Isolated Place)

Hamish Lang - Scarlett (Hush Hush Records)

Adriaan Swerts - Adieu (Piano & Coffee Records)

Nightports with Tom Herbert - Arcs (Leaf)

Kahil El' Zabar Quartet - Summertime (Spiritmuse Records)

Scrimshire ft. Nat Birchall & Faye Houston - I Hear You, I See You (Albert's Favourites)



* for those that haven't cottoned on, if you read the first letters of the tracklist vertically on the first mix of the series  it spelled - S U E   R Y D E R - try the same with this one.

 

** [Donate] [About Numbers]

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01

24 December 2022

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Before I go any further, my Just Giving page will remain open for a period and you can find out more or donate via my Just Giving page << HERE >>.

I've got to be honest, I never thought I'd get here. But here I am. 52 mixes, well a few "selections" in there, but the general point stands. 52 mixes. 64 hours 30 minutes and 24 seconds of music. 771 tracks. 601 different main artists. 90 remixers / editors (+ countless featuring musicians and artists) on 360 record labels. At the time of typing, a disappointing 4547 plays across Mixcloud and Soundcloud, and those are certainly not going to be full and completely engaged plays.

I want to place on record my heartfelt thanks to those who have supported my effort, whether by donating or sharing what I've been up to - you know who you are! As things stand, £360 + Gift Aid has been raised for Sue Ryder, which of course was the point and motivation behind this project. I could be wrong, but I suspect the donations have come from 8 people outwith my own household. I say that I could be wrong because several are anonymous donations, at least some of which I suspect have come from my other half because she knows this has been a difficult thing for me to do and won't like to see me feeling like a total failure in the things I do, but that is generally how I do feel. I think around £160+ Gift Aid has come from the kindness of others and for that I'm grateful, but of course wish for the sake of Sue Ryder it would have been far more, so suspect the remainder has been from my other half, and some from my own donations from selling some of my records.

I started this project with enthusiasm and put a lot of effort into trying to drum up interest and support. I shared my experience, wore my heart on my sleeve and put my cards on the table for all to see. I created an Instagram, which I was kicked off of in less than 3 months for "breaching" their terms; I can only assume it was from tagging artists and labels that featured each week.... Instagram didn't tell me of course. For some time I would tag artists and labels on Twitter which proved to be a waste of time too. The hope was that they'd perhaps share the mixes on their social media and therefore give me a chance of growing the interest organically. Sadly it didn't happen and my drive evaporated over time, particularly because in the early days of Twitter or Facebook this was how most people generated interest and connections. It seems things have changed, but I've no idea to what, or where I went wrong with that.

I've really struggled this year, not just because I've lost a lot of direction and the responsibility that was on my shoulders when I lost my Mum, but also because there's been an awful lot not right and missing in life and this endeavour has shone a light on some of that and in particular how few people I have in my corner. I shouldn't compare myself to others, and I try not to, even limiting my access to (anti)social media, but I still see other people doing things and having their friends, family and the people linked to those connections being very visibly supportive and I can't be anything but honest and tell you that it hurts quite a lot to not feel like you have that in your life. It's more painful when there's a light shone on that week in and week out. This is obviously just a very small aspect of my world and there's little point (other than the cathartic benefit) in sharing any more on here.

I'm relieved and glad that this is over. I don't think there's much future for "mixamorphosis" any more. At one point I could see a path forward with what I was doing around music but when life became heavily weighted towards my Mum, and then losing everything through being hacked several years ago, things have never clicked for me again. From 2009 to around 2014 the blog, followers, interactions were overwhelming, over the past few years it's like I never existed, never did nothing or helped anybody, contributed to nothing and finding that sweet spot to build has disappeared. Or if it's still there I no longer know where to find it.

I'm sounding like a broken record here, which is fitting because I do feel pretty broken, in more ways than just this nonsense. I could go on about loneliness, isolation, depression, anxiety, zero confidence, no real life interactions, physical aches and chronic pains but there's little to no point. I spend hours worrying about what to do, what to write, what I should or should not share, and ultimately it does not matter because for 45+ years my voice has not been heard and I doubt there's much hope for me to change that now. This project has kind of hammered that home to me and if I'm being totally honest, I've felt like burning it all to the ground and deleting everything I have online than I have felt like completing this. I'm a stubborn fool at times though and I'd have felt like I failed myself more than anything if I didn't finish what I set out to do, even though it's of little interest to anyone out there.

I've nothing else I can say now. After 52 weeks of this, it's not going to suddenly and miraculously grow arms and legs. I'll leave this here. #01 is a selection of music I have loved. I could have done this a hundred times over with thousands upon thousands of different tracks, but this is what came out as I felt it on this occasion. All I've ever wanted is to share music that has triggered a feeling, emotion, a movement, since I was a child it's been something I loved to do. That's what I've tried to do via my mixes, blog and posts through the years.

I expect I'll be posting less on Twitter and it may or may not be the last post here and on the music hosting sites, I doubt it matters either way. My voice doesn't carry.



Tracklist

01. From The Willowmeadow - Mayflowers (Self Released)

02. Alan Watts - Life Is Not A Journey (No Label)

03. Weyes Blood - It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody (Sub Pop Records)

04. Air - Les Professionnels (Source)

05. DJ Shadow - What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1 - Blue Sky Revisit) (Mo Wax)

06. DJ Cam Quartet - Herbie (Attytude Records)

07. Matthew Halsall - I've Been Here Before (Gondwana Records)

08. Kahil El'Zabar - We'll Get Through This (Spiritmuse Records)

09. Nina Simone - Backlash Blues (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival) (BMG)

10. Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five (CBS)

11. Guru ft. Roy Ayers - Take A Look At Yourself (Chrysalis)

12. Fela Kuti - He Miss Road (Wrasse Records)

13. Hugh Masekela - Don't Go Lose It Baby (12" Version) (Jive)

14. Kuniyuki Takahashi - Afric Univers (Mule Musiq)

15. Martin Patino - Hommage A La Sodomie (Suara Records)

16. Joep Mencke - Sabda (Klassified)

17. Vincent Gericke - Mebuki (Amselcom)

18. Lamb - Cotton Wool (Fila Brazillia Remix) (Kudos)

19. St Germain - Montego Bay Spleen (Blue Note)

20. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Waiting In Vain (Island)

21. Andy J Dobbs - Long Waves

22. Everything But The Girl - Walking Wounded (Dave Wallace Remix) (Virgin)

23. Underworld - Skym (JBO)

24. Svaneborg Kardyb - Everything Possible (Gondwana Records)

25. Ane Brun - I Want To Know What Love Is (Balloon Ranger Recordings)

26. Vieux Farka Touré et Khruangbin - Savanne (Dead Oceans)

27. Tyler Newman - La Ramble @ Midnight (Solid.Grey.Sky.Recordings)

28. Arthur Russell - This Is How We Walk On The Moon (Point Music)

29. José González - Crosses (Imperial Recordings)

31. Nick Cave - Cosmic Dancer (BMG)

32. Medicine Head - Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues (See For Miles Records)

33. The Doors - The End (Elektra)



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02

18 December 2022

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Well, it's the penultimate mix of the year and I'll save my summary of that until next week. What I will say is that there's a narrative and a feeling from this weeks mix; sometimes the title, sometimes the vibe of the track, often both, that sums up how I feel and where I'm at. Not just now, but for quite a long time. That's not a grumble, it's just how it is. Today isn't the first time my eyes have welled up thinking about things whilst I'm putting a post together. Whether it be the purpose behind this year of mixes, the person behind the point of it all, the position I find myself in, the fact it hasn't quite panned out as I hoped. If I can summon the energy / will to build on that in next weeks post, then I will but I'm finding energy and focus and motivation in short supply, so we'll leave it at 'see what next week brings'.


Of course, I have to mention that the 51 mixes (well there's a handful of "selections" in there) that I have posted so far this year have been about one thing for me - trying to raise some funds for the work done by the people at Sue Ryder. They help people with serious neurological conditions live their life, you can find out more via their website, or on my Just Giving page if you feel like a small donation is something you can manage, or you can probably pick up a few bits of understanding what this is about by digging through some of the pages on this blog.


Of course, I always try to provide a linked up tracklist to the mixes I post, you'll find it below and please support the artists / labels where you can. Buy their music, follow their socials, share their posts etc. It's what keeps things going, you know?


Tracklist

Good Weather For An Airstrike - Frozen In Thought (Hibernate)

Blurstem - Far Too Long, Far Too Lost (Anthem Falls Music)

Myosotis - Small Existence (Hidden Vibes)

So, I'm An Islander - O Di Haij Ret (... And They Were Right) (Hidden Vibes)

Thomas Méreur - A Steady And Sad Process (Preserved Sound)

Dag Rosenqvist - To Not Forget (Hidden Vibes)

Kieldfel - And The Tide That Takes Us Away (Echoes In The Valley)

Hania Rani - Ghosts (Gondwana Records)

Olga Wojciechowska - Walk In My Shadow (Time Released Sound)

Matthieu Karsenti - Resilience (Slowcraft Records)

Trigg & Gusset - Ominous Clouds (Preserved Sound)

Andrew Wasylyk - The Life Of Time (Claypipe Music)

Kenneth James Gibson - Unblinded (Kompakt)

Visionary Hours - No One To Be Seen (Preserved Sound)

The Echelon Effect - Nobility In Loneliness (Good Weather For An Airstrike Remix) (Self Released)




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03

11 December 2022

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04

4 December 2022

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If you caught last weeks post [here] you'll know that this mix is a continuation from last week and sits in the sphere of electronica and ambient by my reckoning. Assigning genre tags has never been a strong suit of mine and I think constantly narrowing genres to this narrowest margins is counter productive to opening music up to people who might otherwise skip by and disregard. For me, it's much more helpful to give a general idea or feeling about a track, album or mix than the narrowest definition possible. So any disagreement on the genre tags I may use are fair and fine by me, but this is my approach and I'll stand by it.


Once more, I'm going to be a little lazy when it comes to pointing out why I'm posting weekly mixes through 2022 and just copy and paste what I posted last time around. I set out at the start of the year to post a new mix every week as a challenge to myself and also as a way to try and raise some funds for Sue Ryder, a charitable organisation that helped provide care for my Mum in her final 3 years. The hope being that if listeners enjoyed what I posted that they might find it worthy of a small donation to Sue Ryder via my Just Giving page, where they receive 100% of all funds raised. Sue Ryder provide care and a home for people in Aberdeen with extremely challenging neurological conditions like MS, MND (ALS) and Huntingtons to name a few, as well as respite and palliative care centres elsewhere in the country. All too often these services are the kind that you don't realise the importance of until you find yourself in the position of needing to use them, and sadly there is a considerable waiting list for that. Like most people and businesses, the pandemic and cost of living has had a huge impact and support is very much needed to make sure these services can continue. So, if you have listened and enjoyed any of the posts this year, please consider a small donation. Find out more on my Just Giving page, or via the Sue Ryder website.

 

As usual, I will post a linked up tracklist below the player so you can find any particular track you may want to pick up, but it also gives a chance to follow and support the artists and labels by digging a little deeper yourself, something I very much encourage and hope you will do.

 

 

Tracklist

Brian Case - DCIN (Hands In The Dark)

Karima Walker - For Heddi (Keeled Scales / Ordinal Records)

More Eaze - Better (Past Inside The Present)

Stellardome - I Don't Belong Here (Hidden Vibes)

David Cordero - El elogio de la sombra (DRONARIVM)

Cold Womb Descent - Colony Of The Remnants (Hidden Vibes)

Steve Moore - You're Making A Big Mistake (Relapse Records)

Reinis Ramans - Luminosity (Growing Bin Records)

Matthias Puech - Badalisic (Hands In The Dark)

Takashi Kokubo - Fluctuation #2 (Glossy Mistakes)

Lucy Liyou - How To Build An Automaton (Full Spectrum Records)

Porya Hatami - Restless (Tomotsugu Nakamura Remix) (DRONARIVM)

Max Würden - Exothermic Reaction (A Strangely Isolated Place)

Slow Meadow - A Light Without Flame (Self Released)

Sachi Kobayashi - Communication (Hush Hush)

Jonathan Fitoussi & Clemens Hourriere - Instants Ephemeres (Versatile Records)

 

 

 

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05

27 November 2022

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Not much commentary this week, just an electronica (?) mix. You can give it a label for me, I can't really get my head around the ever growing list of genres. I'd go with electronica and ambient, you might know better. This, and the next couple of mixes were originally one long mix that I've decided to cut into more consumable lengths. I might share the uncut full length mix down the line but I doubt there would be much call for it.


I can't not mention the point behind my weekly mix posting, if you don't mind I'll just copy and paste what I have written in the previous post... 

I set out at the start of the year to post a new mix every week as a challenge to myself and also as a way to try and raise some funds for Sue Ryder, a charitable organisation that helped provide care for my Mum in her final 3 years. The hope being that if listeners enjoyed what I posted that they might find it worthy of a small donation to Sue Ryder via my Just Giving page, where they receive 100% of all funds raised. Sue Ryder provide care and a home for people in Aberdeen with extremely challenging neurological conditions like MS, MND (ALS) and Huntingtons to name a few, as well as respite and palliative care centres elsewhere in the country. All too often these services are the kind that you don't realise the importance of until you find yourself in the position of needing to use them, and sadly there is a considerable waiting list for that. Like most people and businesses, the pandemic and cost of living has had a huge impact and support is very much needed to make sure these services can continue. So, if you have listened and enjoyed any of the posts this year, please consider a small donation. Find out more on my Just Giving page, or via the Sue Ryder website.

 

As always,  I try to link up the tracklist as best I can so you can support the artists and labels by buying their music. You can also use your Google machine to search for alternative sources or follow them via social media. You'll find the tracklist below.



Tracklist

A Winged Victory For The Sullen - X (Erased Tapes)

Bartosz Kruczyński & Poly Chain - Solacious (Into The Light)

Biosphere - Daphnis 26 (Biophon)

Myosotis - A Moment Illuminating Eternity (Hidden Vibes)

Jonathan Fitoussi & Clemens Hourriere - Aquedec (Obliques / Traversales Disques)

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Vakna (A Strangely Isolated Place)

Hoshiko Yamane & Mikael Lind - Reprocessed Phrases (Time Released Sound & Time Sensitive Materials)

Banabila & Machinefabriek - Sasquatch (eilean rec.)

Black Swan - Evolving Robots (Past Inside The Present)

Karamika - Ton 1 (ESP Institute)

Quiet Places - Track 6 (A Strangely Isolated Place)

Katya Yonder - Spinning Olimpia (Métron Records)

Wanderwelle - Presumed Lost (A Strangely Isolated Place)

Vhr-17 - Nuke (Eilean rec.)


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06

20 November 2022

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Dipping back into the world of 4/4 this week with a house mix. Call it house, deep house or as Beatport likes to go with organic house, go with whatever you want to call it. There are a couple of mixes that could be better thanks to some glitchy behaviour from my Traktor software but it's not bad enough to warrant the recycle bin and I'm posting it regardless.


I have to mention the purpose behind these weekly mixes that I've posted this year. I set out at the start of the year to post a new mix every week as a challenge to myself and also as a way to try and raise some funds for Sue Ryder, a charitable organisation that helped provide care for my Mum in her final 3 years. The hope being that if listeners enjoyed what I posted that they might find it worthy of a small donation to Sue Ryder via my Just Giving page, where they receive 100% of all funds raised. Sue Ryder provide care and a home for people in Aberdeen with extremely challenging neurological conditions like MS, MND (ALS) and Huntingtons to name a few, as well as respite and palliative care centres elsewhere in the country. All too often these services are the kind that you don't realise the importance of until you find yourself in the position of needing to use them, and sadly there is a considerable waiting list for that. Like most people and businesses, the pandemic and cost of living has had a huge impact and support is very much needed to make sure these services can continue. So, if you have listened and enjoyed any of the posts this year, please consider a small donation. Find out more on my Just Giving page, or via the Sue Ryder website.


As ever, you will find a linked up tracklist below the player where you can buy the tracks I've used. All Beatport links this week but I'm sure you can find them elsewhere at Juno, Bandcamp and the like.



Tracklist

Tim Green - Lune (All Day I Dream)

Amonita - Stay (Peace Symphonies)

Wassu & djimboh - Green Eye Cat (The Sound Garden)

Nomi Ruiz - Be Your Girl (Arabic Piano & Dr Feel Remix) (KID Recordings)

Sebjak & Fehlberg - Somebody (Abracadabra Music)

The Cobb - Vesna (-102 °c)

Mauro Masi & Julian Liander - Djambore (AMITABHA)

Alley SA - Sleeping Under The Stars (Bekool Records)

George X - Ourania (Amulanga)

Erdi Irmak - I Can Find ft Amego (Maty Owl Extended Remix) (When We Dip XYZ)

loan - Carosel (Nite Grooves)

Perry Farrell & The Kind Heaven Orchestra - Mend (Tim Green Remix) (Heaven After Dark)


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07

13 November 2022

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Before I started this year of mixes shenanigans I spent some time thinking about how I would approach it and how would I keep things interesting for myself as well as other people? One thought was that I'd occasionally have a mix or selection based around an artist or label that I am particularly keen on.  I did it with number 36, but it would have been quite a miss not to feature the artist 36 that week.


As the weeks have rolled on and the fact this whole project hasn't really gone as well as I had hoped I've ebbed and flowed in my enthusiasm for doing this. I let a couple of negative comments get to me and I ended up not really sticking to what I originally had been thinking about. I've decided to at least make the effort to get this one done before coming to the end of the year because it's one of, if not my most favourite label in recent times.

 

Gondwana is a mountainous and hilly region in India, it was also the name given to a massive landmass (or super-continent) around 500,000,000 years ago. It's also a label that features heavily on my record shelves. The label was set up in Manchester in 2008 by one of my favourite artists, Matthew Halsall. I could extol the qualities of this label and many of the artists that feature on it but that's kind of what the mix/selection is about. I've pulled together a small sample of some wonderful music but really it could have been hours longer with more artists, but trying to keep these selections around an hour or so, it's just a sampling of what is on offer. I would encourage you to dig deeper yourself, visit Bandcamp and Spotify (Matthew Halsall has an excellent spiritual jazz playlist he curates himself), start with Matthew Halsall's work and also look out for Hania Rani (and check this video and this one). Anyway, I hope this gives a nice taste and perhaps pulls one or two listeners to the label. As always, I will link to where you can buy the music featured below the player and will add some additional links for the label too.


This weeks cover picture is an edited photo I took in Grindelwald, Switzerland which is nestled in the heart of the alps and surrounded by the mountains of Faulhorn, Schwarzhorn, Wellhorn, Wetterhorn, Mettenberg, Schreckhorn, Lauteraarhorn, Agassizhorn, Fiescherhorn, Mönch, Eiger, Lauberhorn and Männlichen. Nearby Lauterbrunnen is said to have been inspiration for Tolkein's Rivendell in The Hobbit / Lord Of The Rings.

 

Finally, as always, I must briefly explain the purpose of these weekly mixes. At the start of 2022 I decided to try and raise some much needed funds for the excellent work done by the Sue Ryder charity by posting a weekly mix, hoping if people enjoyed what I shared they might put a small donation over (I was thinking the price of a coffee etc). The Sue Ryder organisation helped care for my Mum in her latter years and need all the help they can get. You can find a little more out and donate via my Just Giving page (100% of all money goes direct to Sue Ryder). You can also find out more digging around the blog here where I really have used the space to vent a little about the care system and the impacts of that, as well as the world in general.




Tracklist

Forgiveness - Ocean Floor

Dwight Trible ft. Matthew Halsall - Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair

Matthew Halsall - Reflections

Phi-Psonics - Like Glass

Vega Trails - Train To Kyoto

Caoilfhionn Rose - Truly

Hania Rani - Come Back Home

GoGo Penguin - One Percent

Portico Quartet - With, Beside, Against

Matthew Halsall - The Temple Within

Paradise Cinema - Possible Futures

Jasmine Myra - Words Left Unspoken

Chip Wickham - Sais (Egypt)


Links for Gondwana - 

Website  //  Spotify  //  Bandcamp  //  Twitter  //  Instagram  //  Facebook  //  Youtube

 

 

 

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08

6 November 2022

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09

30 October 2022

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Seeing out October with another ambient based mix, slightly looser in the genre description than the last few mixes, this one was done with a bit of an "otherworldly" or sci-fi feeling in mind, it's up to you to decide if that fits.


As I'm approaching the end of this year and this series of mixes in an attempt to raise funds for Sue Ryder, I've already accepted that there's not much point in me carrying on beyond this. As much as I like to think I can pick a good tune and put together a mix in a way I enjoy listening to mixes, it's clearly not hitting the spot for other people in that way. I do get the odd bit of positive feedback but I'm full of self doubt and empty on confidence so I don't take praise or positivity well and more often than not I doubt whether it's genuine. That's on me, I accept that and I probably don't have the correct mindset through the longstanding and exhausting combination of depression and anxiety to be putting myself through this process, and worse if there should be some scathing criticism which isn't unknown.

 

Although I've still to switch the most recent posts over, I've changed all the players on the blog to Mixcloud and will be allowing my Soundcloud subscription to lapse, something I should have done years ago. I can't justify the cost and eventually I'll be on the free level of service for Mixcloud too which still allows all the mixes to remain online. Whether anymore get posted after this year, I don't know, but at the moment it feels pretty pointless. I just wanted to mention that because there are a small handful of regular listeners on Soundcloud that do still play older mixes quite regularly.


As ever, I try and link a tracklist below the player so you can support artists and labels if you are so inclined and of course my Just Giving page for Sue Ryder remains open and will do until they expire it.


 

Tracklist

Brian Eno - A Clearing (Editions EG) (We Are On The Fucking Moon Version) (via The Onion)
Ben Woods - Space & Time (Not On Label)
Okada + duenn - Hana To Midori To Hikari (UP-04) (Newhere Music)
Michael Stearns - In The Beginning... (Emotional Rescue)
Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres - Relent (Headphone Commute)
Lord Of The Isles - Zub (Emotional Response)
Cicely Irvine - Organ & Buchla Duet (eilean recs)
Seabuckthorn - The Observatory (eilean recs)
Karamika - Ton 2 (ESP Institute)
Billow Observatory - In A Stream (Felte)
Jo Johnson - Ancestral Footsteps (Further Records)
High Skies - Au Debut Du Voyage (Microscopics)
Anzano - Movements II (Throne Of Blood)
duenn - Hal (Past Inside The Present)
Joel Mull - Alden Plateau (Parabel)
Jonathan Fitoussi - Andromede (Further Records)
Carbon Based Lifeforms - Metrosat 4 (Leffield Records)
Findthings - Curio
A Positive Life - The Calling (Loved 'Ub Mix) (Music From Memory)


 

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