A particularly large HAPPY SPRING emanates fragrantly from the latest guest mix or Guest Mix for YES/NO, arriving courtesy of Comanche. Named after the Plains Indian tribe, he's actually called Keegan (though I thought Comanche was a duo but… well, maybe it is?) and he's from Minneapolis. When I stumbled upon Silicon Basilica, his debut album released on supercool label Astro Nautico, I was majorly impressed and have been itching for new stuff ever since; so I'm very happy to present this lovely guest mix from him.
"It's finally spring, and some of these songs have been on repeat, bringing warm vibes and the like," he says. "I've also really been getting into a lot of old scores and movie music, which have been increasingly dominating my playlists." How does the mix relate to him as Comanche, though? "A sign of things to come!" he says. "I'm always looking to enjoy & create from rich source material, be it inspirational or otherwise, and am often drawn towards instrumental music. Both of these truths are evident in this mix, and they help guide me in the creative process."
And you hear just that all the way through; from the beginning, with 82-year-old composer Isao Tomita's spacey arrangement of Debussy's 'Arabesque No. 1' from his 1974 album Snowflakes Are Dancing (which reappears later in the mix), through Chrome Sparks' arpeggio-ridden electro rainforest of a track 'Your Planet' and German pianist and composer Horst Jankowski's soft lounge classic 'Pink Balloon' with its kitsch "la-la-la-la-laaaa...", to the main title from the Taxi Driver original soundtrack, a moody piece for saxophone that summons a kind of deluded heroic romance of nocturnal isolation, which builds to a glittering bellicose fantasy, composed by Bernard Hermann – it was the last film score he composed before his death in 1975, the year prior to the its release; previous works include Psycho and François Truffaut's Farenheit 451.
Anyway. That's enough of words. Just sit back and enjoy this voyage through a bright and varied collage of sounds.
• T R A C K L I S T •
Isao Tomita – Arabesque No. 1
Chrome Sparks – Your Planet
Handsomeboy Technique – A Walk Across The Rooftops
Daedelus – You've Heard
Horst Jankowski – Pink Balloon
Les Loups – Paradisco
Jan Driver – Empathy
Dirty Art Club – Into the Night
Taxi Driver OST – Main Title
Isao Tomita – Arabesque No. 1 (contd.)
Bibio – Polycoulrophon
Bullion – Pressure To Dance
Todd Terje – Preben Goes To Acapulco
Bot'Ox – 2.4.1
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It was my first exposure to him, but... wow!
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