Avenue Red

For the third and final instalment of our winter train of Icelandic artists, we welcome OHM back for his second contribution to the Avenue Red Podcast series. OHM has worked with some of the finest deep techno artists and DJ'ed at various notable beacons of the underground deep techno scene, including the Culture Box nightclub in Copenhagen, where he holds a residency. Naturally, we are proud to have yet another mix to deliver from this total legend!

"Its getting darker and colder outside... even more reason to play some records for Avenue Red. I just unboxed some records I purchased and some others I was kindly sent over from my friends in music. These tracks give a looking glass into the music I'm listening to these days and showcase some of the artists that inspire me a great deal.

Deep, dubby and smooth are the words to describe this session, something that people can dive into and get totally lost in!" Bjarnar Jónsson, January 2019

https://soundcloud.com/ohm-599575574

https://www.discogs.com/artist/3123150-Ohm-16

See also:

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-109-ohm

Next up for our winter season of artists from the Icelandic deep techno hive, we welcome Jonas Thor Gudmundsson AKA Ruxpin AKA Octal Industries. This amazing 1 hour of deep, dubby, industrial machine techno sounds is released under his Octal Industries moniker... why? Because it is a live improvised electronics performance of mostly unreleased Octal Industries materials.

Now living in Tallin, Estonia, this guy is an absolute legend in our view, having released many strings of mind-bending releases since the late 90's on some magical labels (including Thule Records) and leaving a frothing wake of highly sought after deep/dub techno releases. Since the early days of his career he has collaborated with some of the most talented artists from Iceland including Yagya, Árni Valur Kristinsson and OHM, and also with some from further afield including Rod Modell and Michael Sickinger from the USA. Despite this rich artistic legacy, it is clear from his words below and this live mix before you now, that his musical story is still unravelling with lots more exciting chapters soon to come.

"On the 28th of November 2018 I sat down and did a little studio mix - compiled with loops and samples from mostly unreleased tracks from my vault. Some of the songs are my creation and others are collaboration work with my good friend OHM. I don't think the plan is to somehow showcase a current live set, but rather to showcase what listeners might expect with the releases upcoming in 2019. I'm trying to find some middle-ground between dancefloor and home listening. Not sure if that works, but we'll see.

There are some interesting releases in the pipeline, mostly done in collaboration with OHM. There will be 12" releases on the legendary Rawax, Luck Of Access (a new label run by Andrey Pushkarev), and also a digital release on Gartenhaus. I have an ambient techno-style LP ready in my archives, which I'll throw out myself digitally (or by other means) when I find a proper gap in the release schedule. I'll also have a track featured on a compilation from Unknown Tribe. Anyway, lots of good things on the horizon and I'm sure that 2019 will be as fruitful as the previous years have been for me." Jonas Thor Gudmundsson, 2018

https://soundcloud.com/octalindustries

https://soundcloud.com/ruxpin

https://www.discogs.com/artist/510574-J%C3%B3nas-Thor-Gudmundsson

As we get deep into the winter, we have decided to take inspiration from those who know how to zone out and party hard in the icy cold conditions better than anyone else... here for the first of 3 Icelandic artists on 3 consecutive episodes on Avenue Red throughout December, we welcome Ísar Logi Arnarsson AKA COLD from Reykjavík.

Forever a legend on Icelandic techno powerhouse Thule Records, with his Hyper Experience EP (THL001) opening the account back in 1995, Ísar quickly gained the attention of many including Sven Väth, who played the record shortly after it was released to close out his set at the Berlin Love Parade. However, things then went cold (!) on the production front, with him reawakening again in 2017 full of ideas and inspiration, leading to a 6-track release on the experimental new Thule sister label AE Recordings, soon followed by his Dub Safari EP on Thule earlier this year.

Here COLD has delivered an impeccably dark, groovy set full of rigid, sharp, bare-bones beats with some tribal overlays, all mingled with those trademark deep, breezy dub-laden Icelandic techno vibes we are all big fans of over in this corner.

"The underground music scene in Iceland is pretty active considering the size and number of people, primarily in Reykjavik of course. We have a few venues that make it their goal to accommodate both live performances and DJ's, mostly locals with the occasional international visitor to spice things up. I don't need to go far to get inspiration from the dance floor. My fellow Icelandic producers have been my biggest motivators and inspiration... I can't thank them enough!

About this mix: I started by collecting all the music/artists that I found to be inspiring me at the moment and found a way to coalesce it into a tight but blissful, thumping club mix. I picked out a handful of my all-time favourites and some fresh Icelandic ones. Then I ground the songs down to their elements and started the merry-go-round, but as the mix progresses I give the songs more space to breathe and evolve. This is the kind of music that would have me dancing for hours with my eyes closed, with images of larger than life scenery in my mind." Ísar Logi Arnarsson, December 2018

https://soundcloud.com/isar-logi

https://www.facebook.com/COLDfromICELAND

https://www.discogs.com/artist/12959-Cold

Amid this very busy winter schedule of releases, Avenue Red continues with a fresh upfront mix of slamming oldskool Tech House flavours. Many thanks to Sam Funke from Paris, France for this killer mix to show the kids what real, genuine Tech House was all about back in it's golden era of 90's to early 00's, where the sub-genre name was used to describe this unique fusion of Techno & House music stylings.

Ignore all subsequent widespread abuses of this genre term though, none of which matter anyhow because those of us in the know cannot be fooled!

"I am a cosmic vinyl addict from Paris bringing the vibe and the groove on the dancefloor of underground warehouse parties. I am a Techno, Electro and Breakbeat head at the service of galaxy. Here I give a mix of old stuff from my record collection, mainly Tech House from UK 1990's with stuff from Terry Francis, Nathan Coles, Craig Richards, Eddie Richards etc. Have fun!" Sam Funke, December 2018

https://soundcloud.com/sam-funke

As the icy winter begins to set in here in the northern hemisphere, we have taken some inspiration from a Russian photographer, music collector and excellent DJ, Maksim Panfilov. He originally was born and raised in the coldest, most remote city on the planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norilsk Norilsk in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia, Russia. Isolated, detached, lonely, heavily industrial and severely polluted. A fascinating, yet strange place within the arctic circle that Maksim moved away from, initially to Saint-Petersburg and then to Moscow, where he currently resides.

It is clear that the visual element is important for Maksim in conjunction with his musical output. See this incredible mix performance titled "Swimmers" he did live on his YouTube channel along with some interesting visuals, his own imagery, faded in-and-out throughout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgSmUwBkwPw - there are other examples of this on his channel too.

Here he has provided us with a very interesting, giddy, floaty mixture of slow burning house and deep, disco-edged 4/4 melodica that has some truly edge-of-the-world vibes within. All mixed seamlessly and creatively too. You can hear and feel the passion from the man, and you can almost discern the feeling of coldness and isolation that helped to inspire him in developing his far-out and other worldly musical tastes.

"Greetings from Moscow. This mix is a trippy, soft and groovy selection. It contains some timeless classics, tracks from my Russian friends and other nice musical gems... I guess that it's perfect for a short flight over the celestial ocean. Have a nice trip!" Maksim Panfilov, November 2018

https://soundcloud.com/panfilov

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrsKJBovstT2iyPZTtleApg

https://www.facebook.com/maksimpanfilov

=====

Tracklist coming soon.

NOTE: The source image was taken by Maksim himself.

For Avenue Red Podcast 115 we welcome ARiS, who is originally from the coastal city of Patras in Greece. Having been a DJ since the late 90's, where he played at small underground parties around his hometown, ARiS continued his pursuit of collecting music and DJ'ing after he relocated to Camerino in central Italy in the mid-2000's. Aris established himself with residencies at clubs like Oniremac, Plush, Club Gallery, Caffe Concerto and 300 Monkeys. You could have caught him over the past 15 years at various clubs across Italy and the Greek Islands, but lately he's been focussed on providing the groove for private after-parties in central Italy with PlayON.

Here ARiS delivers an hour of groove-centric, hypnotic techy house music with a Romanian twist. Expect tight selections, solid programming and mixing that is smooth as silk.

"A blend of fine deep minimal sounds gives a groovy mix, takes you on a journey deep in your soul. Music has no borders!" Aris Kousidis, November 2018

@aris81

https://www.facebook.com/aris81.music

Just as he provided us with a mix for the change of season into the spring, Tommy Lemmers AKA Trepid AKA dubtommy returns to the Avenue Red Podcast with some serious, dubbed out, cold steel house & techno vibes for the darker wintry days.

"In contrast to my last mix, we're going into the winter period. It's getting cold and the days are getting shorter, which makes more time to explore the night time. Feel free to join this journey into the complex realms of deep music!" Tommy Lemmers, November 2018

https://soundcloud.com/dubtommy1

See also:

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-108-trepid

NOTE: The source image was taken by Tommy himself. It was taken recently from his parents' house by The IJsselmeer, a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands.

Our man over in Bucharest, Romania - George O'laru - one half of the artist known as Heerd with Stroe Ionut, delivers a stunning and very unique mix of trip-hop, lounge and experimental material. A perfect accompaniment for those late "afterhours" sessions or a morning coffee... or a coffee shop vibe.

"As I listened to a lot of trip-hop, ambient and various downtempo music in the last year I decided to record something different than I usually do. I hope you will enjoy the journey and who knows, maybe in the next episode I will come with a mix recorded with tracks exclusively produced by Heerd? ;)" George Olaru, November 2018

https://soundcloud.com/olarugeorge

https://soundcloud.com/heerd

See also:

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-107-olaru

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-076-olaru

NOTE: The source image was provided by George, it was taken during his childhood from his hometown of Constanta, Romania. Avenue Red have edited it into what you see now, with the boat detail projected into the sky. It is intended to be a reflection of how memory is preserved and accessed in the human mind.

To complete this little compendium of mixes to celebrate 5 years of Avenue Red, we welcome our master of deep house & techno over in Helsinki, Finland - Janne Rasi. His 2 previous mixes in the series are truly mind-bending, introspective, glowing, radioactive deep house mixes that are both expertly programmed, sequenced and mixed. Excellently addictive, classy mixes.

For his 3rd contribution Janne puts on his techno hat, digging deep into the tougher, more energetic areas of his crazy record collection. Enjoy this magical session at high volume to bring our half decade milestone mini-series to a close. Business as usual after this one, as we continue with episode #113. Stay tuned!

"I first came across Avenue Red almost four years ago. Alec had heard a mix of mine and asked if I'd like to contribute to the series. I started listening to the podcasts and it didn’t take long to hear the quality of the mixes. However, it took two years before I eventually posted the first mix, which I thought would be a one-off. But here we are, it's time for my 3rd mix in the series. Trying not to repeat myself, I wanted to make a techno-oriented mix this time, which I hadn’t done in a very long time.

It’s been a great journey for the past years, both as a DJ and as a listener. Happy birthday Avenue Red and thumbs up to Alec for keeping the series running and setting the quality standards high!" Janne Rasi, October 2018

https://soundcloud.com/jannerasi

See also:

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-099-janne-rasi

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-080-janne-rasi

Another 5 Years of Avenue Red mix... another Avenue Red legend! For this instalment we present an extended 3-hour live session from Swiss deep boss Alessandro Crimi. All fans of Avenue Red will know Alessandro well, as he has touched our souls with his expertly crafted mixes loaded with unforgettable vibes and deepness.

The Waehlscheibe label boss was going to do a special studio mix for this one, however a smoked-out live gig in his hometown of St. Gallen last weekend was recorded and after a listen through, we decided that it fitted the bill nicely.

Here master Crimi delivers a crazy eclectic mix of deep, tripped out lounge lizard tracks, which oozes into some of the most delicious deep house and electro ever produced, then finished with a smattering of liquid drum & bass tracks.

"I didn't expect this mix to be used for a proper podcast... I only recorded it so that I had something fresh to listen to, like a playlist of some of my favourites in my collection.

I wasn't even spending all the time behind the booth as I knew the length of the tracks, so I occasionally went outside for smoke, then came in just to play the next one... that's why some of the time I didn't mix at all. This session is all about just letting the music play. I had some good music with me, and also some good stuff to smoke 😉" Alessandro Crimi, September 2018

https://soundcloud.com/alessandro_crimi

https://soundcloud.com/waehlscheibe

See also:

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-083-alessandro-crimi

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-069-alessandro-crimi

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-032-alessandro-crimi

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-027-alessandro-crimi

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/podcast-006-alessandro-crimi

https://soundcloud.com/avenue-red/radio-show-007