Sure Thing Podcast

Naarm/Melbourne’s Lily Dalton caught my ear with an impressive series of mixes for @city-bleus and @chomleychomley among others, and I’m so glad to welcome her as she prepares to launch her upcoming label @irregularforms. Lily’s mix is infectious and brilliantly paced, all while highlighting a solid dose of Australian music, and it’s clear she’ll soon enough be bringing entire crowds to their knees. This one sounds like a rush to the front, a shared inhale, a collective dream of dancing beneath a florescent sky.

@lilydalton

Next on the podcast is this full-field wonder from Naarm/Melbourne's Citizen Maze, member of the beloved Analogue Attic family and curator of the Mirror Tapes series. This set is a boundless horizon, a mix overflowing with so much pure, radiant feeling that you'll swear it was twice as long. Its density is staggering, yet moments of gentle and poetic bliss coalesce like visions in the fog. As melody burns into afterimage and heartbeat becomes rhythm, our senses give in completely. Enjoy this one, and thanks Citizen Maze!

@citizenmaze

@mirrortapes

Artwork by Alyce Currier.

A new season begins with a warm welcome to Joachim Spieth, founder of the Affin label. A true veteran of the scene, Joachim's first release dates back 1999 via Kompakt, and his own label narrates an impressive and storied history from 2007 onward. Recent years have seen quite the community grow around Affin's beloved output of ambient and techno, including recent stellar works from Einox and Toki Fuko, and last month's beautiful "Ousia" LP from Joachim himself.

This mix is blanketed by a calm, snow-bound serenity yet its nature is far from laid-back. As ethereal as it is energetic, this mix drives forth the clarity of Joachim's vision — a brisk inhale of the coming storm, an idyllic wind lifting us into the gale. Thanks Joachim!

@joachim-spieth

@Affin

Artwork by Danielle Kaidanow.

One last mix to end the year. When Svreca sent me this set, he could not have known what it would mean to me. I have spent so much time looking back lately, reliving old discussions and re-imagining moments passed, often lamenting how much was lost along the way. In just under three hours this mix communicates the flow of years. An archived recording from a special memory, it reminds me that the passage of time is beautiful even in what it fades away. Listening to it, I become lost completely, as though I am everywhere at once.

Thank you to everyone who listened this year, who sent warm messages and left comments, who supported us and kept us feeling connected. Thank you to the artists who continue to give their time and trust to the podcast and label, and keep us moving forward.

Finally, thank you Svreca for this gift and for being an inspiration from the very beginning. We're all here listening. Let's dive in.

@semantica-records

Artwork by Clara Cortes.

Many of you will need no introduction to the music of Primal Code, the Italian duo who have conjured up a storm of stunning releases on labels such as Hypnus, The Gods Planet, and Konstrukt in relatively short order. We first connected over their gorgeous, then-unreleased track "Morgana," and since then it's been a pleasure watching them develop their natural and introspective sound, each release as polished and inspiring as the last. I'm so happy to welcome them to the podcast and what they've sent is pure delight, an emerald evocation of sun-pierced woods and the clearing of the morning mist. Enjoy!

@primalcodemusic

Photography by Angelina Nikolayeva.

It's my pleasure to welcome Yan to the podcast, co-founder of Harmony Rec. and beloved resident of Prague's Ankali. We finally crossed paths in Japan last fall, playing together in Shibuya in what became one of my favorite memories of the year before heading off to the one-and-only Labyrinth.

Having just celebrated their sixth anniversary and with six label releases now under their belt, the Harmony Rec. crew have a lot to celebrate. You can hear it in this mix, I think, buoyant and addictive in its dedication to the never-ending dance floor. Yan takes us right into the zone and keeps us there.

@yanmmxiv

@harmony-rec

Photography by Alyce Currier.

A flash of diamond dust from France's Realitycheck, an uncanny producer whose productions will be rattling subs everywhere when the dance floors re-open. This one is a blinding and triumphant set of nimble, stance-switching rhythms, crystalline and murky all at once and landing blows at every turn.

@realitycheck-4

A tender mosaic captured in soft focus, courtesy of The Something Something's Will Oirson. Recorded during the final act of ISOTOOP's "The Mind-Altering Experiment," an exploratory event which traced the course of an entire summer's evening, Will's morning call is a testament to shared experience, a confirmation of combined existence. Each selection is given room to breathe, space to occupy, and time to endure. It's impossible not to yearn for more.

Thanks to @willoirson and @isotoop for letting us share this moment.

Photography by Alyce Currier.

MIST002 - PRG/M - Lenta Ginestra

Release date: Sept 10 2020 (12" Vinyl / Digital)

A1. Giardini e Palagi

A2. Ignea Bocca

A3. Flutto Rovente

B1. Lenta Ginestra (Acronym Remix)

B2. Marchesa Deserta

B3. Lenta Ginestra

Sure Thing’s second release sees Italian producer PRG/M join the label’s roster, following an acclaimed EP for Midgar Records and his ongoing work as a member of r²π. Departing from the soft edges of MIST001, the six-track EP contains multitudes, with looping arrangements that showcase PRG/M’s technical depth and breadth of vision. From the hypnotic, tightly percussive “Giardini e Palagi” to the intense, psychedelic “Flutto Rovente,” the EP captures a range of moods and textures and offers an exemplary example of precise, immersive techno.

The title, Lenta Ginestra, takes its name from a flowering species that grows slowly upon the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, the active volcano known for Pompeii’s destruction. The title is poetic and apt; throughout the EP there’s a sense of restrained patience amid chaos. Like the flower, the title track is delicate but tough, building tension and skillfully resisting catharsis. A remix from Stilla Ton’s Acronym is a dance-forward deconstruction that incites movement while nicely complementing PRG/M’s more charged productions. Despite the lush density of these tracks, groove is never sacrificed. It’s a commanding work, made for both dance floors and deep listening.

Written and produced by Pier Giuseppe Mariconda.

Remix by Acronym.

Mastered by Neel at Enisslab.

Artwork by Sofia Hjortberg.

Hoedus delivers a constellation of modern techno for the mix series' return to rhythm. In the spirit of the Anekoic co-founder's own productions, rippling energies and subsurface spirals are mapped with pinpoint precision, tunneling us forward and accelerating us into the ire of gravity's pull.

@hoedus

@anekoicrecords

Photography by Angelina Nikolayeva.