s l o w b u r n

Sounds from the void / deep moods from the New York underground

Photos by Cherrie Mio Rhodes

A little'a'this, a little'a'that, some tunes I've been enjoying; groovy, dark, hypnotizing, trancey atmospheres — sonic immersion from a Summer in rêve: Detroit, New York, the Adriatic Sea; songs from the void, sounds from the deep.

Here's a new Sound of You set with some sounds I've been playing to keep warm this winter. I've been having fun threading together deep layered progressive melodies with some rave atmospheres, music for the late hours. Be well <3

Artwork is by Cat Huss.

This one is a nice long sloooooow burn...

Deep Space Gallery is a really cool contemporary arts gallery a short walk away in my neighborhood of Jersey City, and home to this awesome work Space Rocks by Shamona Stokes. It’s a gallery, incubator, and home for many local artists of all kinds, and a place I’ve played at many times over the last few years. I’ve gotten to know so many talented new/old DJs there in a short couple years, most of whom play vinyl and an eclectic range of styles. Being part of this community has helped me deepen my own sound and understanding of what it means to spin and curate music, all music, all genres.

I’ve been wanting to record a set like this for almost a year and never got around to it. It’s a bunch of different chill and vibey tunes I’ve played in bits and pieces around my home base of Jersey City the last few years: downtempo, trip hop, industrial, house, jazz, you name it. Deep Space asked me to come spin for a few hours last month for the closing weekend of their “Wallpaper” show, and I knew that’s where I wanted to finally record this. I threw all the different sounds I’ve been personally listening to onto a flash drive and walked on over there.

I hope you enjoy this almost 4 hours journey featuring so many grooves I’ve been enjoying on my headphones and home sound system the last few years! Clear some time in your schedule, turn the lights down, and *really* get into it ;)

Over many recent conversations about classic trance, techno, and the O.G. underground New York scene I grew up in, I've been reminiscing a lot about my roots and beginnings as a DJ.

I got my first gig playing a teen night at Club Deep in New York at the age of 15 around 2002, produced over the next several years and was signed by a German label in 2006. I've been deeply involved in rave and dance music culture for almost 25 years, something I'm very proud of and has given a lot of meaning and color to my life.

While searching through an old hard drive, I found this unlabeled .mp3 recording of mine from the summer of 2006. Having immersed myself entirely in the New York rave and trance communities at the time, I played a lot of different underground gigs that year and remember playing 3 warehouse raves that summer: two in Queens (in Flushing and Hunter's Point), and one in the South Bronx. This live set recording is from one of those nights, but I can't remember which.

I was playing a lot of progressive trance and house in the CLUBS I was booked at those years, but you can hear a different darker side of me here at the RAVE: hard driving techno, hard trance, hard house. This was a side I felt more comfortable unleashing in the rave scene, where other DJs were playing hardcore, drum n' bass, and hard house.

The New York club and rave scenes were pretty separate at the time. The people who went to see trance and techno DJs in Manhattan were not the kids who went to raves every week in The Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens. Both scenes were pretty diverse but the raves I played at were a primarily Latino and Black crowd.

The worlds were pretty different, and fewer people in the rave scene knew who I was than at the clubs in Manhattan. I feel lucky to have grown up in this era and experienced the New York underground in its totality, a world I exist in and am passionate about still to this day.

I hope you enjoy this really deep cut recording from 19 year old "DJ Eco" during the summer of 2006. Some of you have been following me for a lot of that time, and I hope you guys especially enjoy this one. I do it for y'all - and I do it for the underground; always have...

Sharing a set I played recently for Austin’s WOMM Radio and long-time supporter and friend @nolightthing. In this set I played a lot of personal edits, mashups, and bootlegs I’ve made over the last couple years, so no track IDs this time... J.C. and California folx who've seen me perform the last couple years have been the only people to hear a lot of this music until now. Expect deeper late night sounds, hazy hypnotic dance floor connection / disassociation progressiv muzik. Enjoy.

As always, I like to share work by one of my favorite artists, Corpus Christi, TX-based Cat Huss, this one is called “Salt and Moon” (2022).

Tracklist

1. O'Flynn - Aletheia

2. Madben - Circuit Breaker (Avision Remix)

3. Radio Slave - Wild Life (Dub Mix)

4. Magit Cacoon - Soul Motion (&ME Remix)

5. TERR - States Of Mind

6. atish, Vridian - Instant Transmission (Mihai Popviciu & Markus Homm Remix)

7. Yotam Avni feat. dOP & Greg Paulus - Just Another Day (Glowal Remix)

8. Jimi Jules - Speed Meditation

9. Franck Roger - Spacefunk

10. Jerk Boy - Dropping Acid In Napoli

11. O'Flynn - Siberian Goose Down

12. Daniel[i] - Sgyro

13. Four Tet, Burial - Nova

14. O'Flynn - Talia

15. PROFF - Nibbana (Volen Sentir's Pink Sky Retouch)

16. Tobias. - Schism

17. Hugo Massien - God Knows We Tried

Art: "Trying Not To Think" by Cat Huss

Tracklist

1. Dorisburg - Irrbloss

2. Hermanez - Areia

3. Pavel Petrov - Fever (Pezzner Remix - Guy J Edit)

4. Tensnake - 1975

5. Dorisburg - Gripen

6. Impérieux - Ferishtah

7. m.O.N.R.O.E. - Push the Fader

8. Serge Devant - White Groove

9. Kasper Koman - The Observer

10. M.I.B. - Keep Pushin'

11. X-Press 2 - AC/DC (Guy J Remix)

12. Petar Dundov - Oasis (Timo Maas 2020 Remix)

Art: "Moonbeams in a Dark Sky" by Cat Huss

We'll take it up a few notches with my next couple episodes, but for episode 42, let's slow it down and soak into these cool deep dark grooves. While our summer tales are not yet fully written, here is a soundtrack for some of those (strange) late '22 nights.

Art: "Sail" by Cat Huss.

Tracklist

1. Landslide - Signs of Change

2. Treibgut - Eigengrau (Iorie Remix)

3. Detmolt - Kaos

4. GruuvElement's - White Monday

5. Zankee Gulati feat. Amega - We Are One

6. Pink Floyd - Careful With That Axe, Eugene (KØSTER Edit)

7. Leafar Legov - Our Love Is Strong

8. Triptease - Duodular

9. Raw Main - Lighthouse

10. Sahalé - Magharibi (Satori Remix)

11. Stan Kolev - Opia

Art by Cat Huss.

Tracklist

1. Gidge - Perimeter

2. DIM KELLY - Nocturnal Animal

3. SAVE! - The Darkness (I:Cube Remix)

4. Rawdio + Floating Points - The Fresh Breeze at 3AM in the Club (Eco's Falaise Edit)

5. Kiko, Dave Davis feat. Phoebe - Living in Space

6. Kiko, Dave Davis feat. Phoebe - Living in Space (Olivier Giacamotto Remix)

7. Anthony Attalla - Back To Basics

8. John Acquaviva, Manuel De La Mare - Sacrilicious

9. Petar Dundov - Spark (Imran Khan Remix)

10. Robag Wruhme - Calma Calma

11. Durante, Maz - Ivory

12. Guy Gerber - Timing

13. Paul C, Paolo Martini - Yellorange

14. Las Cabra - Escondido

15. Doyeq - Sparkles

16. Elfenberg - Betongromans