Posted on: December 22nd, 2009 tape#8: Edge Of No Control
Without any clear organization, a new sound has been bubbling up from locations as disparate as Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam and Glasgow. It’s not completely coherent, it’s not a genre, and it doesn’t have a geographic locus, but producers and fans are gelling into a kind of scene. Yes, I’m talking about the music described as ‘wonky’.
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(Click play to listen)
According to producer Zomby, “At first the term was used loosely as it was a playful in-joke for producers working in disharmonic structure or notation.” But in its short life, wonky has already become a dirty word. The term has appeared in some fairly mainstream publications (including the Guardian’s blog), and it’s gaining ground as a genre in record store inventories. Despite these shows of support, many artists, journalists and fans have been loath to accept the word.
I’m uncomfortable with the term. It doesn’t describe much. The pejorative quality takes one too easily to ‘bad music’. But perhaps the true meaning of the word, or a new word altogether have yet to come into being. It’s early days for this music.
Despite my issues with the word, we need something to describe this music so it’ll have to do for now. I’d have to argue that Zomby has offered a very concise description of the common qualities of this music, but I’d like to go farther. It’s not just disharmony, it’s like a rip in the fabric of space-time. This music brings a radical skepticism to the texture, rhythm and sonics of dance music. What I hear in this music is a celebration of sonic instability. Beats slide out of place, everything shimmers, and the familiar becomes new again.
And this discontinuous quality is reflected strongly in this mix. There are almost 40 tracks crammed together here in a kind of sideways, ADD-crazed survey of new, old and unreleased music (although there’s only a couple tracks produced before 2006). This might hurt at first. But like anything new, it’s bound to sound ugly until you acclimate.
There’s something beautiful about an aesthetic that promises to be permanently in flux.
-Aaron Shinn
December 21, 2009
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Click to download
aaron_shinn-edge_of_no_control.zip (147 Mb)
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A couple of side notes:
I was so wrapped up in this mix that I found myself making a few special mashes for it. The tunes attributed to “Ashy” are from a new alter ego of mine.
I’d also like to send a special thank you to the artists that helped me out during the production of this mix: Slugabed, Mono/Poly, Jaime Vex’d, Rustie & Mike Slott. Also a big shout out to Gamall at Backspin. Thank you all.
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TRACKLIST
01. Intro
02. Exile – We Are All In Power (Plug Research)
03. Nosaj Thing – 1685Bach (Alpha Pup)
04. Bullion – Long Pomised (Songs in the Key Of Dee Bootleg)
05. Dorian Concept – Clap Beep Boom (Kindred Spirits)
06. Slugabed – Take OFF (Forthcoming Ramp)
07. KenLo Crqnuques – Zoïd (Rush Hour)
08. Mono/Poly – Atomic Smash (Unreleased)
09. Flying Lotus – $tunt$ remix of Mr. Oizo (Bootleg)
10. Flying Lotus – Shhh (Bootleg)
11. Mike Slott – Cadeting (Rush Hour)
12. Heralds of Change – Asswank (All City)
13. KenLo Craqnuques – Veggie Smoothie (self-released)
14. Paul White vs Yo Gott – Ashy Overlay (Bootleg)
15. Slugabed – Let’s Go Swimming (Ramp)
16. KenLo Craqnuques – Pont (self-released)
17. Juelz Santana vs KenLo Craqnuques – Ashy Overlay (Bootleg)
18. J Dilla – Intro – alt (Stones Throw)
19. Exile – Your Summer Song (Plug Research)
20. Bullion – Young Heartache (One Handed Music)
21. Hudson Mohawke – You Got Money (Unreleased / LuckyMe)
22. Architeq – Sleeping Bear Lament, Take Remix (Planet Mu)
23. Hudson Mohawke – Trace (Rush Hour)
24. J Dilla – Nothing Like This (Stones Throw)
25. Bullion – Are You The One? (One-Handed Music)
26. The Cool Kids – Black Mags (Chocolate Industries)
27. Flying Lotus – Raw Cartoons #8 (leaked demo)
28. Onra – My Comet (All City)
29. Flying Lotus – RobertaFlack, Mike Slott’s Other Mix (Warp)
30. Dorian Concept – Fort Teen (Kindred Spirits)
31. Dakimh – Done (Planet Mu)
32. Heralds of Change – Bopgunn ft. Olivier Daysoul (All City)
33. Jamie Vex’d – Saturn (Planet Mu)
34. Joker – Reup (Kapsize)
35. Zombie – Kaliko (Hyperdub)
36. James Blake – Sparing the Horse (Hemlock)
37. Busy – Ecliptic Armilla (Rush Hour)
38. Blue Daisy ft La Note – Space Ex (Black Acre)
Mixed by Aaron Shinn during November, 2009
Cover artwork by Third Eye Posters
4 Responses to “tape#8: Edge Of No Control”
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Aaron Says:
December 22nd, 2009 at 1:26 amAnd just in case you want to dig deeper into this music, here’s some further reading:
http://rougesfoam.blogspot.com/2009/06/loving-wonky.html
http://blissout.blogspot.com/2009/02/put-wonk-on-it-and-i-suppose-my.html
http://thequietus.com/articles/01269-zomby-blasts-reynolds-for-wonky-ketamine-link
http://splinteringboneashes.blogspot.com/2009/02/wonky-3-quick-reply-to-simon-reynolds.html
http://www.dissensus.com/showthread.php?t=8443 -
Aaron Says:
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:11 amAnd as always, your feedback is appreciated!
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gigondas Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 4:05 pmis this thing on? WONK!
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maori Says:
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:35 amBIG!