RA’s Best of 2019
My contributions to Resident Advisor’s 2019 end-of-year package, published the week of December 9, 2019.
Warm-Up
DJ Python – Lampara
Listening to DJ Python’s music feels like floating. It’s soothing and a little whimsical, plus there’s a depth of texture that gently hints at something more intense. On Derretirse, Brian Pineyro presents the dreamiest version of his characteristic deep reggaeton sound. Wavy opener “Lampara” is perfectly placed, welcoming you in pulses of glimmering synths and soft, slow drums. It eases into the more moving tracks on the record while also being a comforting moment to hang out in. “Lampara” puts the “warm” in warm up.
4 AM Rollers
CCL x Flora FM – Liquify Interference
One of two collaborations from the Seattle-based artists this year (the other being “Winding Plod,” which lives up to its name, off Bandcloud’s excellent charity compilation), “Liquidity Interference” lands directly on the dance floor. The drums are crisp, and there’s so much space you can almost hear each percussion hit. Then melodic synths soar overhead, bringing a lightness to those hours when the music has taken over control of your movement.
Music At The Cutting Edge
Amazondotcom – A Flower, Nocturnal And Permanent
For a quick track, “A Flower, Nocturnal And Permanent” feels surprisingly at ease. Amazondotcom paces manipulated samples of birds chirping, leaves rustling and crowds muttering with blunt, jangly percussion and soft wobbles to let the space between the elements set the tone. Still, the pulse is more than persuasive enough to make dance floors move.
The Sound Of Summer Festivals
Peggy Gou – Starry Night
Peggy Gou couldn’t have set the scene for this tune more clearly. “Starry Night,” a wavy piano house tune flecked with acid lines and vocals mulling the fleeting nature of popularity, is lush and inviting like a humid evening breeze. As slick as shimmery house comes (with a dazzling video to match), it funnels all of Gou’s strengths into one radiant package.
Top Mixes of 2019
Lena Willikens & Vladimir Ivkovic – Live: Nuits Sonores 2019
Headlining festival sets don’t always work outside the original setting—as with well-timed jokes, you kinda had to be there. But leave it to Lena Willikens and Vladimir Ivkovic to make their three-hour Nuits Sonores odyssey suit nearly any context. It’s meditative, weird and, lest we forget the main room dance floor it soundtracked, banging. Filled with the pair’s characteristic slower selections, this mix feels like swimming inside a crystal ball.
CCL – Unsound Podcast 56
CCL called this mix a “regurgitated memory” of their Honcho Campout set, reflecting on the “more twisted hours… before the light had come up.” That predawn unpredictability is what’s so exciting here. One highlight is their adept pulling back with Codek’s “Closer” before diving into a Metalheadz Wax Doctor rush. With these unreal transitions, and touches like the experimental Polish music that bookends the mix (a nod to Unsound) CCL shows the careful craft that sets them apart.
Find all of RA’s year-in-review coverage here.
Marissa Cetin 