New Mix Completed: Lightmare

Put the finishing touches on a new Kahvi mix (#006) titled Lightmare. I cannot go into specifics on the tracklisting but in my opinion, this is the most professional sounding mix to date. General Fuzz comes back to visit with two of his tracks and I'm happy. He's been dead center on my radar for releases in the past month, a true electronic pioneer. I'd watch this guy, he's definitely going to make it big. Anyways, the mix takes a unexpected turn as it is geared towards a slower, chill-outish style. You won't hear any super-glitched tracks upbeat sounds, its very mellow and smooth. I've been so blessed to be able to mix these "albums", its so much fun to watch as they propegate out into the internet. More-so, its amazing when artists themselves love to listen to their own songs on my mixes and then comment on them. Lightmare is like nothing I've done before, but that can be taken lightly because no two kahvi-mixes sound the same, nor are they mixed in the same style. I like it that way

I was delighted to know how popular Parallax (kahvi mix #003) has become. When I produced it (nearly 9 months ago) it sat on the side waiting for kahvi to release. Nik, who owns Kahvi, was really impressed with the work. To my surprise, he gave the mix to an online netaudio site called inq-mag which started its own netaudio/podcast release titled "monographic". Monographic captures different releases over the all the popular netlabels (kahvi, monotonik, etc) and puts them on a podcast which generates alot of attention (I MEAN ALOT). Parallax was monographic #001 (thats right, I was the first release on monographic!) To some degree, it generated alot of responses. In fact netdecks was even kind enough to give it a great review (netdecks reviews netlabel releases). Here is what Tobias Fischer from Netdecks had to say about Parallax:

"Next to producing distinct and adventurous techno music, Mikel Mendia is also the man behind the INQ Mag, an online publication dedicated to the netaudio world. As of now, it not only serves as an information source on the latest releases and news from the scene, but also acts as a place for concentrated listening. Mendia has joined forces with the Kahvi Collective and asked DJ Polaski to remix a selection of the Collective’s tunes into a coherent, smoothly flowing mix entitled “monographic #1”. Polaski has certainly spent the time necessary to browse the vast Kahvi archive (which totals a staggering 800 track) well. His mix begins infinitely relaxed and anthemic, with lots of intricate hiphop beats, snippeted loops, sacral chords and ambient spaces, then enters an industrial wasteland filled with growling basses and solitary piano splinters, before returning to more consiliatory sounds again. The emotional span of “monographic” is remarkable, even including the ecstatic howls of electric guitars and the hushed discreetness of field recordings. A project to be savoured, which will hopefully see a follow-up soon – preferably one which includes new material by Mr. Mendia himself."

It was a pleasure to read this, and inq-mag made a big showing of this exact review too! You can view the site here: http://www.inq-mag.com/2007/11/04/monographic-001-kahvi-collective/

Also, if you want to subscribe to the podcast you can do that at http://www.inq-mag.com