I was kindly asked to be "guest #24" by Yumi, so I made a mixtape of tracks that really inspire me (plus I snuck in one of my own compositions too) for her NTS Radio show – "YuNoMusique". Yumi's show used to air every Thursday at 1pm.
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- Hoppy Kamiyama (1998) 90's Japanese Independent Musics (01) Fantasm*B – First heard this back in 1999 and was instantly hooked by it's positive energy and refreshing style. I love it.
- Satanicpornocultshop (2011) Arkhaiomelisidonophunikheratos (02) (R.I.P) Tide – From Osaka. They've covered this same Missy Elliott song about 3 times now - pure genius!
- Chris Schlarb (2007) Twighlight & Ghost Stories (05) V – I love Chris' work - this whole album is a single sublime sound collage of disparate sources melded into one. Reminds me of one of my favourite artists - The Books - but different!
- Tim Ferguson (2009) Musings (02) When the Jackal Marries the Wolf's Wife (3rd Draft) – I was kindly asked to submit a track for a compilation (which still hasn't come out!), the theme revolved around one's subjective definition of nature. So the title of this track came from my thoughts on sunshowers - in South Africa we call it 'a monkey's wedding'. I did a spot of research and discovered that this term comes directly from the Zulu phrase 'umshado wezinkawu', and that all over the world there is this concept of a sunshower and different animals getting married in the rain! In Japanese I believe it's referred to as 'kitsune no yomeiri'. The title I settled on is an English translation of the Afrikaans version: 'jakkalstrou'. Naturally the theme of the track is rain and sunlight - I even sampled the sound of the sun!
- Paranel (2009) Painman (04) pianoman
- Vongaku (2008) A Crow Writing Words on a Planet (02) SUPERSTAR – I stumbled onto some abstract Japanese hip-hop shortly after my 6 months in Tokyo. This Vongaku album made by Chori, Paranel and Geskia is really beautiful and worth hunting down if you get a chance.
- fbcfabric & Reindeer (2005) It's Not Who You Know, it's Whom You Know (02) Soulsuck – Some amazing but sadly overlooked UK hip-hop from a few years ago
- Social Studies (2010) Proxemics (02) Assignment 2 – Daddy Tank records in Birmingham (UK) brought this album from the States to my attention - my favourite hip-hop album of last year for sure. Reminds me of Edan the DJ. Fresh, improvised and artistic.
- Mouse on Mars (2011) Die Abschaffung der Arten O.S.T. (05) Pherinfonprozession – I really love this soundtrack by Mouse on Mars, very difficult to get hold of at the moment though. It needs more exposure!
- Emika with Paul Frick (2011) I Mean Remixes 12'' (02) I Mean (Dollkraut's Band Reinterpretation) – Emika is someone to take note of - she's been opening for Amon Tobin recently and is about to drop her new album. She works at Native Instruments and has a golden ear for production. Watch out for her - a blend trip-hop and dubstep.
- Dosh (2010) Tommy (08) Call the Kettle – One of the more surprising deviations in style from the usual Anticon indie hip-hop scene. The last 2 albums - 'Wolves and Wishes' and 'Tommy' - are laced with richly layered tracks oosing with rythm and melody.
- Kangding Ray (2008) Automne Fold (11) World Within Words – Dark brooding electronic music. I simply love the mood of this track - and the whole album really. He's playing at the Alphaville Festival on the 24th of September - I can't wait!
Read Claude's essay on this mixtape. Also available on Mixcloud.
YunoMusique Mixtape by Tim Ferguson (2011)