/ / 29.04.19

 

Simo Cell steps up for our latest Crack Mix with a tightly conceptual entry.

The sampled voices of Carl Honoré, Alan Watts and others that feature in the mix neatly signpost what’s on his mind. “It’s about the fact that life is speeding up,” he tells us. “We spend our time running without knowing why. We’re always thinking of the next step and we’re mentally stuck in a process of constant growth. I believe that slowness and stillness have a role to play in our busy schedule.”

It’s a fitting subject matter for the French producer, whose mixes feature the sounds of UK techno. His frosty moods and tough, chopping rhythms have appeared on institutional labels like Livity Sound, Timedance and Wisdom Teeth. The same hard-edged grit serves as a base for what he tries to do on his Crack Mix, with tracks ever calcifying and galloping at greater speed.

Until they stop. The mix undergoes “massive collapse” and the freneticism is replaced with calm and weightlessness. It’s not a groundbreaking method but it’s as an effective one as to hope for in communicating the theme. Hearing ambient tracks in this context adds an extra dimension of tension release and the mix’s third act is gorgeous. Plug in for one of the best-executed conceptual mixes you’ll hear for a while.

Simo Cell plays Monticule Festival, France, 19-23 June

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