In the Greenhouse with Sydney

“There are many reasons for choosing this band and this particular track, one because the name is spot on for the concept of this selection, another is that this band showcase a very nostalgic performance in all areas from their videos to their live shows.

Analogue Fruit is a very hypnotic track with repetitive parts but because it’s played live you can hear the imperfections of the playing each time round, creating a very interesting groove; which I personally feel is more impressive than repeating perfectly. Another of those examples in which I can’t work out why I love it. They take influence from various genres around South America and the Caribbean e.g. Cumbia music which showcase this loose style.”

“Ruby Rushton led by Edward Cawthorne aka Tenderlonious founder of the 22a imprint. One of my favorite labels that exercises the natural side of music heard in Ruby Rushton. Everything Tenderlonious does/associates himself with is very pure to me; minimal amount of effects to each sound, showing the true variation of textures and timbres in all releases via 22a. Often there’s soft to no mastering on these releases, allowing the tracks to be great in dynamic range.

Another reason for loving Ruby Rushton and everything under 22a is that it all feels home-grown, everyone seems close with each other and appearing on each other’s releases.”

“There’s so much I can say about Al Dobson Jr. He’s been a very important part of my growth in production, being the main influences for my latest album ‘Ode to eSwatini’ out via Black Acre.

No one can beat Al’s sound choice. His heavy use of sampling allows all of his sounds to sit in a different depth complementing each other, due to different mastering and effects on each particular sample and at the same time feeling softly glued to each other with what sounds like tape saturation, giving it weight and airy tops. Another one of Al Dobson Jr’s skills is the use of polyrhythms to make the sampled loops appear fluid, as if they are played live.”

“Something completely different to the rest of the tracks selected. This is Don Cherry the famous jazz trumpeter, heard on bamboo flute in this piece, with Ed Blackwell on percussion/drums. This live recording has such passion and realism it makes you feel as if you’re in the room with them, the drums sat behind the flute with little low-end presence. I feel the reverb of the room plays an important part in this piece of music, enhancing the presence of the flute with lots of depth and dynamic changes. I’ve sampled Don Cherry lots and am very influenced by this particular track, particularly in the way that the rhythm is forever changing slowly, with one drum pattern shifting, inviting the next instrument to change, and so on.”

“When talking about earthy textures I have to include the artist that introduced me into this world. I remember first hearing Burial and quicky fixating on the juxtaposition of the deep textural verbed kick engulfing the dry tight clicks. The first four of my chosen tracks for this concept are a representation of the Green House by day, but this is the example for night time. Dark but full of life, this one is very hard to explain with patterns completely off-grid, giving this electronic track lungs.”