Each week, FACT trawls through the untamed world of free mixes, radio specials and live blends so you don’t have to.
It’s only the first week of the year, but we’ve managed to dig out plenty of mixes to banish the January blues, with bonkers Egyptian mahraganat vibes from Islam Chipsy, ambient soothers from RVNG Intl’s new Manhattan store, and the small matter of a three-hour Omar-S mix.
Swing Ting
NTS Manchester, December 20
Great things are happening in Manchester right now, and local night Swing Ting has been at the epicentre of an increasingly eclectic, globe-spanning, sound system-smashing scene since launching in 2008. Inviting them down to the freshly opened NTS Manchester studio was a total no-brainer and yes, this show technically dates from last year, but we couldn’t leave it off 2016’s first batch of essential mixes. Listen out for YG, Popcaan, Alkaline and Swing Ting’s own Florentino.
Omar-S
RA:500
Resident Advisor celebrated its 500th podcast with five mixes, but it was the marathon session from Omar-S that everyone was talking about. If you haven’t heard it, put aside some time immediately – nobody throws together a casual three hours’ worth of bangers like him.
Mumdance w/ Islam Chipsy
Rinse FM mix
We were alerted to this particularly bonkers edition of Mumdance’s Rinse FM slot via this clip of Islam Chipsy going HAM in the studio. If you’ve not yet witnessed the Cairo musician gracefully bashing the shit out of his keyboard, start with that and you’ll soon realise why you need to tune into this interview and session with the torchbearer of Egypt’s mahraganat sound.
JAB
SIDES001
To mark the recent opening of its Manhattan retail operation Commend, RVNG Intl has launched a new mix series called Sides. The series sees “friends and family take up the invitation to travel inside their collections and to the outer realms of music exploration,” and debuts with an hour of ambient selections from Forma’s John Also Bennett – expect Harold Budd, Klaus Schulze and more.
Big Dope P, Joseph Marinetti and DJ Slugo
Radar Radio mix
French club bawse Big Dope P is joined by a ghetto house legend, DJ Slugo, and the best dressed man on LuckyMe, Joseph Marinetti, for a big fat bass-fuelled party on Radar. The session takes in a bunch of wonky remixes (Danny Brown, Ryan Hemsworth), dirgey trap, hyperactive breaks, much booty-clappin’ and a segment of absolute madness in the middle courtesy of sick man Marinetti.
Konx-Om-Pax
Picture Mix 3
Konx-Om-Pax’s Picture Mix series has turned into one of FACT’s favourite regular mixes, and the third might be his best yet. Effortlessly sliding from IDM through 80s synth-pop, classic acid, rolling warehouse techno and more, it’s further proof that the producer and visual artist is also one of Scotland’s most underrated selectors.
