Robert Lippok

isolatedmix 92 - Midori Hirano

 
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Born in Kyoto, Japan and now residing in Berlin, Midori Hirano’s discography has spanned a wide spectrum of experimental electronic music. From her 2016 album on the esteemed Sonic Pieces, to her latest praised work on Australian label Daisart and her beautiful extended piece for the Longform Editions series, Midori’s work is often recognizable when in play due to her manipulation of the piano.

A talented player from a young age, Midori’s work revolves around these classical elements, often told through soft pieces, with added electronic processing and field recordings. The result draws you in through attachment, as differentiating layers and effects change productions from a simple modern classical score, to an engaging experimental piece. Think Steve Reich, or other minimalist innovators, and you’ll enjoy Midori’s experimentations.

For any electronica fans, take Midori’s work as MimiCof however, and these minimalist productions take on new rhythmic layers, often finding themselves in an even more electronic guise, sitting alongside the finest moments of labels like City Centre Offices and Morr Music, the melodies of a Lusine and the classical manipulation and experimentation of a Ryuichi Sakamoto. A high bar by all accounts, but evident in the pieces captured below, where the extremes of this sound have seen Midori’s most energetic piece to date, Moon Synch, expand with rich experimentations originating from the Buchla synthesizer.

Not only is Midori pushing the boundaries of electronic music as her own name and as MimiCof, Midori has recently signed with Erased Tapes Music, and has contributed remixes for the likes of Sonae, Kid 606 and Liars. And of course, the talent doesn’t stop there - Midori has also helped provide some photography for Christian Kleine’s ASIP release, taking pictures of her newly adopted home in Berlin.

But, back to what you’re here for, the music, and here’s what Midori had to say about her isolatedmix which combines the art evident across both her monikers with recent experimental pioneers that stay true to her sound:

“This mix consists of recent favourite tracks of mine including two of my own songs. A few tracks have voices or field recordings which I often like to use also for my music, as I often want to have a kind of feeling of watching films every time I make a mix. It puts me into a place isolated from a world while I’m listening to it for myself” - MH

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Tracklist:

01. Tujiko Noriko - Ride
02. Senking - Ep 4
03. Félicia Atkinson - Valis
04. alva noto + ryuichi sakamoto with ensemble modern - Broken Line
05. MimiCof - Opal
06. Eli Keszler - The Immense Endless Belt Of Faces
07. Caterina Barbieri - Fantas
08. Driftmachine - Shift II
09. Ornate Coldtrain - Powerful Myth
10. Uguisubari - Nanzen-Ji
11. Mark Pritchard - The Blinds Cage (feat. Beans)
12. Amnesia Scanner & Bill Kouligas - II
13. Midori Hirano - Haiyuki
14. Jim O’Rourke - And a 1, 2, 3, 4
15. Yair Elazar Glotman & Mats Erlandsson - Format And Formalize Desire
16. Robert Lippok - Samtal

Midori Hirano / MimiCof | Website | Bandcamp | Soundcloud |

 

isolatedmix 60 - Porya Hatami

 

Porya Hatami first featured on ASIP at the beginning of 2014 as we geared up to his release on Tenchtitled Shallow. The interview gave a short and sweet introduction to the Iranian producer and his respected field recording and live sampling production approach. 

Shallow, went on to receive the remix treatment on Dewtone, with many of our favorite artists contributing to a stunning release, including: Loscil, Arovane, Halo, Bjorn Rohde, Purl and The Green Kingdom. Porya also combined forces with Arovane and his analogue, granular style on the brilliant Resonance last year - a finely tuned craft of subtle electronics, as well as a partnership with Darren McClure in a similar vein, on In-Between Spaces.  

These partnerships have allowed Porya's subtle ambient manipulations to combine forces with similar artists to great effect so far, and 2016 sees him continue this trend as part of The Angling Loser, a collective alongside Lee Norris, Gordon Jones and Shintaro Aoki.

With all this pretense, it goes without saying that Porya was an obvious choice for the recent ASIP Arovane & Hior Chronik remix EP, where he adorned the powerful cello and deep drones of Past Creates The Future; creating an enriching, deeper and more minimal take on the original. He possesses an acute and powerful skill to manipulate the most delicate of sounds, drawing on single elements and expanding tones, rhythms and emotion. 

For his isolatedmix, Porya gives us a unique insight into some of his favorite tracks that have influenced his approach over the years. The minimal glitch of Raster Noton and Mille Plateaux, transcend into the ambient beauty of PurlMarkus Guentner and Gas before the warm energy of Gramm and Jan Jelinek's subtle beats complete the proceedings. 

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Tracklist:

01. Shuttle358 - Frame  (Frame) [12k]
02. Modul - Kkun I  (Isol) [Raster Noton]
03. SND - 00039 d.6  (Stdio) [Mille Plateaux]
04. Robert Lippok - Open (Open Close Open) [Raster Noton]
05. Farben - Bayreuth (Textstar) [Klang Electronik]
06. Porya Hatami - White Forest (Purl remix)  (Shallow Remixes) [Dewtone]
07. Markus Guentner - Der Wustenplanet  (1981) [Kompakt]
08. Porya Hatami - After the rain (The Green Kingdom Remix)  (Shallow Remixes) [Dewtone]
09. Gas - Königsforst 04  (Königsforst) [Mille Plateaux]
10. Gramm - Type Eins (Personal Rock) [Source Records]
11. Jan Jelinek - Tendency (Loop Finding Jazz records) [~scape]

Porya Hatami Web/Bandcamp |  Soundcloud | Twitter