Known for posting images of mushrooms and various forestation to their Facebook page, it's no surprise Jensen Sportag titled its Friday Night mix, Mushroom Jazz. To some degree, it embodies their aesthetic and the signature sounds found on the mix we're premiering today.
It begins with John Cage delivering a haiku on mushrooms over the peaceful keys of World Standard. Cage is lost and nervous within his own haiku, as though he's on mushrooms and only able to will his mouth to understand that “here we are now.” In our review of Sportag's latest album, Stealth of Days, writer Abby Garnett noted the band's primary weapon is its pristine sound quality. With that in mind, the duo of Austin Wilkinson and Elvis Craig curated a mix of likeminded soundsmiths who handle with care and patience. The Mushroom Jazz mix is about transcendence, but not the power of immediacy sort. The transcendence here has no rushing feel, it's obtained through a sustained serenity, uninterrupted for 36 minutes like compiling 14 musicians with a common thread of desiring purity of sound. Cage informs us, “here we are now,” and he is our guide, assuring us we may remain there.
Austin Wilkinson and Elvis Craig offered the following words on their mix:
Step into a private sound library of mystical relaxation, where the sounds of the jade snare lead you towards a portal lined with fine silks. Mushroom Jazz is how statues come to life at night. How a guard would strike a stone lantern. How gold dragons on doors are found in the morning with water dripping from their mouths.
We're straight up callin this Mushroom Jazz because legends will fall and besides we really don't think there actually were 8 mixes called mushroom jazz, we think that's just a myth perpetuated by Boomkat.
Stream the mix.
Mushroom Jazz Tracklisting:
01 John Cage – Mushroom Haiku
02 World Standard – Communication Firubania
03 Blood Orange – Chamakay
04 Jensen Sportag – Under The Rose (Midisport Version)
05 Bill Wells & Annie Whitehead – Waft
06 Bohren & Der Club of Gore – Catch My Heart
07 Limbo Experience – Illusion
08 Midisport – Repercussions
09 OneohtrixPointNever – Along
10 Pathless – Goddess
11 United Future Organization – Stolen Moments
12 Jazztronik – Ms Loneliness (DJ Gregory Remix)
13 Chateau Flight – Frontal Funk
14 Gene Harris – Peace of Mind
15 World Standard – The Sound of Your Voice
16 Ravanel – Spur
Jensen Sportag's Stealth of Days is out now on Cascine.
