Minor Science Mix
Joining us for Tapes #122 is Minor Science, the Berlin-based Brit who consistently cuts through the noise and has been making standout tracks for almost a decade.
As a DJ, Minor Science draws on years of experience to craft sets that are controlled in form and bold in content. Having performed at venues as diverse as Panorama Bar and the Bang Face Weekender, the average Minor Science set can do heads-down mindwarp, maximalist rave meltdown, or (often) both.
Minor Science has presented his Absent Friends live show at events such as Intonal and Maerzmusik. Emotive and absorbing, these performances explore themes of psychedelia and togetherness via improvised performance and deft four-deck mixing.
TRACKLIST
Summe - 03:17 [Summe]
Sister Bliss - Can't Get A Man, Can't Get A Job (Acapella) [Hooj Choons]
Ivy Lab - Demon Dust [Future Classic]
bastiengoat - Beautiful Lover [self-released]
Florentino - Xcuse Me [Club Romantico]
Fabrie - Epuj (DJ Rodriguez Remix) [Le Bien Et Le Mal]
Too Late Productions - Ace of Space (2021 Remaster) [Top Billin]
Alex Wilcox - Please Remain [bbbbbb]
Ben Pest - Cancel Couture [Love Love]
KiNK - For The People (Nikki Nair Remix) [Hypercolour]
Brain Bashers - I've Got The Power (Untidy Dub Edit) [Tidy]
aya - The Boot End Of The Leg [unreleased]
Wordcolour - Fundamentals [Houndstooth]
Placid Angles - Moonlight Sunset [AD 93]
aya and BFTT - Up And At Them! [yco]
Hizuo - Tokotsko [85acid]
Stripe n Co - LITE IT UP [N4TS]
HomeSick - Rune Faucet [Exit]
Al Ferox - Breaklimits [Scream]
Noizy Wilson - Particle [Nu Kvlture]
MC Palakata and Tom Blip - Singeli Jungle [On The Corner]
The Moody Boys - Destination Africa (160 Bush Version) [Crammed]
Damiens Ghost - High Places [Astrophonica]
Kelela - Enough For Love [Warp]
It’s a pleasure to have you on the series! Can you start by introducing yourself in 3 words?
Rolls rocks uphill.
Tell us about this mix - favourite track inside?
I played some really nice shows in Berlin and the UK recently and this mix contains some of the tracks and moments that stayed with me from those sets. It goes up and up with a breather in the middle and a gentle tail at the end. A few tunes in it helped me through some stuff recently, it’s difficult to pick a favourite. Special mention to aya & BFTT - Up And At Them! And Kelela - Enough For Love.
What’s the ideal setting to listen to it?
It’s fairly turbo so probably not just before bed. Maybe while doing some cardio if you don’t mind changing pace a few times.
Whilst you’re most known in the bass/techno world - your productions really cover the full spectrum of electronic sounds. Talk to us about your most recent release ‘Absent Friends Vol. III’ which is part of a running series of ambient works?
Absent Friends Vol. III came out of a live show I’ve been doing since 2021. Absent Friends Live is a semi-improvised ambient/experimental/listening music kinda show. I made lots of stems and layers for it that I combine on the fly using 4x CDJs and some other bits of gear. For the album, I took stems from the live show and arranged them into studio tracks. The project is inspired by a bunch of things I listen to outside of club music: jazz, musique concrete, ambient. This is an important side of my taste these days and it feeds back into the club tunes too.
A lot of your music is heavily based on experimentation with sampling - do you have a process with starting a new track when working with samples? Do you often tend to reuse samples when putting together an album or EP?
My sampling habits have gone through many phases over the years. I used to pride myself on finding esoteric samples. Nowadays I rarely have time for that, and in any case am more cautious about the ethics of sampling supposedly “obscure” music. In recent years I got more into using Splice, which is the sampling equivalent of stopping by the big Tescos. You know they’re basically gonna have what you need. I’m less fussed now about whether my sampling choices are “authentic” or “credible” (very loaded and sometimes problematic words). Effective, creative sampling is all about how you flip what you’ve got in front of you.
On the topic of sampling, you also have another alias under ‘STRIPE N CO’ which embraces the ‘sillier’ side of dance music with some pretty hefty hardcore/gabber edits of pop anthems and classics. Where did your love for this sound come from?
My love for that sound has always run alongside my engagement with other kinds of club music. When I was a student in London in the late ‘00s I was going to FWD>> and drooling over Ben UFO sets but also rarely missed the monthly Bang Face party at Elektrowerkz. (Fond memories of the weird sludge that place would leave on your shoes.) Over the years I’ve got more relaxed about whether and how these two sides of my taste fit together. I think the division between “serious” and “silly” dance music is basically artificial. It’s all shades of the same thing. Happy hardcore is some of the most profound music I know.
If you could go back in time to any dance floor anywhere - where would you go?
I don’t think much about the past, but it could be cool to go back to the first ever dance party. Just hard to know for sure what it was. Neanderthal cave rave? Mesopotamian soundclash? As a culture we obsess over the milestones of the last ~50 years (and they’re obviously very important), but there’s a whole prehistory of social dancing that we can only guess about.
Lastly, what’s next in the pipeline. Any exciting gigs or releases in the works?
Nothing I can talk about yet but there will surely be some of both,