7. SUN FANATICS   

By Contralux

 for Sock Free Hideaway

GREAT START to the year with this super drifter of a mix. Many thanks Yorgos! Choc full of atmosphere and blended with love, I feel like I'm on a comfy sofa for a change. Look out for Contalux over the coming months and in the meantime, settle next to the fire and put your feet on a furry foot-stool and drift away for a few hours. Yes, that's right, put it on repeat play.   

Sun Fanatics Mix-Tape by Contralux

In his own words -Contralux - MIXTAPE FOR SUN FANATICS

George made this mixtape specially for Sock Free Hideaway at a time when he is finalising the tracks for his new Contralux release.

https://soundcloud.com/contralux
https://www.mixcloud.com/yorgos-kout/
https://www.facebook.com/Contralux-172079816205651/

"I was never about the avant-guard per se. I grew up listening to the usuall 80s/90s stuff along diverse numbers like electric era Miles. I consider tension in music as a characteristic that seeks to resolve. A little melody here and there, is good to balance tension with release."

Contralux (http://catnappers.net/artists/contralux.html) is the project of Athens based producer/guitarist George Koutalieris aka "Yorgo Kappa". There, he explores new ways of sound making, merging his guitar with vintage analog equipment, and using a modern synthesis approach. Amagalmating his own field recordings, subtle melodies, immersive soundscapes and vocals as the expression of life’s creative energy, he aims to recreate the feeling that is pervasive in all Mediterranean places. He has worked with a wide range of artists, playing guitar live and in the studio, producing etc. Being a member of the very famous Greek band Rififi has given him massive airplay, press and tv interviews as well as high web and especially youtube visibility. His plan is to set up a stage band for Contralux very soon.

ME LIKE YOU

ANOTHER SIX months on the brink with more suffering to come makes music my only ally this year. Without my muse, I'm just looking to road-test ideas and share the music. A mix is on the way.

Whyte Horses debut is choc full of candy psych and is nigh on essential. It took an age to surface, but boy, when it did. Treading an ever earnest path but taking equally long to deliver their wares to market, Kontiki Suite's The Greatest Show on Earth LP shows a maturity and craft that only living in Carlisle, I assume, can help nurture. Great gatefold on Sunstone too. Predictably though Horsebeach's 2nd album is the show-stealer. It's Alright and Midnight Part 2 takes their sound to another level. Ryan, unless the sleeve-notes are mistaken, is controlling everything in the studio which makes the music even more tempered. The north is on the rise.

I got my Len Leise cassette M of M Tape and what a departure from his I-Feel material it marks. Stunning. Only Nmesh's cassette on Dream has challenged for playability thus far. Moon B and Tolouse Low Trax have also been mighty of late. Proper visionary sounds of low thumping echo frenzied ritualistic genius. Check Moon B's No Zu incredible remix Ui Yia Uia for an amalgamation of the aforementioned and the Toresch LP for the best effects of Tolouse Low Trax on offer thus far. Good to see so many exciting artists on top of their game right now.

Props also to the Hibernate stable. Their affiliated Isnaj Dui Diotrics CDR is wonderfully woozy. The 2 Frotee sevens are on fire still, but you know that. Jeb Loy Nichol's Ya Smell Me? mini-album includes the wonderful blue eyed soul that is My Mistake and promises to do more than just fly off the radar. The debut BRKRNDNCFLRS seven contains the Lo-Fi bumper No Pressure, thus marking another big winner. Other sevens that have a wow factor are Finders Keepers fuzzy felt sleeved moomins release and Bing Ji Lings Hangin' on a String Lexx re-contruction. A holy trinity in anyone's book. I was also fortunate enough to bag the incredible Israel Suite and Mariah re-issues too, so, all things considered, I have nothing to complain about. All I want this year is my muse returned safely, and a Torn Sail LP. Fingers crossed.