Bored with linear mixing, bland cookie-cutter rhythms, and blunt TikTok-friendly hooks? Let’s tune into Loone Berlin instead, as the Homsi from the bleeding-edge MNJM label joins with DJ Saliva.
This one is full of layers of polyrhythms and grooves, creative mixing and looping, and just a general good time. This should put your weekend in the right frame of mind:
DJ Saliva is a pillar of Berlin’s infamous Herrensauna. If you’d rather just listen to only Aphex Twin, he’s got you in that department, too, over on NY’s Lot Radio. (I’ve been in this part of the world too long, as I almost wrote LOT in caps, thinking of the Polish airline. It’s obviously time to come home.)
A HOMSI is MNJM label boss formerly known as ELAYN, and they’ve been just really really busy. When one of their tracks winds up on my USB drive, I wind up just rinsing it. Here:
I have a lot to say about MNJM, having covered their birth already. Far from just Berlin’s easyJet Set, they’re a reminder of how the Arab diaspora has reinvigorated a Berlin scene that was stalling out, pushing forward music at a time when Western Europe seemed doomed to stagnation.
MNJM are taking on an abandoned adult club at the edge of Berlin tonight into tomorrow morning in their Friday-to-Saturday club night. And A HOMSI will go B2B for that with Milad Samara, who joined my program on Refuge Worldwide a couple of years back:
That also includes an appearance by the wonderful KETTALYNNE, aka Lynne Azzam. She put out this gorgeous banger. Forget algorithms; some of the tracks at the long end of the long tail turn out to be the best. Just listen:
Here’s a nice, deep mix from her, too, for contrast:
I want to talk about the new MNJM release, but in this context it’ll be too jarring so — watch this space. Instead, some background — and I’ll say, they’ve only blossomed as a label since then: