Having a mundane week? Let cosmic house producer Philipp Gorbachev liven things up with a brilliantly bizarre – and occasionally banging – exclusive mix for Clash.
Joining Kompakt-affiliated experimental label Cómeme in 2011 – the imprint founded by producer of some wonderfully wonky organic house, Matias Aguayo – Russian-born, Berlin-based Gorbachev has become known for his thoroughly leftfield take on dance music, straddling tripped-out disco one minute and sweaty techno the next, all with more colour and character than many producers could hope to muster.
Gorbachev recently released his debut full-length, ‘Silver Album’, which features collaborations with John Stanier of math-rocker outfit Battles, Tobias Freund from Berlin techno label Ostgut Ton and fellow Cómeme artist Daniel Maloso.
We’re not going to lie: Gorbachev’s mix is pretty weird stuff. But it’s fun, too, and compelling in its oddity as you wait to see what piece of ultra-minimal spacey techno or twisted bluegrass will come up next. We asked Gorbachev to wax lyrical about his mix, and wax he did. Here’s what he had to say:
“I went a selfish way of putting in tunes I love banging in the car while driving back and forth to the District Union Studio in Berlin (created and founded with Matias Aguayo), where I work (producing [my] album, jamming and recording new music) and tune my new band called The Naked Man. And as dance music is about movement, that is a good match, I guess.
“This mix tells a story with music from Medellin, Columbia, Jamaica, Saint Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, Texas, Berlin and Germany – deep and silent dance tracks in their essence, provoking to build a house. This discovery has been an influence and help in doing the ‘Silver Album’. Paul Leary and Tobias Freund have a special place in the mix on the album, as mixers and co-producers. And I hope [the mix track by] Sergey Kuryokhin will be an introduction to discover this great Russian avant-garde musician, his bands and movies like ‘2 captain II’, or the famous ‘Lenin Was a Mushroom Speech’ [a pre- planned, televised hoax from 1991 that claimed Lenin used to bosch so many hallucinogenic mushrooms that he eventually turned into one himself].
“[The mix was] put together as a radio selection using turntables and digitised records. In Russia there is no EDM or underground club industry, so this podcast had no commercial pressure, but [was instead] a call to create a silver celebration atmosphere to share with new and old fans, with whom we will hopefully meet at the live show one day! The last track is dedicated to the arrested people around the world!”
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Tracklisting:
1. Silver Simphony (Silver Album LP, Cómeme)
2. Jah Batta - Ten To Seven (Argument LP, Wackies)
3. Sergey Kuryokhin - A Combination of Power and Passion (Some Combination of Power and Passion CD, 1991)
4. Barnt and Philipp Gorbachev - Difcovered Atoman (Correspondant Compilation 01, 2013)
5. Sano - Chupa! (Gladkazuka Version), (Cómeme, 2014)
6. Unreleased Track (2014)
7. James ‘Jack Rabbit’ Martin - Rabbit Trax II (The Next Generation After), (Yoton, USA)
8. Bad Livers - The Adventures of Pee Pee The Sailor (Quarterstick Records)
9. Tobias. - Ya Po (A Series of Shocks LP, Ostgut Ton 2014)
10 Philipp Gorbachev - Arrest Me (Песня Для Арестантов) (Radio Edit), (Silver Album LP, Cómeme)
Words: Tristan Parker
Photo Credit: Studio Parvulescu
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Philipp Gorbachev’s ‘Silver Album’ is out now on Cómeme.