DIGITALISM

Digitalism has lovingly created a mix for !K7's legendary DJ-Kicks series. For these two young Germans, Jens Moelle and Ismail Tüfekçi, joining the ranks of contributors to the series was nothing short of a dream come true. Twelve years ago, the duo met as two record store workers in Hamburg, admiringly selling the DJ-Kicks series to their customers, and appreciating the dexterity of the mixes and range of artists who assembled each mix. Their favourite contributions include Tiga's mix ("his mix was the essence of edgy and cold electro-techno."), the Playgroup mix ("more really playful stuff.)" and Erlend Oye's mix ("cause he sung over a lot of stuff and had some favorites like Jürgen Paape, the collaboration with Morgan Geist and Avenue D (2D2F) on it."). Summer 2012 is Digitalism's time; a statement for which the mix they've created is as compelling an argument as any. Impetuous, full of attitude, and just a bit cocky, the sounds shift challengingly between electro rock and synth-pop, new wave and trance, techno and disco punk and pop glamour. The backbone of the mix is a healthy portion of new exclusive Digitalism material, fleshed out with choice tracks by Optimo, Alex Gopher, WhoMadeWho, Vitalic, The Rapture, and many more. Moelle and Tüfekçi wanted to represent their history as DJs, their "sonic universe" as they call it, and thereby the journey they've travelled over the last years along with friends like Justice, 2Many DJ´s, Soulwax, Erol Alkan, Boys Noize and Pedro Winter. The goal was to unite new Digitalism music and "timeless pieces that describe us and our sound. It shouldn't be just another contemporary (see, there's the word "temporary") DJ mix." Many of the group's favourite DJ-Kicks mixes feature exclusive tracks, remixes, etc. from the contributing artist. Digitalism kept this in mind as inspiration, and decided to go a step further and include quite a lot of new material – in the final mix we find six new tracks as well as a treasure trove of brand new edits and remixes custom made by Moelle and Tüfekçi. "Whenever we do something for too long (in our eyes), we tend to do the opposite next. We did the full concert thing (including live drums etc) last year, and our last album was very song-based, so it was natural for us to make a few new dancier tracks. There was no concept behind the new songs, we just jammed around. Once they were done, we loved them so much that there was no way around putting them on the next possible release. People out there shouldn't have to wait too long." To top their generosity concerning new material the duo also decided to give public birth to two custom "club weapons" ("Simply Dead" and "The Pictures") which have appeared in their sets for ages but have yet to see an official release. Much of the other music on the mix comes courtesy of friendly associated labels and producers, cleverly mixed up with tracks by models of the past. The resulting mix is perfect for "a sundowner drink" as they say themselves. "We can imagine this running around late afternoon/sundown. By the time it gets dark, you can dive deeper into the music." Fans won't have to wait long to hear the new material in its proper state: blasting from stage sound systems worldwide. Moelle and Tüfekçi have firmly established their new live incarnation as THE BAND DIGITALISM, which they built up step by step from the early bedroom-producer-set-up. Accordingly, seeing Digitalism live in 2012 is be more akin to a rock concert than a regular club gig: a sweaty, rock-lusture experience, where distortion meets discomania. The band is confirmed for performances at festivals like Sonne Mond Sterne, Berlin Festival, Balaton Sound, Terraneo... and, without want to betray too much of their surprises, rumour has it that a new live show was conceived during their California writing and producing exile. Recent reports from audiences in Italy, France and Australia, where the new live show debuted, have suggested the experience as nothing short of "mindblowing."