After fast-paced maximalism has prevailed over the more intricate sounding side of the dance music spectrum over the last couple of years, cries for the much-invoked Minimal revival are getting louder and louder. But is it going to happen sometime soon? Or has it already arrived? Or did Minimal just never quiet go away?
In her mix for our podcast series, Elissa Suckdog, one of the most versatile DJ’s there is, gives no definitive answer to these questions but effortlessly connects three decades of Minimal, ranging from Deadmau5 to Luciano or Thomas Melchior and more recent takes on the genre that make it sound as timeless as ever.
What did you have in mind when you recorded this mix?
I started putting this together in preparation for opening the first 9000 Dreams party at Panorama Bar. The other night I had a classic nightmare in which I was at the gig, but the club was forcing me to use ancient CDJ-400s, the 2007 model, so I didn’t have my playlists, cues, grid-fixes et cetera. And none of the other DJs had to use the 400s. When I made this mix, I was imagining how I might start my set, so I guess I’ll have to do something else now.
Where did you record it and what setup did you use?
This mix was recorded, compiled, and edited at home on a 2020 Macbook Pro using Rekordbox and Bitwig Studio.
What’s the most memorable gig you’ve played so far?
I look back really fondly on the golden era of Reef at Griessmuehle in Berlin. I was a resident after-hours DJ at Reef, and I recruited Dan Beaven and Enchanted Rhythms to join the crew. The first time I played back-to-back all day at the Reef afters with Dan and Rich was the most magical DJ set of my life. It was probably 2017 or 2018.
Our extended friend group united for each Reef, and we weren’t fully aware of how special that was. We were too up our own butts to fully appreciate it, because we all had grand and immature fantasies about becoming superstar deejays and assumed countless more amazing DJ experiences lay ahead of us.
Can you name a secret weapon you use often?
I try to retire those regularly, so I don’t have an obvious answer for that one. Or, rather, there are a lot of potential answers when I look through the tracks I tagged as „Suckdog classics“. Actually, one of the tracks in this mix was a secret weapon for a while: Hippnotik’s „Arrangement F“.
Three recent releases that have caught your attention?
To be completely honest, I don’t really keep up with new releases as a habit anymore. But if I could rearrange some words in this question and talk about three releases that have caught my attention recently:
Deadmau5’s 2008 album Random Album Title, especially the mixed version, goes insanely hard, and I have been really obsessed with him recently. It sounds very influenced by Berlin Calling-era German minimal, which makes sense because that was contemporary when Joel made the record, but I didn’t know he made that kind of music. And I’m not the only one. When I played another song from that record last fall, a trainspotter came up to the booth to ask for the ID, and he looked embarrassed when I proudly presented the track title and artist. As someone who used to be very concerned about having correct and superior taste and distinguishing the dance music I like from low-brow variants like EDM, I think it’s funny to subvert expectations like that. That’s why I put „Sometimes Things Get, Whatever“ in this mix. I wanted to contextualize it in a way that demonstrates that the line between „good“ and „bad“ music is thinner than we sophisticated, discerning listeners like to think.
I heard Raresh play Fantastic Man’s 2019 track „Sun Express“ in a mix, and love that one. It has this very simple patch, like a triangle wave with a little vibrato or tremolo. It reminds me of the Pete Namlook track titled „How To Ruin a Song With a Special Sound„. I go nuts when I hear that lil sound.
For a third pick, check the tracklist. That’s a pretty accurate–if incomplete–summary of what I’ve been listening to recently.
What are you up to in the near future?
I’ll be joining Avalon Emerson at some 9000 Dreams events in the next few weeks. As I mentioned, I’m gonna play Panorama Bar on February 28, and then we’re off to Horst in Belgium the following weekend.
Track list:
SIT – Seller’s Walk
Melchior & Pronsato – Puerto Rican Girls
Junes – Brass Hand
Paul Walter – Shining
Bart Skils, Anton Pieete, District One (aka Bart Skils & Anton Pieete) – Time For Grace
Deadmau5 – Sometimes Things Get, Whatever
Ralph Sliwinski – Thorn Until Gate
Turning Man – Mental Tea
Marcman – Dici
Hippnotik – Arrangement F
Max Jacobson – Bizr Planet (Direkt Remix)
Jacopo Latini – Listen Up
Elissa Suckdog – Picayune Shit
Klon Dump – Blind Tim
Laurie Anderson – O Superman (Calabasa Edit)
Los Updates – Getting Late (Luciano’s Getting Late Remix)
