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Quietus Mixes & Radio

Quietus Mix 63: Ghosting Season Abandoned Cities & Lost Ghosts
The Quietus , May 24th, 2012 11:26

The brilliant Ghosting Season have done our most intricately-constructed mix yet, featuring anything from dystopian techno to their own embellishments. Bunker down below

"When putting together mixes, we always like to think a little outside the box. Instead of just lumping together a few techno tunes and calling it a mix, we decided to do something a little different. So we hatched a plan to soundtrack a journey through an imaginary destination, using David Lupton's amazing album artwork of a rotting, dystopian city as inspiration.

"We researched ghost towns, and listened to clips of field recordings from places halfway round the world, then pictured what it would be like to walk through a decimated city, and what sounds you'd be able to hear; from the distant clanging of prayer wheels and religious chanting, to rain and thunderstorms.

"We deconstructed and rearranged songs, spliced elements from some into others, and wrapped the whole thing in layers of sound effects, field recordings, and other assorted audio. The mix ended up being around 60 tracks in total, and we ended up jamming and improvising over every track using piano, vocals, and kitchen utensils, to create something a little bit more than just a mix. The whole mix has a purveying sense of claustrophobia and darkness. We didn't want this to be an easy ride. From the opening moments of The Cardigans' haunting soundscape 'Nil' segueing into the pulsating drone of 'Into Entropy' by Peter Van Hoesen, you're taken on a pretty intense journey until our own remix of the Irrepressibles' 'In This Shirt' lifts you into something a bit more euphoric. We hope you enjoy it." Ghosting Season, May 2012.

As well as the tracks listed on the Mixcloud, the Ghosting Season mix also features:

Esben and the Witch - 'Skeleton Swoon'
Raime - 'You Will Lift Your Frame Clear'
The Cardigans - 'Nil'
Arvo Pärt - 'Kanon Pokajanen Ode 6'
Arvo Pärt - 'Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britton'
Ghosting Season - 'A Muffled Sound of Voices'
Krzysztof Penderecki - 'Cantata in honorem Almae Matris'
Universitatis Iagellonicae sescentos abhinc annos fundatae for chorus and orchestra
Heather Woods Broderick - 'From the Ground'
location and field recordings from church yards, thunder storms, and chanting
samples from a university lecture by Philip K. Dick
found sounds from kitchen utensils
jamming over the tracks