Dreamy home listening, uplifting piano house and sweaty basement vibes, in our latest instalment from Dutch luminary Olaf Boswijk.
Forward thinking, innovative and adventurous are just some of the adjectives to describe Olaf Boswijk. As founder of legendary club Trouw, he’s been one of the most influential figures in Amsterdam’s electronic music scene, breaking down musical boundaries and creating a community that continues to thrive to this day. Then following a 3 year odyssey of the Americas, he landed in the Chilean Andes where he founded Valley of the Possible, where he resides today with his wife and daughter. The Valley is a remarkable project that invites artists, scientists and creative thinkers to come together and consider our relationship to the natural world, which we highly recommend you checking out here.
His perspicacity for different musical styles can certainly be taken from his diverse and varied experiences both in and out of the scene. And for this reason, he continues to be one of the most interesting selectors around. So kick back and dive in to the world of Olaf Boswijk.
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Words and curation by Olaf Boswijk.
Wilson Tanner – 69 (Efficient Space)
Since I’ve been living in the mountains of Southern Chile, I’ve noticed my home listening choices shift towards music that is more fitting to the natural surroundings of the valley and forests where I Iive. Not at all new (it’s a reissue of an album from 2017), but this is an album that has accompanied me and my family many mornings in the last few months and hopefully many warm summer evenings to come. Favourite track: Long Water.
MLO – Oumuamua (Music From Memory)
Music from Memory is easily one of my favourite labels of the last 5 years. I am not exaggerating if I say almost every release somehow finds its way to both my home listening playlists aswell as into my DJ sets, the scope of the label being so wide and the quality of each release impeccable. ‘Alaksura’ is taken from the ‘Oumuamua’ compilation series, by MLO, British electronic music pioneers Peter Smith and Jon Tye, recorded sometime in the ’90’s. Literally out of this world. Music to get lost in!
Apartment 4/4 – The Isms (Parkway Records)
I only just discovered this, which is strange because I believed I had the whole Parkway Records catalogue pretty much dialed. ‘The Isms’ is to me a showcase of the best that Parkway has to offer: superbly sounding, warm, driving and epic. The aesthetics of Mark Seven’s label are outstanding and this release from 2012 deserves so much more recognition, as does Mark as a DJ and producer.
Nsue – Rebelde Silueta (Soundway Records)
Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a sucker for piano house. And this jam, with the intro so reminiscent of ‘Pump up the Jam’, is just so much fun! Taken from the upcoming ‘Ritmo Fantasía’ compilation by Trujillo on Soundway. A collection of Balearic Spanish Synth-Pop, Boogie and House from the 80’s and 90’s. Dig in!
Anthony Naples – Pez Anthem (Club Pez)
This would be a good moment to congratulate Anthony Naples on running and completing the New York marathon, and being an allround great guy and DJ, but let’s stick to the music. It’s been ages since I’ve been in a dark sweaty basement, but if I somehow do find myself in one soon, this is definitely the sound I would want to hear (or play). Solid, a wee bit dark, powerful stuff.
Antenna – Timbales (Clone Royal Oak)
In a similar vein is this fresh sounding EP by Antenna from Rotterdam. Rooted firmly in the best of the 90’s warehouse sound, then catapulted straight into the here and now. Congratulations Clone Royal Oak for this 50th release!
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Aleski Perälä – NL – L56 – 18 – 07446 (Clone Records)
Techno doesn’t come much more crisp and futuristic than this track by Finnish don Aleksi Perälä. The frequencies were chosen via experimentation and philosophy, each relating to a specific human bio-resonance, or psychology, traditional mysticism or belief, physics, astronomy, maths, chemistry. Heavy duty stuff that still sounds warm, soulful and ecstatic and will leave you gasping for breath when it stops after just 4 minutes. Lots more of this to be found on the whole album called ‘Sunshine Part 3’, also on Clone.
Wilson Boateng – Asew Watchman (Mendel’s Extended Mix) (Kalita)
Taking the party in a different direction is Amsterdam’s Mr Mendel, who’s edits and sets are always on point. Mendel got his hands on the original multitracks tapes for this remix, a Ghanaian boogie/highlife hit by Wilson Boateng from 1988 that has now been reissued by Kalita. Smiles all around on this one.
Logue – Keep Me From Pain (Fabric)
Earlier this year Danilo Plessow (formerly known as MCDE) released this Fabric mix, which I felt was a little overlooked due to the pandemic. As I’m heading into summer (southern hemisphere) with high hopes of having some outside fun, I’ve been going back to some of the stuff I was hoping to play last summer but sadly couldn’t. An epic oldschool 90’s breakbeat house track that should work its charms anytime anywhere. Also features many other gems, including one of my all time favourites, the Carl Craig remix of Jonny L.
Bremer Mccoy – Natten (The Night) (Luaka Bop)
Completing my list and taking it back down is this outstanding ambient jazz album from Danish duo Bremer McCoy. I will leave you with their own words, which I also promiss to take to heart when playing this at night: Natten, which is Danish for “The Night,” takes inspiration from the end of the day, that regenerative time under the constellations when our lives look different. Let it be your companion on this Earth, under the stars, as you contemplate this crazy time we’re in.
Check out the list on Buy Music Club HERE.
