FADER Mix: Egyptrixx

When we commission FADER Mixes, we're usually pretty relaxed about what artists turn in—at least 30 minutes of music would be nice say, we say. Toronto producer Egyptrixx went above and beyond the call of duty for his contribution to the series, turning in a 3 hour mix with a low key note: "This is just a collection of fun sounds/ideas that somehow ended up on the new album." It's much more than that, though—it's like standing in a forest, feeling a sky full of tones and textures gently raining down on your skin. The album he's talking about is Transfer of Energy [Feelings of Power], which follows his 2011 and 2013 albums on London label Night Slugs. This time around he's releasing on his own recently launched imprint, Halocline Trance, and while we wait for the early February drop we'll be locked to this truly formidable mix.

Below he chats about what shaped his sonic palette, his top tip for starting your own label, and shares his FADER Mix tracklist.

Where are you right now? Describe your surroundings. I'm drinking coke zero at the public library near my house (which is actually kinda stunning architecturally, by the standards of Toronto anyway). We are in the middle of a deep freeze—it's -24 degrees outside and dumping snow. It's the depths of winter, very hype.

What's the story behind your FADER Mix? This is just a collection of fun sounds/ideas that somehow ended up on the new album. Lots of stretched out and dissected structural ideas; lots of unique textures and lots of sparse, weird arrangements. I'd especially been listening to early industrial/power electronics stuff like Ramleh, Genocide Organ and Anenzephalia. Maybe it suggests an interesting continuity through slightly unconnected worlds of music, but then again maybe not—I hope it feels spontaneous and interesting.

What shaped the sonic palette of your new album, Transfer of Energy [Feelings of Power]? A lot of the stuff on this mix; my previous album; a somewhat random fascination with the precise moment that electricity first passes through power-grid infrastructure...(no idea why really); concrete.

Now you've started your own label, Halocline Trance, what's your top tip for going it alone? Hmm, watermarking.

What's the last book you read that had a big impact on you, and why? Donald Judd's Specific Objects manifesto, I guess. Reading it was kinda like a 'meta-assessment' of my tendencies and prejudices as a (creative) person. Every artist—or sentient human really, haha— lives and operates within a certain scaffolding of their own beliefs, experiences, traumas, aspirations, whatever. Identifying and coming to terms with them is totally interesting and useful. Also, I read a lot of online meditation testimonials which are pretty good.

Tracklist:

[1] Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement - Black Magic Cannot Cross Water[2] Loscil - Black Tusk
[3] Tropic of Cancer - Plant Lilies at my Head
[4] Drcarlsonalbion - Gold III
[5] Prurient - Palm Tree Corpse
[6] Phill Niblock - Sweet Potato
[7] Bremen - Sun Son
[8] Anenzephalia - Beneath the Shroud
[9] Bremen - Voxnan
[10] False Mirror - Landfall
[11] Sunn o))) + Ulver - Western Horn
[12] House of Low Culture - Inappropriate Body
[13] Tarcar - Refugees
[14] Klara Lewis - Muezzin
[15] Kassel Jaeger - Exposure Scales: Tide
[16] Egyptrixx - A.C.R.R.
[17] Genocide Organ - Prince
[18] Atrax Morgue - Brain Penetration
[19] Puce Mary - Success
[20] Hexzuul - Sacred Abs
[21] Ramleh - Product of Fear
[22] AANIPAA - Watch over Stillness / Matters Principle
[23] Brighter Death Now - Intercourse - Now is the Time
[24] Whitehouse - Roman Strength
[25] Merzbow - RBA/Capsule Cologne Maxell