TEST PRESSING: “Seeing Colors: Ghostly Influences,” Mixed by Michna/Curated by SV4
Posted on January 14, 2009
Filed Under Media, Test Pressing | 24 Comments
[SV4 photo by Jessica Miller]
It all started with a record sleeve, a minimal blend of Michael Segal’s Boy Cat Bird characters and a Pacman-like logo plastered across a stark black background. Weighing the potential purchase based on nothing but a record shop recommendation and the cover’s simple, striking design, we scooped up Ghostly International’s inaugural Idol Tryouts compilation despite not even knowing who Dabrye or Matthew Dear were.
MICHNA
More than five years later, Dear and Dabrye are two of Ghostly’s marquee artists, with the rest of the label’s roster providing everything from shades of subterranean techno (The Sight Below, Lawrence), shoegazer bliss (Dykehouse, School of Seven Bells) and ambient Eno-isms (Cepia, Kiln) to all manners of avant-pop music (Deastro, Mobius Band).
With Ghostly’s 10th anniversary looming on the horizon this year and School of Seven Bells just weeks away from gracing the cover of self-titled’s third digital issue, we thought we’d ask one of the label’s most promising new signings (Michna, a beat conductor/DJ/former Secret Frequency Crew member who also goes by the name Egg Foo Young) to craft a mix of Ghostly’s scene-spanning influences. He’s joined by Ghostly founder Sam Valenti IV (a.k.a. SV4), a sometime DJ who helped curate Michna’s crate. Together the pair emerged with a heady 60 minutes of melancholic dance music (Pantha Du Prince, Sascha Funke), Italodisco (Giorgio Moroder), essential electro (Kraftwerk), and an ambient house anthem (Orbital’s “Halcyon & On & On”) that left self-titled scrambling for our old copy of The Brown Album. Indie kids are encouraged to uncross their arms and join the fray, as the set ends in a mascara-smeared trifecta of the Depeche Mode, the Smiths and the Cure.
Oh, and if you like what you hear, Michna also shared some of his incredibly old—and classic—mixtapes in the second issue of s/t here.
Michna/SV4, Seeing Colors: Ghostly Influences (2009, right click on cover to download)
Orbital – Halcyon & On & On (FFRR)
Joey Beltram – Enegy Flash (R+S)
The Persuader – What’s The Time, Mr Templar (Svek)
Sascha Funke – Safety First (Kompakt)
Pantha Du Prince – Suzan (Dial)
Klein & MBO – Dirty Talk (Zanza)
Gino Soccio – Remember (Atlantic)
Giorgio Moroder – The Chase (Casablanca)
Der Zyklus -Elektronisches Zeitecho (Gigolo)
I-F – Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass (Interdimensional Transmissions)
Kraftwerk – Numbers (WEA)
Air – Le Soleil Est Pres De Moi (Dopplereffekt Mix) (Source)
Depeche Mode – Everything Counts (Maxi Single Live Version) (Mute)
The Smiths – Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before (Rough Trade)
The Cure – Close To Me (WEA)
The Cure – Close To Me (Closest Remix) (WEA)
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24 Responses to “TEST PRESSING: “Seeing Colors: Ghostly Influences,” Mixed by Michna/Curated by SV4”
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[...] Get the full story here… [...]
excellent tracklist, i’m downloading now!
Nice mix, really digging it, hitting the spot today!
on the dl! tl looks sweet! thx for sharin. big up!
Is that an “uncredited” Tangerine Dream at the end?
Someone say b-day party?
What a great way to start the day, thanks for the post!
Wow, 3/4 of the way through the set. Brilliant mix my Michna and exquisite track selection by Valenti. When that Moroder track comes in, makes me want to jump out of my seat.
This made my day!!
hmm. In the beginning you totally bit off of a Joe Beltram mix made in the late 90’s. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I suppose.
[...] Michna & SV4 – Seeing Colors: Ghostly Influences Sam Valenti IV picks the records that influenced his eclectic Ghostly International imprint and [...]
i’ve never heard that Joe Beltram mix from the late 90s you are talking about. But I would like to hear it cause it’s probably up my alley ! glad everyone likes the mix tho
-adrian
oh yeah, i forgot to add – to some headz – including myself – this tracklisting is not really digging super deep. but the point is not for it to be on some obscure educational digging mission. Risky Business vs Top Gun. YOU decide !
[...] Self Titled Magazine posted an amazing mix that was done by Michna and curated by SV4(Owner of Ghostly International), here is what they said: “It all started with a record sleeve, a minimal blend of Michael Segal’s Boy Cat Bird characters and a Pacman-like logo plastered across a stark black background. Weighing the potential purchase based on nothing but a record shop recommendation and the cover’s simple, striking design, we scooped up Ghostly International’s inaugural Idol Tryouts compilation despite not even knowing who Dabrye or Matthew Dear were. [...]
This was a great listen. Well done.
ThansK! Great mix.
Just got this in time for the long weekend… yes!
[...] boss Sam from Ghostly, a great selection of classics that have influenced the label (tracklist here): Michna & SV4: Mix For Self [...]
Michna and SV4 – thanks for taking me back to my childhood. hope you enjoy yours as much as I did mine!
[...] I haven’t been impressed with a versatile mix in a while..Until Now. Adrian aka Egg Foo Young aka Michna Michna & SV4: Mix For Self Titled – Tracklist Here [...]
[...] With this laundry list of musical genres touched upon, it’s difficult for me to imagine who wouldn’t find Magic Monday appealing, but, if an hour’s worth of instrumentals isn’t your thing, allow me to suggest a recent mix Michna has compiled for self-titledmag.com. Along with the head of Michna’s label, Ghostly International’s Sam Valenti IV, (Seattle’s The Sight Below also calls Ghostly home), the two producers take us through the work of artists that influcend both Michna and the influential label at large. It takes us from an ambient-house classic, Orbital’s ‘Halcyon & On & On’ all the way through to The Cure. You can find it at self-titledmag.com. [...]
[...] With self-titled’s latest OSCILLATIONS party just a week away, we roped in one of the night’s resident DJs—Skooby Laposky, a.k.a Pocketknife of Flagrant Fowl infamy—for a special mix that offers insights into the influences of his label and hotly-tipped edits/productions with Cousin Cole. (See also: Michna’s rad-as-hell Seeing Colors mix.) [...]
very nice , great article thank you.
[...] EP (included on a download card with the original split) that features such respected remixers as Michna and Eliot Lipp, as well as one of our favorite new producers, Nosaj [...]
[...] Mike Servito, “Bunker Podcast 40″ (December 2008) Mix: SV4/Michna, “Seeing Colors: Ghostly Influences” (January 2009) With the spooky season approaching, the merry ghouls of Treehouse have a special treat for you: a [...]
[...] the spirit of Ghostly International’s popular “Seeing Colors” mix, we recently asked Etienne Jaumet to commemorate his first solo LP (Night Music, out today through [...]