Demdike Stare

The mix was created by Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker, a British experimental electronic music duo who sculpt obscure masterworks under the Demdike Stare moniker (named after the most famous of the Pendle witches). They made a successful debut in 2009 with their enigmatic album “Symbiosis”, and have continued to impress die-hard music lovers with their expressive sound collages. Remaining loyal to the prolific Modern Love record label, Demdike Stare has now released 5 critically acclaimed albums and numerous singles.

Their occult soundtracks are based on gloomy ambiance, penetrating melodic cuts, and abyssal rhythm textures that are often enriched with fragments of world music. However, their 2013 “Testpressing” vinyl trilogy explores a much wider palette of sounds, ranging from jungle and deep house style beats to industrial and noise motifs. Accompanied by Andy Votel’s (Finders Keepers Records) symbolic artworks and suggestive visuals from retro horror or surrealistic movies, Demdike Stare maintains a well-balanced stylistic integrity. Their live shows are like unexplored narratives that always surprise with their improvised rhythmic and atmospheric lines, as well as their cinematic sense.

Demdike Stare also curates the Pre-Cert label. Whittaker is one half of Pendle Coven (with Gary Howell) and also produces music under the MLZ, Suum Cuique, and Miles pseudonyms. His newest release, “Faint Hearted,” is sure to make the Secret Thirteen best albums of the year list.

Their selection connects 23 rediscovered records across several decades, constantly shifting in scale and intensity. The idea is to find music that speaks to the present, regardless of when it was made. It’s inspiring to hear that Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker are sharing their resonant discoveries so delicately and freely while maintaining the fundamental temperament of Demdike Stare.

The mix includes refined intersections between carefully structured pieces by composers such as Bernard Parmegiani, Pierre Henry, and Egisto Macchi, as well as improvisational masterworks by alternative multi-instrumentalists and bands such as Michel Redolfi, Fabio Fabor, Tony Williams Lifetime, and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, each opening a different perspective. Additionally, intermittently incorporated electronic dance music tracks by artists such as Experimental Audio Research, Oliverwho Factory, and Doctor Rockit enrich the surface of this mix with old-fashioned drum machine beat patterns and purified synthesizer chords.

Composition and physical rhythm

Two early appearances by Bernard Parmegiani make electroacoustic montage a recurring reference. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe’s “M’Bondo” connects bodily rhythm with the mix’s stranger electronic environments.

The diverse mixture of works from different times and cultures gives this influential selection an enduring value, a joy of unpredictability, dynamism, and flexibility. This mix transports the listener into an intricate world of sounds and textures that are expertly interwoven, resulting in a dynamic and mesmerizing experience. Its architecture rests on recurring rhythms, rich instrumentation, forceful effects that weave and collide, and dense soundscapes. Each passage has its own weight and character, down to its smallest sounds and exposed tones. Good speakers and a comfortable setting help reveal its hypnotic convulsions and the mysterious magnetism that grows with repeated, attentive listening. Its impact comes as much from those returning details as from the first encounter.

Sound as an environment

Folke Rabe’s sustained electronic field unsettles any simple sense of a succession of songs. Michel Redolfi’s “Underwater Park at Sunset” brings location, imagined space and electronic sound together.

The selection is akin to an esoteric Adnan Coker abstract art painting, “Untitled”, where playful shapes, cosmic colors, and smooth shadows create a monumental formation in an immeasurable dimension. Coker presents simplicity of form, methodical geometry, and significance of celestial blackness in such a deliberate way that these unique elements and values coalesce into a visual language that feels universal.

Demdike Stare’s artistic selection indirectly reflects the painting’s structural and ideological composition, demonstrating tradition, longevity, intelligence, mystery, and subtle minimalism. This contribution expands and strengthens Demdike Stare’s identity and helps listeners anticipate Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker’s future tendencies. It is a perfect example of how two strong personalities can merge their utopian ideas to create a distinctive whole that mirrors their musical sophistication and solidity.