Piotr Podomarof

Piotr Podomarof is a humble record collector, who has been creating his musical database since 2004. He is also our longtime follower, so we are really proud to have his presence here. Piotr has also been involved in various PR and producing positions with artists such as Rafael Toral, Keith Rowe, Christian Fennesz, Peter Rehberg etc. This guy has a really broad and sophisticated taste, which is also manifested in his entry for our New Blood competition.

STM 287 explores the colourful and druggy ways of sonic subversion expressed in a wide variety of genres. The latter could range from raw punk (Hüsker Dü), classy IDM (LFO), twisted and electrified downtempo (Mr Oizo) or gloomy jazz (The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble). They all create a surreal, psychedelic and at times decadent mood with unpredictable twists and turns. It is a pretty multi-layered affair, and the title reflects it pretty well with its double meaning. It references both a Sonic Youth track and the street name of the MDMA pills popular in Polish resort towns.

In the records

Piotr Podomarof on the mix

This bag of colourful, subversively tasty sweets comes from many different sources, as nowadays the musical dealership is very well developed. The stuff comes from a bunch of suppliers, including some old-school freaks from around the first industrial/post-punk era (Richie Kirk, Husker Du, Sun City Girls), very well-known and popular distributors, always providing the high-quality goods (Primal Scream, Death In Vegas, LFO), and a small pack of offroad rebels and shamans, practising their rituals on the outskirts of the genres (Run DMT, Stefan Jaworzyn, Cut Hands).

It is also crucial that you purchase the wee-o from the truthful ‘hood. For the purposes of this mix, I took a little trip to my favourite backyards, such as Planet Mu, Blackest Ever Black and Warp Records. Hustling here and there, I also managed to grab some bits and pieces right off the street, from shady re-editions, one-offs and b-sides compilations, as well as mixes made by other artists, including some of the tracks chosen for presented setup. Having all the ingredients in place, I have prepared my very own mix.

It is called “Hits of Sunshine” – and yes, the name is shamelessly stolen from a brilliant piece by Sonic Youth; there is another reference, though, as “The Sunshine” was the street name for the MDMA-based pills, quite popular in 2016 on the seashore of Poland, in various recreational areas, such as Kolobrzeg, Mielno and Ustronie Morskie, among the others. The mix is composed quite accordingly to The Sunshine’s influence on the receiver: starting from initial excitement, as one tries new drug, through first sensations of uneasiness (“the threshold”, as we’ve called it), then the peak of stimuli’s intensity (the part when you need to move, jump, dance, etc.), the following relaxation (with occasionally recurring phases of “party” inclinations), via inevitable return to the state of alert, as the internal hormone sources are being slowly depleted, and finally – slow reach of eventual calmness and exhaustion. There are in total 33 hits in this little bag – a nod to myself, as I’ll be reaching Jesus’s age in 2019.

I have tried to compile some various sounds and approaches to the music itself, not only the drug-related one. The names of tracks are, of course, connected with the main topic, but the general mix structure idea was described in the previous paragraph. Some of the cuts are rough and square, but that’s exactly how reality is sometimes being transformed when experienced with the use of certain sources of its augmentation. To me personally, the music itself is the greatest drug ever created, as I am totally hooked on it since at least 20 years and I cannot imagine how would my life look and taste without the sounds. The process of creation of the mix was great fun itself, I hope that the listeners will find some gems for themselves, hidden inside this cookie. Have fun, stay safe, do not dehydrate during parties, and would you kindly turn the volume all the way up?