STM 109 - Sendai

The creators of this mix are longtime friends Peter Van Hoesen and Yves De Mey, Belgian electronic music producers, DJs, and sound sculptors residing between Antwerp and Berlin. Both artists have been running and expanding their successful solo projects, primarily focused on techno, since the ’90s. Their records have been released on notable labels such as Tresor, Line, Modal Analysis, Opal Tapes, and others. Van Hoesen and De Mey are interdisciplinary artists who have also composed for contemporary dance, theatre productions, and visual installations. Beyond their multitude of musical and cultural activities, they are known together as Sendai—a project dedicated to the development and implementation of truly inventive sonic ideas. Despite their relatively short existence as a duo, Sendai has released a critically acclaimed full-length album, Geotope, and two agile EPs on Van Hoesen’s Time To Express label. De Mey's expertise in working with modular and vintage synthesizers, combined with Van Hoesen's exceptional digital composition and sound design skills, allows them to create authentic and globally recognizable gems of music. Their production is rich with architectural beats, electrified cinematic soundscapes, various glitches, and noise. Sendai’s second album, A Smaller Divide, is set for release in March on their new experimental music imprint, Archives Intérieures.

Secret Thirteen Mix 109 is a masterful collection, defined by a symbiosis of various musical composition traditions, ideologies, and levels of production quality. The selection consists of 23 enduring and somewhat contrasting records that have significantly influenced Sendai's deep and dynamic sound. The material in this mix spans from 1979 to 2014, yet here it coalesces into a sustained piece, clearly demonstrating Van Hoesen and De Mey’s musical maturity, austere aesthetics, technical skills, and the strength of their conceptual vision. This elaborate compilation is like an extraordinary harmony that unfolds in cycles, each time revealing something new, powerful, and previously unnoticed. Fragments of techno, dark electro, ambient, acid, and IDM are carefully merged to form a unique listening experience and uncover new expressive sound structures. The admirably developed futuristic and contemporary musical background includes striking works by influential musicians such as Front 242, Frank Zappa, Scanner, Gescom, TM404, and others. The mix also features an unreleased recording by Van Hoesen and Rebecca Lenaerts, as well as De Mey’s early work, Grayscale, created under his Eavesdropper alias. Vaporous soundscapes, diverse fuzzy loops, hollow and hypnotic beat patterns are just a few examples of what lies within the eclectic surface of this mix. Moreover, the duo’s analytical precision in connecting tracks, delicate live editing, and attention to detail draw parallels to Gilbert Hsiao’s bizarre abstract work Lucky Strike. This is a sophisticated and inspiring recording that demands a high-fidelity sound system and a willingness to explore its complex, shimmering world of sound.