STM 159 - Shawn O’Sullivan

Shawn O’Sullivan (b. 1981) is an electronic music producer based in New York, whose background stems from the darker and heavier fringes of techno music and the rough edges of minimal wave. Having grown up in the small community of Fairfield, Iowa, Shawn started experimenting with intense sounds at an early age and was quickly immersed in the noisy sonics of beat-driven techno. However, it was New York that further shaped Shawn’s musical landscape. Synth/minimal wave emerged in his creative path, resulting in his involvement with mellow post-punk/wave explorers Led Er Est, together with Sam De La Rosa, and the noirish monolith disco/wave duo Further Reductions with Katie Rose. This diverse background formed the concrete and beautiful sound world of Shawn. It is primarily reflected in his vast array of releases, ranging from the mellow atmospheric tech wanderings of “Free Flight,” released under his own name, to the abrasive, almost industrial pulsations of Vapauteen. Shawn always manages to elegantly capture the essence of groovy futurist darkness and melancholic melodic twists. No wonder that he has been featured on diverse labels ranging from Sacred Bones and Wierd Records to L.I.E.S.

"Secret Thirteen Mix 159" is a powerful 150 BPM selection showcasing Shawn’s earlier influences and presenting the colorful variety of '90s techno, acid, and hardcore. The mix is very consistent and maintains high-voltage intensity from start to finish without losing its atmospheric and emotional power. It starts straightforwardly with PCP’s Phuture Project's hard-hitting beats, which set the pace for the rest of the mix. Later on, it smoothly dives into the shimmering, cold, and tough sublimity of Lorenz Attractor's “Complexity Crisis” and the mellow acid attack of 303 Nation before returning to Marc Trauner’s bouncing basslines and raw mechanical physicality. It gets even more intense with “The Hacker” by Jeff Mills, who introduces crystal-sharp noisy elements into the mix. Towards the end, Shawn introduces more abstract notes with Christoph De Babalon’s harshly hypnotic piece “Opium” and the industrial wanderings of Society of Unknowns. The mix provides the listener with a dynamic physicality of sound and offers an opportunity to experience the core essence of the wild and heavy '90s techno underground in all its charm. It nicely conveys the technogenic and futurist mood of the scene and its raw punkish vibe. The gritty elegance of Jock McFadyen’s image “Tate Moss” reflects the urban associations of the mix. The artwork shares a similar visual intensity, capturing the static moments of heavy suburban architecture, much like the mix captures the raw energy of the techno underground.

It's all 150 BPM and all old 1990’s stuff, some gloomy techno, acid, a bit of hardcore, and then ending with some stranger stuff. I wanted to revisit records that were favorites from my teenage years, so it's actually a very personal mix, despite being hard dumb techno :) The whole mix was done with vinyl. Some of this stuff is a bit hard to beatmatch, especially the weirder stuff towards the end, but I felt like it was important to showcase this stuff in the context of a dj mix. There are a lot of tracks from PCP - Marc Acardipane is one of my absolute favorite producers of all time and has been a big influence since I was very young. I also feature stuff from Lory D, Praxis Records, and of course Drop Bass Network, all which have also been very important sources of inspiration. I mostly featured rarer or more obscure tracks, although there are a few obvious classics peppered in there.