This week, melodic electronica talent Mr Fogg provides Clash with an exclusive DJ mix featuring an impressively varied range of artists, including Flying Lotus, The XX, Thom Yorke, Sigur Ros and Bjork.
Clash caught up with Mr Fogg to quiz him about his musical choices.
Clash: Tell us a little about the mix and some of the tracks you included:
Mr Fogg: It’s really just a selection of things that I like. I don’t think anybody necessarily listens to only songs of the same bpm all the time, so I don’t worry about too much about that side of things. This mix has ended up being heavy on stuff released on the Icelandic Bedroom Community label run by Valgeir Sigurðsson (who co-produced my album). In particular, I saw Ben Frost play one of their nights at the last Iceland Airwaves and it was one of the most intense musical (and physical) experiences I’ve had. I’ve been dying to put one of his tracks on something like this for ages.
C: How do you decide on the tone of an individual mix and what goes into it?
MF: I think you can probably tell that I did a lot of it at 3 and 4 in the morning. I don’t necessarily decide what I’m going to do in advance – it just comes together as I’m working on it. But the sound is inevitably affected by the situation. I do try and give it some kind of structure – a beginning, a middle and an end – and I also use a lot of shorter loops to extend and alter things from their original form, a bit like a live remix.
C: What makes a good remix in your opinion
MF: I think really great remixes are ones that totally transform the original and show you a different side to it. I think good songs can take pretty radically different arrangements and still sound good, and it’s interesting to hear things in a new context, which is why I’ve done things like choral and string versions of my songs in the past.
C: A terrible question, but for any readers who are new to Mr Fogg, please describe your music to us…. in 10 words:
MF: Electronic music, but with “proper” songs and, hopefully, human emotion.
C: Tell us about the temporary record shop you opened up for a few days:
At the end of last year I was looking for a venue to do a show in London, but couldn’t find anything that really interested me. On the way back from viewing one venue I walked past an empty guitar shop with a “To Let” sign in the window and decided to see if they would let me have it for a few days.
Luckily, they didn’t have a long-term taker for the shop, so they let me have it for four days to use as a pop-up Mr Fogg Shop. I had it decorated, got signs made, etc, and then set up and played short sets on the hour every hour for 4 days. Or that was the plan. But actually people kept turning up between performances so we ended up playing for them anyway – it ended up being about 50 sets in four days.
C: Please tell us about any upcoming releases:
MF: My debut album, ‘Moving Parts’, is out now, with the title track released as a single with remixes by Jakwob, Rudi Zygadlo, Karoshi, Rennie Pilgrem and Pelops.
C: What do you have planned for the rest of 2010?
MF: Over the next few weeks I’m doing a series of in-stores at Oxfam music shops around the UK, and then I’m playing a few summer festivals and hopefully going to play in Sweden. I’m also developing plans for a mobile Fogg Shop to take around the country… or further afield.
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Mr. Fogg Dj Mix Tracklisting
1. Nico Muhly – Mothertongue
2. (LCD Soundsytem – Losing My Edge)
3. Sigur Ros – Gobbledigook (Flowing Remix Raw & Bare)
4. Marina & The Diamonds – Hollywood (Mr Fogg Remix)
5. (Diplo Vs Sunday Girl – Four Floors)
6. The XX – VCR/You Got The Love
7. Thom Yorke – Hearing Damage
8. (Luke Abbot – B,B,B,B,B,B,B,B,B,B)
9. (WHB – Honeytrap (Hecuba’s Make Me Remix))
10. Bjork – Wanderlust (Ratatat Remix)
11. Mr Fogg – Moving Parts (Rudi Zygadlo Zoo Remix)
12. White Hinterland – Icarus
13. (IKON – Slow Light (Pistol Disco Remix))
14. (Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Fight for Me)
15. Flying Lotus – Galazy in Janaki
16. Valgeir Sigurdsson – Grylukvaedi
17. Ben Frost – Through The Mouth of Your Eye
Check out the previous episodes of our Dj Mix Series on iTunes HERE or individually on ClashMusic.com HERE
