Downtime: Session Victim's Downtempo Mix

Downtime is a new series that showcases a different side of our favourite DJs. Up next, a mix of Downtempo records from Session Victim

When the going gets tough, reach for your Session Victim records. The German duo have been crafting warm, hazy house music since 2008 and their music has become a surefire way of turning off and blissing out.

They're one of the most active production units on the circuit and have just released their fourth album in eight years, 'Needledrop', which is rooted in their love of trip hop, downtempo and the art of sampling. Sure enough, it contains that breezy Session Victim vibe throughout and lands via Late Night Tales sister label Night Time Stories, a departure from their regular home Delusions Of Grandeur.

Hauke Freer and Matthias Reiling's Downtime mix is a neat bolt-on to 'Needledrop', featuring some of the cuts that inspired the atmosphere and aesthetic of the album as well as being a mix of Session Victim faves from the worlds of downtempo and trip hop. If you need more, the 'Needledrop' remix package is out now too.

Q+A and mix below!

Whereabouts are you right now and how are you?

M: We and our families are in good health, thank you. I'm splitting time between Hamburg and Berlin, as I did before.

H: Trying to make the most of the situation. Many things which were taken for granted are suddenly in the air, so I have been refocusing on what really matters. As a touring artist, taking time off sometimes is not easy, now with no choice to play shows I'm enjoying this time at home.

Can you describe what life is like right now and how you’ve adapted?

M: Life seems to be going back to normal slowly, we played some online games together in the first weeks and have now gone back to making beats.

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What sort of things have you been keeping yourself busy with?

H: Cooking, reading, learning 10-Finger typing and how-to setup my Raspberry Pi, sorting and rediscovering records and making music of course.

M: Trying to really figure out the Ensoniq ASR-X. Not an easy task, still on the case. Besides that, I'm working on my kickflip, playing guitar and gaming a bit.

Are there any TV shows or movies you’ve been bingeing?

M: Not too much, I've been watching some anime, like the new Ghost In The Shell and Castlevania. Also, I just started with Hand Of God, so far I really dig it.

H: I really liked Barry and recently re-watched The Sopranos.

Any books you can recommend?

M: Cool, first time being asked for a book recommendation in an interview, let's see: I just finished The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin, an amazing SciFi story unlike anything I ever read before. Then, being a Stephen King fanboy since I was a kid, I have to recommend The Outsider, which for me was one of his finest works in the last 10 years.

H: I find myself coming back to Haruki Murakami. Just finished Pinball and now started on this recent one Killing Commodore.

What’s your ultimate stay-at-home recipe?

H: Not really possible to get good Mexican food here in Germany, so I have been working on perfecting my vegetarian Fajitas.

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What music have you been listening to?

M: I have been listening to the first Jedi Mind Tricks album a lot lately, 'The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness'. I dig some of their later stuff too, but this album is just an absolute timeless masterpiece in my book. I keep coming back to it and it never ceases to amaze me. A newer record I highly recommend is the Linkwood & Greg Foat album. I have a bunch of Linkwood and Greg Foat records, so the expectations were high. Bought it without listening before and it turned out to be all I was hoping for.

H: Really into the latest Ivan Ave 7” called 'Triple Double Love'. I’ve Been listening to Gary Boyle, Arthur Verocai and always coming back to the Panoram LPs.

Describe your Downtime mix? What can listeners expect?

M: It's an hour of old and new records, mainly instrumental hip hop and trip hop, some record stores file it under Headz. Ranging from the mid 90s to today, you'll hear some known classics as well as some rather underground stuff. A sound we both always loved and keep coming back to. I think it’s good music for driving, cooking, smoking and reading too as we were just talking about it.

Do you have any words of wisdom to accompany the mix?

M: I myself do not, but there is a track towards the end of the mix by Hamburg DJ Marius No.1, who ran the first hip hop show on northern German radio. Anyway, he sampled some, in my opinion, wise words on that one...

Tracklist:

Luke Vibert - Space Race
Yadava - Morning Pt. 2
Mars Ill - The Siren Song (Inst.)
Da Poet - Desert Or Dessert
Alchemist - The Basics
Smut Peddlers - One By One (Inst.)
DJ Shadow - Shadow's Beat
Terranova - Chase The Blues
Robert Oh - Blush
Algorhythm - C.P.U. (Inst.)
Jesus Lost - Let's Do That
St. Germain - Sure Thing
Session Victim - Bad Weather Mates
Mos Def - Universal Magnetic (Inst.)
Al Dobson Jr. - What It Is - Shakedown
Erykah Badu - The Healer (Inst.)
DDay One - Forgotten Nature
Matthias Reiling - Small Window (LP Version)
Boards Of Canada - 1969
DJ Marius No.1 - Vom Erfolg Vol.1
Session Victim - Cold Chills

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