One of my favourite thing about doing stuff for the Swansea Music Hub is discovery. Discovering new artists is exciting, but when you discover whole scenes within the wider Swansea music scene it's amazing.
The Swansea underground house / techno is one of these scenes I've come across and it is thriving - and at the forefront of the this scene is Electronic / Techno / Minimal / Acid House DJ & producer Mikki James.
A resident of (almost) 9 year old underground house and techno party Dogruff, Mikki has a wealth of experience and has perfected her craft as a DJ and producer. I'll have to admit that techno, house and acid isn't at the forefront of my musical tastes but Mikki's tunes really resonate with me and as a fan of other sub-genres of electronic music I can really appreciate the tracks that she's made.
We're lucky enough to have Dogruff DJing at this year's Swansea Fringe Festival and we've featured a Dogruff party as gig of the week before - which subsequently put me onto Mikki's music and her most recent offering is my favourite.
Hypnotic beats, lush textures and really nicely selected samples that wash over you as - I've also noticed that in the 6minutes that I've already listened to I haven't stopped tapping my feet and grooving in at my desk. There's a vocal sample cleverly placed just after the first third of the track and I was willing for it to return; (perhaps intentionally) it doesn't and that made me really appreciate the deeper textures and sounds within the track.
Before this gets too much like a musicology assignment of me deconstructing Mikki's tune, I'll move on to two more tracks I'd like to highlight.
I guess it was the titles of these that drew me in to listening to these (in amongst Mikki's vast collection on her Soundcloud). I'm not sure if they're linked in anyway (the titles suggest that they are & there are lots of deep musical things I could say to delve into it - I won't...!) but I lost myself in both - definitely check them both out.
Like I said at the start, I don't consider myself an expert in techno / house / minimal / acid - but I really enjoyed working my way through Mikki's stuff. The mix that she has up up on her Mixcloud is also superb - highlighting that Mikki's skills & selections as a DJ are also ace.
Catch Mikki DJing at Dogruff's 9th birthday party - you can also catch a Dogruff party this weekend at the Last Resort or see them DJing at The Swansea Fringe Festival alongside Roughion on Friday 5th October.
Mikki James Facebook | Mikki James Soundcloud | Mikki James Mixcloud
Written by Simon Parton