Mehmet Aslan: The ‘Ransom Note’ Mix

Music

Mehmet Aslan has always been a dab hand and blending the old with the new.

A childhood spent soaking up Turkish sounds (thanks to his parents) first ignited his love for music, and by his teenage years he’d become obsessed with collecting records, digging deep into the infinite realms of house and techno.

But when he began producing, he found a way of merging these two formative styles. Many of you will remember his early outings for labels like Hamam House and Huntley + Palmers which saw him either editing old Turkish records into club ready rhythms or injecting his own productions with influences from his roots.

These qualities have continued too permeate his releases since. As well as music for his own co-run Fleeting Wax label, he’s shared EPs for Planisphere, Dischi Autunno and Huntley + Palmers’ Highlife offshoot which showcase his deep and psychedelic approach to making electronic music.

Though it’s a decade since his first release came out, it wasn’t until recently that he shared his first ever album. Sun Is Parallel is a rich and diverse body of work that, unsurprisingly, takes in many different influences and journeys across different tempos. As always, there’s a hypnotic quality that brings everything together but across its 11-track duration you’ll hear mid-tempo acid jams sitting next to folkloric electronica and cinematic soundscapes unfurling into hazy grooves.

Following the release, we asked him to put a mix together for us. Over an hour it coasts from off-kilter funk and synth-pop through to oddball rhythms, best enjoyed – as Mehmet suggests – whilst running through a Mexican canyon with the cartel hot on your tail…

Ransom Note · Mehmet Aslan: The ‘Ransom Note’ Mix

Please introduce yourself… Who are you, where are you and what are you

I am what I am, my name is Mehmet, the area I’m feeling myself home is Basel, Switzerland, currently residing in Berlin.

What does your music sound like? Can you draw what you think it sounds like for us (an image from the old internet is acceptable)?

Where was the mix recorded?

I made a selection of around 30-40 tracks first and then went into a studio with Pioneer CDJs and Mixer, to record it live and went with the flow!

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

While running in the copper canyon in Mexico.

What should we be wearing?

Good shoes, a good bottle of water, a portion of cornbread at your hips, light clothing because it’s hot and you are chased by the drug cartel.

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format?

In the forest, hidden in the shadows of leaves, a good soundsystem like Klipsch, friends around, nice and friendly atmosphere, no duties.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Right now its Ryuichi Sakamoto – Rap The World. Check the live version, he is sending a fax live on stage! And I have no idea what the band is doing the whole time and he is dancing around. I was happy to see him having so much joy.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

NTS mix of Donna Leake, LONDON, 08.09.22
Baris K, foton mix
Nicolas Jaar – We weren’t made for these times
Laidback Luke – Lowlands 2002 (was different in those years)

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

David Mancuso to one of the Loft parties, there is no why really.

Or to a 70/80s parties in Ibiza.

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

My first DJ setup makes me somewhat emotional. I had just started to work an apprenticeship and earned my first money. I got two used Technics MK2, the classics. And somehow I found an Ecler Nuo 2 mixer with only two channels but huge knobs. That was all setup in my little bedroom with two loudspeakers actually made for TV Hifi, you know those thin and tall speakers. I ended up mixing mostly with my headphones though, because I couldn’t go very loud in my bedroom.

But in the local youth centre in Allschwil, Basel, they had two huge loudspeakers where we could practise! There we had a Pioneer 600, two Technics and an old CD-Player with a pitch, you know one of those with trays which opened up like in the computer.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

Both are almost equally important, though I think the ending is more important, especially in a club. To leave the ground with a great song always gives me a better feeling about the night and that I did a good job. And people also remember the ending more.

What were the first and last records you bought?

Last record is one of the latest POPPERS of Sound Metaphors. You really want to know which one is one of my first? I think I would skip a few and say the Technasia – Popsoda album, such a classic! Sadly they didn’t keep making music.

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

A delicious “banh mi” with homemade bread, veggie, but with eastern flavours and swiss cheese.

If it was an animal what would it be?

A white horse.

One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything?

Baris Manco – Aheste (Baris K edit) – try it, it doesn’t work.

Anything else we need to discuss?

Take your time, do what you really want to do now, meditate, do nothing for a while.

Bond yourself with mother earth.

Read: Earth Power, Techniques of natural magic

Tracklist