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Juanita's Mix 072 with Kiernan Laveaux @kiernan-laveaux
Q. How would you describe yourself?
A. A girl doing their best to channel kindness, fun, & understanding throughout our known universe
Some ways other people have described me: Conductress of Chaos, Rockstar with a kind soul, Patroness of free divers
Q. How long have you been a part of the dance music community?
A. Since 2014, right after I graduated high school & started to help throw parties in Cleveland - almost like a whole decade now which is wild.
My relationship to it all continues to shift & grow but my life would be so much worse & empty without dancing & the people I've met thru it.
Q. Tell us about this mix.
A. So this mix is a super special one for me, composed of broken beat records I've picked up in NYC, but also Detroit & online. I've been really fortunate to be able to come to New York to play & see loved ones over the past few years, many of those times I'd end up leaving with a stack of these records in between some necessary laughs & growth in life. Every track in here honestly contains a snapshot of times I've felt able to really live my life & the people who've helped me realize we can all do that together - very much part of my soundtrack to feeling the sun & love around me in NYC.
Broken beat is a really special style of music for me - I was first introduced to it through Titonton Duvante & Charles Noel (Archetyp) through the way it influenced them in creating their unique vision of midwest techno that in turn has influenced a lot of my approach to music.
The way that broken beat combines & dissolves so many eras of music (drum n bass, hip hop, 70s fusion, R&B, dub, etc) into new continuums is endlessly inspiring - always focusing on community, personal insight, celestial unknowns, the depths of life & self, the joys of moving with people, cultivating togetherness in a way that always makes me feel better after listening.
Whenever I am having a weird day or don't know what music to play at home, I bust out my stack of broken beat records & just start mixing - this mix is very much a no thoughts vibes only kinetic result of that.
I hope it can help soothe the mind & spirit for anyone else listening - a distillation of joy in the complicated world we share.
Included a thorough tracklist for this, really recommend checking any & all of these artists/tracks + the labels People, Main Squeeze, 2000black, Bitasweet, Archive, Co-Operation... the list goes on!
What is also really amazing about this music to me is the self contained but like infinite universe it's in, all sorts of producers & vocalists gliding in & out of each other's music - exchanging energy under all different names & sounds. Much love & respect to everyone whose music is in here & to everyone whose music will be in mixes like this in the future <3
Tracklist:
SK Radicals - Reachin 4 Da Farside (Misa Negra mix) / People
Scott Grooves - Inspiration Sound / Parts Manager
P'Taah feat. Sylvia Gordon - Nobody Knows / Ubiquity
Blakai - Callejon (Hi-mix) / Schtum
Afro-Mystik - Dreamwalkers / Om
P'Taah - Compressed Light (Black Science Orchestra Borg mix) / Ubiquity
Russ Gabriel's Audio Spectrum - Flip Down to Break / Emoticon
Bougie Soliterre, Orin Walters, & Melissa Browne - Something / Flipside
Russ Gabriel's Audio Spectrum - My New Room / Emoticon
Afro-Mystik - Infinite Rhythm (dub mix) / Om
Numbers feat. Valerie Etienne - Looking Back / Main Squeeze
Spacetime Continuum - Beveled Edge (Remix) / Astralwerks
Murky Waters - Check Yourself (Pranna mix) / Main Squeeze
The One Away - 1969 LSD Madness / Main Squeeze