“A tall leafy plant standing inside a thick fog”: nope, it’s not the title of a reggae track, but the description of a painting by Clément Davout AKA Adhémar. The creative man is a well-established visual artist from Belgium behind many cover pictures of the label Oslated. He’s also a talented DJ & producer, building peaceful but intriguing low-tempo soundscapes, a consistent audio extension of his paintings. As a DJ, he recorded a certain amount of podcasts, one of the best being his contribution to Silent Season’s Campfire stories.
THEMATIC SELECTION
CLASSIC
Donato Dozzy – Vaporware 04 [Spectrum Spools, 2013]
Adhémar: Selecting a track from Donato Dozzy is easy, with most of his sounds being classics. But in Plays Bee Mask, a very emblematic album, “Vaporwave 04” made a direct impression on me. The bleepy atmosphere that extends throughout the track is so immersive that you can’t get tired of it.
DEEP
Valentino Mora – Steamroom (6am Exaltation Mix) [IDO, 2016]
Adhémar: A steam room can be visualised in this wonderful track by Valentino. The steam is all-encompassing, smooth and subtle. All the percussions come at times to awaken our muscles, sometimes on the right side, sometimes on the left: we let ourselves be carried away, feeling both awake and asleep.
MENTAL
Elle – Oggi Non Saprei [Oslated, 2019]
Adhémar: I love Elle’s sonorities, well-designed and architectural. We have the feeling that he can move buildings. There’s no lack of such impression in the whole album: the structures snake, intertwine and undergo slight distortions, which can’t leave anybody unmoved once immersed in the journey.
DARK
The Lotus Eaters – A Third Man [Stroboscopic Artefacts, 2018]
Adhémar: Only wonders can be expected from Lucy and Rrose working as one entity. Desatura is an album that I’ve listened to many times for its fabulous sound design. I can only advise you to play the whole album. “A Third Man” in particular is a blend of superb rhythms with a groovy bassline, under wavy synth sounds, which somehow create a third entity.
EXPERIMENTAL
Varuna – Jewel Changi [A Walking Contradiction, 2020]
Adhémar: Varuna, this anonymous trio, delivers each time crazy pieces with very experimental structures. Its success comes from the ascents and descents which are following the progression of the sonic journey. The extra sounds and rhythmic layers are completely mind-blowing.
DOPE BASSLINE
Daniel Araya – I Want To Be Andreas [Kontra-Musik, 2016]
Adhémar: I completely fell in love with the bassline the first time I listened to this release. I had it on loop for a long time. The slow and subtle progression takes us directly into the liquid flow of the track. We just want to listen to it in depth and let ourselves be hit by the detailed rhythms.
OLD SCHOOL
Robbie Rivera & Antoine Clamaran – Congos [Juicy Music, 2002]
Adhémar: I found this track by accident. With some friends, we were at a flea market and visited the stand of a guy who owns a lot of records. One of my friends took the EP out and found it funny that these two old-school artists made a track together. We bought it for like 1€, then, back home, we played it on the turntable and couldn’t stop dancing on it; it was a party on its own. I also play it at peak times sometimes and it never disappoints.
TO START A MIX
Olorun – Tuamotu [IDO, 2019]
Adhémar: Inevitably, I had to pick a track of my colleague & friend Tristan. It’s part of his first EP as Olorun and it’s perfectly produced. The track sets up the mood, with voice recordings delivered in a very nice progression, on top of an all-encompassing atmosphere and mesmerising rhythms. The journey opens up to all kinds of stories afterwards. It’s pure beauty.
FOR THE PEAK TIME
Laima Adelaide – Space Layers [PhonoTropismi, 2020]
Adhémar: This piece is insane, with the two layers of bleeps and the very light click. All you can do is close your eyes and let yourself go. The sounds intertwine, disappear and reappear; what a delight. It’s a track that hit me right away when it came out.
BONUS – TOPIC BROUGHT BY OUR GUEST
A DOPE MIX
Valentino Mora @ Blå in Oslo, Norway [2019]
Adhémar: There are very good sets & podcasts out there, but I had to mention this one from my friend Valentino. I’ve seen him play a few times, it’s always pure happiness. With this mix on, I close my eyes and it’s as if I saw him play. What a trip he offers us for four hours, one of which only he has the secret.
WRITING BY: CLEMENT DAVOUT & CEDRIC FINKBEINER | 9 MAY 2020
