Artistically, Lee Jones and Nick Höppner of MyMy have never been ones to stand still. Though a love for stitching together beautiful ends from odd means and persistent attention to detail are two overarching principles in their music, each new record from this buy-on-sight group often confounds as much as it delights. Take “Southbound,” their recently released single on the white hot Ostgut Tonträger. Eschewing the bucolic sweetness of “Southern Comfort” (from Famous When Dead 5) and the ornate trappings of “Fast Freeze” (from Cocoon Compilation G), MyMy instead opt for subtle deep tones and unhurried arrangements, as if composed on a particularly relaxed holiday.
Whereas it’s common to need a few spins to absorb all that Jones and Höppner slip into their tunes, “Southbound” is comparatively straightforward and easy to drink in, provided the volume is loud enough. And yet, its effortless exterior — an amalgamation of dub and deep house structures and sounds — betrays an inconspicuous complexity. Bounding toms, shimmying hi-hats and faraway pulses looming ever closer pull listeners into a bath of soothing tones. Defiantly low-key, but still driving enough to keep bodies moving. “Pink Flamingos” is a touch livelier and maintains the powerful harmony between dub and deep of the flipside. Its swinging beat and rolling timpani contrast nicely with luxurious tides of melody that could have drifted from a Vocal City-era Luomo track, and proves to be one of the loveliest tracks to which MyMy have stamped their name. Jones and Höppner are only getting better the longer they’re together, which bodes well for their rapt fanbase; hell, you could say the same of Ostgut Ton’s releases as well. If only all the surprises in my life could end this happily.
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Just a quick reminder that The Body Politic‘s inaugural residency kicks off tonight, starting promptly at 9 PM with no cover fee. 3213 W. Armitage Ave. Hope to see you there.
don’t forget about carsten klemann! (the third member).
From my reading of the liner notes, he doesn’t really produce with My My, he just DJs (and offers his opinions, no doubt).
Really? News to me.
I also remember in an interview saying that most of their mymy tracks were usually done on a largely solo basis.
That would make sense. On their great “Songs For the Gentle” album the majority of the tracks were written by Lee Jones, the rest by Mr. Hoppner. I hope to interview them soon, so I’ll find out the real deal.
thanks for the heads up on this – ostgut seem infallible.
hope the night was a success. what did you play?
I think it was a pretty big success, actually. As usual, Chicago doesn’t dance (except me and Manuel’s girlfriend, actually), but it was good nonetheless.
I played, in no particular order
Fabrice Lig, “X-Slaves Who Changed the World”
Jimpster, “Dangly Panther” (Joris Voorn Black Panther remix)
Dennis Ferrer, “Son of Raw”
Chapeau Claque, “Bluetenstaubromanze” (Marek Hemmann remix)
Argy, “Love Dose” (Luciano remix)
2000 And One, “Work”
Blunted Dummies, “House For All”
Deetron, “I Cling” (Aril Brikha remix)
Kiki & Sasse, “Grand Cru”
Kalabrese, “Not The Same Shoes”
Lorenzo, “Get Deep”
Round Two, “New Day” (Club mix)
Lee Jones, “Aria” (Tiger Stripes remix)
Metazoo, “Sigh” (2000 And One remix)
Matthew Dear, “Sunday Adventure Club”
Noze, “Remember Love”
Prof. Delacroix, “Build Her”
MyMy, “Pink Flamingos”
Ripperton, “Siboney”
Serafin & Roman Bruderer, “The Move” (To the Sun edit)
SIS, “Burak Sar”
Rejected, “For the People”
Raudive, “Here” (Len’s Podium remix)
Soul Capsule, “Law of Grace”
Nice looking set…
It can be hard to tell how you are doing with no bodies on the floor, but I would’ve been dancing for sure.
which tunes went over the best?
Let me guess, “Aria” was one of them…
Oh, did you record it?
The crowd was… let’s call them sedate. I was also first up, so the alcohol hadn’t quite settled in yet.
Unfortunately it went unrecorded. Next time, hopefully.
i saw this today at gphone, put it immediately into my “buy” pile, then had a listen to it and loved it, but also thought i’d never be able to work it into one of my sets :\ who knows. i really do like it, and re-listening to pink flamingoes (i listened more to “southbound”) makes me wish i’d picked it up regardless.
also, as witness + dj partner of steve’s, his set was very, very cool… not only did he look dapper, the music was tight!
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