With a series of top quality releases for the likes of Critical and Blu Mar Ten Music, Londoner Stray has steadily become one of the hottest properties in the world of drum n bass.
He’s just unveiled his finest release to date however with the mighty Exit Recordings playing host. The “Matchsticks EP” showcases his talent for creating 170 BPM material that refuses to be squashed into any handy pigeonholes and takes his sound far and wide to the ears of many who’d likely dismiss it simply because of it’s genre placement.
We caught up with the man himself to find out about the tunes he reaches for on those Sunday mornings when the memory of the night or nights before is but a distant blur and the ears could do with a little soothing.
Over to Stray…
Stray’s After Hours Selections
Bibio – Amongst The Bark And Fungus
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Bibio has a remarkable ability to give us these breathtaking snapshots of a past life and a magical childhood. Cleansing, comforting and reflective, they serve as the perfect antitode to a mind somewhat shaken up from the night before.
Truly visceral nostalgia at its finest…
Boards Of Canada – Dandelion
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.I considered avoiding BOC at the risk of sounding clichéd, but let’s face it – no list of this nature is really complete without them. I’ve chosen ‘Dandelion’ because I think those reversed chords have stayed tucked away permanently in a small corner of my brain since my early teens, going round and round and round again.
Their music can be haunting and comforting at the same time, which is part of what makes it so uniquely appropriate to put on at times like this.
Prefuse 73 – Perverted Undertone
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Quietly uplifting and suggestive, but in a sort of lazy sunday afternoon kind of a way. Music to give the mind a hot bath and a big hug.
Sufjan Stevens – Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou)
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.It was hard to single out just one Sufjan track for this because a lot of his music is perfect to come down to. Tunes like this are very emotionally engaging and have an element of sheer otherworldliness to them at the same time.
Dimlite – Outernational Duet
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Just the kind of triumphant and reassuringly cheeky wonky swagger that Dimlite does best. This track also gives a lowkey parallel to the classic intro build up and drop structure of the tunes you might have been hearing the night before.
Herbie Hancock – Actual Proof
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Though again difficult to pick out any one Herbie record, here is something the likes of which I might put on to do that essential pre-takeaway clearup if the afterparty last night was at our place.
I personally find that a good jazz record can be uniquely therapeutic either to actually getting something done the next day or just to pushing the reset switch on your poor, battered brain – reminding yourself of whats really important to you and re-vitalizing your inner bop.
Bilal – Soul Sista (Madlib Remix)
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Slow-jams like this are always a no-brainer here. Few things say “winding down” better than the right mix of soul, melancholy and neck-snap.
D’Angelo – Africa
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.I challenge anyone not to be at one with the sheer beauty and perfection of this lullaby, no matter how depleted your serotonin reserves might be.
Clams Casino – All I Need
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.This really is a wistful, emotional anthem to snuggle under the covers to. There is something so delightfully druggy about the hazy wash of pads, backwards singing and loose claps slung around in this one.
Floating Points – Myrtle Avenue
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To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.This is really a modern day classic for me. It’s so quietly searching and incredibly easy on the ears and kind to the soul considering its relatively fast pace. I know this one got drawn for a hell of a lot during my time at uni and so is personally very evocative of that afterglow feeling from the night before.
