DJ Platurn
Bay Area’s own DJ Platurn provides us with a listen to a collection of ultra-rare cuts with Breaking the Ice (via Fat Beats) that showcase the lesser known musical styles discovered from Iceland. With Platurn’s father influence as an infuential Icelandic DJ that championed the unconventional sounds that span the decades of the late 60s through the early 80s—the following mixes present some of the most fascinating array of lesser experienced pop aesthetics that the world needs right now.
On DJ Platurn’s “Breaking The Ice Pt. 1” casts all the late twentieth century musical tropes into a blender. Like a surreal spin around the globe (vintage style); an internationally spun soundtrack unravels before you of inspiration. From incidental scores to conceptual works; you will be introduced to an array of composition oddities that runs the gamut from grand band to psych-funk freak-shows of unlimited wonder. Aspects of French ya-ya pop to synth pop strangeness will stoke the sections of nostalgia where you will often feel that you have known some of these lost gems in the rough your entire life.
DJ Platurn’s “Breaking The Ice Pt. 2” emphasizes the evolution of the rhythm & techniques of arrangement. Grooves abound that feel as if they have arrived from outer-space, where the disco-feels are whipped into the whirlwind of something infectious & strange. Classic cool 60s swinging-styles are met with hard-rocking riffs that leads to a splash pool of the sweetest psych suite imaginable. Everything from counter-culture pop to robo-rock is served up as you witness a world of albums & 45s that feel both familiar & foreign upon the first listen. DJ Platurn arranges together these golden oldies with such precision & pizazz where esoteric olden era jams feel & sound like the freshest tunes on the block.
DJ Platurn provided the following thoughts on the making of this multi-era epic Icelandic-pop mashup:
Breaking The Ice has been a burrowed idea in my mind ever since I was a teenager starting to mess around with DJing and getting into the funk and samples side of Hip-Hop music. I always remember knowing that the music Iceland wasn’t traditionally known for existed and had potential for beats, but my knowledge was still limited to what I knew from growing up with my Dad’s collection. When my cousin Sveimhugi and I started diving deeper around 2006, the amount of music that I myself had not yet heard plain and simply blew me away and ever since then the addiction has grown increasingly stronger. As much as I covered on this first mix, the lingering thought that a volume 2 could exist down the line would only be stifled by a weaning archaeological desire, which I don’t think will happen until I’m deaf, blind, or most likely both. This is a life’s work, and will forever be treated as such.
Dive into the Breaking the Ice mini-documentary courtesy of Peter Magnusson, oka Kicker Dixon:
DJ Platurn’s Breaking the Ice is available now from Fat Beats.
