Kixotek

I never liked the sounds of the techno genre "breakcore" since to me it sounds too choppy, too cut up, and too extreme. The kick drum is usually excessive, and the snares very echoey. Mochipet, for example. The breakcore sub-genre has split into endless divisions in recent years: 'wafflecore', 'flappercore', 'operacore', 'donkeycore', etc. Most of it is impossible to dance to, an expression of pure experimentation. It is often ridiculously boundary-pushing and musically incomprehensible.

However,

I find that even with styles I have come to dislike there is usually a gateway artist whom I find very interesting. I have found some of the most interesting and mellow sounds from Oregon recently, because Oregon is hyper mellow, very exotic, and is where some of the coolest cats in Cascadia reside. That's where Kixotek (from Corvallis) comes in. I heard Kixotek (pronounced 'kiggz ottik' or 'kicks-o-tech'?) mix a very flavorful breakcore session in Seattle a few months ago at Kinetic III in the memorable "Prehistoric Chickenhed Dowtempo" room, where the Seattle Science Center's movable dinosaur models swayed back and forth under the trippy light systems. So if it was love, it was only love for a small cross-section of the breakcore genre.

Which brings me to yesterday. Yesterday I mixed some of Kixotek's tracks for a mellow last day of classes at my school. It was a very flavorful grilled-sandwich-and-fries session in front of my student union building. The student affairs office was hosting a BBQ and requested that the student-run radio station (KUPS) play downtempo for the ambiance. The choice of downtempo was chosen so as to not disturb the stress-free massages.

Downtempo, breakcore, same difference right? My friend David (AKA The Chaosthetic) asked me if I wanted to mix at 4:00 p.m., and of course I said yes. The stressed-out students, eating their lunches and conversing with one another, stared blankly at me for choosing breakcore. They probably wanted something more Cancún-ish. Fuck that. The music I chose was dark, heavy, and gloomy, with organic textures laid progressively on top of the breaks. I have no regrets. Kixotek's tracks are an excellent blend of Indian-influenced bongo drumming and chilled synthesizing. That's what is so appealing about it for me: that and it mixes well to anything with ambiance. It sounded very surreal especially with the extra delay and break effects I laid on top of it. And I got a free back massage out of it!

Listen to Ouroboros on his myspace, and check out the art on his webpage.