Confession: I usually have a hard time with long DJ mixes. Where most people see them as a chance to turn the music on and let it ride through a craftily curated landscape of tunes and artistry, I just usually can’t make myself trust somebody on the other end of Soundcloud to make my ears happy. I need to be convinced within the first few minutes, otherwise I’m bailing – like when Kygo opened his Diplo & Friends with Happy and for the first time in months it didn’t make me miserable hearing it: that Norwegian kid wooed me, and he earned that prime aural real estate.
StarRo has wooed me.
If you’re familiar with the artist legally born Shinya Mizoguchi, you probably caught his recently released – and aptly named – EP Emotion, but if not, it’s worth a spin. It’s like all those late-night smoke-and-drive R&B mixes you made yourself, just without the painful memory of that cop pulling you over and taking all of your precious skunk weed.
Following up the EP, he just released this set for Thump’s ON DECK series, and it boogies notably harder than the reserved sexiness of Emotion. An incredibly diverse mix, each minute you’re equally likely to hear a molly-sweat inducing trap clap or a tastefully pitched-up vocal soul sample.
Give this mix a ride, and I guarantee you’ll thank me at his 2/28 show with Spazzkid and Giraffage at the El Rey.
Tracklist:
Lindsay Olsen – Evection Resonance (Late Evening) Idea
COLDNIGHTS gone (ft. JavvyLuu)
starRo – Secret
Tailor McFerrin – Stepps
KRNE Jump On
Fwdslxsh – 4U
Full Crate – Cherrie Hats feat. Chris Turner
GEOTHEORY – On My Mind (LP Version)
starRo – Mister Magic
Grimes – Go (Muneshine X Khamsin Flip)
XO – Through The Night (feat. RobLaw)
BRAYTON BOWMAN – STEPHEN
The Internet – Dontcha
Slum Village – Players (starRo Edit)
J-Louis – Can’t You See
Full Crate – Hurt Your Back
KOA – All Of My Love
starRo – My Oh My (ft. Jesse Boykins III)
Blackbear – Playing Dead (SevnthWonder Remix)
IDEH – Do Smoething (Prod. Vbeats)
Krs. x Oshi Ft. Drake // Company
Jarell Perry – Eleven (feat. Chuck Inglish)
ELHAE – Wonder Woman (Lafayette Ellis Edit)
DISA – Marry You
