For the third in our Nothing new series we hand over to the best three-sided shape in the music  industry.. no? Ahhhh, come on!

Robin from Tri-Angle is the guy responsible for bringing you How To Dress Well, oOoOO, Stalker and the soon to be released Holy Other record. So yeah, he knows good music, especially good weird music. Which is something we really appreciate. Here’s his two cents on what the mix is about.

“Knowing what the theme of this mix was, I didn’t try to come up with anything too conceptual and decided to make a mix of songs I remember obsessing over when I was in my mid teens (circa 2001 – 2002), which may not seem like a long time ago to some, but definitely does to me.

“It was when I was in my mid teens that I truly began to develop the music taste I have now, that being a blend of mainstream, commercial R&B, pop, etc and more underground, usually electronic sounds. My two big obsessions at the time were Top 40 chart music and output by labels like Rephlex and Warp, and I can vividly remember fantasising about collaborations between U-Ziq and Sugababes, or Kylie Minogue and Boards of Canada, which sadly never came to pass, but I still live in hope. I’ve said it before in interviews, but I never quite grasped the concept of having to choose between being a ‘pop’ fan and a ‘leftfield’ fan, simply because, in my mind, they usually seemed to be one and the same thing. I was never embarrassed about anything I liked, and i’m still not, hence why there’s an (amazing) Naomi Campbell song on this mix.At one point there was going to be a beautifully downbeat Billie Piper song on the mix called ‘Misfocusing’, but it didn’t fit the tone of the overall mix.

“Anyway, this mix feels like a suitable representation of that ethos, an ethos which has definitely informed how I run Tri Angle and I hope you enjoy it.”

TRACKLISTING

Fierce – Days Like That

A UK r&b girl group one hit wonder that nobody seems to remember these days, although i’m not even sure many people paid much attention to them at the time. It’s always been one of my favorite songs ever and puts an instant smile on my face. There’s something really dreamy and melancholic about the production.

Weird fact: Forest Swords and myself have recently been geeking out over this track ALOT, so at least I know I have one person in my corner when it comes to Fierce.

Bjork – Enjoy (Further Over the Edge Remix)

Bjork was my first love. I remember being in the cub scouts and being a total loner who refused to interact with anyone or anything. When we’d have to go on camping trips, I would spend my days wandering off into the woods alone with nothing but Bjork on my discman. I think those experiences moulded me in some way. Anyway, telegram, the remix record that accompanied post and featured this track was important in introducing me to electronic genres i’d never encountered before. I remember thinking i’d never heard anything as noisy as this the first time I heard it.

3rd Core – Mindless & Broken (MJ Cole Remix)

When i’d be living in the states, to remind myself of my British side, I’d always have those pure garage comps to hand. This song was one of my favorites, mostly because MJ Cole’s productions / remixes always possessed a certain alien elegance I really responded to, and because as a trained violinist I loved hearing string sections crop up in pop / dance records. The strings in this song are particularly epic and beautiful.

Plaid – Extork feat Nicolette

Why Nicolette isn’t a star, I don’t know. I was fascinated by her weird voice, and like telegram by bjork, her record ‘let no one live rent free in your head’ was an education in varying electronic genres. she introduced me to alec empire!

Total – What the Dealio feat Missy Elliot and Timbaland

I don’t know if this was big in the uk, but I remember hearing this in the States a lot. I think it accompanied some crappy movie, which would make sense cause around the late 90s / early 00s alot of groundbreaking r&b tunes seemed to accompany the lamest films possible (Aaliyah = Dr Doolittle?). Total should have been massive, and this is hands down one of Timbaland’s best, most underrated moments.

The KLF – Transcentral Lost in my Mind

I love The KLF, even if I never really got what they were up to. If i’m being honest, I chose this track as a nice segue into the next track.

Kylie Minogue – Where is the Feeling

I still love kylie minogue, but she was probably at her most interesting in the mid 90s when she started really experimenting with her sound. this is possibly the weirdest, most mysterious single she’s ever released. With it’s underwater house vibes and the odd combination of vocal lines that sound both detached and fully passionate competing with one another, this song makes me think; amyl perfume.

B12 – Static Emotion

Again, i’ve used this mostly as a segue, but I loved B12. Listening to this takes me back to the days when i’d be in london and would hit berwick street to stock up on everything I could find in their Rephlex / Warp / electronic section.

Naomi Campbell – Love & Tears

Forget that it’s Naomi Campbell, because this is an amazing song, wrapped up in faux eastern mysticism I kinda love. I like the way the song opens because it put me in mind of seeing an elephant circus on the horizon, naomi riding atop, ‘holier than thou’. Those kinds of ridiculous images are kind of what pop should be about. Also, I think she can genuinely sing, not that that sort of thing ever really bothered me.

Leila – I Wont Forget

Leila, like Bjork, was a childhood crush of mine. I wrote her a letter when I was 12 telling her how much I loved her and how she made me want to get into music. I remember reading somewhere that was she’s a recluse and I could definitely identify with that at the time, so I think it helped me forge a really strong connection with her music. She probably never saw the letter, but it doesn’t matter. This song is one of the most perfect songs i’ve ever heard. Weirdly r&b sounding, building up to the most extreme, intense explosion of noise. One of my 10 songs for life.

Mystic – Ghetto Birds

I don’t think mystic had a hit. She was a really obscure rapper from NYC (I think), and I remember picking the album up in Kims on St Marks Place as an impulse buy. I’m glad I did, because it became one of my favorite hip hop records ever. Pretty dark and spooked in places. It should have been bigger and it makes me sad to think what should have been for mystic.

Polygon Window – Quino-Phec

In my diary as a 13 year old, i covered a whole page with the words ‘APHEX TWIN IS GOD’. says it all really.