Selectors Podcast 023 - Dea Barandana

Dea Barandana is an artist we are thrilled to see make the step from his local scene towards the international circuit. Originally from Jakarta, where he started out mixing records for a local breakdance crew, he was eventually throwing warehouse parties before ending up one island further, on Bali, where he’s a familiar face at Potato Head Beach Club and Studio Eksotika. This mix he did for us lays out his talent for weaving together unfound rarities from then and now, connecting dots between different musical tropes of the Asian diaspora. The result is a meandering journey across forgotten recordstores and dusty crates, reminiscent of island life and the smell of kretek, to modern club music and back. Starting off like a warm breeze, the mix quickly gears up to grooving disco and bright Asian synthpop. Further down the 100-minute trip, the journey spirals from its effervescent moods down into darker, more spiritual affairs, with compelling percussion and sturdier basslines — just before locking down with laidback, dreamlike endnote to seal it off.