Nicole Raymond aka NikNak is one of a number of contemporary sound artists – Shiva Feshareki, Mariam Rezaei and Maria Chavez among them – who create works using turntables as their instrument. As John Morrison says in his double review of NikNak's two most recent releases in The Wire 464, Raymond’s output is “the opposite of the fast-paced, bombastic albums that turntablism as a genre often produces”, and instead uses the decks to build and cut through more ambient and atmospheric downtempo soundscapes.

Recorded live during her set at March 2022’s Deliaphonic festival in the UK Midlands city of Coventry, her self-released album Chasing Solitude deploys those techniques to create a narrative around a desire for solitude, manipulating sounds from space missions, samples of patois phrases, field recordings and heavy bass lines.

This minimix by NikNak features “Morse Paralysis” from Chasing Solitude, as well as other tracks by artists “ranging from good pals to inspirational beings”, selected for their similar meditative quality.

Tracklist

Loula Yorke “Silverweed”

Iu Takahashi “Forest And Thought”

Pharoah Sanders “Astral Travelling”

Loraine James “Building Something Beautiful For Me (Holy Presence Of Joan d'Arc)”

NikNak “Morse Paralysis”

Jake Mehew “Rainfall (Ongaku Remix)”

Read John Morrison's double review in full in The Wire 464. Wire subscribers can also read the magazine online via the digital library.