Longest Night // Solstice Ceremony (#44) Mixtape

ciénaga is a DJ based between Seattle, WA and Elko, NV. Coming from a background in performance, he wields music as a tool to invoke the theatre of the mind. For his REDEFINE mixtape, he does just that. Using a combination of pitched down trance bangers, bass-laden tech house, and obtuse ambient thumpers, he carves pulpous textures and evokes the spirited play of shadows in the mind’s eye. This mix is designed to be listened to on a long walk or while lying down in bed with your eyes pinched shut where you’re free to imagine the convulsing vibration of your limbs on the dance floor. Not dissimilar to Denis Lavant in the closing scene of Claire Denis’ “Beau Travail,” the mix becomes a meditation on the incongruent bedfellows of bliss and frustration bubbling beneath your eyelids and pores in a twisted dance that gestures the close of one chapter and the start of another.

This mixtape was curated and commissioned for Longest Night: Solstice Ceremony 2020, on December 21, 2020. On this evening, Northwest Film Forum, Holocene (Portland), REDEFINE magazine, Crash Symbols Records & Seattle Documentary Association join forces to present five virtual rooms filled with music, movement, films, and meditation. Featuring five different Zoom breakout rooms of entertainment throughout the evening, each with different thematic curation. Viewers are invited to explore the different rooms at their leisure and see what resonates. See more details at bit.ly/nwlongestnight2020

TRACKLISTING

  • han drabur – “In” – delta states – Map Music
  • Oliver Vessey – “Open Light” – Step Into Dubizm (part 1) – Law & Auder
  • Aksak Maboul – “Chanter Est Sain” – Onze danses pour combattre la migraine – Crammed Discs
  • DinahBird – “Sound Obsession” – Female of the Species Vol. 2 – Law & Auder
  • TENTENKO – “Parade” – とおくのパレード – TENTEN RECORDS
  • Persuasion – “Nightingale” – Pure Delusion – idioms
  • Syzygy – “Namaste” – East Westercism – Law & Auder
  • Toma Kami – “Dali Bear” – Dali Bear – Man Band
  • Varoshi Fame – “Voice of Command (Chekov Re-Edit)” – Lena Willikens Selectors 005 – Dekmantel
  • BFTT – “Wrench” – Mauldeth – All Centre
  • Koxbox – “Insect” – Insect/Insect Bite – Harthouse
  • Empirion – “Narcotic Influence 1” – Narcotic Influence – Wanted Records
  • MC2 w/. Erra – “Neptunian Bliss MC2 Bonus Mix” – Neptunian Bliss Mixes – Map Music
  • Wrangler – “Sequence On” – Modularism 1 Music from Somewhere on the Spectrum – Law & Auder
  • Franz Kirmann – “Expo” – First Broadcast – Bytes
  • Fraunhofer Diffraction – “Kvrt in Space” – Scattering – self-released
  • DJ P – “Things Can Only Get Worse” – Pbat – All Centre
  • Flørist – “B2 Untitled 2” – Intermedia 1 EP – Sunburst Baroque
  • 5ive – “Entropy” – Planet Be – Thinner Groove
  • Syclops – “Naoka’s F” – I’ve Got My Eye On You – Death From Above
  • Inigo Vontier & Drugface – “Awaken” – El Hijo Del Maiz – Lumière Noire

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Written by
Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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