Agharo

Agharo 04 – Mr Lighthouse

The Agharo Mix Series

Fourth in the series comes Arno Bouma aka Mr Lighthouse (@arnobouma)

The Card – 55 Orinkael Star

Deception, Anger, Envy, Malice, Hostility

In the Warrior stars is found mostly ambition and permanence on the realms of the dark. Obscure instinct ruling the dweller. The dark stand towards the world rules the spirit and it’s perception.

What was the thinking behind this mix?

This card was a challenge for me, because when playing music I normally prefer to spread a more positive message. I don’t like anger in music, but a bit of darkness can be really nice. That’s why I chose for more dark, gloomy, somewhat unsettling approach with spacy, atmospheric and melancholic elements. With this idea in mind I went through my record shelves, started picking out records that fitted this mood, and followed my usual approach to start somewhere and see where the music and the energy take you.

The mix opens with a spoken word about the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. Here I made a very old-fashioned loop by sticking tape on the vinyl. When you put it on exactly the right spot, the needle will jump back one groove and repeats the same part. Musically it begins with a few electro tracks to set the mood. From electro it goes to acid house to build up the tension. Acid has this unsettling, alien sound, which fitted the mood for me. Then it got a bit intense so I opened up with lighter, melancholic Italo disco. From here it goes into more recent tribal, synth-based house to keep up a more neutral pace. After a while it was time for change, so another opening with one of my favorite songs by New Order, and continuing from here with 80’s wave (the perfect combination of dark, but somehow uplifting). To close the mix I went back to electro, finishing with the more atmospheric mood. It ends with another (religious) acapella sample of a quote by Pope John Paul II. He is actually going against the card, trying to convince the listener to take a different path.