What with all the recent melodic freeform releases on TYFTH and the unusually upbeat Live 012, this excellent set by Lyricals~ is nicely timed. There’s plenty on the tracklist that wouldn’t typically get a mention here, but one of the set’s most impressive points is how it keeps a fine balance between the light and dark(er) with some consistently interesting mixing. Although it appears that Lyricals~ has only been mixing for a couple of years, this mix is an easy recommend for just about any Horser (and far, far more advanced than I was at a similar point).

On a first listen the opening really caught my ear, as Ziki_7’s Ultra Spark is teased in with some nice cuts away from Kokomochi’s Beryl. The eventual switch over is abrupt, but that’s where the teasing does its job, the repetition of those earlier cuts doing a good job to keep things sounding more consistent. It’s soon obvious why Ultra Spark was chosen, as the transition into Nirotiy’s 沉渊低语 (Whispers of Looming Shadows) is top class and one of the best in the whole set. It’s such a hard track to mix out of though (as I learned recently), making the less smooth switch into Abandoned Metropolis understandable. I’m imagining the idea here was to sacrifice a bit of smoothness to keep up a similar atmosphere, which it does well, before starting a wonderful sequence from here to Hommarju’s Zusammengehorigkeit remix. Extra credit should be given for the looping of Zusammengehorigkeit while mixing in over (deep breath…) Large-scale Cryogenic Gravitational Wave Telescope.

That fantastic sequence comes to an end at Origami Hearts, but only just and that’s because I’m being extra picky – it’s one of those transitions that is so close to lining up perfectly that it’s hard not to use it. In most sets this would be one of the highlight transitions, but it falls ever so slightly short of the level that Lyricals~ is obviously aiming for here. Still, top marks for creativity and a moment in the set I enjoyed a lot.

Meanwhile, Lucius into Sunray is as good as you’re going to hear anywhere this year, superbly navigating the chasm between melodic UK/Japanese-style freeform and Alek’s unique atmospheres. More looping extends the transition, and the cut into Sunray is perfectly timed. I still await the day when we see a freeform mix with transitions of this quality from start to finish, but the switch into Neptune is a very worthy follow-up. A complex, lengthy transition, it’s another very good example of how to amoothly shift the atmosphere of a set. The introduction of Back Heaven is really impressive too – sudden in some ways (it would work a treat in a club environment), there’s actually a lot going on here, and the return of Neptune’s melody is a lovely combination of mixing styles that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

From this point the selection leans more into melodic freeform, buiding to a pacy, uplifting finale. Hommarju’s excellent Fall of Icarus had me half-expecting that things would carry on that style for longer  (maybe with some ikaruga_nex, that kind of thing), but the switch into less filtery melodies is well-handled, especially from Calamity Drive into I.S.O.L.D.E. There’s a lovely touch of melancholy with Betwixt’s So Sweet Bitter Days, an extremely hard to mix track that I haven’t heard handled as well anywhere else. sustain stumbles in a little bit at the end, but I’d put that down to the brave use of So Sweet and the fact that it’s the last track – I’ve also been know to shoehorn in a transition at the end that isn’t as smooth as the others. It’s also a fine, uplifting climax that ends the set well, totally justifying its selection.

All of which is a lengthy way of saying that this set comes very highly recommended. While obviously not as dark as TYFTH’s In Praise of Shadows ideal, this set touches on some of those atmospheres in a new way, with some superb, considered mixing that’ll only get better as Lyricals~ becomes more experienced. Give it a try, I’ll be interested to hear what other Horsers make of this unusual, inspiring combination of new styles and some of our old favourites.

It’s no secret that I’ve been pushing for more carefully constructed freeform sets since the very early days – ten years(!) or so ago we had a fine crop of DJs who worked wonders with what was being released, but mixes of that quality have been pretty thin on the ground lately. Asukarai Matsuri to the rescue, then, with a set of older tracks that instantly belongs among the all-time greats.

Normally when I give a mix the spotlight around here I pick out a few highlight transitions, but the standard is so high for this one that it’s almost impossible to choose. Veterans will look at the tracklist and probably have something of an idea of what to expect – melancholy melodies with some pacy filters to keep the energy up – but I guarantee that some of the combinations will catch you by surprise. Old Proteus favourite El Orfanato used as a follow-up to Byrgius is one, The Last Breath into Geneva another.

It’s the overall atmosphere of the set that’s the biggest achievement for me though, as it finds and then explores the common ground between a pretty wide range of artists. From Nomic’s melancholy to Aryx’s uplifting sound, via Epyx and Cyrez or Substanced’s agressive synths, it really does make something new with these ingredients. Many freeform DJs (myself included) have struggled to handle that kind of variety in the past, but this is an almost perfect attempt. Deimos is the one track that doesn’t slot in as smoothly, but that’s a common problem when using Alek’s tracks and it’s back to business as usual with the excellent transition to Fairytale. The fine tradition of unpronounceable freeform track names continues here too, with Nirotiy’s impressive 沉渊低语 ending the set on a forward-looking note.

I can’t imagine I’ll be recommending many more sets as highly as this for the rest of year, so I urge you both to check it out and share it with any and all who might be interested