“I think I’m one of those people that is always trying to make sure that dancefloor is having a good time without being too dictated by it” he says of his DJing mentality. “Initially for my Balance mix, I really wanted to do a clubby mix. A lot of people will know me only from my productions which I don’t really tend to play in the clubs as I tend to play a lot more ‘up’, so I wanted to do something that represented what I do on the weekends. I did the first version and we started to get the records cleared, but in the mean time a good friend of mine passed away suddenly and although I hadn’t seen him for a while, it really affected me. I didn’t think it was right to put out such an upbeat mix when such an awful thing had happened so I went back to the mix and just did another one and this is how it turned out.” – jozif
jozif has turned in a mix that blends the classic and the contemporary in exquisite fashion. He wears his emotive heart on his sleeve from the very first second of this masterful mix, the sorrowful strains of Charles Webster’s Butterfly, immediately piercing deep into the subconscious with its spine-tingling, bit-crushed melodies, lush ambient textures and heady vocals. From this Balearic slumber, he quickly adjusts the tempo to accommodate the slo-mo house chug of the late, great Martin Dawson’s sublime Glimpse collaboration Our Friends Electric, drenched in yearning pad chords and Depeche Mode undertones. Burnin’ Tears’ Got A Reason continues this blissed-out theme, harking back to the golden era of progressive house epitomized in Sasha & John Digweed’s seminal Northern Exposure mix.
Our selector draws us towards organic sounds on Lake Powell’s More Or Less, with softly muted piano motifs and rough organ chords woven deep below snappy beats to mesmerizing effect, before some subtle space funk is drawn into the fold via Yoko0’s deep Blinded. The mix reaches one of its stunning peaks with the heartstring-tugging beauty of Steffi’s Sadness, neo-soul refracted through the early morning beams of light that fire through Panorama bar’s shutters. From the depths rise bolder hooks, the melodic bass line and hazy chords of Silicone Soul’s One Thing paving the way and teeing up the sweeping strings and soaring vocals of How I Feel as the energy begins to swell.
Just as the beats threaten to keep rolling, jozif reins the percussive elements in and brings the focus back to hooks and melodies through Ian Pooley’s pulsating, synth-laden moment of euphoria Compurhythm. The burgeoning riffs then give way to the garagey vocal treatments and sumptuous depths of Sam Wallace’s shimmering Echelon. As we move towards the mix’s conclusion, jozif flexes his production muscle with two slices of musical sophistication that grip, beguile, progress and evolve in a microcosmic reflection of the mix as an entirety: the low-slung bass and delicate melodics of BT’s 3, and the scintillating string arrangements of BT’s 5. Both tracks put his love of cinematics at the fore, rousing us towards an epic finale. The hypnotic warmth of Rob Shields’ Slum Room rounds off in demure style, 808 bass throbs punctuating dramatic vocal snippets and distant, heavily effected guitar strums creating a pensive, reflective mood to lay the mix down to rest.
“We are very excited to invite jozif to be part of the Balance family of selectors” says Balance’s Tom Pandzic, “and we believe he is the perfect choice to launch the new Balance presents compilation series, which will focus on the next generation of DJ/producers that are flying the flag for quality electronic music, and moving the scene forward.”
jozif is one of the most exciting new names to come out of the underground in recent years. Born to a professional drummer and a Royal Ballet ballerina, art and musicality has long influenced his life and is easily audible in his DJing and production. jozif’s melodic, dark, and sensual take on deep house and downtempo music show a dedicated attention to grooves, harmony, and musicality. The intelligence behind his productions is clearly audible.
jozif cofounded the label Fist or Finger with Craig Richards, a limited edition, vinyl-only, experimental imprint dedicated to their vision of electronic music, while also releasing on renowned labels like Anjunadeep, Crosstown Rebels, Culprit, Wolf + Lamb and more. He has released a Resident Advisor podcast created entirely from his own productions and edits, and he has remixed or reworked a host of the undergrounds elite: Art Department, Damian Lazarus, Death on the Balcony, Dusky, Rui Da Silva, Sasha, Shonky, Steve Lawler and Subb-an.
Balance Presents jozif will be available in North America on March 5.
North American tour dates to be announced soon, check Facebook.com/jozifmusic for updates
International Release Dates
Australia: February 22
UK/Europe: February 25
North America: March 5
‘Balance Presents jozif’ Tracklist
01. Charles Webster – Butterfly
02. Glimpse & Martin Dawson – Our Friends Electric
03. Burnin’ Tears – Got a Reason
04. Lake Powell – More or Less
05. Yoko0 – blinded – Yoko0′s walking To The Light edit
06. Steffi – Sadness (Vinyl Version)
07. Silicone Soul – One Thing
08. Burnin’ Tears – How I Feel
09. Ian Pooley – Compurhythm
10. Sam Wallace – Echelon
11. jozif – BT’s 3
12. jozif – BT’s 5
13. Rob Shields – Slum Room
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