‘Soukou jikan’ / transit time by DJ Susan
Becky Sui Zhen aka DJ Susan is a creative superpower. You may have heard her as one half of Melbourne duo Fox + Sui, fronting Sui et Sui or on vocals/percussion for NO ZU and Hot Palms. She also helps design the way we view culture with Art Processors (creators of MONA’s ‘O’), moonlights as a music video maker and is even big in Japan (every gaijin’s dream). Here’s Becky’s Japan-inspired transit mix.
Themed soukou jikan (transit time, journey time), this mix charts the highs and (mel)lows that accompany solitary travel. Becky originally crafted this mix while on a shinkansen from Kyoto to Yamaguchi, before finishing it off back in Australia driving from Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula. “I think it best suits the interior terrain looking from the inside out, when you let your thoughts drift along with the landscapes”.
DJ Susan or Sui Zhen is the nom de plume of musician and artist Becky Sui Zhen. Her recent EPs Female Basic and Body Reset showcase her own version of Japanese post-punk through a dreamy balaeric-bossa filter, evolving from the intricate bedroom-pop explored on her 2012 releases Midriffs and Two Seas into more minimal, mysterious terrain. Originally a Sydneysider, Becky Sui Zhen is now thoroughly embedded in the Melbourne music scene. Her next LP Secretly Susan will be released on Remote Control in 2015.
Ears #13: Soukou jikan mix by DJ Susan tracklisting
1 – Grape Iris – Citron
2 – Scha Dara Parr – N.I.C.E Guy (Guitar Dub)
3 – Benedek – Breeze
4 – T.C.P – The Dynamic Energy
5 – 坂本慎太郎 – 最後の仕事
6 – Härte 10 – Happy New Year
7 – Pizzicato Five – Gifted
8 – Yasuaki Shimizu – Tamare-Tamare
9 – Leona – Africa
10 – Bobby McFerrin – Kalimba Suite
11 – Mark Isham – Raffles in Rio
12 – Malcolm McLaren – Obatala
13 – Poison Girl Friend – Love Is…
DJ Susan: Sokoujikan / transit time mix for AP by Assemblepapers on Mixcloud
Original photo courtesy Becky Sui Zhen, taken at one of our favourite locations… Naoshima.