Around 2019 in 12 Weeks: Mix by Incentive

The synths transfigure their composer’s thought-dreams, one of which has something to do with gamma rays melting corrupt politicians down to scorched collagen. When all the serrated dissonance gives way to a reverberative harpsichord, the planet begins to rejuvenate. And that’s just the first song.

Osborne creates maximally layered electronic music using VST and MIDI controllers, a virtual analog synthesizer, and homemade field recordings (including appearances by a faucet and a 1980’s-model Schwinn exercise bike). His latest full-length record as Incentive, titled Happiness, is 55 minutes of gorgeously gnarled compositions that fall somewhere between industrial music and IDM, a genre crag Osborne terms “post-industrial.” – The Devil Strip

Pittsburgh (and formerly Ohio) based producer James Osborne (aka Incentive) is a man of many skills – not only does he writes intense and ominous electronic music as Incentive (and plays in a few bands as well), but he also runs his own label Circle with a Dot (with DystopiaQ being his first/former one). Somehow with all that busyness he’s also been delivering guest mixes to IHN throughout years- lets recap those, shall we?

Mix 1 – featuring Merzbow, Cluster, Kelly Moran, Ryuichi Sakamoto

Mix 2 – featuring Moor Mother, Room of Wires, Neu!, Interbella, Cruel Diagonals

Mix 3 – featuring Siavash Amini, Taxxess, Pharmakon, Perrera Elsewhere

In other words – the man knows his ambient/drone/whatchamacallit and that’s why we’re happy to welcome his collection of favorites from 2019. Fire away, Mr. Incentive!

and don’t forget to check out Happiness by Incentive – out now on Wormhole World / Submarine Broadcast Co. 

Tracklist

Amon Tobin – Velvet Owl (from Fear in a Handful of Dust)

Anne Müller – Drifting Circles (from Heliopause)

Sarah Davachi – Perfumes II (from Pale Bloom)

Hildur Guðnadóttir – Bridge of Death (from “Chernobyl” TV Series Soundtrack)

Cruel Diagonals – Embrasure (from Pulse Of Indignation)

Whettman Chelmets – I Still Miss You When Thanksgiving Comes (from Long Read Memories)

Lingua Ignota – Day Of Tears And Mourning (from Caligula)

Pharmakon – Self-Regulating System (from Devour)

Ilkae – Extra Stairs (from Format Format)

Creeps – Creep5 (from One)

Nancy Drone – Ingenuine By Proxy (from Displacement)

Sevish – Unreality (from Horixens)

Proswell – Dry Gain III (from GAIN)

Evil Robot Ted – Boxcuttr (from Will It Kill Us)

Lighght – Croosh (from Gore​-​Tex In The Club, Balenciaga Amongst The Shrubs)

Mukqs – Opposition to Questioning (from Any%)

Telefon Tel Aviv – a younger version of myself, (from Dreams Are Not Enough)

Floating Points – Sea-Watch (from Crush)

Little Simz – Boss (from Grey Area)

Siavash Amini – Semblance (from Serus)

Yeruselem – Autoimmunity (from The Sublime)

Zonal – System Error (feat. Moor Mother) (from Wrecked)

Moor Mother – Private Silence (feat. The Lost Cauze) (from Analog Fluids Of Sonic Black Holes)

Boobs of Doom – S//A\\D (from Skeleton Jazz Wizard)

Perera Elsewhere – Sunk in Motion feat. Dis Fig (from Thrill EP)

Pale Spring – Belongings (from Cygnus)

somesurprises – Late July (from Serious Dreams)

Taylor Campbell – One Last Letter (from Sing To Me, Let Me Hear Your Agony)

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Further Reading

Guest Mix by Siavash Amini / Matt Finney

Review of Caligula by Lingua Ignota (via Grant Hobson)

Review of Happiness (via Mike Stanton)

Post-Industrial Project Incentive Releases New Album “Happiness” (via Brutal Resonance)

Review of Happiness (via Bucket List)

INCENTIVE Releases New Album ‘Happiness’ (via Underground Press)

Listen to This! Electro/Industrial Incentive streams new album Happiness (via Louder Than War)