Dummy Mix 83 // Expensive Looks

There’s no doubt that 20-year-old Alec Feld is a dude on the way up. The New York based producer has been meshing psych, acid and garage sounds into his own thing as Expensive Looks for a wee while now. His sound is marked by euphoria and ethereal jams, from his original output to his growing list of remixes. He recently released his latest 7” single, Vanishers/Simon on the New York label Group Tightener, and he has a full length album coming in November with them as well. Have a peek into his shimmery world of rad by downloading this mix that he recently made us and start smiling now.

How’s it going?

Weird. I’ve been in New York all summer and it is hot as fuck. Feels like a ghost town. I just finished my LP around a month ago and it’s slowly sinking in that there’s more to do. Been doing a lot more instrumental work which is a nice change/new approach. That’s going really well and should appear somewhere soon. Jamming and playing in the heat. Hiking around. Losing pints of water weight. It doesn’t get better than that.

Can you please tell us about the mix?

I did this as a live DJ set one afternoon. I don’t get around to doing mixes often now, so this was kind of a throwback- it’s probably what I’d mix down if I were DJing for a crowd. It builds, but not too quickly. I’ve always loved nu-disco and grew up on Chicago house, so this mix is full of it. It’s pretty upbeat/euphoric and includes a few favorite, body amplifying remixes (for me, at least) and a bunch of jams. I let a lot of the tracks play out because they’re so damn good. There’s no cutting D-Train. Bell’s New Bridge stands as a staple opener – it’s one of those songs that grows and grows and has always grabbed my attention. I’m not sure if she’s still doing work, but she fucking should. The girl has a wild ear.

Favourite place to escape the NYC heat?

An escape would be rad! I tend to head up to Massachusetts to visit friends and hike in the woods. Real breezy, always stoked, it’s some zen shit. Either that, or I sit in front of my A/C and listen to the sick music it churns out.

Your music is quite euphoric. Tell me a few things that make you euphoric …

Solitude in open spaces, putting together shows with close friends, drugs, free drugs, books about the universe, surreal situations, absolute nonsense. Old disco records, digging through psych/garage comps, a sick burger.

What’s coming up for you in the next few months?

Prepping the LP release, a couple of videos, working on LP2, shows, shows and shows. Working on a collaboration, throwing together a handful of remixes, doing live visual development and building some new hardware for stage use. Lots of strobes, projections, new jams, and sweet live cuts. Staying in New York for now, it’s gonna be fun times for sure. Stoked!

Group Tightener will release Expensive Looks’ LP ‘Dark Matters’ in November 2011