Dummy Mix 564 // Sonia Calico

Blending Chinese film soundtracks into Eric Prydz remixes, the Taiwan-based DJ's mix is as diverse as her own mind-bending productions

Born and raised in Taiwan, DJ/producer/promoter Sonia Calico is one of the main faces of Taipei’s blossoming underground music scene. As well as playing music and running nights in her hometown and beyond, she also runs the label UnderU, which releases a compilation ‘UnderU Presents Pantry’ this Friday, sweeping together eleven independent Taiwanese and Hong Kong artists.

Calico’s own sonics eye global club sounds from Jersey club to juke to breaks, but fashioning them into something utterly unique. Her most recent outing was ‘後宮亂鬥’ (‘Hougong Crash’) which arrived along with a self-directed video modelled on Chinese imperial harem soap operas blended with the ballroom culture that’s burgeoning in her corner of the world.

Opening with snippets of people talking about the proposed Hong Kong extradition bill, Calico’s Dummy Mix is as varied as her own unconstrained tastes. “This mix is like a complicated dream which I often have, switching between different scenarios,” Calico told us about her mix. “Some of them are related to what happens in my daily life, some are extension of the things I saw on news or movies, some just pure fantasy, out of nowhere… There’s no one certain genre of it – after I gathered the tracks, I realised the whole mix should be arranged like it’s telling a story in a chaotic way.

“I also did quite a few little interludes into the mix by myself, which was very fun. And I’m happy to have this chance to do a mix like this, very different from my usual club-oriented mix – but this mix is still pretty dance-able I think! Finally, shout out to all the friends who sent their new/unreleased tracks.”

Tracklist:
anti-extradition bill intro + Laylow & Wit. – Action Men (SHALT Edit)
Ahadadream – ROSALÍA DRUM DUB
Sonia Calico – Iridescent Vision
Kapsule boyz – Newlandz bang
趙季平 – 牡丹丹亭 taken from Farewell My Concubine OST
Club Kelly – Don’t Call Me
Isomov – Memory L∞ps
Raito – Summer of Love (Rave Mix)
hmurd – Clip That (Alec Pace Remix)
Howie Lee – Double King 双王
9m88 – Love Rain (Sonia Calico’s Love Drought Remix)
MM – HFL Track
Guzz – 走不出的梦境 Walking in a Boundless Dream
陳奕迅 – 愛是懷疑 (Y theory Remix)
Howie Lee – 21th Century Suicide ⼆二⼗十⼀一世纪⾃自杀
machine lady talking interlude
Sonia Calico – Rivulet Ballad feat. jami brwn
李宗盛 – 不懂
Gabber Modus Operandi – Padang Galaxxx
Szu Hsien – 21
Shushu & Swimful – Coast Off
HNGIN – 무저갱 (Moozer Gang)
W. Y. Huang – 临 {19} (Becoming Great)
Ao Wu – Unstable Sight
趙季平 – 冬夜 + Sonia’s siren outro

Listen to the mix on Soundcloud.

Follow Dummy’s curated playlists on Spotify: Next Hype: The Best New Music, Brand New, Electronics, Rap Drill & Grime and Bedroom Pop.