Our fourth instalment of the Snare series comes from the Frankfurt based musician, sound student and label owner Benedikt Frey. Otherwise known under the pseudonyms Suedmilch, Venedikt Reyf or as part of the V-to-the-D duo with good friend and Dj David Georgos, the young German clearly has a few strings to his bow musically, which he demonstrates in exemplary fashion for us in this session.

To begin with, there is no tracklist. An approach not unfamiliar with dedicated vinyl enthusiasts in order to closely guard their hand picked track selection and often leaves an air of mysticism and wander over the music heard in a mix. However once this piece is listened to properly, (and advisably more than once), the decision to withhold the identities of the individual elements become far clearer. This is a mix designed to work as a whole, one musical journey, and is executed in expert fashion.

Frey opens with a droning, otherworldly and industrial heartbeat-like tip; hypnotic and demonic simultaneously. He then slowly kills this through an interesting and well placed use of German film-like sample from which your suddenly propelled into a stomping electro build that throbs with emotion and drive throughout; perfect building blocks for the first half for what’s about to follow. The mix ebbs and flows from the darkened beginnings into an epic and eclectic mixture of saw bass lines and synth driven cosmic house & electro. It feels like some form of epic inter-galactic adventure at points, which is balanced by the dark and more sinister moods he uses in other places. Then bang on the half an hour mark, the mood is dragged down even further into a creepy, subterranean pit of alien whirring drone techno; an interlude that lasts for the best part of 10 minutes before being reborn on the other side in the form of a more solid four to the floor techno number. Again the craftsmanship and sheer eclecticism in his tastes allow Frey to rebuild from the underworld he mixed into, back out into a flow of solid dance floor tracks, dropping in some excellence from the likes of Chris Gray and the ever-enigmatic Redshape; one or two you may recognise among the many gems in this mix.

With an impressive and growing string of releases already attached to Frey’s solo output on labels such as Mule Electronique, Arma, Ethereal Sound alongside none other than Vakula and Fred P, plus his upcoming Running in Circles EP on Live At Robert Johnson in November, as well as output on his own label; it’s apparent the guy is creating quite a stir among the heads in the know. His careful selection, dedication, varied musical influence and creative output is inspiring; for which he is being rewarded accordingly. We’re grateful to have this mix to share, and feel it’s a perfect compliment to the series.