I am a producer and a culture geek – The New Yorker Khairi Mdnor builds an interesting combination of design and sports as he incorporates them in his business as well as in his private life. Having been a field hockey player in Singapore and still being part of Chinatown Soccer Club to this day, he founded the sport and culture platform RECESS in order to pursue his enthusiasm for these interests and translate the idea of sportsmanship to the creative community. Besides all this, he is married to a Belgian architect and is now a proud father of a 2-year-old, who seems to savour and suffer under the consequences of growing up in an exhausting home of languages that consists of English, Mandarin, Flemish, and Malay. After sipping the essential double espresso in the morning, Khairi gets through the day with rather well-balanced tunes, which is certainly not meant in the dull way. In addition to some cheerful electronic beats as a Moodyman Remix from José James’ Desire and smooth contemporary sounds such as the ones of Frank Ocean, one can definitely sense a blues influence. The reason why he had chosen for example a classic tune from Ewa Bem from the early seventies could have derived from his personal passion for this particular line of music, as he used to play the French horn for about 4 years. Khairi secretly falls for infinity pools – that sort of pool one would probably want to jump into with this very mixtape in the background. The photography cover is by Folkert Gorter.
Tracklist:
1. Jazzanova – Just a Lil’ Lovin’ (Just a Lil’ Outro)
2. Sondre Lerche – Dan and Marie Picking Hum
3. Frank Ocean – Crack Rock
4. Fink – Pretty Little Thing (KCRW session)
5. Ewa Bem – Groovin’ High
6. Sun Ra – Sometimes I’m Happy
7. Rocket Juice & The Moon – Chop Up (feat. M.anifest & M3nsa)
8. Brentford All-Stars – Greedy G
9. Lyman Woodward Organization – Creative Musicians
10. Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band – Caught In The Moment
11. Alex Agore – Without Cha
12. Jose James – Desire (Moodymann remix)
13. 6th Borough Project – Changin’