BBC Radio One Essential Mix

Beginning with Angelo Badalamenti describing the creative pinprick that produced the gloriously macabre Twin Peaks theme, Nicolas Jaar pulls no punches on his dancefloor-averse Essential Mix for Radio 1. The Ivy League student behind last year’s massively acclaimed ‘Space Is Only Noise’ LP draws on a dizzyingly broad variety of music, from a snippet of Jay-Z to Jonny Greenwood’s soundtrack for There Will Be Blood.

Also featured are composer Shigeru Umebayasi (the man behind the music to Hong Kong love film In The Mood For Love), Smog’s Bill Callahan and nearly 10 minutes of plaintive solo piano from Keith Jarrett – a brave choice for weekend peak time, surely. Elsewhere you can hear a few selections from Jaar’s Clown & Sunset label, like the mysterious Nikita Quasim and Pavla + Noura, and burst of N*SYNC.
Jaar's ingenuity is on full display on his Essential Mix. His knack for electronic music that moves your mind more than your soles, and his appreciation for and manipulation of silence have never been so evident. According to Jaar, “I’ve watched Jurassic Park twice in my life – once when I was six and the second time a couple of weeks ago. It inspired me to think about how gaps in time change our way of perceiving.” That might explain why he threw in an *NSYNC song in there. Also, big ups to Nico for using our #1 song of 2011, Beyoncé's "1+1."