A product of Enfield, north London, Loraine James is one of electronic music’s more adventurous artists, lauded for effortlessly blending grime, jungle, and IDM with woozy ambiance and jazz. Nowhere is this more apparent than on For You And I, her debut album exploring the complexities of being in a queer relationship, released on Hyperdub.

The artwork for that album, a photo of James holding a photo of her estate from 10 years ago, serves as an indicator of how her sound pallete took shape. James found music through her mother, a teaching assistant who instilled in her a voracious musical curiosity that she satisfied by indulging in the multiculturalism of the British capital. This took her into jazz, electronica, drill, and grime, and later taught her the basic tools for digital production while studying at University of Westminster. She began to document her exposure on 2017’s Detail, a self-released collection of ambient tracks that pricked Hyperdub’s ears.

Where Detail was a exercise in applying her production skills, For You And I was more reflective. It’s rhythmically free-flowing and sprawling, produced with a jazz mentality. She followed it up with Nothing, a four-track exhibition in integrating diverse influences into cohesive and emotive pieces, and she celebrates it with an XLR8R podcast.

At one hour in length, James’ XLR8R mix is filled with her favorite tracks from lockdown, coming from close friends or discovered on Bandcamp. It’s fully improvised, and contrasts the delicate and abrasive as it rips through IDM and glitch from LSDXOXO, India Jordan, and Hence Therefore. It’s the latest demonstration of James’ unbridled creativity.

01. What have you been up to recently?

I’ve been making a lot of music and just chilling.

02. How has the lockdown period been for you?

It’s been pretty up and down for me; everyday is the same, you know.

03. It’s been a tough time for DJs such as yourself. What’s your feeling towards how the government has treated the arts?

It just seems that they don’t really care about the live music industry, which is confusing considering how much it brings to the economy.

04. What music have you been listening to?

A lot of old stuff that I used to listen to as a teenager, but this time has also allowed me to check out more new releases. I’ve listening to Headie One quite a bit.

05. Where and when did you record this mix?

I recorded it at home on Ableton as I can’t DJ!

06. What can we expect with it?

It’s pretty banger filled for the indoors!

07. How did you select the tracks that you’ve included?

Lots of the tracks are from friends, plus records I’ve found through Bandcamp.

Tracklisting

01. 8ULENTINA “BODY 1” (Self-Released)
02. Alexis “Refractions” (All Centre)
03. Seven Orbits “Ravevv101” (SVBKVLT)
04. Kingdom “Arch Slide” (feat. Uniiqu3 & Tre Oh Fie) (Self-Released)
05. Oli XL “Clumsy” (Bloom)
06. LSDXOXO “FENTANYL” (Self-Released)
07. Arca “Watch” ft. Shygirl (XL Recordings)
08. India Jordan “I’m Waiting (Just 4 U)” (Local Action)
09. Headie One x Fred again.. “Charades” (Relentless Recordings)
10. Kilig “Is It Time” (Self-Released)
11. hmurd “Yummy Axe” (Early Reflex)
12. Hence Therefore “Maladapt” (Early Reflex)
13. Martyn “Shook Up” (Self-Released)
14. Human Resources “Shaq (Stem Edit) (Pressure Dome)
15. Joe Craven “Dyeus” (Pressure Dome)

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast below.