Uffe Christensen has been on XLR8R‘s radar ever since he released his debut album on Tartelet Records back in 2015. And now the quirky Danish producer has returned with his third album, Words and Endings, comprising 12 jazzy house cuts for late night listening. Landing on London label On the Corner, the record stems from an emotionally charged two-year period during which Christensen found himself struggling with his artistic direction. One day he prepared some material that he anticipated would mark the end of the Uffe project and shared the album on Bandcamp, calling it Slut, which in Danish means the end. Words and Endings originates from these tracks, after label boss Pete Buckenham convinced Christensen to reapproach some of the off-kilter leftovers and half-finished sketches with an open mind. Pushing beyond his internal sonic boundaries, Christensen wandered through the sonic worlds of post-punk, dub, and UK bass to deliver an entirely new album, and his most “conceptually complete” effort to date.

A product of Odense, the third largest city in Denmark, Christensen began making music when he was 10 years old. He resisted going to his piano lessons because he preferred experimenting with samples and music-making apps on his father’s computer. By the time he was in his late teens, he’d progressed to programs like Reason and Logic and was making tracks as often as his graphic design studies would allow him. When he moved to Copenhagen at the age of 18, he became a part of the city’s IDM scene and released an album of hip-hop-inspired tracks as Nabo.

But Christensen felt this project didn’t really represent his artistic vision: instead of conforming to the dominant modes in dance music, he wanted to follow his intuition into unexpected rhythmic and tonal combinations. After a short break from making music, he began recording as Uffe (pronounced oofa) in 2011 while living in Berlin, Germany. Inspired by Four Tet’s interpretation of house music, Christensen hoped to create club-ready music with an organic feel. His debut EP, Colors Outside, arrived in 2012, shortly before he signed to Tartelet. He’s since released two albums on the mighty Copenhagen label.

Recorded earlier this month, Christensen’s XLR8R podcast is a freaky collage of tones and tempos that encapsulates his borderless approach to music-making. Its hazy first hour is centred upon post-punk and improvised jazz, but somewhere around the midway point it picks up a house beats and moves into club-ready productions. Besides his own music, there are cuts from Bauhaus, Mosca, and African Head Charge, but there’s also many we haven’t heard before. Expect a wild ride through one of contemporary electronic music’s more original minds.

01. What have you been up to recently? 

I’ve just finished a pretty intense week in Aalborg, Denmark at a festival for visual art. They invited 20 applicants to spend a week to put up a festival. From writers to film makers. It was stressful but great.

02. What have you been listening to? 

Unfortunately, myself. When I’m working mode I try not to listen to music because I have a tendency to copy when I get excited.

03. Where and when did you record this mix?

Just recently at home. I have my listening setup in my living room because somehow I listen better when music is a soundtrack for boring stuff like doing the dishes. I have a sampler plugged in at all times so if I hear something I want to sample I can just hop over and record it.

04. What can we expect?

Hopefully a well-curated collection of music. You tell me!

05. What setup did you use?

Two Technics 1210s, an old DMC mixer, and my bad mixing skills. There’s an mp3 here or there too.
It’s a very puzzle-piece-ish process. I wanted to do a live recording but my friend Ruben (a.k.a RDG) said you have to do a two-hour mix for listening.

06. How did you go about choosing the tracks that you’ve included?

Using my ears.

06. What’s next on your horizon? 

Too much. Going to work on Julie Pavon’s full length. Hopefully some gigs during autumn.
I’ve got other things going that would be nice to focus on and potentially finish. The obligatory writing for funding. Washing all the windows. Learning how to make pasta. 

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel to listen offline, 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. If you’re not an XLR8R+ member, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Uffe “Intro” (Universal Music)
02. Shatter Hands “Zealot Session #15” (Unreleased)
03. Don Cherry “Bass Figure For Ballatune” (Sonet)
04. New Age Steppers “Crazy Dreams And High Ideals” (On-U Sound)
05. Denseland “Alchemy” (Arbitrary)
06. Llwybr Llaethog “Malu Cachu” (Ankstmusik)
07. Bauhaus “Departure” (Beggars Banquet)
08. Linton Kwesi Johnson “Shocking Dub” (Island Records)
09. The Heptones “Drifting Dub Plate” (Trench Town)
10. U-Roy “Resevoir” (Epic Records)
11. Jah Bobby “Marry Me” (Technique)
11. Jah Shaka “Judgement Dub” (Jah Shaka Music)
13. African Head Charge “Latin Temperament” (On-U Sound)
14. Osunlade “Nebula” (Yoruba Records)
15. Julie Pavon “Jealous” (Uffe Dub) (Unreleased)
16. Mosca “Peyote Stitch” (Livity Sound)
17. SW.SWN “Side A” (SUED)
18. Mental Overdrive “Diskodans(Dr. Sennep’s Hevn)” (Smalltown Supersound)
19. No Knox “Danserne” (Bondeskiver)
20. Perry Henry “Rock Electronique” (Limelight)
21. Karin Krog & Friends “Maiden Voyage—Lazy Afternoon” (Sonet)
22. Charlie Haden & Alice Coltrane “For Turiya” (Horizon)