Los Angeles-based DJ/producer SOHMI gears up for her forthcoming Recital EP with some expressive track selections for Beatport’s Playlist of the Week.
Thank you Beatportal for having me curate this week’s Playlist of the Week! My name is SOHMI, and this playlist I’ve put together is the best representation of my current sound as a DJ and artist. I love emotional dance music, soulful vocals, deep basslines, and hypnotic grooves. Altogether, my sets — which feature tracks like the ones selected here — are meant to create safe spaces for your feelings and to move both the body and the soul.
SOHMI – Missin U [Thrive / Permission]
The latest single from my forthcoming four-track EP, Recital (out everywhere April 7th 2023). I love the tribal drums paired with fragments of melodic-leaning elements as well as chopped-up samples of an actual voice message I left on someone’s phone. I’m always trying to find fresh ways to combine different elements of underground dance music with ideas or themes that also somehow feel like they come from or are inspired by pop.
SOHMI – Somebody [Thrive / Permission]
This was the first single from Recital and showcases my take on a vocal, melodic dance track. As more fans have started to hear and recognize it, the reactions have also started to get bigger when I play this in my sets and it’s always a bit of an emotional moment for me because the track is also so personal. It’s really special to have a song like this that I get to play for my fans.
Izaak – human being [imagina recordings]
There’s a special place in my heart for progressive house. When you play the right track at the right moment in a set, it can really just be such a explosion of groove and emotion and this one has been a recent staple at the start of my sets. It just sets the tone for the rest of the set to build and unfold in a magical way.
Joseph Ray – Give Me a Reason [Anjunadeep]
Joseph Ray is one of the most talented producers in the game right now, and I just find this track to be so devastatingly beautiful. I played it recently for a massive warehouse full of people before Tinlicker came on to perform their live show and it just united the whole room.
Booka Shade, Yotto – Encounters [Odd One Out]
Two of my earliest supporters, Yotto and Booka Shade, came together and made this beast of a collaboration track. Need I say more!
SOHMI – Time [Permission]
“Time” is still one of my favorite tracks in my catalog. I think it captures my unique take on techno really distinctly, incorporating signature elements like my vocals and ethereal piano riffs.
The Deepshakerz, Kid Enigma – What I Do [Moon Harbour]
After building up to a ‘melodic’ moment in my sets, I like to switch up the vibes and take things to a funkier place with tracks like this one. One of my favorite times that I played this was at Space Miami during New Year’s Eve weekend – the terrace absolutely exploded when the first drop kicked in!
Dog Blood, Otira – KOKOE [OWSLA]
I heard this sort of accidentally by chance in my friend’s car late last year, and right away I needed to know what it was. It’s not ‘the norm’ of what I’d usually play in a set, but it’s such a unique track and upon first listen, I just had this vision for when I might be able to experiment with dropping something like this. I took that creative risk at Echostage in DC by playing it for the first time in front of nearly 5000 people and I was half terrified that people wouldn’t ‘get it’, coming from me, but it totally worked and was a really validating moment for me to keep taking creative risks in my sets.
Landis LaPace – Seventy Five [Unity Records]
Landis has suddenly re-emerged after a multi-year hiatus from releasing music and we are all the better for it! He has such an ear and knack for deliciously funky, bouncy techno.
Hackman – Semibreves (Kink Remix) [Halocyan]
I always try to bring back older records and nod to the past in my DJ sets, and this Kink Remix of Semibreves is such a special one.
Amtrac – Little Tokyo [Openers]
Amtrac put out a fantastic album this year, and Little Tokyo is one of my favorite moments from it. I’ll often mix this in at the breakdown, starting with a loop, and use it as an ambient vocal layer which then builds into this really lovely minimal but still driving drop.
Eelke Kleijn – Transmission [DAYS Like NIGHTS]
Is there a melodic lead catchier than the one in Transmission? This is one of those near perfect melodic tracks that just take you to all the right places, and you never feel bored. Eelke is amazing.
Breathe – Royksopp, Astrid S (Qrion Remix) [Dog Triumph Profound Mysteries]
I loved Royksopp’s remix which came out last year and played it on many occasions, so I was really excited to see Qrion put her take on the track with her own remix of it.
Hannah Wants, Clementine Douglas – Cure My Desire [Defected]
Last but not least… I saved one of the best for last. A rare deep house record that feels like an instant classic from the first time you hear it.. Hannah and Clementine came together and truly created a flawless record with this one. It makes me want to cry every time! And Clementine is one of the best voices and writers I’ve ever come across. I love her sound so, so much.
