Having just delivered Pinned, her first LP on Ransom Note Records, Chloé Raunet aka C.A.R. takes us on an hour-long trip of off-kilter pop, post-punk, and synth.
Tell us a bit about this mix – what inspired the selections?
This is more of a selection than a mix, inspired by Goodhood, of course! (Plus some pals and my NTS show)
You’ve got an album out this month, Pinned, on Ransom Note Records. Could you tell us a bit about that?
I have a solo project called C.A.R. and PINNED is my second LP. I always struggle to describe what type of music I make, but I guess it’s kind of an off-kilter electronic off-pop. Other people say it’s a blend of ’glacial electronica, post-punk and warming introspective pop’ which also works.
I wrote the album in my home studio/writing room and then mixed it with Steve Osborne out at Real World studios, which was an incredible experience.
What have you been up to recently?
Supposedly concentrating on this album release, doing mixes for people, working on my live show etc. I also customised a load of 12”s for Bandcamp which was fun; do love a bit of arts and crafts. Thing is, PINNED has been a long time coming and although it’s only been out there in the public domain a wee while, I’ve lived with these songs for years (we finished mixing in September 2016), so I’ve also been working on lots of new stuff.
Name 3 records you couldn’t live without.
Ha, there are LOADS more than three! If I have to play the game, here are the first of many to spring to mind:
Broadcast - Tender Buttons
Kool Keith - Black Elvis / Lost In Space
Mokugyo - Koufuku No Jouken.
Which artists do you look up to, and why?
LAPS! The Glasgow duo made up of Cassie from Golden Teacher and Alicia, Suzuki. They’re just generally all-round incredible and are set for a stratospheric rise this year. I also look up to Fantastic Twins. Check out her EP ’The New You’ on Hippie Dance - swoooon and then there’s Avalon Emerson whose Whities EP blew my mind. Andrea Balency is a super-talented artist who’s doing some really interesting work at the moment. Coby Sey as well, Suokas, the list goes on.
And of course there’s my flatmate, Ivan Smagghe. He’s like a cultural encyclopaedia amongst other things. I’m indebted to him and his studio partner, Rupert Cross (another musical genius!) for their help and guidance.
What’s your favourite record store in London?
Ransom Note Records in Forest Gate, of course. But to be honest I buy most of music on Bandcamp. I don’t collect vinyl and never quite got over teenage intimidations. In saying that, there are quite a few good ones, aren’t there?
What does the rest of 2018 hold for you?
Aside from touring/live dates, we’ve got some really, really good remixes of PINNED coming out which I’m super excited about. I’ll be releasing a few more C.A.R. singles with some original b-sides plus making some videos. My friend Kristina aka DIET CLINIC gets stuck in for those. She’s also the one I do NTS with. At the start of the year, we renamed our show to 239EF (formally Latete Atoto). I’ll be DJing out more as that too.
I’m also working on a new, more dance-music orientated project - my alter ego Brenda Harlow is behind that one. Finally, I also have quite a few collaborations in the works… generally pretty busy, which is how we like it.
Tracklist