The Definition of Happiness

Immerse yourself in this mindful mixtape, full of emotional tracks helping me living through these pandemic times where our freedom has been severely restricted. Luckily there are no limits to our personal creativity and talent. The music keeps me going while we are forced to slow down our lives, not able to meet our family, friends nor colleagues in person. Some of us even had to say goodbye to a loved one during these already troubled times…

Don’t we all want to escape from this reality? With these carefully selected tracks, I want to bring hope, motivate and inspire you to find happiness in the little things of life, like in music for instance. Together we can make the world a better place!

Back in 1964 Alfred Hitchcock shared his definition of happiness, stating that when all negative and destructive emotions are removed, there’s a clear horizon ahead for renewed creation. Almost 60 years later these wise words still count and are more actual than ever.

Interviewer: “Mr. Hitchcock, what is your definition of happiness?”

Hitchcock: “A clear horizon. Nothing to worry about on your plate. Only things that are creative, and not destructive. When that’s within yourself, within me, I can’t bear quarreling, I can’t bear feelings between people. I think hatred is wasted energy, and it’s all nonproductive. I’m very sensitive. A sharp word said by, say a person who has a temper, if they’re close to me, hurts me for days. I know we’re only human, we do go in for these various emotions, call them negative emotions, but when all these are removed and you can look forward and the road is clear ahead, and now you’re going to create something. I think that’s as happy as I would ever want to be.“

In 2015 the talented German artist and producer David August, got inspired by Mr. Hitchcock and sourced his voice sample as the core of a standout live performance at Resident Advisor’s RA Sessions. He took the words of the revered film director as inspiration and built a completely improvised new composition around it.

In 2021 I’ve included an extract of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Definition of Happiness” inside this mixtape, amongst various beautiful soundscapes, fragile melodies and a personal interpretation of Oxia’s melodic techno classic ‘Domino’ with a subtle classical addition of a chamber music ensemble.

This is my most personal and emotionally loaded composition so far, that I want to dedicate to anyone who has lost a loved one. It’s my proud tribute to someone special, close to my heart, who has been gone too soon…

Music was our first love and it will be our last. You were my biggest fan, my true inspiration and motivation. You are always in my heart. Miss you, ‘super dad’. Farewell until we meet again on the other side.

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Oxia – Domino (Dave Canto’s ‘Infansonido’ Refix)

This is my personal refix of Oxia‘s techno classic: ‘Domino’, taken from the ‘Speicher 34’ EP released in April 2006 at Kompakt Extra (Cologne). Oscillating melodic tones, a skippy high-end and a driving insistence give this atmospheric and melodic techno track an anthemic lift which works well on the dancefloor.

In 2013, Kompakt Records wanted to do something special for their 20th anniversary. They asked multi-instrumentalist and orchestral composer Gregor Schwellenbach to deconstruct 20 of the label’s signature tracks into pure classical arrangements for a hand-picked ensemble of chamber musicians. His goal was to give each cut “a new voice” while retaining “the core of the experience: the melody, the hook, the feeling” despite the vastly different presentation. On May 27th 2013, the resulting album ‘Gregor Schwellenbach Spielt 20 Jahre Kompakt’ was released. It features 20 chamber music versions arranged by Schwellenbach and played with assists from flutist Dorothee Oberlinger, guitarist Christian Buck and harpist Jane Berthe, who are all veteran classical musicians.

Schwellenbach also reworked Olivier Raymond’s ‘Domino’ which is one of Kompakt’s greatest hits. It was Wolfgang Voigt who suggested that “the bursting energy of the treble semiquavers (16th notes) might work well on strings” and he was damn right. The subtle classical addition of Schwellenbach’s chamber music ensemble takes this track to the next level. I just can’t stop listening to it. What about you?

Featured Artists:

• Olivier Raymond (Oxia)
• Gregor Schwellenbach (Ohrfilm)

Featured Tracks:

• Oxia’s ‘Domino’ (Original Mix) taken from ‘Speicher 34’ EP (2006)
• Oxia’s ‘Domino’ (Gregor Schwellenbach feat. Infansonido Version) taken from ‘Gregor Schwellenbach Spielt 20 Jahre Kompakt’ album (2013)

Featured Label:

• Kompakt Records

Listen to Oxia – Domino (Dave Canto’s ‘Infansonido’ Refix). Please comment, share & support!