OPTIMO (ESPACIO)

Named after the Blind Willie Johnson track 'Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground' which was one of the 27 songs included on the Golden Voyager Records which were aboard the Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. The songs on these phonograph records were selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.

Johnson's music is there to represent the human expression of loneliness , and as his music went on to leave the solar system Blind Willie Johnson died decades before, penniless of malaria after sleeping bundled in wet newspapers in the ruins of his house that had burned down.
v A tragic story that moved the heart and soul of Jonnie Wilkes and Keith McIvor real deep. The two lads from Glasgow, Scotland are globally famed as DJs, label-heads, producers, remixers, party throwers, and partygoers under their moniker Optimo. For both the story of Blind Willie Johnson and his song is a moving tale that exemplifies the power of music.

Now it guided them on their trip towards their sixth offical dj mix that runs under the header „Dark Was The Night“. „We wanted to make a mix cd of "dark" music but without resorting to cliche about what "dark" music is. Each mix cd we have done reflects a different part of the night and this mix is our attempt to invoke the sounds of a dark winter's night but at the same time we feel the music is far from being "cold" and "soulless" and is full of atmosphere and feeling.“ the Sub Club resident DJs reveal about their intentions behind a mix that covers artists like Berlins dark techno newcomer Recondite, native Detroit techno misfit Terrence Dixon, New York City minimal wave veterans Jeff & Jayne Hudson, or the late seventies Scotish punk band The Freeze.

In their night not only the smiling faces crowd the floor. The sad and lonely also dance to soulful, transcendent music of the spheres. When you want to top their mix down in styles again Optimo go the genre spanning way: melancholic techno, space out acid house, minimal wave, or even bittersweet synth pop call the tune to represent the diversity of sounds and emotions that a dark dancing night can offer.

A mix that would perfectly fit on one of those Voyager Golden phonograph records. It could tell all extraterrestrials and future humans who find it that the humans of the now are able to dance to the deepest haunting sounds without loosing their sense and sensibility.