young marco: selectors 002

Born Marco Sterk, Young Marco certainly doesn't come from a standard DJ background. A former skate rat who grew up loving American post-hardcore and '90s hip-hop as much as early Warp Records, he's been affiliated over the years with such Amsterdam institutions such as Rush Hour, Redlight Records, and, of course, Dekmantel. Still, there's no question that he's always followed his own path, even when playing his favorite records meant he was occasionally clearing dancefloors. Things have changed since then, of course, as Marco regularly plays around the globe and has been widely hailed not just for his DJ talents but also for his digging prowess and uncanny ability to pluck jams out of genres, eras, and locations that even veteran DJs will often ignore. In his mind, "the joy of getting home and finding out something is unexpectedly awesome is way more exciting than taking your time on a big stack of curated records." Still, Marco's entry in the Selectors series isn't some soulless collection of holy-grail rarities. "Where's the fun in that?" he asks. "Anybody with an internet connection can check what flavor-of-the-month records are in demand." Just like the first Selectors compilation, this is not a mix CD, but a collection of hand-picked, unmixed tracks that Sterk has personally chosen from his own vinyl archives. Moreover, Marco has put together a collection of tracks that represent not only how he plays music, but also how he makes music himself. The songs here are melodic, electronic, and bound together by a refreshing sense of naiveté. Nothing sounds overly calculated; the tunes here span several decades and include dollar-bin records, avant-garde records, club records, and yes, a few things that collector-types have likely been looking to get their hands on. It's not meant to be a grand statement, as Marco would rather provide an honest snapshot of his musical tastes and share a few of his favorite tracks and artists in the process. Includes tracks by Danny Boy, Gerrit Hoekema, Ghostwriters, Larry Heard, Wolf Müller, The Force Dimension, Frank Youngwerth, Green Baize, Ray Tracing, and Personal FX.