Max HeyraudHot off the presses, London-based electro stalwart Peggs soundtracks this week’s Mix Of The Week with an hour of apocalyptic electro on Aaja Radio.
Ireland hasn’t exactly been a breeding ground for electro DJs, but the ones who have emerged from here have been damn good. Think DeFeKT, Eliza, Kerrie, Ngoni Egan, to name a few. Peggs feels like the successor to that line of headsy electro selectors who, for the most part, keep it as real as possible. When DJing, vinyl is preferred; when making music, hardware is preferred. Peggs follows firmly in that vein, a purist, for lack of a better word.
Originally from Tallaght and now residing in London, Peggs holds down a monthly residency on Aaja Radio. Every 30 or 31 days, or, occasionally, 29, Peggs throws down a gauntlet of electro records, taking listeners on a trip through the aquatic, near-world-ending genre that is electro. It feels like one of the last electronic genres yet to be totally corrupted by commercialism and capitalism, and those who stand by it tend to hold those values close. Peggs is very much of that school of thought.
His latest entry is a deep, dark and cavernous whirlpool into the darker side of electro. Egyptian Lover fans, look away now. Peggs rolls through descending pads, rough and hardy basslines, and tough-edged 808s. The kind you feel hit your stomach like a sucker punch. At times, there are pivots towards more synthwave, ’80s-adjacent funk, another of Peggs’ loves, but never for long. Before you know it, he’s back in the rough, spine-chilling territory of the doomsday electro soundtrack. It’s proper electro, in proper order.