Sharp FM 013: Yu Su for Centra Mono & Post Grotesk

"The stage is home, and home is a stage!"

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Nominally based in Vancouver, Yu Su’s multi-pronged approach as a DJ, producer, live band lead, and even occasional chef keeps her moving around the globe. Her mix for Sharp FM is a textural and rhythmic odyssey unified by a whimsical warmth and an intuitive depth as deep as the Marianas. A cornucopia of fonts—Post Grotesk, Centra Mono, and the entire Doss family—pull it all together for the cover art. Home is where you make it.

Yu Su's place in music feels charmingly larger than the world of contemporary club culture. Her rural roots in central China and a classical piano education preceded a conversion to electronic dance music after attending a rave in Vancouver during college. These biographical details combine with her no-nonsense confidence and dedication to craft, resulting in a sonic presence that effortlessly expands beyond the fractals of an increasingly niche electronic music scene. “Fundamentally, because I don’t come from an electronic music background, I don’t actually know much about dance music—so I approach it more from a musician’s perspective,” she says.

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Yu's mix is a mid-tempo ride where unexpected sounds tangent: Bollywood covers and steel pedal guitar filigrees blend seamlessly. The immediate memory is of a dubbed-out montage touring the gorgeous freak terrains of the Fourth World. The cover and tracklist mirror this: the restrained, contemporary refinements of Josh Finklea's Post Grotesk and Centra Mono are set alongside the futuristic rave-outs of Marc Rouault's Doss family, while a bold solid lines of color sit atop the grey-scale of an ASCII-textured background.

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