Fact Mix 875: KAVARI

A stark juxtaposition of comfort and discomfort, pleasure and pain, delicate and harsh from the Glasgow-based artist, DJ and producer.

KAVARI’s performances and DJ sets strike a jarring contrast between gentle ambience and dark rhythmic energy. Born in Birkenhead and now based in Glasgow, KAVARI draws inspiration from drum and bass, industrial, hard dance, noise and ’90s electronica, creating tonally and rhythmically intricate tracks and edits that cross into the pop realm. Her 2021 debut, If the Benign Was to Ever Be So Pure, reflects this broad sound. Bookended by two beatless tracks whose melodies recall some of the more haunting moments of Warp’s early catalogue, the EP is filled out with propulsive breakbeats and ’90s rave energy.

This EP won KAVARI a nomination at 2022’s Scottish Alternative Music Awards for Best Electronic Artist, and was followed by a series of self-released mixtapes, EPs and singles. Her latest EP, Suture, demonstrates how much her sound has evolved in just a year, featuring four tracks that are darker in tone and considerably more abrasive in texture. This ferocity is a key characteristic of her Fact Mix, which KAVARI says was “focused on contrast and intensity”, and features several of her own tracks alongside music from Yves Tumor, Skee Mask, Oli XL, FKA twigs, Arca and Varg2TM.

“A stark juxtaposition of comfort and discomfort, pleasure and pain, delicate and harsh,” KAVARI says, “sewing together a haunting mix of artistic inspirations from both ends of the sound spectrum.” 

Follow KAVARI on Instagram and SoundCloud. Find her music on Bandcamp.

Tracklist:

clipping. – ‘Haunting (interlude)’
Yyed – ‘An Instant Folded Over Itself Into A Knot’
Five Star Hotel – ‘Pendant’
IC3PEAK – ‘THIS WORLD IS SICK’
Death Grips – ‘Two Heavens’
Noisia – ‘Machine Gun’ (16bit Remix)
Himera – ‘Here’
Arca – ‘LANA MONUMENT 116BPM’
Yves Tumor – ‘Perdition’
KAVARI – ‘Yearn’
KAVARI – ‘Maimed’
KAVARI – ‘Attachment Style’
Sleepnet – ‘Love No More’
Moody Good – ‘Noise Floor’
Genesis P-Orridge & Merzbow – ‘Flowering Pain Give Space’
Varg2TM – ‘Forever 21 / Valium’
Crystal Castles – ‘Pale Flesh’ (KAVARI Interlude Mix)
KAVARI – ‘Healing Spring’
KAVARI – ‘Lavender’
Lag Switch – ‘Banshee’ (KAVARI Remix)
KAVARI – ‘Dysmorphia’
Sectra, Doja Cat, Rico Nasty – ‘Lusk Tia Tamera’ (KAVARI DJ Tool)
FKA Twigs – ‘Glass And Patron’ (Shadient Remix)
Réelle – ‘Mira Lo Que Tengo Pa’ Ti’
Skee Mask – ‘Routine’
Oli XL – ‘Imposter’
clipping. – ‘Piano Burning’