The thing about future shock is, it’s transformative. Even with extended stays on the International Space Station, the time even seasoned human travelers spend in space doesn’t add up to the time they spend on the ground, yet astronauts (and cosmonauts) universally talk about seeing life on Earth differently.

Amon Tobin’s sonic work is literally transformational when it comes to how it makes you hear the world: found sounds become entire albums, as on Foley Room (current TV’s interview below), and samples are consciously, transparently pushed to their breaking point. You can hear reality bending around you. The results aren’t self-referential about the line between tech and organic, as so much recent electronic music has been: the two as inseperable. Tobin’s world has changed, irreversibly. You’ll still wind up dancing; you may just find yourself dancing in ways you haven’t before. Here’s the artist on his most recent album.

When Amon Tobin comes on at 10:15pm Saturday night at Yuri’s Night Bay Area, you can bet people will be dancing all over NASA’s backyard. Thankfully, we have a special mix to share for every other day of the year, when you can’t get into the space program’s hangar.

Having covered CDs, vinyl, and video games, a lot of Tobin’s work is currently focused on live music. He’s shared this Chicago mix from January for the site here. “DJ mix” suggests that this is more like the boring, DJ texting on his cellphone fare we’ve had to live with in certain venues lately. I think, as usual, it sounds more like Amon come back from space.

Download the Amon Tobin Yuri’s Night mix

(there are a couple of samples that aren’t G-rated, just so you’re warned)

Deru laptoping live. Photo: pinkpucca, via Flickr. (CC)

Even in the post-Sun Ra era, artists still care about space.

Deru, aka Los Angeles-based IDM electronicator Benjamin Wynn, is playing Yuri’s Night Bay Area coming off of an injury — a repetitive stress injury. (Seriously.) And little wonder: laptop artists have some serious keying and mousing to do under the best of circumstances, and Deru pushes his computer to self-described cyborg-like technological detail.

Deru is just the kind of person you want to be grooving out to while celebrating Gagarin’s spin through outer space. So we’re delighted he’s given us a 45-minute set into which we can voyage. Enjoy! (And if you throw a virtual party with these mixes, send some photos / Second Life screen grabs.)

Just remember to give your wrists a break from computing now and then - at least until the robotic arm implant is ready.

Download Deru’s Free Mix