Free download compilation from Athenian outfit Phormix; including tracks by Anatolian Weapons, Baz Reznik, Celldod, DJ Loser, Fragedis, Morah, Outermost, Penelope’s Fiance, Unhuman and many more.
compilation
Luke Slater – Berghain Fünfzehn [OSTGUT127]
Berghain Fünfzehn sees Luke Slater creating new compositions from the Ostgut Ton back catalogue, chopping, looping tweaking and deploying sounds into a mix that is both a playful retrospective of the label and future-facing vision for mixing and dance music. On April 17, seven exclusive tracks from the Berghain Fünfzehn DJ mix will be released on two 12”s and for streaming/digital download. De- and reconstructing the Ostgut Ton discography, Slater’s vision encompasses not only sampling but live electronics and improvisation, resulting in a broad spectrum of heady and liminal dance music: from ultra stripped-back mindfuck techno, vocals and blasts of distortion to breakbeat excursions, minimalistic acid, and rave polyrhythms. In other words: the arc of the label through Slater’s singular hallucinatory prism.
VA – Artificial Dancers: Waves of Synth [RHMC005]
Birthed at the turn of the ‘80s, synth and wave music has remained a constant force over the last four decades, with a recent spike in interest in the sound offering further proof of its’ timeless, out-of-this-world quality. It’s against this backdrop that Dutch DJ Interstellar Funk presents his celebration of the style, “Artificial Dancers – Waves of Synth”. A bumper compilation bristling with obscure and hard-to-find gems, the set sees the Artificial Dance label founder joining the dots between synthesizer and drum machine-driven tracks in a variety of subtly different styles. It’s the result of hundreds of hours spent digging through dusty old records, tapes, and the Bandcamp accounts of DIY musicians who have been active since the sound’s first boom in the early 1980s. The 11-track set draws on tracks made and released at different times over the last 40 years, with the earliest cut committed to tape in 1978 and the most recent in 2018. While the tracks date from the ‘80s, ‘90s, noughties and 2010s, the showcased cuts are united by a primitive but futuristic quality that makes dating them difficult. In many cases, it’s hard to tell which tracks were made in the early 1980s and which were conjured up in 21st century studios.
VA – Aid EP [MTRONAID1]
If you’re currently lucky to be in a position to spare some funds, please consider making a charitable donation in your community to help fight the Covid-19 outbreak. Should you still have any additional good fortune left, we have put together an Aid EP, to help support the artists on our label, currently under financial pressure due to the massive amount of event and DJ gig cancellations – and to keep the lights on in our collective, which is heavily dependent on income from event production.
The Aid EP additionally enables us to provide a bit of work for our mastering engineer, also a DJ and producer, financially impacted by event cancellations. All sales will be split 50/50 between the artists and ourselves, after mastering costs have been recouped.
Stay healthy out there – and if you have the means, we encourage you to find ways to reach out and support those affected in your local communities.
VA – WorldWideWindow [ENISSLAB]
In light of the current Covid-19 Pandemic Studio Enisslab headed up by Italian DJ / Producer and Live Act Neel has announced the release of a very special 56 track charity compilation project, fundraising for The Red Cross, who are working extremely hard alongside health services internationally that are feeling the effects of the corona-virus outbreak the most right now. The compilation is available for a limited time via Bandcamp and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to The Red Cross to help the world’s most affected countries in the Covid-19 pandemic.
This special release features over 6 hours of previously unreleased and unheard material, where an all star cast of artists were encouraged to share music that reflects this time we are living in.
Neel, who is one half of live duo Voices From The Lake, and LF58 speaks out on behalf of the initiative, organised in collaboration with improvised live project Circle Of Live, and visual art collective Sbagliato. He explains:
“In this situation we all need to look after each other and this project is a start. I wanted to reach as many people as possible to spread this message, so I started to share the idea personally with lots of artists and the response was amazing. I wanted them to take their time with whichever tools they had available at home to produce some music that reflects this time we are living in, a contribution for this special project and to portray a special message.”
The project’s cover art image brought to you by visual art collective Sbagliato shows pictures of windows of houses and studios taken by the artists themselves: 56 musicians, 56 windows, 56 tracks shape a new place of sharing.
VA – 20 Years Crème Organization [FREE DOWNLOAD]
“Here’s a free compilation to celebrate our 20th birthday, which fittingly falls right in the middle of the biggest crises the world has faced this century. This is not a retrospective, in times like these it important to look to the future. It features exclusive tracks by label mainstays and some up and coming artists from the West Coast and beyond. Up to you to figure out which is which.”
VA – Fuga [TOKEN93]
Fuga presents a focused and refined showcase of the Token sound in 2020. The compilation highlights the label’s dedication to the classic tenets of the Techno genre, but at the same time draws attention to its role as a conduit for new talent to receive the exposure it deserves without artistic compromise. Including Nastia Reigel, Dold, Mark Broom, Border One, Stefan Vincent, Ribe, PTTRN, Linkan Ray.
VA – Vol. 1
The Amsterdam based booking agency, Voyage Select, is launching it’s label. The first release is a digital compilation released on bandcamp and includes 14 tracks by artists from the agency’s rooster. Cover photo by Interstellar Funk, graphic design by Dazion. 100% of the profit will be divided equally among the artists.
VA – LSD 029 [LSD029]
VA – Air Texture Vol.7 [AIR007LP]
Since launching in 2011, James Healy’s Air Texture label and compilation series has become something of an institution within the ambient scene. As with its predecessors, the seventh volume in the series has been jointly compiled by two artists with an existing musical relationship, in this case Rrose and Silent Servant. Their selections are on point, drowsily drifting between academic ambient compositions (see Rrose and James Fei’s “For Bass Clarinet 8.97 (Rrose Version)”, uncomfortable electronic explorations (Ron Morelli, Anthony Child), modular movements (Not Waving), jazz-flecked deep space soundscapes (Luke Slater), horror-influenced throb-jobs (Phase Fatale, June & An-i) and 1990s style ambient electronica (Octa Octa, Function).
VA – Auricular Discipline II [BOUND003]
New York’s Bound presents the second compilation, Auricular Discipline II. All proceeds from the album go towards the Sex Workers Project, which provides resources and legal aid to sex workers. “We believe sex work is inherently intersectional, at the core of human rights, as well as one of the most limited, overlooked and vulnerable communities,” promoter and label Bound says in a statement. The compilation features new tracks from the likes of Black Meteoric Star, Dax J, Gavilán Rayna Russom, P.E.A.R.L., Terence Fixmer, Bound resident Katie Rex and more.
VA – FAKE1-THE ABSENCE [FAKE#1]
The first release on FAKE imprint is a nice VA compilation of 10 wave, electronix and ambient tracks.
VA – Uzelli Elektro Saz [13242/13243]
Uzelli Kaset was established in 1971 by Muammer and Yavuz Uzelli in Frankfurt, Germany. Their music resonated not only with the longing that Gastarbeiter (guest workers) felt for the homelands and families they had left behind and the melancholy brought by their difficult living and working conditions in Germany, but also with the joy that welled up at village weddings on their days off, and the long car or train journeys home. Reaching the remotest corners of Germany as well as Turkey, Uzelli Kaset was soon more than just a music company; it became a companion to Turkish workers living far from home.
VA – Techniques. A Techno-Pop Selection From The USA: 1982-1990 [MEC051]
An exquisite and meticulous selection of underground “techno-pop” bands that emerged during the 80’s in the United States. Each one of these acts is considered a cult, although several even only edited an EP or one single, a demo tape or just appeared on compilations. A total of sixteen songs from eight bands. Some classic hits together with rare or even unreleased tracks. A compilation that will help many to discover a slightly explored side of alternative electronic pop music from America.
VA – Studiolo (The 90’s Cosmic Afro Era) [ATN053-DZN02]
Antinote and Dizonord present Studiolo. Northeastern Italy, at the beginning of the 1980s, an entire local scene gathered around a handful of DJs who put their dancefloors in a trance to the sounds of ”rare, new, and singular” music, under the strong influence of ethnic and world music. Mixes where German Kosmische clashes with space disco, along with the most experimental side of British new wave, industrial music, creepy funk, deviant rock and pop. All this mixed with Brazilian and Afro music, reggae, ragga, percussions and bhangra… A kind of mixing in total rupture with that of a dying disco for which it is intended as an alternative. A way of playing songs often at the wrong speeds, at 33RPM instead of 45RPM and vice versa, and always the obsession of a slow tempo, between 95 and 110 BPM, while the cruising speed of disco mixes goes up to 125/130 BPM… A haunting rhythm, accelerated or slowed down voices, with experimental and ethnic approaches. This fusion of styles was named “Cosmic Style” by Daniele Baldelli, resident of the Cosmic Club in Rimini, and ”Afro Style” by Beppe Loda, resident of the Typhoon in Gambara. It is in this last period that this compilation will immerse you, through 8 tracks from the Italian, German and Austrian scenes.
VA – Worst Greatest Hits Vol. 1 [WORST004]
Worst Records heat back with a greatest hits compilation. Tracks from the like of A Strange Wedding, Beesmunt Soundsystem, Black Seed, Itako, Gil.Barte and others.
VA – The Best Of NYH [NYH191/NYH192]
New York Haunted is now 5 years old. Ignored by many, loved by as many more. NYH aims to be a home for the true underground in electronic music and releases diverse and stubborn producers that live for their music. Compiled by the NYH artists, this is part 1 of a 2 part collection that shows of the diversity and width of the label and, dare we say, the current underground in electronic music today.
DJ Nobu – Beyond Space & Time 001 [BEST001]
Beyond Space And Time is the new record label from Japanese music festival, Rainbow Disco Club (RDC). RDC has been welcoming music loving people to Japan for over a decade. Throughout the festival’s history, RDC have been fortunate to constantly encounter performers and DJs who’ve collaborated with them in establishing a beautiful dance floor year in, year out. These relationships have lead RDC to start their own label, and now gives them the opportunity to reveal one of the best-kept secrets: What is in a DJ’s record bag? This time around, festival regular DJ Nobu kindly opens up his collection and shares the music he loves with us all. On visual duty we welcome Senekt – his representational yet contemporary drawing illustrates the emotion we feel from DJ Nobu.
VA – Detriti Compilation n.3 [DR-013]
EBM, Electro, New Beat, Acid, Balearic Bea. A perfect compilation for the lovers of the old-school darkside of the dancefloor.
VA – A Short Illness From Which He Never Recovered [BLACKEST077]
There’s no denying that Blackest Ever Black has released some stellar music over the last decade, so it’s rather fitting that the London imprint’s final release is arguably one of its strongest for some time. To say goodbye, label boss Kiran Sande has put together a superb collection of poignant explorations of ambient, electronica and lo-fi pop that includes a swathe of label debuts. A compilation of new and recent music, either previously unreleased or until now unavailable on vinyl, by Bridget Hayden, Carla dal Forno, Lightning In A Twilight Hour, Scythe, Jam Money, Ian Martin, Unchained, The Fulmars, Hypnotic Sleep and Brainman.
The Hipodrome Of Music 