VA – The Library Music Film: Music From & Inspired By The Film [LEGO148]

November 4, 2018November 2, 2018 hipodromealan hawkshaw, brian bennett, compilation, funk, geoff astow, jazz, légère recordings, piero umiliani, shawn lee, soundtrackLeave a comment

The Library Music Film follows record producer, composer and library music enthusiast Shawn Lee as he travels from his recording studio in London, through Europe, and California, USA to search out and interview the great pioneers of library music. Collecting rare, unreleased vinyl is big business. Library music was only available on vinyl and only given to industry professionals. There were very small production runs; sometimes only 200 copies of each album were pressed. Most of those were destroyed through the Nineties with the advent of CDs. Finding these records is extremely rare and therefore some of these records go for well over a thousand pounds. Shawn Lee opens the record boxes of some of the most notorious collectors, getting a glimpse and having a listen to their favourite wax. Delving into the vaults of the classic library music houses, meeting the people behind these incredible themes at Music De Wolfe, Warner-Chappell, Bruton Music, Bosworth, Flipper Music, KPM, Tele Music and Capitol Media Music as well as talking to some of the modern record labels that are compiling and re-issuing these quintessential pieces.

VA – From The Dark Volume 1 [CE026]

October 29, 2018November 8, 2022 hipodrome214, alienata, assembler code, compilation, cultivated electronics, delta funktionen, electro, exterminador, jensen interceptor, rico casazza, stratowerx, sync 24, techno, versalifeLeave a comment

Sync 24’s Cultivated Electronics rounds off 2018 in style with the “From The Dark” Series. 3 x V/A LP’s showcasing some of the leading lights of modern electro alongside some solid newcomers. Focussing on the spookier side of the genre FTD brings in the various shades of darker electro tones from across the Globe. Volume 1 kicks off the series with with some super dark selections from Sync 24 & Alienata, Australia’s hottest electro exports of the moment Jensen Interceptor and Assembler Code, Seattle Electro Veteran 214, CE newcomer Rico Casazza, Radio Matrix Boss & Tresor resident Delta Funktionen, Caught London Sleeping Head Honcho Stratowerx, Delsin & Clone affiliate Versalife and Berlin based CE newcomer Exterminador.

VA – Global Surveyor 4 [DE-025]

October 22, 2018December 30, 2021 hipodromeanthony rother, carl finlow, compilation, dominance electricity, electro, hardfloor, heliopause, patronen, silicon scally, techno, visoniaLeave a comment

The German label Dominance Electricity presents Phase 4 of the Global Surveyor various artist album series (launched in 1998). Featuring heavy-weights of the international Electro genre such as Anthony Rother, Hardfloor, Silicon Scally aka Carl Finlow and Heliopause (a project of Germany’s Dynamik Bass System & Detroit’s Keith Tucker of AUX 88) and many more, this carefully selected collection includes a total of 24 productions out of 13 countries / 5 continents ranging between clubbish acid power, deep space cruiser, playful kraftwerkesk melodic downtempo and ambient synth magic.

VA – Danzas Electricas Vol. II [MMLP2002]

October 15, 2018December 2, 2021 hipodromecompilation, ekstern, electro, eva geist, heninspace, houschyard, industrial, konsistent, macadam mambo, minimal synth, sacha mambo, sauerstofff, service, synth wave, wostoLeave a comment

The ‘metallic’ compilation Danzas Electricas is back for a second volume. Curated by Sacha Mambo, it presents only artists from nowadays and takes distance from the edits to push original and weird electronic music of close artists friends from Dresden, Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, Lyon and Hamburg. Some of them are already relatives of Macadam Mambo : Konsistent, Wosto, Heninspace, Eva Geist or Sacha himself and it introduces new acts : Ekstern (Nixxon & Spacelex), Service, Houschyard or Sauerstofff to present a good mixture of Kraut, Punk, Industrial tracks, which never fall into dark.

VA – Air Texture Volume VI [AIR006]

October 14, 2018May 19, 2023 hipodrome214, actress, afik naim, air texture, ambient techno, answer code request, as one, basic soul unit, compilation, deep techno, dj stingray, kink, late night approach, martyn, shed, steffi, tracing xirclesLeave a comment

The Air Texture Series asks two Producers/ Performers to select a double CD worth of unreleased music. The only guidance is the music should not be main floor bangers, other than that we get out of the way, allowing them autonomy over their selection. This time Steffi and Martyn were asked to step up. Exciting, since as residents at Berghain/Panorama Bar – two of the most important dancefloors in the world… how would two such respected artists approach our experimental ethos.

VA – Alternative Funk: Volume 2 [PLA024]

October 10, 2018August 30, 2024 hipodromebene gesserit, capital funk, compilation, dee nasty, disco, experimental, funk, kosa, melsjest, platform 23, post punk, psyclones, randall kennedy, scoop!, vox populiLeave a comment

The 2nd collection of songs selected from the Alternative Funk series released Vox Man and VP 231 Records. Originally appearing in 1985 across 1 vinyl and 2 cassette albums these cult collections have long been in collectors (and bootleggers) sights and finally see the first official reissue. The series covers the weird, wonderful, esoteric, exotic and quirky sound and puts them in a reset context that immediately gives clarity of the original’s curation. This volume opens with some DIY electro stealers, first with Dee Nasty’s Orientic Groove, where the early French hip-hop pioneer lays down a battle commence of beats, slapped bass and YMO keys, before the second offering from Scoop! and their rap attack, juxtapositions the past series and leads to label heads Vox Populi! & Man and their continued look at the rudiments of cut up manipulation and scratch techniques. The avant rappears with 3M’s percussive marker and legendary Amus Tietchens’ is ever challenging, before Melsjest’s post-punk meets the Weirmar possibly steals the side as Vox Pop spoken outro joins those (micro)dots. The cult of Randall Kennedy returns with another garage-fuzz gem. His stories for wackos’n’weirdos end all too soon and are followed by Liquid Liquid’s Dennis Young, diving deep with Intuition, before Stanalis returns with another winner. Bene Gesserit is a killer and welcome addition, before Kosa return with more industrial clippings and volume 2 heads to the door with Capital Funk’s electro-punk bomb – possibly the series champion – while the slap bass-scratch of California’s Psyclones leads to a music hall end in the homage to mum’s favourite, Chukk. What these Volumes again highlight is how the DIY aesthetic of so many independent labels was supplemented and spread via collections of friends, contemporaries and often, literally pen pals, to mail in their offerings that are then picked for wider ears. While some of these artists have become known, just as many are who and whats, but they sit side-by-side as warranted and often killing the scene of what Axel and co sought to be…the Alternative Funk.

VA – Alternative Funk: Volume 1 [PLA023]

October 10, 2018August 30, 2024 hipodromecompilation, disco, experimental, kosa, minimal synth, philippe laurent, platform 23, post punk, randall kennedy, scoop!, vox populiLeave a comment

Platform 23 launches with the reissue of the seminal Alternative Funk compilation series, presenting a selection of music across 2 volumes. Known for the highly heralded “Folie Distinguee” album in 1985, what is often over looked is the fact there accompanied 2 further “Alternative Funk” cassette compilations that same year. Coming within the Audiologie series on Vox Man Records, these “Various Artist” selections were indicative of labels that sprung up in the early 80s around the DIY post-punk scene. As founders of Vox Populi!, Axel Kyrou and Francis Man, working with close associate Pierre Jolivet’s (aka Pacific 231) VP 231 label, released a number of cassettes, 7″ and LPs between 1982 and 1988, as much to self-release their own music as to push new or contemporary artists. Here then is a snapshot of the Alt Funk albums, selecting songs that avoid recent or upcoming reissues, to dive deep in the series from industrial to cold wave, proto-dub percussion to avant spoken word pieces. Featuring the likes of Son Of Sam, Philippe Laurent, Fist Of Facts – with a long lost first ever recording – and Human Backs, stepping out from semi-cult name dropping to sit alongside unknowns and never heard from again in Scoop!, Kosa, Zoohtee and the wonderful Randall Kennedy. What is apparent is an idiosyncratic nature to the selections. In the same way many independent labels of the time – such as Auxilio De Cientos’ Terra Incognita volumes or Final Image’s Nightlands – created a label snapshot by pulling together far and wide contributions but retaining an overall ‘sound’. The Volume 1 and 2 reissue achieve that, mixing experimental with electro, post punk with noise, to offer more than the sum of their parts – an Alternative Funk.

VA – SPC 139 [SPC139]

September 25, 2018November 21, 2023 hipodromecompilation, d'marc cantu, earth trax, ghostly international, gunnar haslam, house, jtc, matrixxman, minimal violence, russell e.l. butler, spectral sound, technoLeave a comment

For over 18 years, Spectral Sound, the dance music imprint of Ghostly International, has thrived at the forefront of techno and house. Now, Spectral brings the past alongside the present with its latest release, a compilation that offers a vibrant cross-section of the current moment in underground dance music. Despite the wide-ranging selections on Spectral 139, a throughline of classic style and infectious energy emerges from the up-and-coming and established artists alike. Rising talents such as Minimal Violence, Russell E.L. Butler, and Earth Trax x Newborn Jr. bring unique perspectives to their hardware-centric productions.

VA – All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace [PSR003]

September 22, 2018November 11, 2021 hipodromebuttechno, compilation, delivery, electro, fallbeil, industrial, innsyter, ixvlf, kluentah, morah, myn, public system recordings, techno, templeyard studios, tripolar cell, wostoLeave a comment

Public System presents a monster collection of the grubbiest, punked out lo fi deviant electronics from the true underground. Some names are more familiar, such as the excellent Templeyard Studios with the uneasy clatter of ”Take66”, while Buttechno brings a blistering array of tones to the forefront for some truly adventurous acid abstractions. There’s a lot of lesser known delights to revel in though, from the boxy beatdown of IXVLF, the darkwave electro thrust of Kluentah and the intricate percussive science of Meze. This may be dirty dance music for wayward souls, but there are some seriously fresh ideas lurking on this ludicrously valuable package.

VA – Dynamics Of Pressure [VO001]

September 12, 2018June 18, 2025 hipodromebakunin commando, compilation, diana berti, industrial, synth wave, vague output, violet poisonLeave a comment

Vague Output is a party, collective and label out of Baltimore that opposes any teleological understanding of underground electronic music. The label debuts with a perfect collection of EBM, Italo, Synthwave, and Proto-Techno from Veleno Viola label head Francesco Baudazzi’s alter egos Violet Poison, Bakunin Commando, and Diana Berti.

VA – Kale Plankieren: Dutch Cassette Rareties 1981 – 1987 Vol. 2 [KH016]

August 27, 2018September 17, 2019 hipodromeanother, compilation, de fabriek, eric toornend, experimental, knekelhuis, minimal synth, synth wave, the hi-tones, van kayeLeave a comment

After last years excellent discoveries from Volume 1, another batch of ‘lost’ and unreleased Dutch (cassette) material is coming back to the future. For this sequel we dug deep into the Dutch lowlands and again found some independent music that’s still relevant today. In the process we met even more amazing musicians and heard great stories from a distant-not-so-distant past. Expect a wide palette of DIY and experimental sounds by artists from Groningen, Zwolle, Arnhem, The Hague, Rotterdam, Tilburg and Deurne.

VA – Compact Wrecks [COM1]

August 22, 2018December 12, 2019 hipodromealphonse, compilation, dawl, dj fett burger, dj normal 4, electro, house, klasse recordings, klasse wrecks, luca lozano, mr. ho, privacy, technoLeave a comment

Klasse Wrecks present the first release in the new Compact Wrecks series, a new set of releases coming on Compact Disc. Compositions on COM1 come from label founders Luca Lozano and Mr Ho in addition to producers associated with the label, namely Omega III, Fett Birger, Privacy, Your Planet Is Next, Dawl and Alphonse. The compilation, which clocks in at just over an hour, ranges from frantic jungle and breakbeat-infused acid to chilled-out trance, making time for forays into bleep, electro and house

VA – Prophecy & Progress: UK Electronics 1978-1990 [PM24]

July 26, 2018August 9, 2019 hipodromeattrition, clock dva, colin potter, compilation, david harrow, electro, experimental, five times of dust, industrial, john avery, john costello, minimal synth, naked lunch, peripheral minimal, peter hope, post punk, schleimer k, synth wave, v-sor x, vice versaLeave a comment

Peripheral Minimal presents ‘Prophecy + Progress: UK Electronics 1978 – 1990 LP’, a thirteen-track compilation that represents the burgeoning Electronic music scene in the UK. This isn’t simply another synth pop compilation, or some nostalgic frippery, but an eclectic mix of acts that were experimenting with newly available technology at a time when the punk scene had imploded and the music press was busy coining new genres as an attempt to continue its legacy. In the bubbling underground were a myriad of experimenters recording in relative secrecy in Industrial cities like Sheffield or post-war London, at a time when the Tories came back into power and utterly altered the political landscape, and produced a generation of, ‘Thatcher’s Children’ (selfish, arrogant and materialistic). The antidote seemed to be quiet rebellion in the shape of dark and alienating soundscapes by acts that are now considered ‘pioneers’, or achieving cult status, in a new era of throwaway pop and trite ‘new wave’ impersonators. This compilation is an attempt to rekindle those heady days of experimentation and to encourage new generations to rebel and forgo the fashionable posturing that comes with anything vaguely ‘interesting’.

VA – Jura Soundsystem Presents Transmission One [ISLELP003]

July 15, 2018June 24, 2020 hipodromeambient, astral engineering, blindboy, compilation, dub, experimental, funk, isle of jura recods, jura soundsystem, kash, ken dang, kevin griffiths, minus group, smackos, tabou combo superstars, trevor bastowLeave a comment

The first in a series of compilations by Jura Soundsystem is a blend of Dub, Ambient, Downtempo, Boogie and Proto House with a focus on music never before released on Vinyl, sought after out of print titles and some special versions edited specifically for the album. The intention with this project was to delve deeper into the reissue pond and unearth some lesser known tracks and artists. Highlights include Smackos (AKA Legowelt) Ambient epic ‘We Can Watch Alf In The Hotel Room’, never before released on Vinyl, the Dub / Psych hybrid of Minus Group’s ‘Black Shadow’, Kash’s sought after ‘Percussion Sundance’ and special edits of Ken Dang and Tabou Combo. The end of the album includes some soothing Ambient tools.

VA – Napoli Segreta Vol.1 [EAS018/NG02]

June 23, 2018May 12, 2023 hipodromecompilation, disco, donatella viaggiano, donn anna, early sounds recordings, funk, ng records, oro, pino amorosoLeave a comment

Early Sounds announce, in collaboration with NG Rec, first volume of Napoli Segreta, a meticulous selection of the rarest and most sought after compositions of the 70’s and 80’s Napolitan disco and funk scene.” Everybody is haunting for the essence of the city and its sound. Such a haunting is so cruel that originality risks the extinction within the goat of fake authenticities, being them musical, cultural or artistic authenticities. Enough is enough! It is time to react. It is time to give back to the city what somebody wish to be steel forever. Time before samplers colonized the global acoustic imagery, here, in Naples, for Naples, throughout its metropolitan spaces and rhythms, such beautiful tracks have been recorded that once you listen to them they remain indelible. And after years spent following the footprints of legendary characters beneath a urban underground that crawls with anecdotes and passion, immersed in bloody quests into oceans of vinyl records, dusty tapes, in the midst of emotional vicissitudes, parties, sea, recording studios and seagulls…

VA – The Barbershop [PERP012]

June 11, 2018June 11, 2018 hipodromechicago, chicago house, chicago skyway, chicagodeep, compilation, damon lamar, dcee, dcook, hakim murphy, house, isoke, obsolete music technology, perpetual rhythms, specter, taelue, technoLeave a comment

Welcome to the Barbershop. This LP arrives with tunes from some of your favorite artists representing Chicago’s underground dance music sphere on the city’s bred label, Perpetual Rhythms. A wide variety of fresh cuts and genres are showcased, ranging from Deep House and Techno to Experimental and Ambient, providing an eclectic listening experience. The central theme of the LP is “things that relate to a barbershop”, topics such as hairstyles, hair products and humor. We invite you to stay a while and experience this sonic journey with an open mind.

VA – Dutch Wave: A History Of Minimal Synth & Cold Wave In The Netherlands [OS036]

June 8, 2018June 6, 2018 hipodromebeatnik love affair, cold wave, compilation, das ding, minimal synth, nine circles, onder stroom, s.m. nurse, störung, the actorLeave a comment

First chapter on Onderstroom digging into the history of Dutch minimal synth & wave. Comes in a gatefold sleeve with metallic finishing and pressed on 180gr. vinyl. Who needs a big, expensive recording studio with all those fancy high-tech machines that only make your weary head spin when you can do it all by yourself at home in your (teenage) bedroom? Way back in the early eighties all you really needed was an idea, quite a bit of guts and some rudimentary equipment. You could basically do whatever you wanted. The means were limited, yet the sky was unbounded. It was the time of the cold war nuclear threat, social unrest and mass unemployment but at the same time it was an era of infinite possibilities. The future was just around the corner. A lot of music that was being produced sounded just like that: a brave new world of sound and rhythm. Music was simply put on cheap cassettes, easily duplicated and swiftly distributed in limited quantities into the big world outside.

VA – Elsewhere MMDLXXVI [OYSTER10]

May 23, 2018June 29, 2022 hipodromecompilation, disco, elsewhere, experimental, föhn, kalahari oyster cult, khidja, konsistent, puma & the dolphin, rony & suzy, sofa, sofa elsewhere, velvet cLeave a comment

Compiled by soFa, the second installment in this recent series ties together eighteen artists, each venturing down their own musical path, to produce an audio atlas that transverses not only styles but also cultures and continents. Disparate musicians come from far and wide have been brought together across two slabs of beautifully mastered vinyl and, somehow, someway, found a jittering, skittering and juddering balance. Tracks from Puma & Dolphin and Khidja conjure up images of thick jungle scenes as tribal rhythm patterns hypnotise and mesmerise alongside shamanic samples. The heady exotic aromas and tactile textures of the East are on display with Zatua traipsing through baked dunes and deserts before arriving to the shamanic organized chaos that is Bear Bones, Lay Low. Darker moods loom and lurk, skulking in the alleys of Konsistent or in T-woc’s lurid tones. These duskier elements are countered by the brightness of Velvet C’s future disco sounds or the laser synthwork of Rony & Suzy. The buzzing Chicago inspired sounds of Weird Dust, the dawning pulses of Twoonky and the triumphal charges of Föhn blur the lines between mystical places and the cruel reality of the modern world.

VA – Hunchin’ All Night [RHMC001]

April 29, 2018August 30, 2023 hipodromeafrobeat, compilation, disco, house, hun choi, hunee, outernational, rush hourLeave a comment

Hunee presents a collection of his favorite dance floor cuts from the 70ties till modern times. Going from afro to disco to techno, ”Hunchin’ All Night” holds a wide spectrum of songs, tracks by the wonderful Boncana Maïga, Pat Thomas, Black Beat Niks, Kenny Larkin, Larry Heard, Mappa Mundi and many more. Hunee, aka Hun Choi, is a Korean Berliner who has been drawn in music since a very young age. After working in record stores and studying musicology he resided in Amsterdam, where he released his debut album Hunch Music. As a DJ he has always followed ‘a hunch’, which gave him wings to communicate the music he loves with crowds all over the world. With Hunchin’ All Night, Hunee expresses his relationship with the dance floor.

VA – Esterno Notte Jazz [FLIES031]

April 28, 2018April 26, 2018 hipodromeamedeo tommasi, armando trovajoli, compilation, four flies records, funk, jazz, piero piccioni, piero umiliani, robby poitevin, romano mussolini, silvano d’auriaLeave a comment

A volume entirely dedicated to the jazz atmospheres of the Italian movies from the ‘60s, including genres such as noir, melò, giallo, dark comedy and crazy ‘musicarelli’. With a great variety of styles and moods, jazz represented the perfect soundtrack for the Italian “nouvelle vague” season: an element of great innovation that radically disrupted the way traditional scores were conceived. No longer entrusted to cumbersome orchestras but light combos, with a fresh and dynamic sound. This record is the result of a research that focused on the soundtrack archive of RCA Italy and consists of songs that have remained unpublished until today. It demonstrates how Italian jazz benefitted from its relationship with the film industry, which provided a fertile ground to experiment and create to great musicians such as Piero Umiliani, Romano Mussolini, Amedeo Tommasi, Robby Poitevin, Piero Piccioni or Armando Trovajoli.