Italo Moderni presents a Xmas compilations with italo disco edits from Flemming Dalum, Hysteric, Adrian Marth, WLDV, Enzio Etchaberri and Louis Moorhouse, as Free Download on their bandcamp page.
Just before Christimas time, SIRS presents a collection of 16 disco edits of some knows and unknown tunes which he made whilst traveling in 2023. These are for free downloads and artists and song title are mentioned in the download file.
Since 2014, Brighter Days has been a part of the rich tapestry of Amsterdam nightlife – a semi-regular party promoting positivity and inclusiveness run by resident DJs Kamma and Masalo. On the back of the platform provided by the party, the duo has notched up a string of memorable club and festival appearances, a regular Brighter Days show on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM, and a memorable Boiler Room set streamed live from Dekmantel Festival. Now Kamma and Masalo have taken the next step and curated a Brighter Days compilation for Rush Hour, a collection that does a terrific job in offering up slept-on and unreleased gems – including a clutch of their own tried-and-tested re-edits – while also accurately representing the sound, style and ethos of the event that inspired it.
Sonic Transmutations is an extended compilation album celebrating over three decades of Clone Records. Marking the 31 years – which is coincidentally the national Dutch telephone code – the 8×12 inch box set draws together veteran talent and emerging iconoclasts, transmitting a frequency rooted the imprint’s signature blend of essential dance music while journeying off into territories unknown. In a constant state of unfolding, morphing across phases of matter, Sonic Transmutations purveys an elemental energy that stands in testament to Clone’s enduring legacy and explorations of sounds and structures.
Delodio label’s managing duo (Fafane and F.M), have been piling up tonnes of tapes and cassettes in their studio for many years. The tracks compiled here, by an as of now unidentified artist, come from one of these cassettes. One thing is certain, the artist who made this instrumental cosmic music loved / loves soaring synthesizers with arpeggiators and drum machines. Throughout the 8 tracks on this album, you get the impression of wandering through a planetarium or listening to an early 80s sci-fi movie soundtrack.
Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX is the second compilation for Eskimo Recordings compiled and curated by Berlin-based Musician and DJ Luca Venezia, aka Curses, to explore the darker side of club music. Spread across 3CDs and three 2LPs Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX features a mammoth 49 tracks that join the dots between early industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle, EBM legends like Nitzer Ebb and the post-punk experiments of people like Malcolm McLaren and Big Audio Dynamite with some of the most exciting artists around today, such as Boy Harsher, Nuovo Testamento and Years of Denial. Where the first Next Wave Acid Punx compilation was a personal journey for Luca, a lockdown inspired exploration of his record collection to find the thread that ran through the music that had soundtracked much of his life, DEUX is a celebration of that music let loose on the world, the thrill of music performed live, the smoke and strobe filled clubs you’ll hear it in and the artists you’ll find on those stages.
Akuphone, the French independent label founded in 2015 by Cheb Gero, presents the fourth Pay What You Want compilation, featuring tracks from Ak’chamel, Dada Black Sheep, Damo Suzuki, Fuji-Yuki, Kadef Abgi, Leviot and Tasos Stamou among other.
Electro is fundamentally modern. The coldness of the machine laid bare, a human attempt to express through circuits and wiring. Despite adhering to specific codes and norms, it is a sound that refuses to be pigeonholed. It is with this in mind that Shipwrec has collected a wealth of international talent to showcase their own vision of this bracing style. Serge Geyzel incises from the needle drop, the acid blistered “Still There” is sliced and quartered by scissoring snares. Endfest changes the trajectory with the modular warmth of “La Chouffe” before the lines change and Manasyt delivers the darkened angles and punishing percussion of “Row Hammer.” Andrew Red Hand maintains the shadowy synthlines of his predecessor, industrial undertones bubbling to the surface in distortion-soaked aggression. The mood shifts with Alpha Visitor. Crystalline chords are punctured by crisp drum patterns, stabbing keys and broad arcs unveil a world of sci-fi inspirations. The finale comes from Jauzas the Shining. Broad sweeps introduce “Shemale” before dripping drums are countered by samples and icy blasts. Modern machine music from six masters.
A new compilation explores the far reaches of the post-punk, experimental and electronic landscape in Switzerland on Senza Decoro: Liebe & Anarchia in Switzerland 1980-1990 curated by producer / DJ Mehmet Aslan. The first single is ‘Kabyl Marabù’ by Dr. Chattanooga & The Navarones. Based out of the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland in Chiasso, the band started out playing “rupturing, dispersed sounds,” before honing their sound into a melting pot of folk, rockabilly, punk, new wave, Latin and African influences and electronics. Hallucinatory and visionary, they used their own hybrid language within their lyrics, drawing on elements of English, Spanish, French, German and even Japanese. The band’s guitarist, Franco Ghielmetti aka F.J. de Bratislava, lived in Paris for a while and frequented a local hotel / bar run by the Kabyle people (a Berber community from Kabylia in the north of Algeria). Influenced by their music and the marabout business cards collected from shops in the neigbourhood, ‘Kabyl Marabù’ is a tribute to their Berber friends, singing the names of the marabouts and using words, noises and memories from a trip to Morocco.
#Coldroom103 is a Barcelona social media private club composed of truly fanatics of the dark sounds in all its subgenres. They’re the responsible for the curation / selection of the new edition of the acclaimed Aleatory Chaos series. You could expect a mix of different styles, from post-punk to industrial and from modern techno new beat to electro. It comes presented in double gatefold format in a one-off truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid black vinyl.
Oráculo Records long time partner in crime Carlos Grabstein rules Berlin based Miseria records. Started as a DIY cassette and digital label back in 2021, the imprint is clearly focused and specialized in ultra-rare synth based darkwave compilations. Now in 2023 Miseria joins forces with Oráculo Records to present a selection of his best releases to date in vinyl format for the very first time, presented in double gatefold format in a one-off truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid black vinyl.
Northern Nightmares returns for a third instalment. Alongside the usual suspects, Up North welcomes some new blood to the party. NN III also has the honour of lifting the veil from Parrish Smith’s latest project, METAL! From Antonio’s blistering basselines to Eindkrak’s twisted rhythms, this intoxicating compilation will shatter speakers and clench fists.
Hamburg-born and raised, Helena Hauff studied both Fine Art and Systematic Music Science. Her astonishing DJ and producing skills reflect this experience, as this juxtaposition shaped her approach to coaxing music from her machines. As a former resident of the esteemed Golden Pudel club, Helena has established herself as a selector who prefers playing vinyl, a producer who uses vintage hardware, and a virtuoso of seamlessly handling the crowd. Wherever she performs, her style is significant and recognizable—fierce, rough, and raw, yet steadfast and playful. All this is perfectly captured in Helena’s mix for the ‘fabric presents’ series. Nine tracks from Helena’s mix for fabric, cut to double vinyl by Matt Colton. The bundle includes her new single for fabric Records, ‘Turn Your Sights Inward’, as well as the exclusive ‘Alter Simus’ by Magda Rot. The killer remix by Autechre of D-Breeze’s ‘Crazy For Love’ from 1999, is here, and digitally for the first time; it was originally released on the MASK 500 compilation record from the legendary Skam Records’ limited-edition series.
Slow Motion Records long-standing member and renowned, Italian Dance Wave selector Giulia Gutterer compiles a collection of tracks illustrating her distinctive taste. With Iconic releases from label heads Fabrizio Mammarella and Franz Scala, along with genre-solidifying productions from the likes of Ma Spaventi, Altieri, Francisco and Tjor.
Nick Anthony Simoncino’s HotMix Records presents Obscure Underground Dreams Vol. VIII, a collection of 14 obscure underground house gems.
This compilation brings together for the first time diverse Peruvian musical groups that immersed themselves in dance music following the codes brought by the disco revolution. As a phenomenon of a new culture, the global dissemination of disco music had various variations and reformulations. The way it took root in Peru constitutes a fascinating yet underexplored history, despite the numerous recordings that came to light, mainly in the 1980s, running parallel to the boom of Peruvian tropical music, the emergence of a new pop rock scene, and the widespread use of synthesizers and electronic drums. And even though the groups were eclectic and moved across various musical genres, their dance music hits have now become cult pieces.
Höga Nord Rekords celebrates a decade of deep diving into both local and global pools of underground music. During this 10 year long period, Höga Nord Rekords has proven that music both has high cultural relevance as well as supplying instant kicks. Common for the label mates are the slightly screwed approach to genre and sound, with creativity and surprising takes on song structures and tonality. The label has from day one searched for, and signed creative people making music that is not for everyone. Höga Nords reach has and never will be the mainstream and the well-known, rather going deep and wide underground, reaching those who need music to survive and not just as a fund to pass time.
Pablo Bozzi inaugurates his new label, Second Sight, with the various artists ‘Unknown Prospect’. The title says it all: boundless and vast, Second Sight’s intent is to promote the talents of innovative producers who defy genres in the pursuit of their own idyllic aesthetic.
After some time of laying in the dark, the Warsaw-based Syntetyk label and club night series emits waves yet again with their very first cassette release by various friends from the local and global underground. Tape starts with a pathos ambient track by Mchy i Porosty, followed by a desert night drive dub by Rapha. The A side continues with a wavy melodic thumper by Olivia, accompanied by a nostalgic club diver by Czech maestro Exhausted Modern and a punkish fast paced hymn done by the Colombian prodigy – Filmmaker. The B side opens with Dogpatrol’s broken jungle track and carries on with Astma’s industrial dub-driven tune. Album slowly comes to a close with a nasty distorted wave by Dyktando, dystopian radiation emitter by Chino and ends with Mala Herba’s folk inspired epic ambient drone.
Orpheu The Wizard is a Dutch DJ and co-founder of the infamous but sadly now defunct Red Light Radio. Coming through for the fifth edition of the Sound Of Love International series – which showcases the eclectic musical tastes of the DJs who play at the Love International festival in Croatia – this fresh selectors’ comp hears Orpheu crate-fiddle through cosmic disco, Balearic pop, synthwave and ambient.
The Hipodrome Of Music 