“Ten years have gone by since I began this project called Sequencias. When I started it, all I had in mind was that I wanted to put out the best music that was available to me and that I’ll follow wherever it’ll take me. I’m very grateful to all the people that have been part of this journey and have trusted me with their art, without them there was no way this could have happened. Also, to everyone behind the scenes that have made it all possible, thank you. With this selection of tracks, I intend to give the catalog a breath of fresh air. All of them were previously released on vinyl-only between 2011-2021 so now you can enjoy them digitally as well. All the tracks in the compilation got remastered and the ones that were not included will remain only on vinyl.” JM De Frias.
EM Records again shines the spotlight on legendary Thai producer Surin Phaksiri in this second edition of his classic productions from the 1960s-80s. The first edition, released in 2019, focused on his innovative productions in the luk thung* style. This 2022 release features his stellar, glowing molam gems from the 60s-80s, drawn mainly from his golden era in the late 70s and early 80s. Surin Phaksiri is a highly esteemed figure in Thai music, rooted deeply in his native region of Isan in northeast Thailand, a producer with a deep respect for the traditional artistry of his culture, yet always moving forward, looking outward, listening ahead. The molam style of Thai music showcases the voice; indeed, the genre’s name means “expert singer”, and Thailand is blessed with an abundance of experts, singers with amazing control, grace, vitality and finesse.
Exploring hybrid music styles and outernational, borderless musical influences, DJ soFa’s Elsewhere compilation series continues with a sixth instalment, and the second to appear on Kalahari Oyster Cult. Always ahead of the tide, the Kalahari Oyster is a fine specimen when it comes to the discipline of next-level sound-snooping. Meticulously curated by Belgian sonic globetrotter soFa, Elsewhere XX showcases a dozen outstanding tunes, each dwelling in their own personal space between the imaginary worlds of post-kraut, DIY synth-punk and odd-pop ballads. Melting these genres with contemporary club music is the mission here. Doused in a thick fog of arcane machine talk, tribal rhythms and cosmic synths, Elsewhere XX is an invitation to escape the hall of LED-backlit mirrors that we’ve so mistakenly come to call our “reality”. Gathering artists from all corners of the globe – including Radio Hito, Anatolian Weapons, Eylul Deniz, Dame Area and Electronic Body Girl – soFa’s curation lays the groundwork for a unique and thoroughly immersive listening and dancing experience.
“Not So Whisky Tracks” comes, without any doubt, to present a matured vision of some of the usual suspects of the Romanian underground scene but also gathers new forces along the way. Enchanting soundscapes are here to take you in a dream like state, moving your mind and spirit through a complete adventure. The release is here to make you feel nostalgia and to make you dance. To make you feel adventurous and to make you wonder.
A collection of name-your-price/free download tracks compiled by Hard Fist, featuring edits by Arash & Quasar, Elfenberg & Stankfejs, Khemir, Lewandoski, Neskeh & Grogush and more.
Science Cult’s Occupants series is now on Vinyl for the first time and with version 1, assembling a global array of artists, presented as a double 12” Orange Color Vinyl LP. Astute observers may notice that there is more to the artwork than meets the eye. We find ourselves in a distant future where the remaining population of Earth is ruled by a mysterious A.I. that calls itself EVA. EVA has sent human-piloted research vessels to the farthest reaches of the galaxy to scout for potentially habitable planets and report any findings. These are the Occupants and they’re slowly awakening as EVA’s grip on their minds erodes.
Following the already classic Wamono A to Z trilogy, 180g presents an exceptional collection of jazz funk / rare groove tunes recorded in the mid-seventies at the Nippon Columbia studios by three giants of Japanese music: arranger Kiyoshi Yamaya, koto legend Toshiko Yonekawa and shakuhachi master Kifu Mitsuhashi.
Unknown Pleasures Records, Industrial Complexx and Oráculo records co-release a tribute to one of the most legendary band of the all time darkwave-goth scene. New versions running away from the obvious classics by an amazing palette of brilliant acts such as Kill Shelter, A Wedding Anniversary, Swesor Bhrater, Years Of Denial or Chris Shape among others. This is expected to be an ultra searched vinyl collectible item.
For the labels first release of 2022, Idlestates have curated a blend of no-nonsense EBM with grittier industrial electronics. The 13 track VA compilation welcomes a host of new artists to the label whilst continuing to showcase returning favourites such as Meshes, Magnum Opus, and MVQX. The album titled ‘The Semiconscious System’, arrives with several dancefloor ready anthems whilst allowing a meltdown through intervals of raw industrial sludge. The limited-edition cassette features; Gewalt, Autumns, Filmmaker, Disociacion, L/F/D/M, MVQX and Kirsten on side A. Whilst side B contains tracks from; Prophan, The Undertaker’s Tapes, Termination_800, Alpha Sect, Magnum Opus/Ravetop and Meshes.
The latest issue of “Internets most controversial underground e-zine” the Shadow Wolf Cyberzine issue#10 is out now on Nightwind Records. A 19 track ‘cover tape’ compilation with various artists. The term ‘cover tape’ stems from when magazines came with a cassette tape full of music or software on the cover back in the 1980s/1990s.
Tears For Fears compilation, 40 Artist, 4 tapes, booklet, engraved tapes, hand numbered, stickers and much more. After 4 years and more than 100 artists the saga reach his end, especial editions, effort and much more inside of a cassette tapes. Even Music.
Italo Moderni presents the final release of the year, a compilation featuring of 17 tracks from their 2021catalogue. Tracks signed by Adrian Marth, Antoni Maiovvi, Daniel Monaco, DJ Wedding, Flemming Dalum, Franz Scala, Jensen Intercepter, Marcello Giordani, Sophie du Palais and more.
After a long tradition of Italian Dance Wave compilations on Slow Motion, the time has come to let our darker (and most electronic) side shine. A new compilation, the first one on our international sister label Wrong Era: Sailor of Wrong Era, named after the infamous Berlin boat parties that became a true happening in Summer 2021. Eighteen tracks split into two volumes comprising the very own Wrong Era style, crafted by renowned veteran artists and upcoming international talents from all around the globe.
Dick Essilfie-Bondzie was all ready for his 90th birthday party when the Covid pandemic hit. The legendary producer, businessman and founder of Ghana’s mighty Essiebons label had invited all his family and friends to the event and it was the disappointment at having to postpone. That prompted Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb to propose a new compilation celebrating his contributions to the world of West African music. Essiebons Special features a selection of obscure workouts from some of the label’s heaviest hitters, including a 12-page booklet. But in the course of digitizing his vast archive of master tapes, Essilfie-Bondzie found a number of Afrobeat and Instrumental masterpieces tracks from the label’s mid-70s golden age that, for one reason or another, had never been released. Those songs are included here for the first time. Sadly Essilfie-Bondzie passed away before the compilation was finished. But his legacy lives on in the extraordinary music that he gave to the world in his lifetime.
Confused Machines presents the second instalment in the ongoing EnDM (electronic non-dance music) compilation series. On this collection of immersive recordings, created across multiple time zones and countries, by label members, friends and up-comers, we keep exploring the other side of Confused Machines. The side that is dedicated to different sonically aesthetics – from ambient passages to deep drone, manipulated radio transmissions, hypnotic soundscapes to obscured soundtracks, post-punk dub and kosmische. Tracks by Mise en Scene (chronica), Testkard 225 (Confused Machines), Rapha (Chateau Royal, Schrödinger’s Box), Max Schreiber (Confused Machines), Ian Martin (Bunker, Pinkman), Sacrestia Del Santissimo Sangue (charlios), Swiss arrow, OPTN (Confused Machines), Asaf Yahel, Nimrod Gershoni, Fabrikent (Confused Machines)
Always hot on the hard-as-steel plates and murky subterranean atmospheres, Public System turns in a haunted double package from the crypt. Spanning hi-octane indus bullets, half-baked mutant salvos and shadow-clad juicers from a host of reputed names and rabid underdogs, this new comp collates ruff’n’tuff joints from gritty techno don Container, genre-unbound explorer E-Saggila, Berlin’s electro arsonist Privacy, acid-spitting hydra DJ Loser x Penelopes Fiance, basement guerilla Yabboq Penuel alias Le Syndicat Electronique, neo-punk beat thrasher Crave, Yves Tumor collaborator and sine-wave crusher Anthem, expert circuit dissector Beau Wanzer, Liquid G as remixed by Mick Wills, Night Gaunt’s Lower Tar, occult machine funk preacher Maenad Veyl, DJ Chupacabras under new guise 110, soundwaves cross-pollinator DJ Richard, vibrant mood-scapist Gavilán Rayna Russom, as well as label boss Myn going ubiquitous with studio fellows Kluentah as Myntha, and NYC’s R Gamble under their Fade Accompli moniker. A much desirable feast of raw, unhinged, all-round spine-tingling jams for both inside and outside the club.
Following a definitive first volume jam-packed with forward-thinking musical talent working in the South African creative improvised music idiom, New Horizons returns with a fresh iteration of young artists who continue in the same tradition and tone. The compilation showcases recent recordings from 14 more leading lights in South Africa’s contemporary jazz scene: pianists Thembelihle Dunjana, Afrika Mkhize, Sibusiso ‘Mash’ Mashiloane, Blake Hellaby and Siphephelo Ndlovu’s The SN Project; saxophonists Sisonke Xonti, Muhammad Dawjee and Linda Sikhakhane; singer Spha Mdlalose; drummers Ayanda Sikade, Leagan Starchild and Tefo Mahola; and trumpeters Ndabo Zulu and Marcus Wyatt accompanied respectively by Umgidi Ensemble and The ZAR Jazz Orchestra. Together they form part of a vibrant, connected community charting new sonic territory that speaks to today’s troubled times while building on the country’s unique and proud jazz history.
Futureboogie Recordings is calling time after ten years with a 20-track compilation that sums up the sound of the lovingly curated Bristol label. From throbbing arps and noirish guitar twangs to errant analogue blips and ceaseless, rolling grooves, it’s a different sound to what you might have heard five years back on the Summer Riot IV compilation, and certainly a long way from the early days. Consider Futureboogie 10² an ode to evolution as much as a toast to all the great tracks and the family of artists that have passed through the wide-reaching Futureboogie sphere since before the label was even a sparkle in the disco ball.
Private Records presents „Let’s Go Into Space 6“. The collector series continues with another collection of scarce and unreleased 1980’s Italo Disco, Electro, Cosmic Disco songs.
Ten years ago, Acid Test began with a simple concept – each track the label released would make use of the Roland TB-303. Like a producer purposefully paring down their studio setup, or the continuous imperative within underground electronic music to reduce, this concept engendered creativity with the introduction of what seemed to be an aesthetic limit. However, the decade that followed, which now culminates in the triple-LP compilation Ten Years Of Acid Test, proves acid is limitless. That the Berlin-via-LA label would expand upon the classical conception of acid house and techno is no surprise considering the cast of characters that have come in fold over the past decade. Ten Years Of Acid Test gathers key material from the label’s extended family of acid acolytes. There’s that Vienna-via-LA maestro of sad, elegant acid Tin Man (Johannes Auvinen), whose “Afters Acid” is both a highlight within his prolific catalogue and a distillation of his symphonic approach to the 303. Detroit giants Erika and Marcellus Pittman, both of whom have released remixes on Acid Test, present their respective and singular Bass Line visions. Erika, the Interdimensional Transmissions lynchpin, crafts a dark, delicate take on broken techno on “Violet Fungus” while Pittman continues his cubist house explorations on “Unknown Species,” both tracks straying from typical acid lines in favor of the intricate textures achievable on the 303. This variation in approach applies to tempo as well. Irish-based master Lerosa, as well as Delsin affiliate VC-118A, delve into downtempo atmospherics. Meanwhile, Japanese deep techno virtuoso Wata Igarashi, SUED co-founder SW. (a regular on Acid Test’s leftfield sub-label Avenue 66) and Patricia (one-half of Acid Test act Ociya) use acid as a creative jumping-off point for complex melodic concepts. Wata layers an orchestra of synth-bliss drone overtop a squelchy bassline on “Ephemeral.” SW.’s “ChaIAnJAzzz” cycles through an array of dusted chords eventually landing in skewed, fuzzy rave nostalgia, anthemic chords held aloft by a wicked UK-flavour bass line. Patricia’s “Higher Still” explores dreamy, IDM-flavoured acid, cinematic synthlines counterbalanced by propulsive, squelching acid. Acid Test devotees will be thrilled at the return of various luminaries from the catalogue, including Achterbahn D’Amour, Skudge, AAAA, John Tejada and Donato Dozzy, whose memorable remix of Tin Man’s “Nonneo” from Acid Test 01 served as a kind of proof of concept for the label. There’s new blood too. San Francisco up-and-comer Sepehr makes his label debut with the excellent “Persian Acid Prince,” as does Andreas Tilliander’s beloved hardware techno project, TM404. Ten Years Of Acid Test is a valuable portrait of a group of artists linked by a dedication to innovation within acid, in line with the genre’s storied roots. Over ten years, Acid Test has gracefully made a case for the 303’s past, present and future, the story of acid continuing to unfurl in unpredictable, addictive patterns.
The Hipodrome Of Music 