#electronic music

[thisisrealy2kok]

Dance Division - Dream Dance 20 (2001)

[aleprouswitch]

Aphex Twin by Katja Ruge, 1996.

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Cottage Industries (A Neo Ouija Compilation) 2000 IDM / Leftfield

Got into some excellent y2k-era IDM today with this first installment from a long-running series called Cottage Industries that was put out by UK label Neo Ouija. Here we have a nearly spotless collection of mindbending stuff that's sure to leave any IDM junkie feeling blissed-out, just like the iconic android in the armchair from the cover of Artificial Intelligence, the foundational comp from Warp Records that really put IDM on the map in the first place all the way back in 1992 😌. Neo Ouija seems to go for that super chill, emotively melancholic, and solitudinous kind of vibe, and this comp here, which appears to have been just the label's fourth release, serves as a great introduction to their sound from when they were just getting started.

And ultimately, it's really hard for me to pick total favorites among this set, but I feel like I need to talk about a couple in particular: one, Quinoline Yellow's "Eythyl Maltol," and two, Clatterbox's "Power Up."

Quinoline Yellow's "Eythyl Maltol," a title that makes reference to a flavor-enhancing chemical compound, is the debut track from a guy named Luke Williams, who, quite possibly because of this very tune, would go on to showcase his talents the following year on the much more well-known Skam label. "Eythyl Maltol" is a slow, head-nod-inducing groove, with rhythmically glitchy stutters and some beautifully layered, otherworldly synth work to go along with it all. And among debut tracks for IDM artists, it probably ranks towards the top; a total unknown guy making a name for himself rather quickly with this one.

And Clatterbox's aptly titled "Power Up," which liberally incorporates zappy 8-bit videogame sounds, feels like the track with the most mass appeal here. Typically, IDM is made for a post-club, home listening environment, but I feel like you could totally get away with playing this one at a nerdy hipster bar-type setting. A bit more uptempo and far more conventionally structured than the rest of these tunes, this electro-leaning track could maybe serve as a solid nugget in order for you to introduce your friends to this whole amazing genre of underground electronic music; before, y'know, you start to melt their brains with some of the more abstract stuff 🫠.

And if you pair this album with the also excellently chill and organically crunchy IDM double-disc comp, Putting the Morr Back in Morrissey, which was put out the same year by German label Morr Music, then you've got yourself a few hours worth of some ultra-satisfying and relaxational, turn-of-the-millennium IDM fare there 😎.

Highlights:

Phonem - "Bioluminescence" Bauri - "Fleck Yck" Plod - "Aptaxi" Geiom - "Reihl (94)" Penfold Plum - "Cute Toy" Geiom v Infant - "Multistories 2" Quinoline Yellow - "Eythyl Maltol" Yunx - "Nemo-Sis" Clatterbox - "Power Up" Consumer Durable - "Cool Dry Places"

[typhlonectes]

[chasedbybuildings]

Wasp synthesizer, 1978. Made by Electronic Dream Plant

[womenofnoise]

Caterina Barbieri playing the wedding ceremony of Kali Malone and Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O)))), Wyoming, USA, July 2023.

[legendarytragedynacho]

Geoff Barrow and Beth Gibbons - Portishead

[bleacherheart]

"I chain-smoke the way I liked to kiss you"

[thisisrealy2kok]

Hypnotic - In To The Mix II - The 2nd Coming (1998)

[cassette-amateur]

_1984

[aleprouswitch]

Herbie Hancock trying to figure out how to fix a mixer, c. early 80s.

[soundsofthameltingpot]

velocity : design : comfort. by Sweet Trip (2003)

electronic

[nicoooooooon]

Björk photographed by Nobuyoshi Araki for the remix album ‘Telegram’ (1996).

[yellodisney]