Two of the record labels I have trusted most in recent years are Tici Taci and Mighty Force. Prolific, run by people that care and are genuinely enthusiastic about new music and putting out releases that are always worth listening to. Here's one from each label here, one from the end of last year and one from the start of this one.
Mighty Force operates out of Exeter, the label that first brought Aphex Twin to the world's attention back in 1990, had a hiatus after 1999 and was then brought back to life by owner Mark Darby in summer 2019. Mark ran Mighty Force as a record shop and label in Exeter and then out of London- he's a veteran of the punk, free party and warehouse scenes and knows his stuff. Since Mighty Force's rebirth he's has released a slew of music- acid, techno, acid- techno, ambient, experimental and electronic- from Boxheater Jackson, Long Range Desert Group, Nylon Corners, KAMS, Golden Donna, Yorkshire Machines, AP Organism and David Harrow among others. The most recent release, out at the end of November last year and somehow slipping through my net was an album titled Leaves From The Brain by WRNR. Nine tracks and three remixes, all very much in the acid and techno area, utterly absorbing, gripping music that works equally well on headphones, loud in the car or at home. I imagine other listening scenarios work well too. It sucks you in, gradually. Opening tracks Behind The Black Trees and Came In From The City are slow paced, moody ambience and washes of synth, drums and acid synth lines eventually pushing their way in.
It ramps up though, the tempos increasing and the music moving from sofa to dancefloor. By track four, Be There, the drums are summoning and the acidic squiggles conjuring up lights and smoke and mirror balls.
Remember The Sun aptly lets the light in, warmer and lighter, the rhythms picking up again and an urgent bassline. Blink is a massive great big piece of acid- techno, everything firing off all over the place. Leaves From The Brain is available to listen and buy at Mighty Force, and highly recommended if you want something that'll fry your synapses a little and/ or wake the neighbours.
Tici Taci has been running now since 2013, and owner Duncan Grey celebrated last year with four compilation releases, each titled Decade, pulling together the cream of releases from his label's back catalogue- The Long Champs, Sons Of Slough, Uj Pa Gaz, Martin Eve, Jack Butters, Boy Division, Tronik Youth, Duncan himself, Fjordfunk, Mr BC and many others. Duncan himself says much electronic/ dance music is by nature ephemeral but over a ten year period he's put out music that has proved itself to be anything but. Tici Taci deals in chuggy, electronic grooves, dub- disco, house, disco, slo mo machine music with a human soul.
The first Tici Taci release of 2024 is a two track single by sLEdger called Popper, out today. Popper rides in on brightly coloured, disco ball synths and large, throbbing bassline that demands your attention. It comes paired with a second version, the Guitar Mix, which adds some echo, a spaced out vocal floating around, a lovely Bernard Sumner- esque guitar part and the sensation of taking off, travelling upwards and achieving orbit. Upbeat, astral, grooves, midtempo music for dancing to in communal spaces. There's a clip of Popper here and when it goes up at Youtube and Bandcamp I'll insert the links here.
There's a fifty minute mix by sLEdger at Soundcloud that you might enjoy, a seamless mix of his own music, but laced here and there with some Simple Minds and a bit of Aphex Twin, some wonderful New Order gone to ALFOS grooves, and ending with a very far from home edit of Well I Wonder by The Smiths. Listen here.
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