V/A :: From The Dark Volume 1 (Cultivated Electronics)

From the Dark aims to explore the “spookier side” of machine music and the “various shades of darker electro tones.” It does that, and then some. Haunting spectral soundscapes are amplified by cold drums and industrial undertones. A double LP that will leaves speakers raw and hearts racing.

Winter is approaching. The blue of the Summer sky is bruising and there’s a chill entering the air. Cultivated Electronics is following the change in the season with a change of its own. From the Dark is the British label’s first full length album release in its eleven year history and collects some old friends with new talent.

The founder (Sync 24) links up with Spain’s Alienata to open the compilation. “Future Sound” is a rough edged vision of a smoke stained world. Shrill metallic noise dowses lost vocals in a disturbing and tense introduction. Following a similar line of attack are the Australian partnership Jensen Interceptor and Assembler Code with the static soaked “VVS.” The album globe-trots, picking out purveyors of electro from far and wide. Seattle’s 214 is next with the searing percussion of “Rock Scramble” before CE newcomer Rico Casazza breaks his machine drum and your speakers with “Gingerino.” A number of first timers feature on the compilation. Caught London Sleeping founder Stratowerx builds layers of reverb over a skeletal snare amongst the ghostly tones of “GmBHZolhoff.” Exterminador aka Mario Resta is another artist featuring for the first time. Fresh from a recent release on his self titled label, Exterminador Records, Resta carves a jagged work of gnarled grating noise, broken samples of piercing beats. Two Netherlanders are the final occupants of the second disc. Delta Funktionen needs little introduction, the Berlin based producer having more than a decade’s worth of experience on labels like Delsin and his own Radio Matrix. He delves deep into the misty underworlds that have inspired this collection of tracks, resurfacing with the murky oil-smeared “Hex.” Bulging basslines and terse rhythms combine is this hazy piece of twilight electronics. Fellow dutchman Boris Bunnik aka Versalife pursues a similarly chilling route with the eerie, yet elegant, “Infinite Velocities.”

From the Dark aims to explore the “spookier side” of machine music and the “various shades of darker electro tones.” It does that, and then some. Haunting spectral soundscapes are amplified by cold drums and industrial undertones. A double LP that will leaves speakers raw and hearts racing.

From The Dark Volume 1 is available on Cultivated Electronics. (Clone | Juno)