Max Wurden

2023 Label Compilation (mixed by todos)

 

A showcase of individual tracks from our 2023 label releases and a special continuous mix of select tracks from todos.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition since our first annual compilation release in 2019, and each year I find it tough to separate tracks from their album releases in this way. We pride ourselves on delivering an album format, and more often than not, specifically a conceptual album format that works best as a whole. So I appreciate the artists who allow us to separate their musical children for this worthy annual exercise. It’s so easy to skip over releases nowadays - at no fault of anyone but the pace of life and technology today - and so this compilation not only helps us reflect on the year gone by, but also ensures anyone new to the label, or dipping in and out over time, can get a taste of what we have proudly spent our time and passion presenting this year. Please take the time to visit each respective artist's release to realize its full form. 

Not only is separating tracks from an album format a formidable task, but finding a way to combine them in one seamless mix is even more so. Once again, we’ve asked our esteemed todos to provide the continuous mixed version. Creating a flow using a limited predetermined set of music across a variety of styles, moods, and tones is an almighty feat. But no-one does it better than todos. Here, he is left to his own devices as we have grown to admire time and time again, using snippets and samples from many of the releases, but focusing on delivering a long-form mix that stands on its own, using nothing but the ASIP 2023 library of music. 

It was a year that introduced new faces to the label with Iceland’s Gunnar Jónsson Collider providing a spectacular audio-visual experience in S.W.I.M, and welcoming Germany’s Mary Yalex who explored imaginary worlds of fascinating texture and melody. We fulfilled a long-awaited foray into more classic trance styles through the exciting Mikkel Rev, and finally presented the magical drums of Alex Albrecht’s heart-warming soundscapes. Max Würden continued his foray into expansive sonics with Landmark, and Quiet Places returned with their second Volume of psychedelic long-form trips into the unknown. One Million Eyes returned with more compelling genre-defiant magic, and OKRAA brought his live edits of his debut album 1994 to life once more. 2023 will also be remembered as the year Brock Van Wey’s Earth House Hold project came both full circle, and full stop. The last track title on this compilation coincidentally represents the perfect swan song for a project that has found a home on ASIP for the past five years. 

Thanks for all your support, comments and encouragement this year. We have an exciting 2024 lined up.

Available as Name Your Price on Bandcamp

Play the mix on Soundcloud

Continuous mix by todos: soundcloud.com/djtodos. Full mix tracklist differs from the digital compilation tracklist featuring additional edits and samples.

Art and photography by ASIP featuring a photograph of ‘The Landmark’ sculpture by Enrique Martínez Celaya.

For album credit and production details, please see each release page.

 

Max Würden / Landmark (ASIPV036)

 

We are very pleased to welcome back Germany’s Max Würden, and his second album on the label, Landmark.

Following his beloved ‘Format’ in 2019 - “the absolute masterpiece deserves to award Würden a place among the likes of Eno, Laraaji, Jenssen, Budd and Roach” by Igloo Mag, Landmark picks up his abstract ambient atmospheres and intricate sound design once more. One '“for the heads”, as I might say, as Max’s music is hard to describe without over-generalizing as an ‘ambient’ album. Max’s music just hits differently and comes from a place of authenticity, without trends or gimmicks.

Landmark sees Max Würden combine and integrate various external forces into his usual studio production process. Inspired by many paintings of powerful landscapes found in thrift stores throughout his hometown of Cologne, Max set out to bring various elements together as one whole over time - allowing an organic process of experimentation and collage. 

Short phrases of music and field recordings that weren’t originally meant for each other were realized in isolation, such as sounds from his Klangkiste (sound box) built by Max himself, guitars, an old out-of-tune Schimmel piano, and samples of early jazz and classical music. These separate elements eventually, over time, connected and came together as Landmark - a recognizable moment and formation. 

The collage of elements found throughout ‘Landmark’, expresses a number of different vantage points from which to gaze and focus your attention. From the more storied and instrumental-based ‘Reprise’ and ‘Range’, to the wide-scape visions of ‘Summiteer’, or the off-world portrayals in ‘Stereo A’ and ‘Stereo B’. Max can be found depicting a montage of intricately detailed moments that invite you to stand and ponder their storied creation, be it emerging from found sound, synthesizers, guitars, samples, or simply his own production sorcery. 

Landmark is available on gatefold 2LP gold vinyl and digital, mastered by Rafael Anton Iirsarri and featuring original photography by Max Würden, and artwork by Noah M / Keep Adding. There is also be a very special limited framed painting edition (10), created by Max, available to purchase.

See the release page for all links to listen and buy


 

ASIP - Label Mix for Diamondstein's Nightshift on NTS radio

 
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I was honored to be invited to compile a mix for Diamondstein’s regular NTS Radio show, Nightshift, which features music aligned to its aesthetic of: “Cold winds, empty streets, ambient techno and moody experimental music for night time noir moments.” Always a brilliant listen and a treasure trove of previous guests’ slots to check out.

Aired earlier this month, the mix is now uploaded to the NTS site for you to listen to again. I chose some more storied, dark pieces from the label to compile a little showcase, featuring six unreleased/upcoming ASIP tracks (not shown in the tracklist on the NTS site).

The ASIP mix is for the last hour, with Diamondstein for the first hour.

Big thank you to Diamondstein for the invite.

Listen on NTS


Tracklist:

01. I405 Field Recording
02. Unreleased
03. 36 - Soul Boundary
04. Blinkar från Norr - Manifestation of the Unconscious
05. Unreleased
06. Quiet Places - Track 5
07. Max Würden - Constituent Elements
08. Gadi Sassoon - Moto Perpetuo
09. Merrin Karras - Crevasse
10, 11, 12, 13……

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ASIP artist playlist: Other Strangely Isolated Places

 
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You may or may not already be a subscriber to the ASIP Currents.fm page where we post goodies every now and then, but either way you can access this playlist featuring music by ASIP artists that appears on other labels, other monikers, etc. Check it out and hit play from the top - moving from experimental and ambient through to more electronic realms from the ASIP artist crew, new and old.

Visit or subscribe to ASIP on Currents.fm

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ASIP 9128.live Takeover

 
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*Updated with mixes from the event below*

We’re taking over our radio station 9128.live this weekend with a marathon live stream of exclusive music, DJs and live sets.

When:

Saturday March 21st, beginning at 10am PST (5pm GMT), running all the way until:-
Sunday March 22nd, ending at 9pm PST (4am GMT).

Why:

Firstly, because of what is happening in the world surrounding the Coronavirus. Most of us are at home (or should be!) And as a result, many shows are cancelled (including our first label showcase in London). So not only do we want to replicate that event online, we want to try help raise some money for a good cause, support more artists and labels, and offer some solace to everyone staying at home. We will be adding links to donate to a chosen charity during the event, should listeners want to give something back and help those in need as a way of saying thank you. We have also compiled a Buy Music Club list of all the artists featured in the program for you to support the featured artists directly.

Who:

The weekend programming will feature a mixture of live sets, new material and exclusive music to 9128 from the below artists/labels. Check the schedule tab for set times. Featured artists are listed in alphabetical order.

36 (Live) Dennis will be compiling a very special “Slow The F@ck Down” set featuring edits of his own material.

Benoît Pioulard (Exclusive material)Tom has prepared a very special hour of music containing guitar, voice, harmonium, piano, OP-1 & Moog synthesizers, and magnetic tape alongside several pieces taken from the subscriber-only album "Underwritten".

Bluetech (DJ/Live set)Evan has prepared a special hybrid DJ/live set featuring his own material along with tracks from an upcoming compilation he has compiled.

Certain Creatures (Live set)Mysteries of The Deep, Oliver Chapoy presents a rare live set.

Damm (Album Premiere)Joel Mull will be reviving his electronica alias Damm, set to be released on ASIP soon and will be playing tracks from the forthcoming ASIP album.

Digitonal (Live)A rare live set from Mr Andy Dobson of Digitonal

Field Records / AHPR & Sébastien (DJ set)Debut of a live set by Field Records’, AHPR & Sébastien taken from Organik Festival in 2018, Taiwan.

From Overseas (Album Premiere) First listen of the new album ‘Home’ upcoming on Past Inside The Present.

Gadi Sassoon (Live set)Set to release his debut album on ASIP this year, Gadi will be performing live from his studio amongst locked-down Italy. Check out his work here.

Grant Aaron (DJ set)The Mysteries Of The Deep label boss will be providing an exclusive DJ mix titled Shelter.

Isaac Helsen (Live set)The PITP co-founder and producer will be presenting new and improvised material alongside unreleased music.

James Bernard (Live set) James has been preparing a very special ambient-acid set, and will debut it here on 9128.

Jamie McCue (Live DJ set)The Silent Season label boss will be providing an exclusive Live DJ mix straight from the Silent Season Forest.

Jane Fitz (Live DJ set)Jane was set to close out our London event, and will complete her set instead from her studio with her entire vinyl collection to choose from.

Max Würden (Exclusive material)
Max will be presenting a piece of soundtrack work, mixed and edited with samples taken from the accompanying film ‘Derailed’.

Merrin Karras (Live + Album Premiere) The new Merrin Karras album is set to drop on Monday 23rd, and Brendan will be playing live with music from the album.

Multicast Dynamics (Live + exclusive DJ mix)We’ll be debuting a special previously unheard 2-hr live DJ mix from Samuel alongside as well as a live set straight from his studio.

Olga Wojciechowska (Live set)An extended, previously unheard live set by the ASIP composer.

Purl / Ludvig Cimbrelius (Live + exclusive material)
Ludvig will be making two appearances, the first with a preview of upcoming Purl material, and the second with a special raw piano live set.

Quiet Places (Album Premiere) Dennis White, Charlie May and Dave Gardner (Quiet Places) were set to debut at our London show. We’ll get a glimpse of their upcoming ASIP material this weekend.

r beny (Live set)A special live set from the admired synthesizer master.

Thesis Project (Exclusive material)Two hours of exclusive material from The Thesis Project catalog.

todos (Live DJ set)An admired DJ on ASIP for years, todos has soundtracked some of our finest journeys. Here, he will be spinning vinyl from his extensive collection in the UK to kick off the weekend program.

Tom Middleton (DJ/Live set)A very special DJ set featuring exclusive Global Communication tracks to close out our program.

Warmth (DJ set)Agus, producing as Warmth but also the man behind the Archives and Faint labels has compiled a mix full of exclusive label material including tracks from SVLBRD, Robert Farrugia, Powlos, Lauge, Christina Giannone, Purl and Javier Marimon

William Selman (Album Premiere)The Mysteries Of The Deep artist will be debuting his new upcoming album.

ASIP (Live DJ set)Lastly, A Strangely Isolated Place label boss ASIP will be spinning test-presses and unreleased label music.