36 / Weaponised Serenity 9128-3(6)

As a home for collective listening moments, the 9128.live label encourages artists to push their own creative boundaries by presenting new, experimental approaches. This ethos has been encapsulated perfectly by Dennis Huddleston with his latest album as 36 and the third release for 9128.live.

Weaponised Serenity was originally performed as part of the 9128 2-year anniversary show, as 36 reflects on his rave upbringing, creating what can only be described as an ambient take on the early 90's UK hardcore/jungle sound. 

36’s signature, cinematic ambient music is often instantly recognizable to his most die-hard followers, even when he is found exploring techno under his SYNE alias. With this one-off set, aptly titled, Weaponised Serenity, Dennis has created an entirely new, surprising and innovative approach to his already beloved creative output. 

The 9128 label aims to document significant live performances by artists that previously performed on the 9128.live platform. With recordings initially created for a singular collective listening moment, and often as part of a festival or takeover weekend, label recordings will re-present this music for further listening across various formats that best suit each release.

Now available as a limited edition Cassette Box (white box with metallic foil print) and pro-dubbed Cassette (100 copies), and digital edition. The album will hit streaming platforms in a couple of weeks.

Available on Bandcamp

ASIP - (Live vinyl mix on 9128.live, 9/25/2021)

It's hard to dedicate good amounts of time to listening to physical records, so when I had a few hours this weekend, I decided to play some of my most recent records that have been piling up on my "un-filed" shelf (everyone has one of those, right? just-in, unorganized, unplayed, etc?!)

I hit the record button without any destination in mind and ported it into 9128.live (as I often do in these ad-hoc instances) and set forth with no agenda.

It starts a little unsure in style, as I try to feel out where I want to take it, and a few dodgy transitions for not knowing the records too well yet, but the universe quickly pushes me into an IDM/synth-heavy world.

I rarely post mixes off the cuff, as I normally obsess over the details and let the moment be the moment, but figured this one might be a good one to explore given the amount of recent LP material on Bandcamp. So here we are, warts-and-all. Enjoy!

Listen on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, or the ASIP Podcast.

astrangelyisolatedplace · ASIP - (Live vinyl mix on 9128.live, 9/25/2021)

Download

Tracklist (by album/LP) + Bandcamp links (where possible)

1. Mu tate - Let Me Put Myself Together [Bandcamp]
2. Tapes - Silence Please [Bandcamp]
3. Anatolian Weapons - Mantili EP [Bandcamp]
4. Saphileaum - Transpersonal Experience [Bandcamp]
5. Niko Tzoukmanis - Hope Is The Sister Of Despair [Bandcamp]
6. Still In My Arms: Compiled by Bayu and Moopie (Boc Scadet - Sel Alterat) [Bandcamp]
7. Loess - Totems [Bandcamp]
8. Joe McBride & Jack Lever ‎– 21.12 / 30.03 [Discogs]
9. James Bernard/Influx - Reminiscence [Bandcamp]
10. Brabuhr Q-ih (Whylie - RDM17-05) [Bandcamp]
11. Helium - The Works E.P. [Bandcamp]
12. Niko Tzoukmanis - Hope Is The Sister Of Despair [Bandcamp]
13. Brabuhr Q-ih (Whylie - ABT22-01 [Bandcamp]
14. Ochre - An Eye to Windward [Bandcamp]
15. Nadia Struiwigh - Pax Aurora [Bandcamp]
16. Jo Johnson - Weaving [Bandcamp]
17. Anatolian Weapons / Hector Zazou with Laurie Anderson - An Afterthought / Into Your Dreams [Bandcamp]
18. Anushka Chkheidze - Halfie [Bandcamp]

Now available: Markus Guentner / Extropy (ASIPV032)

If you’d have told me back when listening to Pop Ambient’s early versions, we’d be the future home of three Markus Guentner LPs…well.

Looking back, and with this new addition, I believe Markus’ trilogy will be considered a future defining set of ambient works.

Markus Guentner returns with his signature expansive ambient world-building, and the third concept album on A Strangely Isolated Place, titled Extropy.

Extropy marks the final chapter in an accidental triptych of Astronomy-related exploratory albums on A Strangely Isolated Place. From the creation of the Earth and the Moon in his debut album on ASIP, Theia; to the relationship the Earth holds with the greater Galaxy in the follow-up album, Empire (2018). To now, Extropy, and the indefinite growth of the life we hold so dearly. 

A pseudoscientific prediction that human intelligence and technology will enable life to expand in an orderly way throughout the entire universe, the idea of Extropy has never been more relevant to the pace of today’s world. In what is a significant moment of reflection on the world we live in today, Markus has found comfort in what some may call his early, classic sound. Taking everything he has learned over the years, with ambitious collaborations tabled this time around, Markus has channeled a purer approach to production and the instruments chosen. The result is arguably his most powerful, atmospheric and reflective album to date. 

Life, technology and the human race is changing at an exponential rate, and amongst Extropy’s most absorbing moments, the music encourages a deep need to reflect on where we have come, and where we are today.

Visit the release page for all links to buy and listen

isolatedmix 113 - Sunju Hargun

We’ve fallen a little behind the monthly schedule with isolated mixes recently, but that’s mainly because the artists lined up have been working hard on some very special journeys for us all. Getting back into the swing of things now, our latest mix comes from an artist who I got to know through a small online group that obsesses over Trance music, and ultimately helped us bring to life our recent Rapture Network 9128.live takeover, helping organize and provide the brilliant logo/identity for the festival and t-shirts.

When he and I are not obsessing over all types of ambient and psychedelic trance music, Sunju Hargun has been busy launching his new label, Siamese Twins Records, which since 2020 has not only been an outlet for some of his own work, but also served as an introduction to many pan-Asian artists through compilations such as Kāthā, and Vinyan, presenting a spectrum of “Eastern psychedelia”. The compilations represent a great starting point for many new artists stemming from a local scene, and one that I am excited about digging deeper into through both Sunju and his new label curation.

“A hypnotic sound bath in which tribally-rooted ambient morphs into one entity. Drones, live instruments and esoteric textures are transformed into a contemporary Kāthā interpretation.”

Coincidentally, during my trip to Hidden Sounds record store in London, I had picked up a remix EP from Sunju’s label, that delved into the slightly trancier side of his tastes (and label). It was a fleeting visit where the shop owner Alex loaded me up with so many nice bits, that I had hardly stopped to look at the artists and labels in my bag and was purely grabbing stuff on sound - always an exciting tactic for exploring new records when you get them home and realize you ended up supporting someone you enjoy based on music alone.

It’s with great pleasure to have Sunju behind the decks for this isolatedmix and a get peek into his own influences that undoubtedly shape his own productions, mixes and label output…

Hi Sunju, can you give us an intro to your musical upbringing?

I’m of Indian descent, born and raised in Thailand with some roots from Japan. I find love and happiness in connecting with people through music. I co-run the Siamese Twins records record label focusing on psychedelic sounds from the East. I’m also a part of the Karma Klique collective organizing parties in nature across Thailand with proceeds going to local social causes.

I was surrounded by lots of music when I was young. Lots of people whose music is sought after in the local Thai jazz/blues wave were my father’s friends, and some of that music was connected to psychedelic rock as well. Around that time was also another side of music which was an integral part of my life, came from my mother’s passion for Indian art and traditional Hindu soundtracks from the early 60’s to 70’s.

We are both deep Trance fans at heart - but how did you get into the ambient side of music?

At the time I was living in Shanghai, my friends would host intimate house sessions every other weekend to experience ‘trip’ gatherings with the music we felt connected to and grow our little prog-trance family by inviting other ravers we met along the way. Most of us were music nerds of the group that had to contribute to certain hours of the night to share our playlists, and I was mostly in charge of sunrise. Although I was not familiar with the term Ambient back then, instead referred to it as Reprise/Chillout'. Having the pleasure to breathe through the early 2000’s Prog era, I was heavily inspired by compilations from Global Underground, Renaissance & Producers like Satoshi Tommie, Spooky, Starkid, Leama, and Rabbit in the moon are just a few to mention that were a gateway to falling deeply in love with it.

Your new label Siamese Twins Records has made an excellent start, can you tell us a bit about the approach?

Thank you so much, very happy to receive great support and words from you about it.

It has been very community-driven as it's built upon mutual connections and friendships we made over the last five years running events with Karma Klique. We would invite artists from across the Asian region that gained our interest and with a similar ethos. There is a lot of mainstream electronic music here, but luckily there are also a lot of amazing artists, event organizers, record stores and labels that stubbornly do their own thing with a pure love for the art. While connecting with them often music they were working on was shared which we felt deserved a good home. This is also how we connected with Yoshi Nori who runs our sister label 禁JIN from Taipei and is one of the four co-founders of the Siamese Twins label.

The idea from the start was to embrace Asian identity and focus on the more psychedelic sound spectrum which can be both slow as fast. We release ambient, curated as long trips, compilations, but are also releasing trippy dancefloor orientated material ideally to be played at sunrise during a forest rave. We like to mix it up, stay weird. We care a lot about the total process from start to finish with lots of love and attention to detail. We approach it multi-dimensional and a way to have a dialogue with other expressions of Asian culture which shows in Taychin Dunnvatanachit’s artwork approach.

We hope to keep on building on these fundamentals. It’s very much our own thing and approach.

What is the ambient music scene like in Thailand? How do you try and stay connected locally?

Yes, Bangkok is a special city that I'm happy to call home.

The ambient movement is still quite young, but in the past year alone there might have been a spark of interest towards it being more appreciated by locals mainly because of spending plenty of time at home during the lockdown period. There is also a wave of music makers and collectives popping out at the moment who are heavily promoting it - A wonderful shift, with the hope that it earns a feature in festivals and gatherings on the horizon. The community of quality electronic music in Bangkok is tightly connected through record stores like More Rice and Zudrangma that promote a wide variety of world and electronic music. With the addition of a brand new local online-based radio called “BCR” that has managed to bring artists and friends to share music together during this time when clubs aren’t allowed to open.

You're a great visual artist too, is your music and art symbiotic in approach?

I would like to think there is an underlying secret connection towards some form of visual identity with my approach to music. In the past, I experienced moments of having these images built from dreams that became starting points to an idea of creating a track. Does not happen often, but when it does - I welcome it!

The mix feels very uplifting, especially near the end. What role does ambient music play in your life at the moment?

Ambient music helped me to understand sound layering in a whole different perspective. Over the past two years, I've especially embraced more experimentation in the studio and introduced sounds from various cultures rooted in Asia. This helped a lot to push creative boundaries. When possible I try to spend time learning more about sound’s behavior as well and how daily noise from our surroundings can impact us. Keeping my eyes & ears wide open to observe the smallest details.

Where was the mix prepared and what is the idea behind it?

The mix was recorded at home at approximately 10:30 am on a rainy morning. The concept behind the mix was to include tracks that are influencing me at the moment. I'm finding myself drawn towards music from Japanese producers more and more these days and wanted to share some of those discoveries alongside other favourite labels and promos from friends. The mix itself carries a story that feels fluid with a lot of focus on space, texture, and a hint of nostalgic memories. I hope the listeners will enjoy it and feel the same way.

~

Listen on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, or the ASIP Podcast.

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 113 - Sunju Hargan

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Adi - Haz
02. Androne - Signs of life
03. Yagya – Old Dreams And Memories
04. Yumi Iwaki - Sleepy Fog
05. Pataphysical - Moonlit Picnic
06. Vivian Koch - Who
07. Lemna - Moments In Eternal Recurrence
08. Celestial Trax - New Masters of Psychedelic Ambience
09. Avsluta - Meditation 16
10. BLNDR - Callopsis
11. Vivian Koch - Closed (Yosemite Version)
12. JakoJako - Ochros
13. Only Thingz - Eyes Wide Open
14. Kosei Fukuda - Sky Clair (Uchi Remix)
15. Underworld - Dark & Long (Most 'Ospitable)
16. Talvin Singh - Butterfly

~

Sunju Hargun | Soundcloud | Bandcamp | Instagram | Bandcamp (Siamese Twins)

Introducing: the 9128.live label

When 9128.live launched two years ago, I envisioned a simple outcome - a place for me (selfishly) to tune in to music that I knew I would love, at any moment, be it at my computer, car or kitchen. If anyone else enjoyed it, that would be a brilliant bonus, but I had no idea it would end up where it is today; a little corner of the internet for some like-minded friends to collectively listen together, and present music (during a tough two years which undoubtedly helped us come together). And now a fledgling record label.

“The 9128 label aims to document significant live performances by artists that previously debuted on the 9128.live platform. With recordings initially created for a singular collective listening moment, and often as part of a festival or takeover weekend, label recordings will re-present this music for a greater audience across various formats that best suit each release.”

This weekend we launched our very first release by the brilliant Jo Johnson & Hilary Robinson, with a live recording originally aired for the Calma takeover in April 2021. It’s a spectacular piece of music that progresses through simple, expressive movements revolving around Jo’s synthesizer manipulation and Hilary’s piano. The album is now available on (the new 9128.live) Bandcamp.

Photo by Emile Facey

It was organic in evolution, seeing artists prepare spectacular live sets specifically for airing on the platform. And so it was inevitable I would find my nature wanting to present some of this music to the world once more, be it on ASIP or otherwise. So, taking inspiration from concepts like the legendary John Peel Sessions, or the WXAXRXP collection, I decided to create something similar, where otherwise lost or archived live recordings are once more presented to the world as part of a greater curatorial, and the physical (or digital) formats they deserve.

In contrast to the (now big sister!) A Strangely Isolated Place label, I wanted something which didn’t obsess over the extended storytelling around the release too much. There’s no right or wrong way to present the music you personally believe in, but for 9128.live it really is about the moment, and re-presenting/documenting it. To me, it’s less about portraying a greater concept or narrative, especially as artists often don’t turn up to play live with a title or concept in mind. some are just jamming out! Therefore, the artwork for the 9128.label will remain generic with a simple and minimal approach similar to the main 9128 site. It remains to be seen what may deviate or develop over time, but I will likely keep vinyl as black and other things simple in presentation. We will not be strict in format approach and will choose a format that best suits each release, be it digital, vinyl, tape or CD. (This is also, as much for respect to the current vinyl situation too, which is clogging up the world and the ASIP label pipeline).

Musically, we already have some amazing releases lined up that look back across two years of takeovers. Not to give too much away right now, but the very first live performance on the platform will make up release #2 (and is off at press), and some unexpected deviations in style from familiar artists will be presented. This is an element I am particularly excited about; being an outlet for artists to present one-off works that they might not feel comfortable adding as part of their regular output or having the freedom to be more experimental (because it was a one-off live recording and not a new alias or something that needs overthinking).

As a result of this approach, the label will not adhere to any specific musical genres - just performances that have appeared on 9128.live before (of course, the curation for the takeovers is often contained, so naturally, there will be a focus). And due to the often extended nature of the live recordings, many will likely not be found on streaming services that cannot accommodate such.

Also not forgetting that we have a simple subscription as part of 9128.live which has enabled us to pay fees to artists to re-upload their sets for an exclusive period. For now, I see this as being pivotal to how 9128.live will continue to evolve, as we are able to present more extensive recordings to subscribers that may also include DJ sets and recordings with previously released/exclusive material. Going forward 9128 subscribers will get a discount on the label, should you wish to join and help support us and the artists this way. The label will focus on all-new material for a greater audience.

On hindsight, the 9128.live label evolution was a similar intention to how ASIP originally began; a simple intention to capture music I enjoyed, a place to revisit time and time again to document my listening adventures. And where both started out as small (maybe self-serving!) ideas, both seem to have grown to appeal to a greater audience, which I am extremely thankful for. Especially to the artists who believe in these new ventures enough to trust me with their music and present it to the world.

A big thanks to Jo Johnson, Hilary Robinson, Rafael Anton Irisarri and Molly Smith who have helped get the 9128 label off and running.

See you in the chat.