VA – Vinylized Vol​.​6 LP (4mg Records)

Here’s another treat for all the admirers of experimental music. Vinylized represents a special edition curated by 4mg Records, a non-profit label that releases underground electronic music on vinyl and cassettes. Today, I will talk about the sixth edition that gathers names such as Ján Boleslav Kladivo, Troi Boglesseoure, Imiafan, Richard Imrich, Royal Hungarian Noisemakers, Spoiledchild Rex, Robert Mash Tomcik, Didaktik Em, Flexible Juice, and Future Sound Of Petržalka. While I am familiar with some of these artists, there are some names that I am entirely unfamiliar with, but there lays the beauty of this compilation album. Each artist offers one composition, except Ján Boleslav Kladivo, who is present with two numbers.

Vinylized Vol. 6 provides a sneak peek at the contemporary experimental electronic music scene. Still, some artists are leaning towards regular music genres like synth-pop, electronica, techno, and downtempo. These ingredients are merged with avant-garde aesthetics, so each composition sounds more eerie, obscure, and dark. Besides some regular genres, you may stumble upon ambient, drone, musique concrete, experimental noise, harsh noise, and glitch. Each artist provides a different approach to avant-garde music, and that’s what makes this compilation fresh and unique. 4mg Records paid attention by gathering diverse artists who are offering something entirely new and uncharacteristic from what we heard before.

However, there are a couple of mistakes made by a sound engineer who mastered the tunes for this particular compilation. While these technics are going hand in hand for electronica, rave, techno, downtempo, and other artists who nurture similar sound, it seems like the other portion of the artists remained suppressed by these technics. Experimental noise/harsh noise artists lost their power in this mix, which is one of the significant characteristics of the genre. Perhaps the different approach during the mastering process would fit better. Other than that, the entire compilation sounds like a charm. Vinylized Vol. 6 will probably suit all those fans of electronic music who’re searching for a more experimental side of the genre. However, there a couple of treats for fans of harsh noise, experimental noise, avant-garde music. Vinylized Vol. 6. is available on the 4mg Records Bandcamp page or on the Unsigned Bandcamp page.