We’re at number… 7! Thanks to Mix Mag to include Ultramajic in their end of year list with the best record labels of 2015.
Jimmy Edgar has always been a purveyor of the weird and wonderful. His recent In Session mix showcased a mystical array of fierce house, techno and mutant club tracks and it comes as no surprise that the majority of tunes featured were from his Ultramajic label.
Despite only being active since 2013, the imprint has already established itself as one that only deals in the unique and diverse and the last 12 months has shown off an abundance of style and substance. Edgar and Machinedrum reunited for a new Jets EP, Danny Daze turned in some of his wildest tracks yet on the ‘Dual’ EP and Lando and Chambray built upon their reputation as two newcomers that need to be on your radar. L-Vis 1990 also re-adopted his Dance System moniker for one of our favourite EPs of the year but it’s not just all about the music.
Ultramajic’s artistic direction is a sight to behold and has presented some of the most striking visuals in all of clubland. Pilar Zeta has been brain-boggling artwork for the label since it began and the only way we can describe it is like a some sort of Lawnmower Man hybrid. The Ultramajic cauldron is bubbling and it’ll surely boil over in 2016.
More than a decade and a half later, Geist returned in 2015 with a project that feels much more like a natural successor to Metro Area than his Storm Queen. Joined by vocalist Jessy Lanza, The Galleria mines the same historic elements of NYC’s electronic history (Disco, Electro etc) as Metro Area, albeit with an extra dollop of Freestyle. Mezzanine is frankly addictive as any classic pop song. This is thanks to its playful keys, floating synths and Jessy’s dreamy vocals. The Galleria project has arrived long enough after the original Metro Area EPs to show us just how much their idiosyncratic brilliance has been missed.
Thanks to Piccadilly Records for including Paradise Goulash in their end of year review top 20 compilations. We’re number…3!
One of 2015’s finest compilations, Prins Thomas takes a bow to the original New York nightclub with his new mix ‘Paradise Goulash’, a marathon adventure into his ingenious and ground-breaking style. This is a wonderfully eclectic selection featuring everyone from Villalobos , Actress and Robert Hood to Kurt Vile and Sun Araw. Get into the groove with Paradise Goulash, the brand-new mix album from Norway’s space-disco don here below.
Thanks to The Vinyl Factory and Thump for including Lingua Franca in their end of year review with a look at the 50 best albums of 2015.
Given that Melbourne’s about 10,000 miles away from the Cafe Del Mar, Australian producer Len Leise might not seem like the most person to have recorded 2015’s undoubted Balearic masterpiece. But that, readers, is exactly what he’s done. His new album on International Feel “Lingua Franca” is one of the most loved albums of 2015.
Signed to Mark Barrott’s esteemed International Feel imprint — Leise’s Lingua Franca is the kind of special albums that comes around every so often that’s utterly, utterly timeless. This is music that’s removed from the inherent shitness of the quotidian experience, existing in a kind of otherworldly state of cave-dwelling beauty. It’s the sound of perfect sunrises in Cala Saladeta, sunsets in Punta Galera. It’s defiantly Balearic in both sound — there’s woozy, wheezing sax, windchimes, reverb-sodden 80s AM radio basslines — and spirt, without being the kind of throwback schmaltz its all too easy to churn out. You know the kind of thing: winsome spanish guitar, some bongos burbling away, and a terrible, breathy, “ethereal” vocal over the top. Anyone who’s heard his Music for Forests 12″ on International Feel, or the Aficionado Recordings released Landscape Language single knows that Leise has form, so it’s not surprising that Lingua Franca is such a stunner. Full album stream here below. Enjoy!
Once again, Jimmy Edgar shows he’s one of the most forward-thinking artists out. We’ve been blessed with this crafted, colorful In Session mix and it’s stocked full of exclusive material. Read the full feature here
There’s forthcoming Ultramajic music from Traxman, Keeno and Edgar himself. .
Tracklist/
01. Aphex Twin – Breathing Arp
02. Track ID* – Jump Up [unreleased]
03. Michael E – Teenage Hammer [Star Child LTD]
04. DJ Spookie – Reload (Jimmy Edgar edit) [Free Download]
05. Jimmy Edgar – Match Dos [unreleased]
06. Track ID* – Basic Number [unreleased]
07. DJ Jackmaster Charles – Down Low
08. Track ID* – Child Of God [unreleased]
09. King Cheetah – Wax On [Light Body Works]
10. Track ID* – Rhodayoh [unreleased]
11. Track ID* – Beat On Their Drums [unreleased]
12. Keeno – AJH [forthcoming Ultramajic]
13. POL Style – SQNTL TOM #1 [forthcoming Ultramajic]
14. Traxman – 1996 [forthcoming Ultramajic]
15. Faces Drums – Faces Drums 3
16. Crystal Bandito – Slick Brace [unreleased]
17. King Cheetah – Endurance [Light Body Works]
18. Track ID* – Zeus The Cat [unreleased]
19. Michael E – Race [Star Child LTD]
20. Track ID* – Cactus [unreleased]
21. Jimmy Edgar – Burn So Deep (Featuring D∆WN) [unreleased]
22. Track ID* – Garbage II [unreleased]
Truncate’s ‘Submission’ EP feat. Jimmy Edgar & Kris Wadsworth is scheduled for release on 18 December 2015 via Ultramajic.
Made a little private video for Terje and then he shared it on FB, so I’ll just make this public for anyone else trying to control the 3 oscillators separately on their Cwejman S1/S1Mk2 going into an Intellijel Linix. The tuning is funky because all DC outputs (or ES-3) should have been calibrated separately. I was lazy and used the same cal file for all 3 CV outputs for this test.
