Perfectly Deep Weekly #51:
Ina Kacz, Embryos, Drexciya

This is one of these rare times where I will review a compilation with a collective of artists, as opposed to the norm of focusing solely on releases from groups or solo artists. This is because, now and then, we see compilations that show such a holistic form that it begs to be seen as a unique body of art. This is one of them.

'Embryos' sets a dark tone and blends styles such as dark ambient, experimental electronica, and deep techno into a compelling musical landscape that builds more and more every time I listen to it. While all original and different, the tracks flow seamlessly from one to the next and the tone remains the same throughout.

This is no coincidence because their origin story is unique. But we'll get back to that in a minute.

The compilation comes out on Aedi Records, a self-described "democratic record label" managed collectively by over 200 electronic music producers. It was founded by Michel Iseneld, who followers of deep electronic music will immediately recognize as the powerhouse behind the Swedish Hypnus Records, which we've sung praise to several times in this newsletter.

The concept for this album is as follows: As an exercise in creativity, 37 producers united to make this compilation utilizing only samples provided by mastering engineer Mattias Fridell of Hypnus Records.
Fridell then selected 25 of his favorite contributions, from which their collective of more than 260 producers chose up to 12 favorites to be mastered and released together. It comes together as a highly well-crafted listening experience.

My faves include Pocopo's 'Embryo II', which immediately spoke to me with its textured pads and deep atmospheres. 'Embryo IV' also stands out with a powerful shuffly beat and lots of reverb that give it a haunting feel. That track reminded me of the creepy experimental synth scene in the UK in the 90s, like Squarepusher and Cabaret Voltaire.

'Embryo VII,' by Leo Wieber, is probably my favorite of the entire album - it brings everything together beautifully with its gritty dubscapes and mysterious atmospheres. And lastly, Inskape's 'Embryo VIII' is a highlight with its dub-meets-minimal-techno vibe.

'Neptune's Lair' is one of the golden albums of electronic music history, which came out originally in 1999 on Berlin-based Tresor Records, which we've featured and praised in length in this newsletter. However, I was reminded to include it here because in 2022, just before the summer, it was remastered and re-released on vinyl. This led me to decide it's time to revisit this classic album.

Drexciya requires hardly any introduction for deep electronic music enthusiasts. The encompassing experience they crafted with their monumental first EP, 'Aquarian Spectrum,' is one of those classic landmarks that helped define what we now refer to as Detroit electro. Building on this breakthrough, Neptune's Lair solidified the group as one of the key originators of the genre.

Drexciya was created in 1989, but the release mentioned above brought them to the general public's attention in 1994. James Stinson and Gerald Donald, who formed the band, communicated a complex personal mythology of an underwater "Drexciyan" race descended from pregnant slave women thrown overboard during trans-Atlantic deportation while remaining anonymous behind their alias for the majority of the group's existence. They mixed this mystique with the aesthetics of science fiction and fantasy to create a truly unique and memorable body of work.

Their music, which they insisted was recorded "live in the studio" as opposed to being pre-recorded, was depicted in this fiction as a "dimensional jump hole" connecting their black African heritage with the modern United States.

Stinson sadly passed away in 2002 at a relatively young age, but his legacy lives on through his music and in the numerous tributes to him after his passing. At that point, Donald moved on to form another Detroit electro music mastodon group, Dopplereffekt, who I had the pleasure of experiencing personally when they visited the Danish Click Festival in Elsinore a few years back. Epic.

Neptune's Lair contains an array of diverse influences ranging from the jazz experimentation of Sun Ra to the sci-fi romance of John Carpenter's 'Dark Star.' Highlights include 'Species of the Pod,' a convoluted, highly minimal track sporting what I believe is a compressed Roland TB-303 acid line as a motif. 'Universal Element' is another, though a more conventional minimal techno composition, which has torn up rave dancefloors for three decades. The above-mentioned inspirational sources like funk and jazz are also worth highlighting in tracks like 'Funk Release Valve' and 'Jazzy Fluids,' respectively.

All in all this is a monumental release from one of the most influential groups in the electronic music scene of the last thirty years.