Amsterdam-based DJ and selector Elena Colombi rolls through with a characteristic selection of music that perfectly reflects her colourful musical vision!
Weaponed with an unmistakably vast musical knowledge, Elena Colombi has a fine-tuned ear for digging out weird and wonderful treasures. An all-round favourite in the left-of-centre scene with the ability to traverse energies, moods and genres with skill and agility, as transmitted through her long-standing NTS Radio show and performances at places like Dekmantel, De School and Nuits Sonores. Further distinguishing her singular musical tastes, Elena recently launched her Osàre! Editions imprint. A place for like-minded experimentalists that embrace music without restrictions and a sense of complete freedom.
With the label recently adding number four to the catalog, coming in the form of a captivating 16-track assembly of outsider’s music that interlinks time zones and narratives, we invited the Italian selector to share some of her Bandcamp treasures with us. Catch her cruising the airwaves during Rush Hour’s upcoming Store Broadcast on July 2, where she will perform in the good company of Lena Willikens and Orpheu The Wizard.
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Words and curation by Elena Colombi.
Torriko – Rendición Recopilación 1017 (Self Released)
Torriko!! Remember this name. I came across this great collection of tracks at the end of last year and immediately got trapped in the vortex of Torriko’s sound. I reached out via Soundcloud and discovered that on top of making tremendous music he’s also a proper outsider.. a perfect match for Osare! Editions. We are now selecting tracks together for something coming out on the label hopefully towards the end of this year!
V.A. – “shelTer” (Müstesna Records)
Mustesta is a 2-y-old record label run by two friends with superb taste, operating from the heart of Istanbul. There are 25 artists involved in this compilation, covering a broad spectrum of genres, some of the tracks in here I played out A LOT last year and as a plus the money raised from the sales went into a very good cause! Check the bottom of their Bandcamp page for detailed info.
DJ Die Soon – Propagate (Morphine Records)
I picked this new 7” on Rabih Beaini’s Morphine Records at Rush Hour a couple weeks back, on my first visit to a physical record store since the lockdown!! Heavy, freaky and psychotic on the A side, slow and twisted on the B side. Love it!
Adam Oko – Diet Of Germs (Music From Memory)
A big throwback for this choice: it’s early 2016 and Adam and I have just met after a friend’s NTS show, we grab a beer and start walking home only to discover we live 300 metres apart! The music on the cassette really reminds me of those London years and countless afternoons spent in Clissold Park. So good to see Adam’s music reissued on a quality label like MFM now!
V.A. – Parallel Routes (Random Numbers)
Italian label connecting the dots between slower, hypnotic dancefloor sounds and ambient-like scapes. I love all releases so far and curious to see what’s in the pipeline!
Kakofonico – Vox In My Head EP (Mad On The Moon)
A recent Bandcamp discovery. I know almost nothing about both the label and the artist, except they are (I think) from Italy?! Four super fun and quirky percussive cuts with some strange samples thrown in here and there. I love the title track especially.
Steve Pepe – 2020 (Macadam Mambo)
A label that doesn’t need much of an introduction and it’s synonyms with quality leftfield electronic music since its start in 2012. For you I picked this double LP by Steve Pepe, following his first 12” on Hivern Discs in 2018. Really great release!
Vanligt Folk – Allt Ente (Kess Kill / Kontra Music)
One of the most entertaining and surprising live performances I experienced over the past years!! These freaks have a very unique sound and I love it. Released in tandem on Kontra and Kess Kill (a label I support fully).
XVARR – Unveiled / Shadows (Twin Womb Records)
If you aren’t familiar with the output of XVARR I highly recommend you check it out! Amazing music. And this cheeky 7” on his own label captured me from the very first listen!! How good is ‘Shadows?’
Novo Line – Autobahn Zwei (Ecstatic)
Berlin’s renegade Nat Fowler pays homage to Kraftwerk with this triple cassette release on Alessio Natalizia’s Ecstatic label. Sci-fi inspired machine music for a post-apocalyptic driving experience.
L.F.T. – Blood in the Grass (Osare! Editions)
This release had to be part of the list!! Johannes is a sick producer, with already ten or so releases under his belt. All quality stuff, but on this record I like to think we really managed to expose his best side. I have played the masters at the flat so many times I bet my neighbour knows all the melodies by heart too. 😉 Out very very soon!!
Bird Cage: Birdfriend Archives (EM Records)
A double LP compilation featuring a super playful, exquisite selection of hard-to-find and hard-to-define selection of music, originally out on Birdfriend, a cassette label run by Koshiro Hino (YPY) also part of the band Goat!
https://emrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bird-cage-birdfriend-archives
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Parris – Two Vultures EP (The Trilogy Tapes)
You can’t go wrong with Trilogy Tapes. And the combination here with one of the most underrated producers in the UK is a perfect marriage in my opinion! Love this guy. Side fact: Parris is one of the artists I invited to play at a stage I am/was going to curate for a festival in the UK at the end of the summer. Will it still happen? Who knows…
Coby Sey – To (Self Released)
Finishing the list with a beautiful piano piece of music self released by London based and NTS affiliated Coby Sey, a talented gentle being I personally met when curating the program of So&So X Tutto Questo Sentire at Fold in London last year!!
Check out the full list on Buy Music Club HERE.
Photo credit: Salvatore di Gregorio.
