After presenting a recording from Salvatore Mercatante on our Bandcamp last year, I wanted to try and keep up this approach on the label by surfacing live sets from our artists wherever possible. I knew as soon as I was immersed in WNDFRM's live set last year, that it would make a great live release and would be enjoyed by anyone who picked up his WVLT release.

~

WNDFRM has long occupied a parallel lane, equal parts reductionist and tactile. His studio output, including his 2025 release on ASIP, WVLT, is often about what isn't there, carving space with restraint and a patient sense of pacing. But in this rare live recording from his appearance at Seattle's Nonseq series in late 2025, we're reminded how those same principles can hum with immediacy, weight, and physicality.

Tim's live set leans even deeper into the tactileness hinted at on WVLT. Over 37 minutes, WNDFRM builds a slow-motion tension through dub-damaged rhythms, brittle textures, and dissolving sequences. Familiar elements, saturated pads, clipped delay lines, off-grid percussion, surface and vanish without resolution. A gradual unravelling from a sound designer in his element.

A huge thanks to Steve Peters, Chloe Harris and the Nonsequitur community for the evening.

Available now as name your price on Bandcamp.

 

 

2025 is probably our first year without a proper ambient release, with this year's annual compilation reflecting how diverse our catalog has grown.

KILN and Monoparts presented music this year that pushed expectations, with KILN's music pretty much in a world of its own anyway, and Monoparts bringing a vocal-heavy trip-hop record to the lineup - two records that would stand on their own on any label, irrespective of genre classifications.

Christian Kleine's second Lost World volume spoke to our true IDM roots of past, and Mikkel Rev's Journey Beyond, to the future perhaps, with a subtle wink to Trance music running through our blood.

A new signing in WNDFRM presented a landscape of micro-rhythmic IDM, as did returning artist Salvatore Mercatante, through a live set that traversed a spectrum of bass-heavy atmospheres.

Tying this all together in one mix has become todos' annual challenge, and he would be the first to admit this one was his most challenging yet. While I would never force this concept on him, if it didn't work, todos has the permission to edit, layer, chop and re-work where he needs to, just like a live set. In turn, his magic becomes a completely new way to absorb the releases from our past year, and an enjoyable way to spot moments you missed.

Available on Bandcamp

Thank you to everyone who has supported the label and the artists included here this year.

todos - Continuous mix tracklist

01. Mikkel Rev - 'Fragile' (edit) / WNDFRM - 'WVLT 021' (edit) / Monoparts - 'Abandoned Woods' (edit) / KILN - 'Moon Ratchet' (edit)
02. KILN - 'Ptarmigan'
03. KILN - 'Moon Ratchet' / Christian Kleine - 'Beyond Repair' (edit)
04. Mikkel Rev - 'Transmit' (edit) / KILN - 'Solarsystem Breathing'
05. Christian Kleine - 'Slow' / KILN - 'Cadmium Lounge' (edit)
06. Salvatore Mercatante - Extract from 'Live at Public Records'
07. Mikkel Rev - 'LM8182'
08. Monoparts - 'Abandoned Woods'
09. WNDFRM - 'WVLT 021' / Salvatore Mercatante - Extract from 'Live at Public Records' (edit)
10. Christian Kleine - 'Closer'
11. Monoparts - 'Abandoned Woods' (ASC Remix)

 

 

As with all my previous 'Reflection' year-end mixes, I begin with a collection of albums, EPs, and compilations that resonated with me over the past year. From there, I curate tracks to build the mix - a process that's as much about omission as inclusion. Inevitably, many of my favorite tracks and albums don't make the final cut, simply because they don't fit the flow of the mix or get lost along the way. There are plenty of albums I played on repeat that aren't included here, but I enjoy this process much more than creating lists.

As I remind myself each year, this isn't meant to be a definitive "best-of" list. Instead, it's a snapshot of some of my favorite music from the year, distilled into one cohesive and listenable format. Compiling these mixes under self-imposed restrictions is my way of revisiting and celebrating the music I've loved critically, while sharing it with you in a way that's both meaningful and accessible. For me, listening back to these mixes is like flipping through an audio photograph, capturing the essence of my year in music and invoking memories from special moments.

I encourage you to use this mix as a jumping-off point—dive into each artist, explore their albums in full, and check out the labels behind the music. You can find a Buy Music Club list linked below to help you dig deeper. If you're curious about the broader scope of music I've supported this year, my Bandcamp collection is always up to date. And for the ASIP year-end label compilation, that's coming very soon…

~

2025 was nearly the year of breaking point with my time and effort spent on the label. A new job, a third child, and… well that's enough to do it I guess. So as the year-end drew closer, the idea of completing this mix became laughable in its scope and I thought it might be the first year in over a decade I haven't completed one.

It's helped that I haven't done many mixes this year, so approaching it pulled on some much needed creativity, but even when looking back at what music I had supported on Bandcamp and the records on my shelves, it took me a long time to organize, make sure I had it downloaded, and even pull the trigger on items in my wishlist (my wishlist often revolves around vinyl I've picked up with no BC download code offered - gripe). Those who go through this obsessive process know how much time it can take up.

Looking back at the mix now it's complete, I've managed to include around 80% of what was in high rotation for me this year (there's always some that don't make it into mix form) and the styles are on point as usual in reflecting my taste over the year. We're starting with the deep ambient cuts, moving into more IDM and techno, and moving through a lot more energetic tracks towards the end - from Jungle to Trance…

One of the only live gigs I got to emerge from my family life to see was WNDFRM and Patricia Wolf in Seattle, so of course, Patricia's newest installment on Balmat (who also had another epic year as a label) is included. Related to that event, organizer Raica (Chloe Harris) made a return with two albums this year I believe - both worthy of praise, but her piece for (another relentless outpost) Quiet Details was the stand out. A regular on these reflection mixes, MPU101 on Ilian Tape gets another nod- a BoC-vibe regular who always manages to tickle the right part of my ears. Alex Kassian had about three tracks or remixes in my original shortlist (including the lush remix of Spooky) so I had to do my best to not over-indulge - his remix of a classic Pianoman melody will bring back the Global Communication / Tangerine Dream vibes. Skee Mask is still releasing archive material that defies expectations. In one of the most welcome moves of the year, finding All Possible Worlds on Bandcamp made many people ecstatic, not least because of the full release of Irini's odyssey, or the random track found on their profile. Light of Cacti got my Schnauss tastebuds tingling. Anushka Chkheidze has been on my radar for a long time now, so it was a treat to see her collabing with the much respected Robert Lippok across a very interesting record. OPN landed late in 2025, but arguably released one of his more welcomed albums by die-hard fans, hooking me right back into his unique worlds. Simon Littaeur came into my feed through his Instagram videos (normally something that doesn't always result in a quality album) but his production lived up to the visual hype. The album by jp on emerging label Theory Therapy was full of big tracks, and I did my best to make sure one was included on here. Talking of big, Djrum's latest didnt dissapoint, and he'll continue to be classed as an innovator with output like this years. I nearly stopped at the Barker track, as it doesn't get much bigger than that euphoric high, but something told me to bring it back down a little bit more, so into a slight trance we went with a superb debut by Alvar (Teo Bachs) and of course, the masters of hypnotizing techno, Voices from The Lake making a much needed return. The ending comes from vinyl selector Chee Shimizu, a unique piece of music that would bring the sun down on any horizon and one of two great tracks included in the mix from the ESP LA fundraiser.

astrangelyisolatedplace · ASIP - Reflection on 2025

Listen on Soundcloud the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app

Download

Tracklist (Artist - Title - Album - Label)

1 - HARZ - 0647 - (polychromatic) [Empty Space]
2 - Roméo Poirier - Picobello - (Off the Record) [Faitiche]
3 - Florian TM Zeisig - Earth Loop - (A New Life) [Stroom]
4 - Patricia Wolf - I'll Take Care of You - (Hrafnamynd) [Balmat]
5 - Saapato - Active Decay (feat. Patricia Wolf) - (Decomposition: Fox on a Highway) [Constellation Tatsu]
6 - Pianeti Sintetici - Part One - (Space Opera) [Astral Industries]
7 - Heavenchord, Infinity Dots - Entering Landscapes - (Landscapes Of The Soul) [Secret Domain]
8 - placa - cityzen - (in trance it) [Non-transparent]
9 - Area 3 - Grass Turns To Sponge - (View) [Khotin Industries]
10 - Cahl Sel - Leaf - (Traces) [Reflective Records]
11 - Raica - Not There Though, Dive - (The Absence of Being) [Quiet Details]
12 - MPU101 - 3100beta2 - (MPU106) [Ilian Tape]
13 - Jo Johnson - Variance Remnants 3 (field recording) - (Variance - Remnants (Alterations)) [Self]
14 - Pentagrams Of Discordia - < - (Triskaidekaphobia Extd.) [Self]
15 - Alex Kassian - Lost in Hanoi - (ESP Institute XV) [ESP]
16 - all possible worlds - untitled - [all possible worlds]
17 - Skee Mask - 32Crescent - (E) [Self]
18 - Rod Modell - Snowstorm in Naubinway - (Northern Michigan Snowstorms) [Silentes]
19 - Strategy - Earthling - (A Cooler World) [Constellation Tatsu]
20 - µ-Ziq - Peppermint Aero - (Manzana) [Balmat]
21 - Lord Of The Isles - Opalescent - (Signals Aligned) [Self]
22 - Plant43 - Skyway Shadow - (Luminous Machines) [Self]
23 - Xenia Reaper - Drift__ - (Nept Polarisation) [Delsin]
24 - Lord Of The Isles - United Wire - (Signals Aligned) [Self]
25 - Martinou - The Last Hour - (The Glow That Lingers) [FauxPas]
26 - Coatshek - Eternal Lovers - (Sound Bath) [Dark Entries]
27 - Light of Cacti - Washed Away In Pink Skies On Brighton Shores - (Neverland is a State of Mind) [Tonights Dream]
28 - Pianoman - Pasion (Alex Kassian's Mandarine Dream Mix) - (Pasion) [Planet Strange Love]
29 - Anushka Chkheidze + Robert Lippok - Uncontrollable Thoughts - (Uncontrollable Thoughts) [Morr Music]
30 - Oneohtrix Point Never - Measuring Ruins - (Tranquilizer) [Warp]
31 - Simon Littauer - Phicet - (Modular) [Katharsis]
32 - arcologies - asleep and dreaming - (PARTICLE SHIFT) [Rabbithole Club]
33 - E.L Heath and Karen Vogt - This Is Spirit - (This Is Spirit) [Plenty Wenlock]
34 - Aural Imbalance - Thermal Isolation - (Edge Of Space) [Auxiliary]
35 - jp - planes - (we're here all the time) [Theory Therapy]
36 - Vivian Koch - September (Gold) - (Colors of September) [Self]
37 - Courtney Bailey - Under The Water - (In Dream) [Music From Memory]
38 - Djrum - Waxcap - (Under Tangled Silence) [Houndstooth]
39 - Roméo Poirier - 12 - Steve A. - (Off the Record) [Faitiche]
40 - Barker - Reframing - (Stochastic Drift) [Smalltown Supersound]
41 - Alvar - Meg og sola - (The Mist LP) [Peak Experience]
42 - irini - The Higher (Lost In Dreams) [all possible worlds]
43 - Voices From The Lake - Aquateo (II) [Spazio Disponibile]
44 - Chee Shimizu - Zeze (ESP Institute XV) [ESP]

Buy Music Club

 

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Last December, we were fortunate to host one of our largest label nights to date at Public Records, New York, one of the most renowned venues in the world for sound system quality. One year later, we present to you one of the recordings from the evening, by Brooklyn's own Salvatore Mercatante.

Live at Public Records captures Salvatore Mercatante at his most unguarded and instinctual, set free from the polish of post-production, delivered to a room of people who gave themselves over to the quiet pull of tension, decay, and harmonic dissonance on one of the best sound systems in the world.

Performed as part of a curated label night inside Public Records' intimate Sound Room, Salvatore's set was equal parts sculpture and erosion. Working with a minimalist setup that belied the richness of the result, Salvatore traced an arc through fractured rhythms, bent tones, and fogged-out signal paths, drawing on his 2024 album 'Ø' and a trove of unreleased and WIP material.

Following a DJ-set by Aspetuck and preceding a live set by OKRAA as part of the label's biggest showcase to date, Salvatore's set was the perfect middle-ground, with signature low-end blooms and crisp drum patterns, reconstituted in real time and massaged by the custom four-point sound system.

Live at Public Records was recorded on December 6th, 2024 in Brooklyn NY, mastered by Antony Ryan at RedRedPaw Mastering. Artwork and video taken from photography by Daniel Salemi.

Available as name your price on Bandcamp

Join us for the listening party at 2pm PST Friday

Photos by Daniel Salemi

Photos by Daniel Salemi

Photos by Daniel Salemi

 

 

WVLT is the newest sonic addition from WNDFRM (Portland-based, Tim Westcott), an album of eight distinct explorations of micro-rhythmic IDM.

Tim Westcott's practice is rooted in an acute, nearly forensic attention to sound. Subtle tones, sculpted drones, and lean percussive gestures, always pursued with a patient ear and obsession with sound design. 

With previous releases on Prologue, Home Normal, and Dragon's Eye Recordings, and several live performances at Mutek, a new album from Tim is a rare yet welcome occurrence. The conceptual approach for WVLT began in 2021, mixing synths with drum machines and granular processing. Lightly arced structures slip between gates of rhythm, shifting pulses, translucent washes, and disquieting residue. There's a precision to the hesitation and an insistence in the space between notes, a deft balance of raw improvisation and sculpted quietude.

An exercise in immediacy and response, each track builds and unspools, like form in fleeting motion, driven by the moment's tonal contrasts, micro‑rhythmic interplay, and slight gestures that alter entire planes of listening. It's minimal without sparsity, intense without density.

Available digitally and on limited transparent dark blue 12"  vinyl on September 26th 2025. Mastered by Taylor Deupree @12k Mastering and featuring artwork by Noah M / Keep Adding.

Release page

 

 

The Dutch duo of Robin Koek and Nick Lapien, known together as Artefakt, have long been shaping their own atmospheric corner of techno. Bridging the meticulousness of academic sound design with an ever-present emotive pulse, their work has resonated deeply across releases for labels such as Delsin, Semantica, Field Records, and their own De Stijl imprint.

They've always struck a balance between abstraction and function, a rare knack for making club-appropriate music that still rewards deeper, solitary listening. That tension surfaced memorably in tracks like "The Fifth Planet" or "Somatic Dreams," but perhaps most personally, in "Entering The City", a track that found its way into my Reflection on 2017 mix and still holds that special late-night gravity for me, many years on.

Their contribution to the isolatedmix series lands as an expansive meditation on contrast and communion. As the duo describe it:

"This recording came together for us imagining being in spaces of sonic isolation - conversing with each other and through this act of exchange, unfolding a dynamic landscape. This emerges as an auditory refuge where we become the waves. As we navigate this appearing structure, we re-anchor ourselves as listeners, embracing the ephemeral and reconciling with strangeness to find solace in deviation.

The mix also draws from a lifelong inspiration that runs as a thread through our own music - the contrasts between natural textures, organic decay and fractal blooming sounds set against the quantization, designed function and electric qualities of the built city and the futures they represent, captured in musical imagination. The mix invites listeners to dwell in this synthesis of spaces, discovering connection within isolation."

This is Artefakt working in longform and dictating progression, where subtle shifts feel tectonic and sequences unravel like a conversation across timezones. There's techno here, but blurred through the lens of wide-angle composition - a unique trance-like state that mimics their unique dance-floor rituals.

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 134 - Artefakt

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Listen on Soundcloud, the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app.
~

Artefakt Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Instagram

 

 

Somewhere between tape hiss and transmission error, Pentagrams Of Discordia have been quietly assembling fragments of forgotten broadcasts, reel-to-reel experiments, and dusty rhythm boxes into something that might resemble a memory.

The elusive trio work collectively, in analog shadows, and their fingerprints are embedded deep within this mix. Much of the material you'll hear is unreleased- looped, spliced, and sequenced exclusively for this set. It's both a showcase of their sound, and an enigma; a nodding towards certain iconic duos and chill-room auteurs without ever tipping fully into homage.

Their isolatedmix is the kind of journey that begins with no particular destination, meandering across shortwave frequencies, roadside daydreams, and the occasional flickering motel sign. A collage of found melodies, distorted lullabies, and cracked-lens nostalgia - less a DJ set and more a shared hallucination.

"Expect unreleased gems, spectral edits, and glitchy whispers from forgotten projects: each track chosen not just for sound, but for how it haunts. A guided descent into the vaults, stitched with care, mischief, and just enough distortion" - PoD.

Download

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 133 - Pentagrams Of Discordia

Listen on Soundcloud, the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app.

 

 

After following their lush analog output via Ghostly International in recent years, I couldn't be more excited to present an album by KILN here on ASIP. By way of an entry point to anyone new to the trio of Hayes, Marrison & Rehberg, think more electronic worlds of Christian Kleine, Bitstream, Freescha, ISAN et al, all captured as live performances, combined with micro-field recordings and further saturated with color and texture…

A big thank you to Sam Valenti IV for connecting our two worlds.

~

KILN return with an opulent new display of hue and swing on Lemon Borealis, a sumptuous gallery of dazzling motifs that display a finely hewn concoction of visual tones and vital pulse.

Across its 12 cuts, this collection utilizes a fresh process of condensing immersive sprawl into compact, punchy and colorful sound. Using aspects of live performance, beatmaking and waveform sculpting, the troika of Kevin Hayes, Kirk Marrison and Clark Rehberg III create evocative and invigorating dioramas, continuing to surprise and enchant listeners after over thirty years into their collaboration.

Deep in waves of Hi-meets-Lo Fi, KILN delivers a panchromatic daymark arranged to biochemically align and stimulate your personal syntax, forging a tapestry of sonic reveries ranging from the aquarium-on-fire radiance of DrnkGrlfrnd, a garden groove of field-recorded percussion in Maplefunk Diptych, to the sizzling guit-noise whiteout of Deacon Rayhand.

Their eighth album, and first for A Strangely Isolated Place, on Lemon Borealis, KILN expands upon the long-explored themes of mosaic texture, subtle melancholy, eroded consonance, and vivid cadence to reveal yet another aperture to their unique magnetic universe.

Lemon Borealis is available on 12" Transparent Yellow Smoke vinyl and digital on July 18th. Mastered and cut by Andreas Lupo Lubich, and featuring artwork by KILN.

See the album release page for full details to buy

 

 

Matt Xavier has been a friend of mine for many years now. A fellow music obsessive and trusted voice when it comes to all things ambient, techno, and beyond, we finally managed to meet in person while I lived in Los Angeles, and we stayed connected over music ever since.

We've swapped stories about pressing vinyl and running labels, and he was the reason I first crossed paths with Joel Mull (Damm) at one of his gatherings held at a beautiful Topanga home. It was a serendipitous moment that still echoes today.

A proponent for the deeper layers found in music, Matt has since become a practician, ambassador and pioneer for psychedelic soundtracking. Along the way, Matt would share tracks from ASIP and other labels that were impacting and guiding his private sessions, and informing his grand masterpiece we present to you today. After moving away from California, he dove head-first into his practice, and we exchanged many texts discussing his ambition to publish a book about his unique experience and include an accompanying mix on ASIP.

His new book, 'The Psychedelic DJ: A Practical Guide to Therapeutic Music Curation and Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy', is a groundbreaking manual for anyone looking to bridge sound and healing. Whether you're a clinician, a DJ, or just someone who knows the power of a well-placed track, Matt's work will likely reframe how you think about music's role in inner journeys.

His isolatedmix is a fully formed and accompanying 'Protocol', which is an example of one of his many guided sessions, referred to as "therapeutic DJing." Psilocybin Therapy Protocol v1.22a, distills his craft and evolution in this practice for us all to dip into at a surface level, providing a peek into what are very personal worlds prepared for his clients.

Alongside the mix, Matt joins us for a deep-dive interview, discussing his new book, his transition from rave culture to guided sessions, his real-time curatorial method and how music, when chosen with care, can become a tool for transformation.

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 132 - Matt Xavier: Psilocybin Therapy Protocol v1.22a

Listen on Soundcloud, the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app.

HQ Download (4gb)

~

Tracklist | Bandcamp Playlist to support the featured artists

1. Jon Hopkins - 1/1 Singing Bowl (Ascension)
2. Marconi Union - Weightless Part 1
3. Neel, Voices From The Lake - Planatia
4. Helios - Penumbra
5. 36 & awakened souls - Take Me By The Hand (awakened souls - Acid Dream Version)
6. poemme - awning ~ under the willow tree
7. zakè (扎克) - 000607053 OTS3 [Solar]
8. awakened souls & From Overseas - Migration
9. awakened souls & From Overseas - Certainty Of Tides
10. 36 & awakened souls - Passing Dreams
11. Desert Dwellers - Lotus Garden Spaces
12. Disneynature Soundscapes - Jellyfish Atmosphere (BATHROOM BREAK)
13. Endless Melancholy - When I'm With You
14. Archivist - Photosensitive
15. Jens Buchert - Milano
16. Endless Melancholy & Black Swan - Forever In A Moment
17. Gelka - Ambient Impressions Vol 2 Mashup feat. FredAgain/NilsFrahm/Fejká
18. Lav - Collaborative Survival
19. Unknown - SMD_60_Bb_Oceanic_FX_Long_Surf EDITED
20. Lisa Bella Donna - Crystal Mountains (Matt Xavier EDIT)
21. Alucidnation - Skygazer
22. Wagogo Treeboga - Dream on
23. Poemme (Ed Harrison) - Out (Poemme remix)
24. John Beltran - Lose You
25. John Beltran - I Can Chase You Forever
26. Bluetech - Resonating Heart
27. Chicane - Early
28. Synkro - Midnight Sun (Helios remix)
29. Synkro - Movement
30. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Clouds
31. LF58 - Evocazione/Contatto/Risveglio
32. Tylepathy & Liquid Bloom - Interbeing (Tylepathy Remix)
33. Federico Durand - El pequeño zorro colorado
34. alucidnation - All at Sea
35. Slow Meadow - Upstream Dream
36. Endless Melancholy - Expand
37. Orbital - Belfast (ANNA Ambient Remix)
38. Slow Meadow - Fake Magic Is Real
39. Helios - Halving The Compass (Rhian Sheehan Remix)
40. Lusine Icl - Stones throw
41. Slow Meadow - Pareidolia
42. Jon Hopkins - Immunity

~

Interview with Matt Xavier, Integrated Psychedelics
Author of The Psychedelic DJ: A Practical Guide to Therapeutic Music Curation and Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy [Buy Paperback] [Buy hardcover]

ASIP: You come from a place of passion, DJing, and running labels. What impacted or influenced the shift into the psychedelic space with music?

Matt: I've been passionate about pairing music with life since I was very young, but I especially remember the very first time I ever stepped onto a dancefloor in 1993 at NASA, the legendary rave club in downtown New York City. From that point on, I knew I just had to be involved. I started throwing raves, and eventually became a psychedelic DJ during what I still believe was the most influential time in dance music history. The 90s were a hedonistic blast, especially our groundbreaking psychedelic trance events at the Shelter, but such debauchery also came with some downsides.

I ended up burning out at the turn of the millennium and went sober from 2000 to 2003. That time helped me fall back in love with myself, but I also fell out of love with New York. I moved to LA to be near my friends in Moontribe, who I'd gotten close with in the late 90s. That chapter in LA led to years of nightclub events, DJ sets, and running our techno label, Railyard Recordings. They were wildly fun times, but honestly, LA's backstage rat race wore me out. Financially, it didn't really hold up either, so I knew I had to make a change and find something that could carry me, and possibly a family, into the next chapters of my life.

In 2009, I decided to go back to school to become a counselor. I'd had a ton of personal experience with therapy by then, mostly from working through childhood trauma and recreational or problematic drug use during my teenage years. I worked full time as an addiction counselor during the oxycontin and heroin epidemic of the 2010s, and by 2015 the burnout was getting hard to manage. That's when I decided to revisit psychedelics but this time intentionally, and with a more therapeutic approach.

A few years later, the burnout finally caught up with me. I reached out to a friend who was a therapist working on the MDMA studies at a local university, and they pointed me toward the growing psychedelic integration community. The first time I walked into that space, it felt like home. Not just because it reminded me of my work as a group therapist, but also because of my deep history with psychedelics from the 90s rave and psy-trance scenes. It was a perfect match.

I immediately started seeking training and built out a private practice focused on integration work. That quickly evolved into guiding with psychedelics and music. And at some point, my wife pointed out that I hadn't actually quit DJing like I thought I had back in 2017. I was just doing it differently. I wasn't playing to or seeking crowds anymore. I was DJing for one person at a time, what I've always called an "audience of one." And the sets I've played in that context have, in many ways, offered more meaning and healing than anything I ever experienced on a dancefloor.

Caught catching up in the garden with Matt's new book

ASIP: I'm aware this type of practice can come across as very "hippy-dippy shit", but you approach it through a serious music background. Can you explain, for anyone new to this how your approach differs from the stereotypical approach?

Matt: Oh wow, I totally get that. It's understandable. Psychedelics still get looked at through the lens of "hippy-dippy shit," especially because of everything that happened in the 60s and 70s, and how effectively the government programmed society to see psychedelics as ridiculous or unserious. And to be fair, some of that reputation was well earned, and that goes for the ridiculous fashion and antics of ecstasy-rolling ravers of the 90s too.

The way psychedelics were presented during both counterculture movements didn't exactly help make them look medicinal or appealing to the average person. Hopefully the intentional, therapeutic, research-based approaches being taken these days are starting to change that narrative across the board.

As for the stereotypical approach... I'm honestly not even sure what that means anymore, because my colleagues and I all work in such different ways, sometimes radically different. But if we're talking about my approach, and what I lay out in the book, I'd say it's more intentional, more clinical, and more therapeutic, with aspects of spirituality mixed in. It's not recreational, though there's nothing wrong with recreating oneself, and it's definitely not counterculture or political.

The focus of my practice is helping clients safely explore psychedelics to address whatever they're working through when they arrive. That means looking at both conscious and unconscious drives, in a space that's safe and clinically informed. I do a full screening and assessment before we begin to make sure someone's a good fit. Then we do two or three 90-minute prep counseling sessions, and eventually a full journey day, which usually includes a nine-hour arc with a four-hour live DJ set to support their experience.

It's a serious, detailed, and thorough process that also leaves space for enjoyment, if that's what the client needs.

ASIP: As you mentioned, you're approaching it differently from a lot of other psychedelic guides. You're actively DJ'ing, curating music live during these journeys. Can you talk about your process more?

Matt: Yeah, one of the things I kept seeing in this field were guides who would just pull playlists off Spotify and hit play, hoping the client would be okay with it... and then being shocked when neither the client nor the guide were satisfied. I was never interested or willing to take that chance. And thanks to my background as a DJ, I didn't have to.

That's where I started developing something I now call Therapeutic Music Curation. It's a practice where music is treated like medicine, just like any other consciousness-altering substance. I think of each track as a sonic compound. I collect them, listen to them in different states, get to know their traits, and figure out how they might support a particular client's intention.

Then I build a rough arc based on what we've uncovered during screening and preparation, and align the music to the qualities of the first four stages of the psilocybin experience — the hike, the climb, the summit, and the descent. It's kind of like an internal therapeutic mountain-climbing expedition, with mushrooms and music doing their magic..

If you want to compare it to DJing, it's a lot like prepping your record box before you head to the club. You have a general idea of what might work based on the space, the sound system, the time slot, and the vibe. But as any DJ knows, once you walk in and feel the room, all your plans can go out the window. That's where the magic, and the real skill, comes in.

That moment of adaptation is what I call Psychedelic Soundtracking, the real-time adjustment of the "set" based on what's actually happening in the room, emotionally and energetically. I'm watching how the client is presenting. Are they crying? Laughing? Silent? Restless? I'm also tracking my own reactions in the field, and using all that information to shape both the sound and the music in response. That's the head and the heart of it.

Therapeutic Music Curation is the prep. Psychedelic Soundtracking is the execution. And together, that's what I call Therapeutic DJing, the intentional use of music before, during, and after the session to support the client's inner process and healing.

ASIP: What does the onboarding process you mention look like?

Matt: Psychedelics are incredibly powerful tools that should be used safely and wisely, preferably by trained professionals, shamans, or experienced psychonauts. To prevent unwanted harm, it's essential to screen all prospective clients before welcoming them into my practice. That process helps both the client and me figure out if we have rapport, and whether we're a good fit to work together in such a vulnerable capacity.

Equally important, and maybe even more so, is assessing who isn't a good candidate for this work. That includes people with certain mental health conditions like bipolar I, schizophrenia, psychosis, borderline personality disorder, or active substance use disorder. I also screen for physical issues that could complicate things, like heart conditions, stroke history, seizures, asthma, and so on. Ruling out those risks is essential, both ethically and for the client's safety, and mine.

The screening usually happens weeks before the first prep session. Once we begin, we work closely for a few weeks leading up to the journey, and then again afterward for integration. The client isn't the only one stepping into a vulnerable space, we're both doing that. Trust and safety are non-negotiable.

ASIP: How do you react as a "DJ" during the session? How are you reading the client in the moment?

Matt: Like I said earlier, I call that part Psychedelic Soundtracking. It's the live, real-time response to what's unfolding in the room. It's how I adjust the music and the energy of the setting based on how the client is showing up, through their words, their silence, or their emotional state.

I might sketch out a rough plan beforehand similar to filling my record box, but as we learned in traditional counseling, I try not to arrive with a fixed agenda. That kind of rigidity can pull you out of attunement. You might miss what's actually happening in the moment. So I see it more like a choose-your-own-adventure book. The client's experience shows us what page to turn to next, and I meet them there musically, just like we do on the dance floor.

ASIP: What are the emotional or energetic markers from beginning to end of your sessions, and how do you approach curating for those?

Matt: At the beginning, during what I call the "Hike", or what others might call the onset, things are usually quiet and restful. The client is often meditating or simply lying still, waiting for the effects to come on. The music is subtle and grounding, the kind of sound that helps you settle in and feel safe, like you're approaching basecamp.

Then comes the "Climb," which is where the medicine starts ramping up. This is when emotions begin bubbling up such as crying, laughing, yawning, trembling, shifting around. That's when I start slowly increasing the energy, emotionality, or psychedelic quality of the music. But it's not about pushing, it's about supporting the rising effects and helping them make the climb toward the peak.

Next is the "Summit," the peak. This is when the medicine is at full strength, and ego dissolution can happen. For some clients, it's a storm of emotion. For others, it's total stillness. Either way, I usually pull the music way back during this time. There's a kind of reverence in that moment that I try to honor. The music becomes very spacious. I leave room for the imagination to soar.

After the peak, we enter the "Return," or descent. This is when the medicine begins to lose strength and agency starts coming back online. Clients might begin to move again, process what just happened, or begin noticing what's unfolding as they slowly return to their senses. The music reflects that with something melodic and comforting, often with a feeling of homecoming. This is a great phase for what I call "music for remembering." It helps the client begin to make sense of what they just experienced.

ASIP: Can you explain the different types of music you use, and what mixtures or styles usually work best and what doesn't?

Matt: Ah, the notorious genre question. Well, I've got a soft spot for the classics such as trippy electronic ambient from the '90s chillout universe, modern neoclassical with lush synths, psychedelic downtempo, and a lot of expansive, cinematic soundscapes. But for me, it's less about genre and more about emotion and visual enhancement. I lean into music that has emotional depth and visual texture. I need to feel it in my body and see it in my mind. It has to stir something, whether that's ache, awe, release, or some associated memory.

One thing I've noticed — and this might surprise some of the more minor-chord-leaning dancefloor DJs out there — is that I often use major chords and melancholic sublimation in sessions. You can hear this approach in Psilocybin Therapy Protocol 1, which I describe more as "The Light." This protocol is typically used in early sessions, especially with new clients. The music holds a tone of beauty, grace, and uplift, not in a naive or saccharine way, but in a way that gently invites the heart to open. It's music that's both sad and beautiful. Sublimative. It doesn't deny pain, it transforms and resolves it.

This kind of music resonates with the core human paradox: the struggle and the gratitude of being alive at the same time. For many clients, especially early on, that emotional tone helps them soften into the experience. It creates a container where the nervous system can feel safe enough to let go. It's the sound of surrender, not force.

On the other hand, Psilocybin Therapy Protocol 2, which I call "The Shadow," leans into darker, heavier, more introspective psychedelic material with minor chords, tension, and the kind of raw emotionality that meets people deep in their grief, anger, regret, or trauma. These tracks are often used with experienced journeyers or when a client is ready to confront deeper material. It's still intentional, it's not "dark for the sake of dark", but it meets the psyche where it's at, and it creates a necessary counterbalance to the more major-leaning, sublimative compositions that I've found effective for therapeutic work.

What doesn't work for me is dry "psy-muzak" that lacks energy or sizzle. Music should ignite the senses, spark curiosity, and take you somewhere unexpected. I avoid tracks that feel too safe or lack depth, intensity, or psychedelic flavor. I'm especially mindful of overly dark, twisted, or unnecessarily heavy beat-driven material (unless specifically requested), as it can easily overwhelm or distract in such an intimate, emotionally open therapeutic space. Keep in mind, this is all highly subjective.

At the end of the day, I'm not choosing music to impress a crowd, I'm choosing it to support the transformation of that audience of one that I previously mentioned. That inspires very different selections than what you'd hear in more underground circles. And that means trusting the emotion more than the genre.

ASIP: Can you share a track or a moment in a set that continues to resonate with you, something you've returned to again and again?

Matt: Yeah, a few come to mind from Audio Protocol 001. For the onset stage, "Take Me By The Hand (Awakened Souls - Acid Dream Version)" by 36 & Awakened Souls. Cynthia's vocals and James's 303 lines are just... divine! It hits that emotional place where people often start crying, not out of sadness, but from that deep inner shift that happens when the medicine starts to open the heart.

Then around the two-hour mark, often when a booster might be kicking in, I'll bring in something like "Out (Poemme Remix)" by Ed Harrison or "Iliad" by Malibu. Those tracks are pure sublimation: sad but beautiful. They hold sorrow and hope in the same breath, and that kind of emotional container really helps people process what's surfacing.

During the descent phase of Protocol 1, I mix "Expand" by Endless Melancholy with the ANNA remix of "Belfast" by Orbital. That pairing was originally inspired by a live session with a client years ago, and the reaction was incredibly powerful, it even brought me to tears. It still gives me chills to this day whenever a session calls for it. Together, those two tracks feel like a triumphant return, a kind of emotional homecoming. And that ANNA remix of Orbital's classic Belfast really hits those "music for remembering" nostalgia buttons.

And that's the goal, not just to bring someone back, but to bring them back home, with self-reflection, meaning, and celebration.

ASIP: There's a lot of talk about "set and setting." What do people often overlook when preparing for, or recovering from, a journey? What are people most surprised about?

Matt: The number one surprise is always how different the journey ends up being from what they expected. People say they have no expectations but of course they do. We all do. And then the medicine shows them something totally unexpected. Sometimes they're shocked by how powerful it is. Other times, they're amazed at how safe or courageous they feel when they assume they'd be terrified.

That's always my favorite moment: when someone realizes they've reconnected with a part of themselves they forgot was even there. That's the real magic.

In terms of preparation, a lot of people forget to start living the life they want on the other side. They wait for the journey to fix them. But I encourage clients to start having conversations with their future selves to ask, "What should I be doing now to get ready for who I'm becoming?" It's like tending the garden before the rains come. You clear the weeds, loosen the soil, and plant the seeds of intention. Then the medicine knows where to land.

And then there's the basic stuff: avoiding alcohol, stepping back from news and social media, doing breathwork, staying mindful. These small choices really do help the nervous system prepare to navigate the psychedelic space.

Post-journey, people often think the afterglow will last forever. It won't. The high wears off. Life gets lifey again. That's why integration is crucial. Psychedelics aren't a fix. They plant seeds, but you still have to water them.

We go over all of this in the screening and prep sessions. The journey is just one part of the process, but it's everything around it that makes it sustainable.

Matt Xavier (center), Joel (2nd from left) and I with friends at one of Matts parties in Topanga. Photo by Jill Sutherland.

ASIP: We've previously talked in depth about how the practice of curating music as a guide is hard to protect, people can copy your sets or your tracklists, for example. So what makes a guide special beyond musical choice?

Matt: It's true that in this day and age, you can't really guard your IP like we did back in the day such as covering our records to fend off curious trainspotters. Everyone has access to the same tracks now, and artists are getting paid less and less as streaming takes over. So spreading the word is essential to the growth of the artists who make the music we use in sessions. That's part of the reason I'm so vocal about giving credit to the artists I use and directly supporting them whenever possible. 

But what really makes a guide special isn't just the music. It's how you show up. It's your ability to attune. To sense what's needed. To recognize that music, like a psychedelic, is a medicine. And that your presence, your pacing, your sensitivity, all of that becomes part of the treatment.

A guide needs to know how to work with both the music, the moment and the psyche. They need to understand trauma. To regulate their own nervous system. To hold space for whatever shows up, whether it's grief, rage, laughter, silence, or pure cosmic awe.

And honestly, I think anyone doing this work should have at least some training in counseling or psychology. It doesn't have to be academic, but you need to understand how the human psyche works and how to guide and counsel someone who is trusting you with their most vulnerable states. Otherwise, you'll be unprepared when the real material surfaces, and you can unintentionally do harm.

ASIP: What are some of the most enlightening, unexpected, or just fun outcomes of your sessions you've seen over the years?

Matt: I love that question. There are so many. The most enlightening thing, for me, is just the privilege of sitting with someone who's opening themselves up that deeply. It's sacred, and it never ceases to amaze me. To be trusted in that way, to be invited into that kind of vulnerability, it still humbles me every time.

There've been moments where people just erupt in tears, and five minutes later they're laughing uncontrollably. I remember one session in particular, which I wrote about in the book, where the client went from deep sorrow and grief into a spontaneous outburst of joy. I followed him musically, moving from "Forever In A Moment" by Black Swan & Endless Melancholy, and then dropped a custom edit of Junkie XL's "Intergalactic Space Travel." The energy exploded with color, and that supported him into full catharsis. I followed that with a beatless track called "Lunar Landscape" by Sacred Seeds to help him land again and integrate that emotional purge. He said afterward it was one of the most cathartic experiences of his life.

Or a more recent session, where the client arrived saying they were excited and had prepared to go deep. From the start, they kept asking me to turn the volume up, and if you know the Adam Audio S3V monitors, you know they can get proper loud. I was stunned at how clearly the client knew what they needed, not just to enjoy the music and the experience, but to actually break through something. I remember giggling to myself as they kept yelling for more volume. It was wild, and totally inspiring! Not only did it help them push through their own blockages, it helped me realize I'd built up some of my own limitations around what's "allowed" in a session.

Sure enough, the volume amplified the psychedelics and helped them access deeper levels of release. Like the client, I was deeply humbled.

And that's the thing, to be allowed to witness these kinds of moments, to be part of it in any way, I don't take it lightly.

ASIP: What advice or recommendations would you give to any DJ who wants to apply some principles of your practice to their own sets, maybe in more intimate or personal settings?

Matt: First and foremost, move slowly. Get properly trained, and do your own deep work before guiding others. Study psychology, counseling, trauma and, of course, psychedelics and psychedelic guiding. Understand what it truly means to hold space, and know your own limits. This will help you recognize who you can, and shouldn't, be working with.

Curate your therapeutic medicine bag. Go through your music library and pull out the tracks that have helped you in difficult moments, the ones that comforted you, inspired you, and made you feel more human. Find the intimate instrumental pieces you turn to when you're alone. These are the sounds that will serve as sonic tools in your practice.

This isn't a dancefloor so don't get caught up in beatmatching; focus instead on emotion and vision. Learn every nuance of your tracks, their qualities, moods, and shifts. Know which ones calm, which ones activate, which ones expand, resolve, or which ones are trippy. Think about how each song might align with different phases of a psychedelic journey, and allow yourself to experiment with the fun of soundtracking the various moments of your life.

Above all, recognize the sacredness of this work. When someone enters a psychedelic state, they are profoundly open, and you hold responsibility for their safety. The music, medicine, and counsel you provide can either support their healing or add to their struggle. That weight should never be taken lightly.

As the saying goes, "Go slow and dose low. You can always take more, but you can't take less." Stay humble. Don't set out to save the world before you know what you're doing. Listen deeply to your music, your medicines, and most importantly, your clients. Because in the end, they are trusting you with the most vulnerable parts of themselves, and that is truly an honor in this lifetime.

~

May/June 2025.

Matt Xavier | Website | Soundcloud | Instagram

 

 

Eighteen sessions in, and somehow, todos still manages to unearth mixes that astound.

Kilchurn Session XVIII arrives as a continuation of a conversation we've been having for over a decade, threading forgotten film cues, elusive ambient B-sides, and left-behind downtempo sketches into a two-hour séance.

If you've followed the Kilchurn Sessions from the beginning, or todos' end of year ASIP label mixes, you'll know they're less about progression and more about excavation: digging through his deeply considered music memory, looping time in on itself, through careful and unexpected edits, seamless blends, and the most considered mix sequencing possible.

Listen on Soundcloud the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app

todos · Kilchurn Session XVlll

Download

Tracklist:

Akira Rabelais - 'Du côté de chez Swann - Il y a bien des années ... dans le silence du soir' (edit)
Field Kit, Hannah Von Hubbenet & John Gurtler - 'Downward Rising'
Sophia Loizou - 'Anima' (edit)
Junkie Digital - 'In Transit'
Jani R - 'Eyes Eluding'
Vivian Koch - 'Lil Birdy Starts to Fly Again'
Mifune - 'Many People'
Marc Spieler - 'Selflove'
Before Tigers - 'Look At Me' (edit)
Marcibagoly - 'We're Flying'
SVLBRD - 'Solstice' (edit) 
D J 1 9 8 6 一 九 八 六 - 'N O S T A L G I A  '9 2'
Simone Giudice - 'Ghiaccio' / Patricia Wolf - 'Distant Memory'
Sierra Romeo - 'Promiza'
Savvas - 'Elysian' (ambient mix)
Savvas - 'Elysian' (original mix)
PJS - 'Forest'
Cremallier - 'Activity'
Bop - 'Hiding'
Trudge - 'Berserk' / Suso Sáiz - 'Inside The Egg'
Simone Giudice - 'Passione'
Holy Other - 'Lieve'
Marcibagoly - 'Jet Stream'
MPU101 - 'nurMKS30' (edit) / Tim Exile - 'A Little Bit More' (edit)
HAAI - 'Be Good'
James Holden - 'In The End You'll Know'

 

 

Following Mikkel Rev's debut album on the label in 2023, 'The Art Of Levitation', the Norwegian artist returns with Journey Beyond, a selection of tracks demonstrating his innate ability to conjure the most atmospheric trance music, irrespective of BPM.

Journey Beyond was created from an extensive set of tracks sent to the label that were initially sequenced as two shorter EPs. With the first offering a slower 80bpm trance style, and the second EP, a classic ~130bpm trance style. However, over time, with tracks swapping in and out, ASIP had the idea to create a mixed version, progressing through the tracks and increasing bpm's, showcasing Mikkel's ability in bridging euphoric worlds - and a style that is often reserved for Mikkel's live performances amongst the forest raves held as part of the Ute Collective in Norway.

Classic trance and the art of a DJ mix have been influential to ASIP since the label's inception, making this release and the process of creating it a true reflection of how Mikkel and the label come together to define the end output.

Featuring artwork by Ventral Is Golden and mastered by James Bernard, the album is available now on Bandcamp to preorder for just $1, with full release following next Friday and a Bandcamp listening party the day before (Thursday 22nd, 11am PST).

 

 

There's a certain feeling that creeps in when listening to Illuvia. A delicate suspension between rhythm and atmosphere, where the weight of a breakbeat never overwhelms the stillness it moves through.

Since debuting as Illuvia on ASIP with Iridescence of Clouds back in 2021, Ludvig Cimbrelius has steadily carved out his own temporal rift in the world of ambient and jungle- a sound that sidesteps nostalgia and instead uncovers a forgotten future buried deep in the recesses of our collective memory.

With such a history on the label going back to our earliest of releases and our 7th vinyl press (as Purl, alongside Lav) it may not feel like it, but this is actually the first time Ludvig has appeared on an isolatedmix, despite the close ties and inspiration of this Portals mix from God Is No Longer A DJ.

Both across his latest release, Earth Prism, and Iridescence of Clouds, he introduced a world of ambient lovers to weightless pads combined with chopped breaks, barely tethered to gravity, and melodies that seemed to shimmer. It was both an echo of something familiar and an entirely new dialect, not strictly jungle, not wholly ambient, not liquid in the traditional sense, but unmistakably Illuvia.

This new mix is a continuation of those worlds. Or maybe a glance sideways into a parallel one. Illuvia's approach has always been about restraint and resonance: every snare hit is softened by reverb, every progression feels like it's been carved out of silence.

For those who have followed his trajectory through ASIP and beyond, this is another precious window into Ludvig's meticulous and emotive world. And for those new to it, welcome.

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~

Illuvia: 'Mauna Kea'

When preparing to leave what has been my home for the past three years and setting sail towards a different continent, I realized that some of the old hard-drives I have been carrying around would not make the trip with me. A move like this one marks a new beginning; when it comes to my music, I usually attempt to go through what I can easily access in my archives and feel out what calls for being salvaged and shared in some form. The rest will remain disconnected from the digital cloud, destined to slowly disintegrate (perhaps to be dug up by archeologists in some distant future?).

In my search, I discovered the first demo tracks I had sent to Ryan back in 2019, as well as a track called 'Where Clouds Dissolve Into Sky' - the first idea I took down for Illuvia's debut on ASIP. That title eventually morphed into the album name, while the track itself remained a beautiful idea that didn't quite reach all the way. It had something special, just like the raw demo versions that were either refined or completely reimagined on their way to release.

After collecting the ones that felt too radiant to fade, I began to feel for ways that these odd pieces could flow together into a continuous mix - and naturally an Isolatedmix as most of them were directly or indirectly connected to my albums on ASIP. Slowly, a path emerged, leading deeper into the heart of Illuvia. In the process, I couldn't hold back impulses to add some new layers and bending a few of the tracks pretty far from the shapes I had found them in - all to make things flow together more cohesively.

When listening to the first version of 'Mauna Kea', I was surprised by how alive it all felt to me, and decided that I wanted to try to compile this work as an album too, dispersing more of the tracks and alternate versions that didn't find a place in the mix. I had hoped to complete both renditions of this retrospective before taking off, but I ran out of time, and so the album version might come along later. For now, I am happy to be able to share this continuous 78 minute trip through the ambient clouds and elemental beats of Illuvia.

- Ludvig (Istanbul, March 2025)

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 131 - Illuvia: 'Mauna Kea'

Listen on Soundcloud the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app .

Tracklist:

01. Via I (Dream Fragment)
02. Where Clouds Dissolve Into Sky
03. Nirmala Sundari
04. Abyssal Plains
05. Mauna Loa
06. A New Tomorrow (Origin)
07. Mauna Kea
08. Light Within Shadow
09. Snow Melt From My Heart
10. State of Emergence (Origin)
11. Violet Rays
12. Chiara (Intro)

This mix is also available as a release on Illuvia's Bandcamp page to enjoy in high quality download formats and individual tracks, including a limited CDr run.

 

 

Christian Kleine's Electronic Music From The Lost World 1998-2001 Vol.2 is out today on gatefold pink 2LP. But not to overshadow this moment, we also have another special item as part of this release dropping shortly...

I probably don't need to wax lyrical about the impact and role of City Centre Offices in my journey. You can connect the dots easily given the name and artists on the label, and go deeper with my interview with Thaddi Herrmann.

Outside of the artists and genre-defining output, the 7" releases from the label were undoubtedly one of the biggest influences on my obsession with vinyl and the DIY aesthetic. Minimal in design, striking colors and cute random stickers made these 7"s an instant collectible - although at the time, they probably felt much more lo-fi and budget given this was the heyday of vinyl production for emerging independent electronic music. I hate to imagine how cheap these were to make back then compared to today.

So when Christian's return to the label was in discussion and further digs into his DAT archives, I had the idea to pay homage to one of his earliest labels and one of my favorites with a copycat 7" lathe.

Mimicking the design to the finest detail, I enlisted Robyn at Red Space Records to cut a 7" transparent lathe (currently in production), ordered a replica sticker approach for the front, and designed a bunch of different color labels to placed randomly on each copy to replicate further the strong aesthetic that formed over time on the CCO roster.

Electronic Music From The Lost World: 1998​-​2001 (Vol.2) by Christian Kleine" target="_blank">Available now on Bandcamp, just 50 copies were made due to the DIY nature of lathe cuts and assembly. I know many people won't be able to get their hands on this special edition, but simply trying to scale something that takes time and is focused on quality can be very hard nowadays.

The two tracks, "Beyond Repair (Version)" and "Wonder Var" will remain exclusive to the 7" for the time being. Mastered by the man who did all of CCO's early mastering, LOOP-O.

7" mock for illustrative purposes (the sleeves will be in perfect condition, don't worry).

 

 

Christian Kleine continues to unearth long-lost transmissions with Electronic Music From The Lost World: Vol.2 - another batch of pristine artifacts from his personal DAT archive. Much like its predecessor, this release serves as both a time capsule and a reminder of Kleine's effortless blend of melodic warmth, intricate rhythm programming, punk influences, and a deep-rooted love for the fringes of electronica.

Where Vol.1 felt like an invitation back to the late '90s, a time when IDM was still an evolving conversation, this second volume extends the dialogue, revealing more of the sonic experiments and fully-formed pieces that never saw the light of day. Tracks recall specific moments from Kleine's time living in Berlin, an era of minimal comforts but maximal creativity, where all that really mattered was that the PowerPC, sampler, and synths kept running. This period of introspection, coupled with the musical freedom afforded by cheap rent and late-night school classes, shaped the deeply personal and solitary sound of these recordings.

Visually, Vol 2 shares its origins with the first volume, as Midori Hirano's stark Berlin photography forms the foundation, and Noah M / Keep Adding pushes the imagery into a brighter, more reflective final space. Final touches remain in familiar hands, with LOOP-O on mastering and lacquer duties, bringing new life to Christian's OG DAT recordings. 

And much like the classic City Centre Offices era that shaped this sound and Kleine's early career, this release nods to that legacy. A special limited 7" EP with two bonus tracks, designed in tribute to CCO's iconic DIY aesthetic, will be available on release day direct from the label's Bandcamp. 

Electronic Music From The Lost World: 1998​-​2001 (Vol.2), will be available on marbled pink gatefold 2LP on April 18th 2025.

View the release page for all links to buy.

 

 

Whether under his Dream Weapons or Fantastikoi Hxoi aliases or more his more extensive output as Anatolian Weapons, Aggelos' output is one to get lost in, where each project feels like a conversation between worlds that don't usually meet. As Anatolian Weapons, that conversation comes into sharper focus: what began as an experiment in bridging the sharper edges of EBM and krautrock with the circular, percussive energy of Greek folk music has turned into a fully formed and consistent thread through his output of EPs and albums.

One of his first full-lengths as Anatolian Weapons arrived via the legendary Tim Sweeney's Beats In Space label back in 2019 - a move that pulled ancient melodies into unfamiliar territory and a statement piece at the time. Since then, Aggelos has gone on to release on labels as varied as Emotional Response, Transmigration and Sound Metaphors along with more techno-oriented homes such as Dekmantel and Kalahari Oyster Cult.

Fast forward to 2024's album, Beyond, and that sense of push and pull is still present, only now with more intent and confidence. It's music that leans into repetition and rhythm without losing sight of where it came from. Aggelos also has an innate ability to find some really addictive hooks in his music, too (for example, I used this voice texture as a loop in my Monument mix, which I absolutely adore).

Aggelos' isolatedmix feels like a natural continuation and culmination of his complex yet harmonious style. There's no strict mood or genre at play, but rather a slow reveal, drawing on the same tensions and textures that have defined Baltas' path so far. It's a pleasure to have him contribute with such a dreamy trip through the many facets of his influences.

~

I see you describe your sound as 'progressive folk and psych'. Can you expand on this a little?

'Progressive Folk And Psych From Freece' is a 3-part mix compilation showcasing my influences as Fantastikoi Hxoi. The Fantastikoi Hxoi albums brought me to the attention of selectors like Lena Willikens, who used to play tracks from that era (2009-2011). The sound is something between space rock, kraut, folk, and progressive with electronics. The Dream Weapons moniker is reserved for more techno-oriented sounds while Anatolian Weapons is moving towards world music influences with driving beats.

One of your first albums came about for Tim Sweeney's esteemed Beats In Space label - how did that happen?

There had been two Fantastikoi Hxoi releases before that, and I had just started the Anataloian Weapons project. Again, Lena Willikens played an unreleased track on her Beats In Space and I contacted Tim to let him know about the ID. He seemed interested, and my collaboration with local folk musician Seirios Savvaidis was born. I love his work, and I'm very lucky and humbled to have worked with him on the album, which did well.

Can you tell us a little about your approach to some of the many remixes and edits you create and why you enjoy producing them?

It is very fun to collaborate with people I admire, and re-editing is something that I enjoy immensely, even if it's just a good pitch-down of a track. I love re-contextualizing and juxtapositions of different genres. It all comes down to the inspiration I get from fellow artists or my musical heroes of the past. I have just released an edit compilation called 'The Whiteout Edits' a couple of days ago and I am working closely with Sound Metaphors on the remix front as well as on original material.

It seems you also enjoy experimenting more by releasing through EPs versus albums - is that intentional? Is that a way to create more regular approaches to your sound?

It all comes down to requests, really, and the dynamics of each label. I feel very lucky to have worked in album format with BIS as well as Subject To Restrictions, a label that feels like home nowadays. Dominik Andre has a flawless instinct for A&R and a great ear.

STR is surely a label worth checking out. Apart from the two brother albums 'Earth' and 'Beyond' I also did mixing and additional production on my good friend Anna Vs June in her album 'Ersi', the album and her musical world are extraordinary - also worth checking out. 

One of my favorite tracks of yours is 'Lets Talk' on the Mantil EP - and I think this does a great job of capturing your sound. For anyone new to you, which records would you point them to first? 

Thank you. I'm glad you like it; it's much appreciated.

I'd say 'A Strange Light From The East EP' or 'The Black Sea EP' on Lurid music would encapsulate the Anatolian Weapons sound, whether it is dubbed out excursion of African library music or druggy downtempo. My mix for Tim Sweeney's Beats In Space and Lena Willikens Lightning Conductor on NTS can show exactly how I like my music to sound when I play out, along maybe with the Sameheads mixed tape called 'Palace Of Imagination'. 

As a producer from Greece, what are the opportunities and challenges you face there? From my limited knowledge, it must be very hard to form a community, given how extensive the country is across islands, etc. Are you active in any local scene?

I have been playing in numerous spots in Athens throughout the years with many local and international acts, as well as keeping my 20-year residency at Astron Bar (now in a new building with a capacity of 300). 

The scene is getting stronger day by day, and there are a lot of talented people creating music and throwing parties. The friends whom I have shared decks with would be too many to mention, 

I enjoyed opening a gig for Polygonia / Kangding Ray / Wata Igarashi along with Nausicaa from Revolt! who also runs an excellent record shop. So yes, I think the scene here is at an all-time high with a knowledgeable and heady crowd supporting what truly deserves the support.

How has your sound impacted the tracks chosen in this mix? Was there a concept behind the mix? Can you list any tracks included in the mix?

The mix showcases my taste on the ambient/ downtempo side with a couple of tracks from Gus Till, whose output I love, some local stuff, plus the original mix of The Light At The End, a huge favorite of mine by Zen Paradox from his first CD-r release.

I also have the honor of remixing it with two new versions - the vinyl will be out on Transmigration very soon. If the music is deep, contemplative, melancholic, and melodic, with a touch of light for good measure, it will probably be up my street. Two tracks that almost made it in the mix are Kay Nakayama's  'Free Your Mind (Light Side Mix)' and 'Loading To Airport'.

What else can we expect to hear from you soon?

I just released 'The Whiteout Edits' on Bandcamp, there is a split on Dalmata Daniel with The Spy coming soon on 10'' lathe, the Zen Paradox remix EP on Transmigration, remixes for Arvin Fajar and Talking Machine (digital only) an album on Byrd out (digital only) plus original material on Sound Metaphors  Also a lot of new edits on Bandcamp so watch that space!

We rarely sleep around here.

~

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 130 - Anatolian Weapons

Listen on Soundcloud the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app

Download MP3

(No tracklist on this one I'm afraid but quite a few tracks mentioned above)

 

  Rod Modell & Taka Noda - Glow World

This album from last year, but only recently made available digitally. I picked Glow World up on vinyl originally and have been spinning it consistently since. A masterclass in detailed world-building, it has to be one of my prized vinyl purchases of late. Everyone knows Rod Modell, but I am sure some people may not have realized that Taka Noda, also released under a dub moniker, Mystica Tribe on Silent Season for a few years. The two make a perfect duo on this timeless record.

And just as you think we'd exhausted the Modell treasure trove in the past few months, he just released another LP of sublime icey textures on 'Northern Michigan Snowstorms'. The sub-zero chillout room from one of Michigan's most renowned immersive techno producers.

Single Cell Orchestra - Single Cell Orchestra

Our upcoming release from Monoparts couldn't be further from the sound on this album, but in a twisted rabbit hole way, posting about Olga's upcoming album on Instagram led me to this overlooked classic when asking for people's favorite trip-hop tracks. I love it when older 90s albums crop up on the corners of Bandcamp. For a new platform, I am always dubious of finding gems when hitting the search bar. Silent Cell Orchestra is the perfect capsulation of the freedom of sound and styles found across albums in an era when feelings beat genres.

ESP Institute XV - I Active, II Passive, III Unobtanium [L.A. WILDFIRE FUNDRAISER]

There have been a few amazing LA fire fundraiser comps released in the past month or so, and I am sure many of you managed to wrap your ears around the 'For LA' comps, which are a no-brainer of epic proportions within the ambient producer realm.

This one from ESP Institute, however, took me by surprise. I mean, where do you even start? 90 tracks from a label that is consistently pushing genre boundaries and coming up with some defining albums (those early Lord of The Isles, as just one example). I debated doing an entire collected post with 5 of my favorite tracks at one point.

After giving this a spin in its entirety as I hopped around the house and car, it's the type of album you could listen to all day long and always find new moments. The sequencing is subtle but definitely considered. You find your ears pricking up to a beautiful new sound every two tracks or so. My choice track is by the vinyl digger officianado, Chee Shimizu, presenting a truly uplifting Balearic sunset vibe on Zeze... save this one for the summer.

OK, just two more choice cuts then…

Band Ane - Anish Musix

Most of you know I love the playful IDM vibes of artists such as LJ Kruzer, Freescha and ISAN. It's been a while since any of those have produced any new music of note, and it's rare to stumble across something that evokes similar feelings nowadays. I don't know why though. Twenty years later, is it all just too serious now? Has the innocence in electronic music just disappeared? Is it not cool to create playful melodies anymore?

I can't remember how this album by Danish artist Band Ane, ended up on my wishlist to purchase, it might have been playing on the Deep Space radio station. An innocent album of whimsical, melodic IDM that takes you back to the early 00's.

Voice Actor, Squu - Lust (1)

Listening to Voice Actor's debut on Stroom felt like a voyeuristic snapshot of personal photographs. Abstract, minimal, field recordings, vocal shards- you never knew the twist it was going to take from track to track. Now the enigmatic Stroom label return with Voice Actor alongside 'Squu', (who I know very little about -perhaps on purpose, as the only profile I can find is this Soundcloud).

Squu brings a dubby and trippy metallic sheen to Voice Actor's fragmented musings, turning the abstract, into an almost danceable, yet much more listenable epilogue.

Find these albums and many more over on my Bandcamp Collection.

 

 

Volume 7 is an ASIP artist-related special; on the odd chance you missed some of the amazing records put out by our small extended world of producers. I was thinking of maybe starting a new rating system for ASIP alumni - something along the lines of "How Annoyed I Am ASIP Didn't Release This Out Of Five."

Alex Albrecht - Someday Sara

Alex Albrecht on Anjunadeep wasn't on my 2025 bingo card, but listening now, it makes complete sense. Alex's sensibility and stewardship of —quite simply— feel-good music can be heard through his ambient field recordings all the way to the warm-up dance floor. Anjuna veers towards the more accessible side of things, of course, so here Alex has dialed up the beats, but kept consistent with the organic instruments and storied pianolines.

If you liked his release here on ASIP, imagine this record as Disc Two (Evening) versus our Disc One (Daytime) to put it in 90's Trance Compilation verbiage.

Abul Mogard & Rafael Anton Irisarri - Live at Le Guess Who?

Guido and Rafael's 2024 collaboration, Impossibly Distant, Impossiblt Close, is the most fitting album title I've ever encountered. Listening to it on headphones was a revelation—an immense soundscape unfolding while the smallest details surfaced with startling clarity. Naturally, experiencing this record of the duo playing live is just as mesmerizing.

Also, Berliners, please note our very own Lihla will be performing at the same show as these two greats on March 20th… don't miss!

Yagya - Vor

Shawn Reynaldo (First Floor) recently featured this album in his newsletter, and his short review pretty much hit the nail on the head. Something along the lines of- and I may be paraphrasing here with my own POV- 'dub techno is getting pretty popular again, but no-one does it better than some of the overlooked OGs'. Well, Yagya is one of the OGs, and on Vor, he returns to his purest manifestation. Bellowing clouds of dubby warmth take you right back to the tin shed pitter-patter vibe of Rigning, with more confident flourishes to be found after years of perfecting his style.

Deepchild - Beloved

Rick Bull swings from banging techno to swirling moods of ambiance over on his Bandcamp, so it's hard to know when to dive in if you only enjoy one of the two (luckily, I enjoy both!) 'Beloved' is a similar vibe to his vocal approaches on his ASIP release 'Mycological Patterns', and in a textured Burial-esque way, can be even more engrossing and intriguing at points.

Markus Guentner - Black Dahlia

Markus has been getting some amazing and well-deserved praise for his new album on Affin, Black Dahlia. You don't need to ask me, his #1 fan if it's any good… But those who listen to Markus' music are a special breed in today's overbearing world. His music and sound design are truly enveloping, and great rewards can be found if attention is given from front to back. Black Dahlia is a precious reminder of this attentive listening approach, as Markus has taken an even more metallic and experimental approach to his usual widescreen world-building - it's not all comfort in there, but the reward is just the same.

Jo Johnson - Alterations 1: Unbroken

Jo is up there with some of the masters of synthesizer minimalism, but instead of pioneering the sound in the 70's, she's keeping the atmospheric and dystopian side of this music well and truly alive. And I mean that in a positive light, of course. Much darkness can be found in her compositions, but she is never overbearing to the point of negativity. It was her delicate approach alongside Hilary Robinson that made their 9128 release so glorious, and once again, this record is another class in session.

No embed enabled on this one, so head on over and dive in.

Find these albums and many more over on my Bandcamp Collection.

 

 

You could say ASIP has brought me closer to 'my people' over the years—those with a deep, almost obsessive appreciation for all things ambient and electronic. The ones who love this music, who show up at the same gigs, who get so inspired by the sounds and stories that they start paving their own.

Based in Rotterdam, Rosillon is one of those people. Co-founder of the electronic music platform Embodiment, he's been a long-time listener and supporter of ASIP. At his core, he's just another music obsessive, choosing to share his passion through mixes and curated events—the kind of person who keeps music culture moving forward, regardless of genre or scale. Last November Rosillon had the pleasure to play for the first edition of ZERØBPM, a 18 hour non-stop ambient/meditation experience in a church in the Netherlands. And his previous mixes have cropped up for the brilliant Deep Breakfast series, as well as the Korean collective, Vurt.

I don't typically accept submissions for the isolatedmix series, but his vinyl-only mix landed in a way that many don't. And when he shared the story behind it, it perfectly captured how music like this isn't just heard—it's experienced, absorbed, and ultimately, passed on. Listening back and reading his inspiration, it reminded me of the exact mindset I experienced when picking a name for this endeavor, A Strangely Isolated Place.

Places of inspiration for Rosillon's mix

~

" Last summer, during my travels through Bulgaria, I found myself deeply inspired by the landscapes, and the sense of remoteness that each place evoked. As soon as I returned home, I aimed to translate these experiences into sound.

This mix is the result of that, a sonic exploration of isolation, both physical and emotional. The concept behind this set revolves around the idea of 'isolated places', not just in the geographical sense, but also within the mind. These are the places that trigger emotions, memories, and introspection. Places shaped by sound aesthetics that speak directly to the imagination. With this in mind, I carefully selected tracks that embody these feelings, crafting a mix that serves as both an escape and a reflection.

The mix unfolds as a metaphor for the experiences we gather during our journeys. It begins at an airport, a symbolic starting point that sends the listener on their way. From there, the music takes you through a collage of progressively more obscure destinations, each transition serving as a portal to another isolated place.

Places of inspiration for Rosillon's mix

Some transitions are smooth and fluid, while others are abrupt and disorienting, mirroring the unpredictability of travel itself. As the mix progresses, it immerses the listener in various emotional landscapes, reflecting the highs and lows that come with discovering unfamiliar territory.

Near the end, a vocal announcement signals that the gate is closing, marking the inevitable conclusion of the journey. The bittersweet nostalgia of leaving behind an enriching experience is captured in a track featuring glitching sounds layered over a field recording of an airport.

However, just as in real life, the end of a trip brings with it a renewed appreciation for the lessons learned and the memories made. In the closing section of the mix I wanted to embrace this sentiment, offering a positive and empowering conclusion.

It reminds us that every journey, whether to distant lands or within ourselves, leaves a lasting impact, shaping our perspective in ways we may not fully grasp until we return home. I hope this mix transports you to your own isolated places, allowing you to lose yourself in the journey and find meaning in the sounds along the way."

- Rosillon

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 129 - Rosillon

Listen on Soundcloud the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app

Download MP3

Tracklist (vinyl only)
01. The Black Dog - M1 [Dust Science Recordings]
02. Rod Modell - Ghost Lights B-side [Astral Industries]
03. Inhmost - In The Bay [re:st]
04. 3.11 - Dissolve in Patience [PRS]
05. Box5ive - Rough Sleeper [co:clear]
06. 3.11 - Hard Copy [PRS]
07. Alva Noto - Confidential Information 1 [Noton]
08. Off The Sky - Ahurani [re:discovery records]
09. Xenia Reaper - 23724 [INDEX:Records]
10. William Selman - Farther Off Among The Foaming Black Rocks [Mysteries Of The Deep]
11. Pontiac Streator & Mister Water Wet - Angelus Spit [Motion Ward]
12. TIBSLC - Hypertranslucent [Sferic]
13. Quiet Places - Side B [A Strangely Isolated Place]
14. The Black Dog - Lounge [Dust Science Recordings]
15. Alva Noto - HYbr:ID Ectopia Field 1 [Noton]

~

Rosillon Soundcloud | Instagram
Embodiment Soundcloud | Instagram

 

  Dreamfish - Dreamfish

There are a few LPs I have been hunting down for a long time now, and the original Dreamfish 2LP is up there. I've never seen it in the wild, and a Bandcamp comment suggests only 500 copies were originally pressed back in 1993. Silent State is slowly working through some of the most majestic titles from this era, and now Dreamfish is up for reissue, with preorders on Feb 7th. Read this interview I did with Nils from Silent State a while back who is on a mission to share more from the Namlook estate.

Snad - Bubblescope

I've been on a Smallville kick recently - well, probably since the Joe Davies album reminded me they exist, and they constantly churn out some of the best house music going. This latest one from Snad was playing in Passenger Seat Records in Portland when I asked what it was… of course, it turned out to be on Smallville. A lovely slice of dubby relaxing house music to float away to. The B-side, the standout.

Kiln - Seltzer Boa

Every year since 2021, Kiln has offered up a single through Bandcamp on January 1st, as a sonic snapshot of their groovable electronics. Many will know of this group through their releases on Ghostly, defining a specific sound that is perhaps the most organic and instrumental way possible to approach the listenable side of early IDM. Look out for more from Kiln arriving very soon….cough cough.

PFM - Equilibrium VIP

It's not often you get an unreleased gem from one of the kings of atmospheric / liquid drum'n bass making an appearance on Bandcamp. PFM has been dropping a bunch of singles on his own bandcamp in recent years (often deleting the releases once people have downloaded them), but looks like this one is set to stay, with a vinyl press to boot.

Roller.

Simon Littauer - Modular

Everyone hates on Instagram for many reasons, but once in a while, if you follow bunch of music nerds, it presents you with… more music nerds, jamming in front of their expensive rigs. Most sound as you'd expect, but Simon Littauer's got a knack for intertwining some absolutely beautiful pads and melancholy amongst the complex analog glitch and breaks. This album is name your price right now, too.

Find these albums and many more over on my Bandcamp Collection.

 

 

Our first release of 2025 was announced today, featuring our very own Olga Wojciechowska, (Infinite Distances (2019), Unseen Traces (2020), and the 2022 collaboration with Scanner), alongside Tomasz Walkiewicz.

The Monoparts project was sent to me as unreleased material a few years back by Olga, and it was spoken of as something that would never see the light of day, due to the duo going their own ways.

It was put into rotation on 9128.live, and since then, I grew to love it so much, I made the steps to secure it as a release on ASIP.

In a dramatic departure, Olga unveils a new and unexpected side, debuting her haunting vocals—a delicate, spellbinding performance that recalls the golden era of trip-hop, and comparisons to the sounds pioneered by Tricky, Massive Attack, and Martina Topley-Bird.

"This album is like becoming one with the earth itself—feeling the rawness of the wood, tasting the earth in your mouth, and sensing the presence of ancient spirits. The music carries a deep, primal energy, like being part of the forest, with creatures watching you from the shadows." - Olga Wojciechowska

To complete the journey, ASC lends his signature touch with a stunning drum'n'bass reinterpretation, amplifying the album's nostalgic essence. Soothsayers emerges as a spellbinding ode to times gone by, in more ways than one.

Featuring artwork by Moon Patrol, with mastering and lacquer by Andreas LUPO Lubich, Soothsayers will be available on 12" maroon smoke-colored vinyl and Bandcamp on February 28th. Preorder is now available on Bandcamp and Space Cadets, with more stores to follow soon.

Save the Monday 24th for our listening party over on Bandcamp. RSVP here.