2023 Label Compilation (mixed by todos)

A showcase of individual tracks from our 2023 label releases and a special continuous mix of select tracks from todos.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition since our first annual compilation release in 2019, and each year I find it tough to separate tracks from their album releases in this way. We pride ourselves on delivering an album format, and more often than not, specifically a conceptual album format that works best as a whole. So I appreciate the artists who allow us to separate their musical children for this worthy annual exercise. It’s so easy to skip over releases nowadays - at no fault of anyone but the pace of life and technology today - and so this compilation not only helps us reflect on the year gone by, but also ensures anyone new to the label, or dipping in and out over time, can get a taste of what we have proudly spent our time and passion presenting this year. Please take the time to visit each respective artist's release to realize its full form. 

Not only is separating tracks from an album format a formidable task, but finding a way to combine them in one seamless mix is even more so. Once again, we’ve asked our esteemed todos to provide the continuous mixed version. Creating a flow using a limited predetermined set of music across a variety of styles, moods, and tones is an almighty feat. But no-one does it better than todos. Here, he is left to his own devices as we have grown to admire time and time again, using snippets and samples from many of the releases, but focusing on delivering a long-form mix that stands on its own, using nothing but the ASIP 2023 library of music. 

It was a year that introduced new faces to the label with Iceland’s Gunnar Jónsson Collider providing a spectacular audio-visual experience in S.W.I.M, and welcoming Germany’s Mary Yalex who explored imaginary worlds of fascinating texture and melody. We fulfilled a long-awaited foray into more classic trance styles through the exciting Mikkel Rev, and finally presented the magical drums of Alex Albrecht’s heart-warming soundscapes. Max Würden continued his foray into expansive sonics with Landmark, and Quiet Places returned with their second Volume of psychedelic long-form trips into the unknown. One Million Eyes returned with more compelling genre-defiant magic, and OKRAA brought his live edits of his debut album 1994 to life once more. 2023 will also be remembered as the year Brock Van Wey’s Earth House Hold project came both full circle, and full stop. The last track title on this compilation coincidentally represents the perfect swan song for a project that has found a home on ASIP for the past five years. 

Thanks for all your support, comments and encouragement this year. We have an exciting 2024 lined up.

Available as Name Your Price on Bandcamp

Play the mix on Soundcloud

astrangelyisolatedplace · ASIP Label Compilation 2023 (mixed by todos)

Continuous mix by todos: soundcloud.com/djtodos. Full mix tracklist differs from the digital compilation tracklist featuring additional edits and samples.

Art and photography by ASIP featuring a photograph of ‘The Landmark’ sculpture by Enrique Martínez Celaya.

For album credit and production details, please see each release page.

Earth House Hold / How Deep Is Your Devotion (ASIP040)

I fell in love with the very first Earth House Hold album (When Love Lived). And since picking it up with Brock and pestering him for a demo one day, I never expected an Earth House Hold album on ASIP all those years ago. But given our mutual love for house music, it made complete sense.

Today, we get to hear the full spectrum of influences on this alias from Brock. From the defined beats and chopped samples in the first album to the expansive vocals in the second, acid basslines in the third, and deconstructed atmospheres in this, the last Earth House Hold album.

This was never meant to be an all-encompassing collection of all Earth House Hold music (it isn’t). Listening to this project across the (now) four albums, is a lesson in deconstruction, and conceptually, shows how the album styles have evolved over the years. It’s remained one of the most exciting aspects of the alias for me, as Brock continually found new angles to explore and new influences to unearth. Each EHH album is unique and represents a very specific moment in time, a memory, a shed of sunrise through a cracked basement window to him, and to me. It’s easy to say a project is personal, but given our mutual love for house music and how this project has grown over the years, this one hits differently.

The album title summarises this release perfectly. Earth House Hold got off to a slow start, and many people didn’t enjoy this new approach from Brock. But today, ten years later, this is the perfect non-question to the many people who obsess over this alias. It’s not even worth asking…

Available today to preorder on 4XCD sleeve (to fit right into your vinyl shelves) or an extensive digital album containing all 4 albums mastered/remastered by Brock, along with artwork from the OG Peter Skwiot Smith.

Listen/buy

2021 ASIP Label Compilation (mixed by todos)

For last year's label compilation, I mentioned how I hoped to invite a guest DJ to compile the next edition, and here we are! Of course, it just had to be our long-term musical companion, a good friend of mine, and well-respected DJ, todos.

I was first introduced to todos through his well-respected Kilchurn Mix series. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, they remain some of my favorite mixes of all time (listen to them all here). His ability to craft a narrative, manipulate samples and respect the grey area between ambient and electronic music, is second-to-none.

Since blogging about his mixes all the way back in 2008, and inviting him to compile a special isolatedmix a few years later, Doug (todos) and I have stayed in touch and connected further after learning we grew up with very similar musical trajectories. Doug also coincidentally, ended up living where my family is today (and where I spent my life growing up) in a surprising twist of fate. And in 2021, after years of speaking online, we finally got to meet, play records (in real life!), and go for a long overdue beer.

I always earmarked Doug to be a part of ASIP somehow, so it is my absolute pleasure to hand over the DJ reins for the 2021 compilation edition. Doug had free choice over which tracks to choose, as long as he included one track from each release of the year. The result is a very special mix, taking us through the ASIP 2021 release catalog in his unique, signature, todos style.

“2021 has been another tough year but the music that has come out of it has been wonderful. With so many excellent releases on the ASIP label, it was exciting yet challenging to be asked to showcase a few on this mix. Massive thanks go out to Ryan for the opportunity and trust in letting me do this, the artists for their incredible talent and hard work, and lastly all the supporters of this music we love, I hope you enjoy.”

— todos

ASIP 2021 mixed by todos is available on Bandcamp, and the digital is currently name your price, with the mixed CD version also available on Juno (and more stores to follow soon).

Now available: Earth House Hold / Daybreak Basements and Broken Hearts

Following his 2018 Earth House Hold album ‘Never Forget Us’, Brock Van Wey returns with another exploration of the sounds and influences of his early years that come to life through a unique combination of ambient and deep (DEEP) house.

Brock often jokes each time he sends a record over to me that his music gets deeper, but he really mean’t it with this one. His deepest, darkest iteration of the EHH sound yet, now available on two 2LP versions and digital.

astrangelyisolatedplace · Earth House Hold / Daybreak Basements and Broken Hearts (ASIPV031) [PREVIEWS]

View the album release page for full details, previews and links to buy.

ASIP artist playlist: Other Strangely Isolated Places

You may or may not already be a subscriber to the ASIP Currents.fm page where we post goodies every now and then, but either way you can access this playlist featuring music by ASIP artists that appears on other labels, other monikers, etc. Check it out and hit play from the top - moving from experimental and ambient through to more electronic realms from the ASIP artist crew, new and old.

Visit or subscribe to ASIP on Currents.fm