Cargo Records

Diaspora : Cottage Industries 5

After a three-year hiatus, ‘Diaspora : Cottage Industries 5’ marks the return of the pioneering electronic music label Neo Ouija. Renowned for its critically acclaimed album releases and the Cottage Industries compilation series, Neo Ouija now offers a glimpse of things to come. Much time and consideration went into selecting 30 tracks by an international cast of musicians to celebrate the label’s relaunch, resulting a massive double CD set that plots an epic journey through contemporary electronic music.

The first disc surprises with a flurry of melodic techno, yet despite this change of pace, the vibe remains true to the label’s trademark blend of melodic grooves and widescreen soundscapes. Whether it’s Move D’s machine-funk-opus ‘Spacerckr’ or the sun-drenched dub of ‘Dpoles’ by Fluxion (Chain Reaction), the music on C.I.5 oozes with character while effortlessly taking Neo Ouija’s sound to the next level.

The second disc showcases the playful side of the label, with their own version of braindance blissfully finding a balance between intricate rhythms and atmospheric sound design. In addition to exclusive tracks by old friends of the label like Maps And Diagrams, Sense and Seven Ark, the compilation also features unreleased material by Kangding Ray (Raster-Noton) and NQ (Kitty-Yo, Progressive Form). ‘Diaspora: Cottage Industries 5’ manages to bring musicians together in unexpected ways, and that’s just one of the reasons why it’s great to have Neo Ouija back among us.

Neo Ouija was founded by Lee Norris (aka Metamatics, Norken and Nacht Plank) in 2000 and released more than thirty records until the end of 2005. With influences ranging from Detroit Techno to modern classical music, the releases on Neo Ouija always shared a melancholic, yet playful vibe. Over the years, Neo Ouija released critically acclaimed debut-albums by artists like Xela, Sense, and Deru. Other musicians that have released on Neo Ouija include Apparat, Funckarma, and Metamatics + Clatterbox. After a three year hiatus Neo Ouija now returns, under new management, but the mission remains the same : to release music they care about without chasing after passing fads.

Full line-up : MXM, Move D, Tilman Ehrhorn, Remote_, Pridon, Plexus Instruments, Deer, Dimitar Dodovski, Fluxion, A Made Up Sound, a.k.a.Dings, Relapxych.0, Sense, Build Buildings, Kangding Ray, Benjamin Brunn, Maps And Diagrams, Fell, Soundhacker, Palac, Climnoizer, Seven Ark, Room, NQ, Andrey Kiritchenko, Honey Sacrifice, Nacht Plank and Shintaro Aoki.