Audio Units, Watashi, Rafiki & More Feature On Safar Collective's 'Perceptions I'
27 February 2024
2024 might be the year of collectives and compilations. After various artist releases by the dance and electronica platform Bonewax and the leftfield-dedicated ONNO Collective, there is a new compilation by Safar Collective.
After previous releases that focused collective's internal experimentations, Safar Collective's latest release 'Perceptions I' turns the outfit into a label that has galvanised artists with a left-of-centre approach to dance music. 17 tracks that feature the likes of flux vortex & Shantam, Mythopoet, soundsbyxp, Watashi and Aman operate at the confluence of ambient and dance music with sometimes an industrial grit.
Audio Units' 'Hidden Variables' and Bønehead's 'Scøpe' are fine examples of that as the visceral drums and immersive pads serve as foundations to the sometimes sudden and other times subtle progression of zany synth tones. Their emergence and then convergence into the wider soundscape adds up to a pleasantly disorienting journey with a fresh psychedelic quality. In contrast, the run between I7HVN & Vishal Unni's 'Figment' and IKIGAI's 'Dimensional Rift' leans more towards the ambient aspect of the selections where even grooves serve as a texture in the larger astral assembly.
The two most standout tracks on the compilation come from Ishan Mukherjee and Rafiki. The former adventurously dials the grit of his basslines beyond conventions while at the same time dropping you onto placating chiming melodies on 'Shifting'. Meanwhile, Rafiki's 'Untitled Breaks' comes fitted for a middle to late part of a club night with its aggressive snare work pushing the energy between domineering acid synths, booming basslines and revelry-filled vocal samples.
Listen to 'Perceptions I' below and follow Safar Collective for more information.
Artwork by Ishan Gaur, Garima Katiya