Just wanted to send a little shout out, to what I consider a sister label to the early Merck material, Inpuj. Started by Proswell in 1998, and now managed by him and Aaron of Ilkae. They’ve done some really cool things over the course of the label, in what I would best simplify as, more experimental versions of the early Merck sound. Recently they’ve had some good releases, wanted to mention 2 off the bat below, plus theres a few good albums in the IDM vein from people like Ilkae (EIS001) and Kaneel (EIS004), so I encourage you to browse through their other releases if you are so inclined (they’re all basically free too!). They’ve also been collaborating on the artwork side with an awesome dude, Nate Reeves / NKurence, and hes done some really gorgeous stuff for them on the visual side as well (he blessed the final CD on Narita as well, Terminal).
http://eerikinpujsound.com/catalog/
Zan Zan Zawa Veia has an excellent chiptune release that you should definitely check out if thats your thing (I know chiptune stuff is very polarizing, most people either love or hate it), but its really well done. The fact its co-produced by Proswell, Ilkae, and Shawnphase/TSS should give you a clue.
http://zan-zan-zawa-veia.bandcamp.com/album/mok-mok
Travis also has recently done a release for them, under his lesser known _-_m-e-ek alias. Its some nice, if slightly stunted, ambient work, reminiscent of Pop Ambient kind of stuff on Kompakt. Great stuff for a sunny summer afternoon out on the deck with a beer relaxing.
http://inpuj.bandcamp.com/album/scalp-tracks
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wow like $8 for 20 minutes of music… not the best value ever
In rebuttal I would say: Clint, 4 UK pounds is about $6.50, which is exactly what most domestic 12″s used to cost, which usually carried about 4 tracks and 20 minutes worth of music. Yeah, you were paying for some physical aspect of it then, but its probably a way better thing that your money is now going direct to the artist, to help him create more music you like, as opposed to a manufacturing plant.
It seems like zan-zan has responded by dropping the price to 4$ USD.
It is also worth noting that there are 4 hidden bonus tracks included with purchase.
Most releases on inpuj are free, except in situations where the artist feels that the amount of work/sweat/hours put into the production of the release would be undermined by releasing it for free. Mokè Mokè is unquestionably one of those releases.
Loving 1974, i wish Travis would release 1/3 of his tstewart/idk stuff.
And Khonnor has a recent release on Inpuj? How the fk i’ve let that pass through me!
That sums it all up, all of my favorite musicians has albums out in EI, way to go guys, still strong.