14tracks Selections
14 tracks: Minimal Wave
Exploring the Minimal Wave catalogue is like entering a secret crypt of 1980s electronic underground treasures. Under the co-ordination of Veronica Vasicka, the label has tirelessly reissued a stream…
14 tracks: Cosmic Soul Triangulation
Guided by an Afro-futuristic spirit and the mystic co-ordinates of Sun-Ra, this week's assortment of astrally inclined producers touch on jazzed electronic hiphop, hi-life disco and re-wired electro-…
Under the influence of Angelo Badalamenti
The films of David Lynch and their accompanying soundtracks from Angelo Badalamenti have had a subliminal yet profound impact on the sonic palette of a whole generation of composers. From the 50's ki…
14 tracks: Psychedelic Wanderlust
At the fringes of lo-fi, freeform folk, blues and experimental electronics are a number of artists operating with an untamed and psychedelic spirit of wanderlust. These cottage craftsmen share a larg…
14 tracks: Scandinavian Disco Heat
Thanks to the efforts of a handful of headstrong producers and zealous collectors, Scandinavia has gained a reputation for releasing some of the primest nu-disco on the planet. From the spiralling ce…
The Best Of 2009 Part 4
The 4th and final instalment in our 2009 roundup looks back at some more of our favourite tracks of the year, with another heavyweight selection of music we've loved over the last 12 months. From the…
The Best Of 2009 Part 3
The third selection highlighting some of our favourite music released in 2009, this time round opening up with a typically opulent synth fix from Oneohtrix Point Never, whose 'Rifts' collection has a…
The Best Of 2009 Part 2
Continuing our look at some of the tracks we've enjoyed most this year, this second selection includes music from newcomers as well as more familiar faces. The selection takes us from the reduced…
The best of 2009 - Part 1
Over the next few weeks we're going to bring you four selections of some of the finest music released in 2009 - taking in key tracks and hidden gems from experimental music, the ever-evolving bass-mu…
Stephan Laubner - Something's out there
Over the last decade Stephan Laubner has split his time between two disparate but similarly enchanting worlds of sound. His 'Something' imprint is home to the bulk of his output, from the isolationis…
14 tracks for the city at night
Inspired by the dark and magical view of industrial North Manchester from our office windows, this two and a half hour selection of tracks is intended to complement the mise-en-scene of the urban env…
The Jacking Zone: DJ International
From 1985 up to the early 90's, D.J. International was one of the most influential record labels in Chicago - and subsequently - the world. Alongside the slightly better known Trax imprint, they rele…
14 tracks: Dynamic steppers
In the studio/laboratories of rhythm auteurs like Breakage, Shackleton, T++ and Scuba, the pattern formulas of Drum and Bass, Techno and Dubstep have been broken down to their molecular structures an…
Redshape: A tech-noir enigma
The name Redshape has become synonymous with a brand of highly refined and cinematic Detroit techno ever since the release of his 'Shaped World' 12" on Delsin in 2006. There have been numerous rumour…
Head in the Clouds: a Discohouse dream
We've tagged this week's selection 'Head In The Clouds' to signify that warm feeling of being lost in the sublime ecstasies of deep house and disco. Artists like Linkwood, Trus'me, Actress and Move D…
Hauntology: A peculiar sonic fiction
The discourse developed around Jacques Derrida's concept of 'Hauntology' and its application to music in the minds of writers like Simon Reynolds, K-Punk and David Toop is one of the most discussed p…
14 tracks: Tropical Riddim Trip
The current Garage revival in the UK has met with the force of West African Calypso and Caribbean Soca inspired Funky/House via vintage Grime in the hands of DJs like Geeneus, Oneman and Kode 9, whil…
Mika Vainio: The Noise Component
With a resolutely intransigent aesthetic rooted in the experimental arts and heavily influenced by the Industrial music of groups like Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten, Mika Vainio has ov…
Life Is A Waveform: Underground Resistance
The legacy of Underground Resistance flows deep through the last 20 years of electronic music history. Originally a duo consisting of "Mad" Mike Banks and Jeff Mills, the collective was reinforced by…
Isolating the future-skank of Vladislav Delay
Sasu Ripatti is the Finnish electro-acoustic auteur behind the Vladislav Delay, Luomo and Uusitalo monikers, as well as part of a recent high profile collaboration with Moritz Von Oswald & Max Loderb…
14 tracks deep inside Matias Aguayo
Chilean ex-pat Matias Aguayo first came to our attention back at the turn of the century with the heart-stopping 'One Two Three (No Gravity)' recorded with cohort Dirk Leyers under the Closer Musik m…
14 tracks: Hype Grime
Of all British contributions to 21st Century culture, Grime must surely rank among one of it's biggest achievements. The style was initially born in the crucible of London's Garage rave scene, but as…
The decayed loops of Jeck and Basinski
Using different media, both Philip Jeck and William Basinski explore the gradual decay and manipulation of recorded sound. Jeck, using turntables, is fascinated by the inherent flaws and sonic detrit…
Rustie, Something In The Bucky (Does Not Compute)
We love Rustie. He's a singular character bridging the gap between slack hip hop, wonky, aqua-crunk, booty, electro, shuffling bump tunes and lazer/purple whatever you wanna call it. Unlike many of h…
14 tracks visualising sound: Alva Noto
Lynchpin and co-founder of the Raster Noton label, renowned installation-artist, producer, conceptual sound sculptor and all-round audio-visual maverick, Carsten Nicolai has over the last decade amas…
14 tracks raved up: Junglist Hardcore
Twisted Mentazm's, sweet rave vocals, distorted basslines and tough edits: simple elements defining classic UK Hardcore. It's a sound we're openly obsessed with and which continues to loom large over…
14 tracks uncovering the squashed funk of L.A.
L.A.'s thriving underground scene has in the last 18 months gone stratospheric, spearheaded by a mouth-watering alignment of producers who have between them cemented the city's reputation as a centre…
14 tracks guided by Takoma
John Fahey's Takoma label was originally set up in 1959 as an outlet for his own recordings, starting with the now legendary "Blind Joe Death" album that was made in a run of just 100 copies in the W…
14 tracks re-wiring UK Garage
With dubstep increasingly split between bombastic rave/wobble workouts and far more feminine (and, for our money, interesting) variants, the line is getting harder to define between one sub-classific…
The imbalanced computer music of Robert Henke
Robert Henke's biography is as impressive as they come in electronic music. The musician has spent time as a mastering engineer at Berlin's Dubplates & Mastering, co-founded software company Ableton …
Processing Hardcore: the doom and violence of DHR
Alec Empire's Digital Hardcore imprint was, for a short time, the definitive 'Berlin' label back in the mid-late 90's. Harnessing the cultural freedom that washed into the city after the collapse of …
14 tracks opening up UK Funky
Perhaps not the most alluring genre-heading in electronic music, Funky House, or UK Funky, or just UKF for those with shorter attention spans, is currently the most invigorated and lively branch of B…
14 tracks inna digital dancehall style
In the mid 1980's Prince Jazzbo and King Jammy revolutionised Reggae by discarding live instruments and building riddims using entirely digital means. 1985's King Jammy produced "(Under Me) Sleng Te…
14 tracks deep into Jamal Moss
Mentored by House legend Adonis and a direct spiritual descendent of Ron Hardy's Chicago House legacy, Jamal Moss is a prolific and utterly uncategorisable producer who's been wrecking and re-buildin…
14 tracks bumping Rush Hour
No doubt one of Europe's most important hubs for new electronic music, Amsterdam's Rush Hour label grew out of the record shop and distribution setup of the same name towards the turn of the century …
14 tracks experimenting with bowed strings
Classical and experimental musicians of all persuasions have a long tradition of making use of bows on both conventional and unusual string instruments (as well as a whole variety of non-stringed one…
14 tracks in love with Mali
Over the last few years we've developed an obsession with half a dozen or so Malian albums that have charmed and beguiled us into submission. These include Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate's magical…
14 tracks in Hypercolour: a synthfunk sampler
Wonky's uglier, ruder cousin, the new wave of hyper-coloured synthfunk is fast becoming the definitive sound of 2009. Situating itself somewhere between Grime, classic Dre productions and arcade mach…
14 tracks: clearing the Cache
Pacou first surfaced in the mid 90's and for a while everyone was convinced that the project had something to do with Moritz Von Oswald - so precise and devastating were his productions. After a seri…
The loop-finding jazz records of Jan Jelinek
Berlin's Jan Jelinek is one of those exceptional producers who just doesn't sound like anyone else - a rare commodity in electronic music. Despite amassing a now substantial body of work that's admi…
14 tracks: Visions of the Future
From the Afrofuturism of Sun Ra to Italy's 'Musica Futurista' movement, from the science fiction obsessions of the 1950's to the synthesiser-led New Wave of the 1970's, our musical archives are full…
14 tracks doffing caps to the Bristol new school
Bristol already left its mark on UK Bass culture back in the late 80's and early 90's via the Wild Bunch, Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky, but over the last few years a new wave of producers ha…
14 tracks in the shadow of film noir
From the classic "Harry Lime" theme for 'The Third Man' to the smoky Jazz interludes of Angelo Badalamenti's work for David Lynch, we're absolutely obsessed with Film Noir and the sophisticated yet d…
14 tracks deep into Move D
David Moufang is a producer who's been involved with numerous labels, projects and collaborations since the debut release on his own Source imprint back in 1994. His stock has been in ascendance rec…
14 tracks: from Larry Levan to The Warehouse..
This week we go on a potted journey through club music, with particular focus on the slow mutation of Disco and Soul into the hugely influential and endlessly productive sound eventually just known a…
14 tracks of early electronic music
We could probably compile two dozen volumes on this theme and still not even scratch the surface, but we figured it about time we took a look at some of the most precious material in the archives and…
14 tracks: The other side of Sonic Youth
With roots in Hardcore Punk and No Wave, and a fascination with experimental music of all colours, Sonic Youth have always managed to inject pop sensibilities into the cacophonous racket they're so g…
14 tracks in search of Wonky: Part Two
Three months on from our first giddy adventure into demented synth-lines, squashed beats and malfunctioning laser beams and we're back for a second helping of the good stuff, spoiled for choice by a…
14 tracks: Cloned
For more than 15 years the Clone imprint has operated under the auspices of Serge Verschuur, a heroic character on a tireless mission to bring the world advanced synthesised pop, electro, jackin Hous…
14 Tracks blown up : Accordion and Melodica
A few years back our friend Heiko Hoffmann put together "Asthmatic Worm", an excellent compilation of contemporary Melodica and Accordion tracks including the likes of Mum, Dntel and Sensorama. This …
14 tracks of heartache and longing
With Valentine's day looming we thought we'd reconnect with our sentimental side and deliver something for the romantics among you. We ended up with a playlist that's arguably more suitable for the f…
14 tracks Bubble Up : Wackies
New York's Wackies label issued some of the most influential and bass-heavy Reggae, Dub and Dancehall of the 70's and 80's. The label was founded by Lloyd "Bullwackie" Barnes, a Jamaican producer wh…
14 tracks of dark ambient
Ambient music has long been tarnished by its association with new-age aesthetics and cheap 'dolphin-sound' compilations readily available at your nearest herbal remedy shop or local garden centre. Th…
14 tracks deep into Surgeon
Anthony Child is one of the most uncompromising characters in Techno. With releases under the Surgeon moniker and as one half of acclaimed duo British Murder Boys, his two imprints (Dynamic Tension a…
14 tracks of Urban Gamelan
Indonesia's Gamelan ensembles have long influenced contemporary music with their long, contemplative arrangements and oddly discordant harmonies. Everyone from Debussy through to John Cage, Messiaen…
14 tracks 2-steppin into the new year
Happy New Year one and all! With 'The Roots of El-B' due for release in the coming months and with its influence shaping much of the electronic music we're enjoying as we slip into 2009, we open the …
14 Tracks : The Best Of 2008 Part 3
The third and final part of our 2008 retrospective marks a turning point for 14 tracks - from now on all the selections we feature will come zipped as a bundle so you'll no longer have to download ea…
14 Tracks : The Best Of 2008 Part 2
The second instalment in our year-end highlights selection features another batch of incredible music that's hovered somewhere below the radar in 2008. From the masterful post-classical opulence of …
14 tracks : the best of 2008 Part 1
With the year almost out we thought it the right time to single out our picks for 2008, this being the first selection of highlights from what's been a brilliantly varied and exciting year for new mu…
14 tracks documenting the field
Field recordings often have a functional remit - capturing indigenous African tribes, studying the sounds of air at different altitudes, deciphering bird song, or just documenting everyday life for p…
14 tracks unstrung, the cello
Being one of the lowest pitched string instruments, the Cello lends itself perfectly to our obsession with the bottom registers, carrying with it bass weight and a kind of aural gravity that often co…
14 tracks in search of Wonky
A follow-up of sorts to our 'Hip Hop A La Mode' selection from a few weeks back, this week we return to the hybrid sounds loosely flung under the Wonky umbrella. This is music characterised by woozy …
14 tracks opening up Basic Channel
With the Basic Channel catalogue playing such an important part in shaping our world over the last fifteen years, it's easy to forget that not everyone out there is as familiar with the the label as …
14 tracks contemplating the Raga
Indian classical music is framed by melodic templates that dictate the shape, colour and mood of each piece, a modal blueprint known as a Rāga. The influence on contemporary music has been evident th…
14 tracks of Drone Pop
Drone music makes use of repetition and imperceptible change often embodied by a low, continuous hum designed to mesmerise and submerge. This selection, however, celebrates those dronesmiths who see …
14 tracks respecting the originators : Reinforced
With the Hardcore/Rave/Junglist revival in full swing (check out Zomby's imminent new album for Werk for a prime example) we're extremely proud to bring you this exceptional 14 track selection put to…
14 tracks: Detroit Techno beyond the Motor City
Detroit Techno has for some time now permeated and influenced clubs and music makers across the world, with those signature strings and warm chords defining a whole movement in electronic music over …
14 tracks deep into Machinefabriek
One of the most prolific and interesting recording artists of our time, Rutger Zuydervelt has put together over 60 releases in the space of just 4 years, amassing a substantial and dedicated followin…
14 tracks of downward acid
Acid House has swung in and out of fashion since its late 80's heyday, and although there's a seemingly endless line of contemporary producers enamoured with classic Jack templates, we're particularl…
14 tracks feelin the dubstep hybrids
Dubstep has divided and consolidated into distinct schools of sound, some settling into the predictable routine of halfstep templates and dub cliché, while others have forged a brilliant path through…
14 Tracks in love with the cover version
Cover versions can often be a fantastic device for adventurous music makers to speak in a more colloquial tongue. It doesn't matter how deviant the execution is, the encounter with a familiar melody …
14 tracks: beyond the forbidden city
With all the cultural and political interest in China recently we've found ourselves increasingly drawn to its rich and varied musical heritage. The country has a musical tradition as diverse and spr…
14 Tracks : Steve Barker's Dubwise assault
Steve Barker is one of the UK's leading authorities on dub/reggae and has been hosting and curating the hugely influential 'On The Wire' radio show for BBC Radio Lancashire since 1984. The show's ecl…
14 tracks hi-fiving Kompakt
As one of the most visible and well known 'dance' imprints of the last 10 years, Cologne's Kompakt label has re-shaped electronic music with a vast and sprawling catalogue of releases spread over a n…
14 tracks filmed in Super 8
Contemporary music has no shortage of evocative sound makers and aspiring film composers, but this selection here keeps its focus on widescreen compositions degraded and withered by time and intentio…
14 tracks for the Berghain massive
Berlin's Berghain nightclub has in the last couple of years become one of the most vibrant and important nightspots in the world. The club's influence is so substantial that it has had mentions in Vo…
14 tracks Saluting Ladies who Experiment
Ever since Daphne Oram joined the BBC in 1942 and eventually founded the Radiophonic Workshop, the fairer sex has contributed to the development of new and experimental music with a freshness and ori…
14 tracks engaging the Hardcore Continuum
The Hardcore Continuum is a movement borne out of the early 90's conflation of seemingly disparate underground cultures : Dancehall, Dub, Rave and Acid House. Steered by a burgeoning pirate radio sce…
14 tracks for the dusty veranda
These are songs that make us think of vast desert landscapes and tumbleweed, the long sequences from Paris Texas and the relentless heat of the deep Midwest. Of course it's all one big cliché, but th…
14 tracks of narcotic House
We just love the kind of slow and sultry House Music that's been oozing out of the Berlin club scene in recent months. With its origin in the paralysed shuffle of Detroit's Theo Parrish and Moodymann…
14 tracks that make you wish you played the piano
Welcome to another 14 track selection - and thanks for the overwhelming response to our launch last week. Please note that there are several selections up on the site - you can navigate these using t…
14 tracks : From The Echo Chamber
We've created '14 Tracks' because we feel it's now harder than ever to wade through the sheer volume of music available out there and find what you're looking for. "14 Tracks' has been designed and c…
14 Tracks : Selected by Xela
Everyone's favourite ginger noisnik John Twells has been producing and releasing his own music under the Xela moniker (as well as running his own highly regarded Type Records) for the last 5 years. H…
14 tracks for a summer in the city
It's hard to figure out exactly what it is that makes a piece of music ideally suited for a sunny backdrop, but this selection has been compiled with steaming inner city afternoons and balmy evenings…
14 tracks - where Jazz is the Teacher
Jazz has informed and exerted influence over artists operating in pretty much every kind of contemporary music that comes to mind. This selection (with a title borrowed from one of the most important…
14 tracks of Hip Hop a la mode
Some people have already dubbed this kind of Hip Hop "Wonky" - a mostly instrumental variant that features out-of-tune synths, loose time signatures and sample edits from unexpected sources. The late…
14 tracks of deviant disco
We love a bit of disco, but it's so hard to find the good stuff! Here's a selection of tracks new and old, fast and slow, euphoric and contemplative - all doused in the make-up and romance of the af…
