As I’ve mentioned in the Deranged Records article, there’s this Magna reason why I just don’t pick my luggage and sail away from London… and that is music. The city’s fertility is mind-bending wherever direction you take and tube station you get off at. DIY Space For London, for example, is this microcosmos where magnificent yet unknown bands showcase their abilities for free basically. I got the chance of witnessing Chain Of Flowers playing there a couple of weeks ago and, shit, loved their twisted post-punk both old-school and rejuvenating at the very same time.
The self-titled debut was recently released through ALTER and you need to do now more about this label really. Their 2015 was not particularly flooded, but quantity =/= quality, right? ALTER‘s take on underground music has a consistent, international wide-approach, focusing the efforts not only on the post-punk latitudes, but sniffing and searching the experimental electronics range as well, from Denmark to Berlin, NYC or Cardiff. They’ve co-released the new Damien Dubrovnik LP with Posh Isolation and launched Lumisokea‘s first full-length, which is an inspiring piece of exploratory craft for all of you lurkers of deconstruction.
What surely made me cast a vote for ALTER as one of this year’s best labels was their last release. Which is not even an album, but a Shallow Sanction 7”. Two tracks, blurred and unconstrained deathrock for those who miss Bluurg Tapes for life and just enjoy to see goth getting along well with punk.
To sum everything up, how about a Uniform track and the words of Luke Younger, ALTER‘s commander?
2015 was lined up to be our most productive year, but due to manufacturing delays caused by RSD and major labels we only got out 4 of the 7 albums we had planned. Despite this I felt the label released some of its best and most diverse music this year. It started with Damien Dubrovnik’s massive “Vegas Fountain” LP and ended with a bang with Shallow Sanction’s “Without Light” single. Thanks to anyone who bought a record, streamed something or downloaded. I’ve had to re-evaluate what it takes to run a consistently active label in this age and 2016 will see some changes – most which will be played out as they come.