late to the party #3: Nix

05-11-2025

Nix is a label which started in 2021, started by Árni E. Guðmundsson originally in Reykjavik before moving to Berlin. The label focuses on techno which is sometimes a bit more out there, often with some psychedelic artwork and with marbled patterns on the records themselves.

2021

A&H - Gott (NIX001)
A0 Gott [4:13]
B0 Gott (PTU Remix) [6:01]

Árni E. Guðmundsson's collaboration with Sveinbjörn "Hermigervill" Thorarensen gives us some wacky, bubbly, wobbly fun. PTU's remix helps the piece find a home on the dancefloor.

2023

Chlär - Dance Instructor EP (NIX002)
A1 Galvanizer [6:16]
A2 Vital Force [5:23]
B0 Dance Instructor [6:58]

Galvanizer certainly brings some energy right from the jump, showcasing the sort of thing Chlär is known and loved for. Vital Force brings more bouncy vibes; it and Dance Instructor (which really feel like companion pieces or even alternate versions of each other and are the highlights of this three-tracker. Moments of disco-y and rave-y feeling come in and out, all very steady.

Ocirala - I Want to Lick Your Brains EP (NIX003)
A1 Track for NIX [5:07]
A2 I Want to Lick Your Brains [4:55]
B1 No Fap Day 37 [5:37]
B2 Gina Doesn't Love Me Enough [5:18]

Fun title! It's nice when a style like techno which can sometimes feel too self serious lets itself have a bit of playfulness. Track for NIX seems to possibly use a semi-popularly sampled moan from the beginning of Dedicated to the One I Love by R&B singer Charles "Sweet Charles" Sherell, a sample also found on songs like Kruder & Dorfmeister's Original Bedroom Rockers from 1993 and J Dilla's Time: Donut of the Heart in 2006. The repeated title of I Want to Lick Your Brains is funny if taken literally rather than metaphorically. Although I enjoy the instrumentals quite, I'm really not very into the use of female vocals on the other two tracks here. I must admit that even as far as horny techno goes, I don't really find this as hot as some things, although its less execrable than it could be and I'm also glad it's not one of those things where a woman is made to sing some insipid garbage just because she has a nice voice.

Bjarki - Tears in Berghain EP (NIX004)
A1 Tears in Berghain
A2 Rave Daddy
B0 Pano Party [Dressless Render1]

The title track is very dark with some blippy, clipped feeling in both synth sounds and drum programming and an extended spoken word poem parodying Eric Clapton's elegy for his dead son Tears in Heaven. It's a bit funny, to be sure. The other two try to mix the humour with sexiness to honestly pretty flat results, which is disappointing from an otherwise solid label and producer. This threetracker is nowhere to be found on bandcamp for either the label or searching through things attributed to Bjarki. I wonder why.

Nathan Alexander [b/w] Á&H - Move [b/w] Golden Vein (NIXW001)
A0 Nathan Alexander - Move [7:28]
B0 Á&H - Golden Vein [9:02]

Move is not really my favourite dance tune of that name I've heard but it's still quite enjoyable. The B-side is stronger for my tastes and makes me wish there was more Á&H on this label though I suppose the label head sometimes might need to focus more on curatorial duties.

Various Artists - I hate music, especially when it's played (NIX005)
A1 Alarico - Continuum [5:39]
A2 Chlär - Adventour [4:41]
B1 Hadone - Tool 9 [4:51]
B2 jelena - Golubica [5:41]

The bookending numbers here are my favourites: Alarico's cut opening this EP, Continuum and jelena's Golubica. Great bubbly, trippy ear candy, with some nice stuff happening with the use of space. Adventour is no slouch and is almost as strong. Tool 9 is aptly named, it is fairly toolsy but it may easily prove its use in a set.

2024

Ocirala - My Friend Was Eaten by a Modular Rack (NIX006)
A1 A???== [5:37]
A2 Nutz Alarm [5:35]
B1 Burning Clouds [5:23]
B2 My Friend Was Eaten by a Modular Rack [6:17]

Benjamin Damage - Violet Ray EP (NIX007)
A1 Revok [6:11]
A2 Vitalator [5:32]
B1 Hydra [6:32]
B2 Drip Feed [5:31]

Kicking things off is Revok, with some inventive percussion programming and some heavily warping FM sounds evoking sheet metal, hard plastic melting, and little bleeps. Vitalator masterfully combines some cute synth xylophone sounds which play a riff the melody of which echoes the days of early rave music (though if it were tightened up some might be more well suited to techno... I don't dislike it though) and some more neat warping sounds, the highlight of which is the latter, most highlighted in bridge of the track. Hydra has a bit of a cute melody but the sonics are wild enough it never feels too tiresome. Having a techno riff which isn't so severely punishing isn't such a bad thing afterall. Drip Feed has a bit more of the cute sounds but because it doesn't give into the cute melody territory Vitalator did it works somewhat better here.

Ocirala - My Friend Was Eaten by a Modular Rack (NIX006)
A1 A???== [5:37]
A2 Nutz Alarm [5:35]
B1 Burning Clouds [5:23]
B2 My Friend Was Eaten by a Modular Rack [6:17]

Mercifully, this EP by Ocirala has no boring/unsexy use of vocals. In fact, there are even some sexy use of wordless vocals which blend with pads, squelches and clunky percussion beautifully on the bizarrely named opening track A???==. Followed after by the slightly silly but effective/toolsy Nutz Alarm. Like the opener, Burning Clouds goes on a bit of a trip and the closing number which gives this EP its name is a wholeass synth jam session with techno percussion undergirding it.

2025

Nathan Alexander - Skin EP (NIXW002)
A1 Language [5:53]
A2 Pulsewidth [6:04]
B0 Skin [7:10]

Three great pieces of psychedelic, warping, at times a bit gloopy. Title track Skin is full of humour and might not be as easy to incorporate some moments of it into some mixes, whereas the two pieces that make up the A-side, Language and Pulsewidth have some really cool alien textures but which wouldn't be hard to dance to in the slightest. Don't confuse this Pulsewidth with that found on Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92 however.

Ikari - When It's Over (NIXW003)
A1 Mitsubishi Fuso [6:09]
A2 Thermometer [5:32]
B1 Falling Knives [5:08]
B2 When It's Over [5:34]

Opening number Mitsubishi Fuso is some gloriously alien but tight sound design and is a masterpiece of space, range of low end to high end frequencies, percussive, and groove. This continues with Thermometer which is slightly less alien but no less masterfully crafted in texture, pacing, and form. Also true of Falling Knives though that one will be easier to mix into a wider range of techno sets. The title track is the most disappointing compared with the other three, but that's not saying much because the other three are stellar.
Check out the label here

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