Global Music Column – October

Various Artists – Redline Impact

London-based independent label Eastern Margins’ 2021 debut compilation Redline Legends was a joyous, high-energy documentation of the burgeoning electronic music being produced in the cities of east and south-east Asia. From the kitsch melodies of the Filipino budots style to the uptempo house of Indonesian funkot and the melodramatic EDM drops of Vietnamese vinahouse, Redline Legends showcased the homegrown artists pioneering this frantic, lo-fi music. The second instalment in their series, Redline Impact, now explores how the diaspora is pushing these sounds into faster, harder territory.

Across 17 tracks the compilation covers everything from K-pop to trance, hardstyle techno, budots and hardcore, all tied together by the ever-presence of thumping kick drums and spangling synth melodies. At the softer end of the spectrum, Chinese rapper Billionhappy channels the high-pitched vocal processing of Brat-style hyperpop on TNT Frame Rate, while Edinburgh-born producer LVRA programmes moody Bicep-referencing breakbeats on Bad Attitude, and Indonesian singer Reikko produces a satisfying pastiche of producer Sophie’s deconstructed club sound on Bite U Everywhere!

Read the review in the Guardian.

[This piece was published on 04/10/24]