On January 27th, 2023, Interval Audio practically broke the Internet by dropping an insane 25-track compilation album, Neo Subculture II. Curated by Teneki, the compilation features over two dozen incredible acts from the wave scene. We were lucky enough to have some of those artists share their thoughts on the project with us, too.
We’ll be straight up with you: there’s an hour and a half of some intense wave music on here. This is one to take your time with definitely, but it will be well worth the time spent.
We’re honestly still digesting it.
Check out Neo Subculture II on Spotify below.
“Forever within the everlasting interval of nothing and everything.”
– Interval Audio
Interval Audio is a Canadian electronic music label; it was established in 2017 to showcase emerging artists whose styles aren’t the easiest to define with static bass music genres. Given their experience working with hard-to-define artists, it makes sense that they would publish a wave compilation.
This compilation features music from a wide variety of wave artists from all across the world. On it, you will find internationally-acclaimed artists like the UK hardwave favorite STATIC ANGEL– to underground gems like JUKE YOU– to the genius behind LA’s wave showcase series, Tears in the Club, Loss Combinator– to New York’s own Grammy-awarded Nick Neutronz– and of course, a little something from the oh-so-talented Teneki himself.
This compilation is the second of its name. The first Neo Subculture emerged in 2021 and included popular wave tunes like SBU’s “Ultimatum.” It also features some of the same artists as Neo Subculture II, like Dyzphoria and Aekae. This second edition is nearly double the length of the first as well.
Neo Subculture II’s release was teased with a couple of singles, including a track from ANGEL CANNON and a collaboration between KAVERN and Fedix.
“For the Culture”: the wave music scene explodes with art.
The album artwork, designed by Troy Dildhar, was posted by the featured artists across social media platforms in the days leading up to the release.
Each post had a simple tagline: “for the culture.”
In 2021, Teneki hinted at what that means in the Bandcamp description of his contribution to the original Neo Subculture:
“NEO SUBCULTURE” is a set of knowledge, ideas, and traditions that characterize a sector, a social class, and an era of virtual reality. However, this update deviates from its predecessors in that it has an emphasis on creative thought and cognitive divergence. Thus, the concept of a dystopian/cyberpunk world was brought into the limelight, with this lifestyle gaining attraction from many new minds who integrated with this new module. The wave movement was the most prominent consequence of this new update. A new digital subculture was created. This compilation contains music extracted from that reality and a sample of the diverse creativity the Neo Subculture Module forged in many individuals.”
– Teneki, 2021.
To help us understand what it means to be “for the culture,” we asked a few of the artists involved with this project if they would share their thoughts on the experience with us.
Read on to find quotes from Aekae, JUKE YOU, and Nick Neutronz.
Three Neo Subculture II artists on the compilation:
Teneki’s curation of Neo Subculture II encapsulates the immense diversity of the hardwave sound’s capabilities.
This album to me, further solidifies that it is a main-stage genre of dance music, and I’m so honored to have been involved in this project.
– Aekae
Teneki’s Neo Subculture II, to me, seems to be a looking glass into the future of wave music. He’s done an incredible job curating some of the most unique-sounding artists in the scene.
It’s a great thing to know that even though Neo Subculture II is a widely influential and high-status sequel to an already successful compilation, its tracklist is filled with people who are great friends of mine. That is a very comforting thing.”
– JUKE YOU
It was an honor to make the cut for Neo Subculture II. I happened to be in the room when Teneki asked for the last round of submissions, and I sent him a few joints. The one he picked, ‘Makokollision,’ was definitely for the culture, but inadvertently.
I was unconsciously influenced by Skit, Deadcrow, Guilt Chip, and Final Fantasy VII. But the song has been on my drive since the spring of 2020.
I’m really glad he liked it and wanted it on the comp.
– Nick Neutronz
Keep up with Aekae:
Keep up with JUKE YOU:
Connect with Nick Neutronz:
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