Twenty years is a long time. When\u00a0XL Recordings\u00a0released ‘The 5th\u00a0Chapter’\u00a0in 1995, the world was a very different place. XL began as a label by selling 12\u201ds to rave DJs, with the best releases pressed onto an annual compilation. The last in the series came out\u00a0in 1995 as the label widened its scope. Twenty years on and now they release\u00a0‘XL Chapter VI,’\u00a0a vinyl-focused release that embraces the chosen audio format of the decade \u2013 all artists on the compilation will be releasing club-ready 12\u201d EPs on XL, a throwback to the dancefloor artillery attitudes that were cultivated at the turn of the 90s.<\/p>\n
The Chapters provided a regular platform for artists concerned with reshaping the underground and consequently, culture. Think of Liquid\u2019s Sweet Harmony<\/em>, Everybody In The Place<\/em> by The Prodigy or DJs Take Control<\/em> by SL2. These are names and songs that led a new wave of dance music. Fast forward to today\u00a0and those names have been replaced by a different crew forging a path into new futures.\u00a0Zomby, Powell, KAYTRANDA, MssingNo, GILA, Homepark, Hugo Massien, rLr, Mumdance, Novelist\u00a0and\u00a0Special Request are the artists that are endeavouring to shape not just a way of dancing, but a way of thinking.<\/p>\n This part of the story may feature different production techniques and new aesthetics to the last instalment but its spirit remains totally the same. It’s a celebrated tenet of dance music that it must look back to move forward, so the snaky acid basslines, brutally sparse beats and the synth melodies that soundtrack the post-club early hours, are all still there.<\/p>\n Electronic music is more than listening to records. Our\u00a0appetite for lowly lit basements packed with people and equipped big soundsystems is endless. This collection is a celebration of that primalism, an uncompromising look at the very best of the world\u2019s underground \u2013 a journey through the clubs, the cities and the culture. The story continues.<\/p>\n ‘XL Chapter VI’ track list:<\/strong> Take a listen to GILA’s Handz On A Hardbody via YouTube below, which lifted from the compilation.<\/p>\n
\n1. Special Request – Amnesia
\n2. Novelist x Mumdance – 1 Sec
\n3. rLr – I Am Paint (Centre Of The Earth Dub)
\n4. Zomby – Slime
\n5. GILA – Handz On A Hardbody
\n6. MssingNo – Inta
\n7. Kaytranada – 195
\n8. Homepark – Forever Walking
\n9. Hugo Massien – All Night
\n10. Powell – Insomniac<\/p>\n