09/06/2025
With their characteristically wry humour, Discreet Music have declared their first five years as a “Failure.” As co-head-honcho Matthias Andersson reflects in the liner notes, such a “failure” is their success—not merely replicating major label approaches in a DIY space, but eking out a unique existence outside of annoying industry machinations of exclusive distro deals, publicists, pre-orders, digital singles and forking out for advertising. To paraphrase KC & The Sunshine Band: that’s the way we like it!
For the as of yet uninitiated, Discreet Music have operated their Gothenburg based label and shop for half a decade, prioritising a “myriad of talented maniacs and lifers” (Matthias’ words again) that sit at a nexus of murky folk songs, domestic concrete, electro-acoustic composition, and veins of amateur conceptual sound work (amateur in the sense that the word ‘conceptual’ sits outside of any academic association) that in my mind sits in conversation with the discographies of labels such as Kye, Penultimate Press, Corpus Hermeticum, and Albert’s Basement.
This latest comp collects a cohesive set of the murkier edges of the label (just now a little kid told his dad the music was “too scary” and left the shop - make of that what you wish), featuring contributions from the likes of Leda, Arv & Miljo, Franceska, Sewer Election, Juho Toivonen and more, with their now-iconic screen printed using recycled inside-out op shop sleeves.
Long may they run!
-Mitch
Various - Five Years of Failure: A Compilation of Discreet Music (Discreet Music, 2025), New LP, $49.95
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