Sonic Adventurer’s Consortium Vol 2 – V/A (Heterodox Records) – Album Review

Album: Sonic Adventurer’s Consortium Vol 2

Artist: Heterodox Records

Release Date: March 30, 2020

I reviewed two other Sonic Adventurers Consortium compilations previously (Vol 3 & Vol 4 respectively) and honestly, I can’t resist listening to a good ole’ dark electronic music compilation, especially on a fake Sunday during a three day weekend. Okay to be fair this compilation isn’t particularly dark, but I’d imagine if you stumbled across on the radio while flipping between a Taylor Swift single and Florida Gator football commentary, you might think you’d tuned into some unmarked frequency meant only for insomniacs and the mildly possessed, wondering if your time with the dark lords had finally come.

Heterodox Records has always been a large collaborative body. Anyone willing to contribute is part of the process. Projects come together through shared effort and the result feels like it’s curated through trust. Is there anything more important than that these days? That looseness creates a diverse ecosystem instead of a hierarchy, where intent replaces order and one’s style becomes just another texture in the piece. The sound is pretty varied, too. You get hints of Drexciya here, Monolake there and the rhythmic decay of early Autechre before their sound lost its pulse. The overall tone stays in a state of low tension, somewhere between meditative focus and mechanical decay.

This record reminds you what experimental music is supposed to be. It’s a filter for our world – a reprocessing of data. It’s not about grand concepts or manifestos – the compilation functions like a prism that bends chaos or fussy data into a signal. Heterodox always seems to have the doors open – they let everyone willing to put in the work into their joint venture of collaboration and community. That turns the noise of participation into a living organism.

Would definitely recommend this album.