Anders Ilar

The author of the mix is Anders Ilar, a Swedish electronic musician and producer born in Ludvika in 1973 and currently residing in Gothenburg. Having grown up listening to the darker side of electronic music from the ’70s and ’80s—such as Kraftwerk, Skinny Puppy, The Klinik, and others—a teenage Anders began experimenting with sound using various synthesizers, sequencers, and drum machines. Anders is a master craftsman of dance music, mostly associated with techno, minimal, ambient, and IDM. Since the start of the millennium, Anders has created a wealth of music—about a dozen LPs and more than twice that number of EPs, singles, and other releases. His music has been published far and wide by notable labels such as Shitkatapult, Echocord, Audio.nl, Further, and others. Ever productive, Anders definitely still has a lot to share with the world.

In the records

STM 013 is a compilation of smart experimental dance music extracted from the author’s innermost music library. The mix is based on intensely crafted rhythmic structures that are frequently distorted in various ways. Starting with a chaotic work from Skinny Puppy, Anders introduces a peculiar confusion and creates a sense of unexpectedness from the very first minute. Anders’ precise mixing trajectory fulfills a thoughtfully developed yet rather insane musical scenario. The consistent variation between distinctive sounds shows how vast the range of understandings about dance music can be. The selection sounds lo-fi, noisy, and glitched. Tracks from the early ‘80s find a perfect place in the midst of it all. STM 013 is akin to the works of abstract painter Kenneth Noland, where an extraordinary range of colors and seemingly simple figures turn his paintings into a form of psychotherapy.