- In 2016, the Astral Plane blog became a more serious record label (they'd previously released a mix and a couple of compilations), specializing in new artists with challenging sounds rooted in the club but not beholden to it. Their efforts made a significant enough impact to land them on RA's top labels of 2016 list.
The premise for Astral Plane's free compilation EP, NEW YR NEW US, is to highlight the scene they operate in, even if most of these edits revolve around the APR artist Nunu. One pop hit appears: Beyoncé's "Run The World (Girls)," which Kablam splices into Nunu's "Punani" for explosive riot-grrl energy. On "I Think Loud," an edit by Why Be, "Punani"'s detonations change gear when paired with the dreaminess of Sky H1's "I Think I Am." Elsewhere, Nunu joins his tracks "Core" and "Cog" to reveal something that could have been on Jam City's Classical Curves—ground zero for so much of this scene. SHALT edits the new Jam City track "City Hummingbird" into M.E.S.H.'s "Optimate," which sounds a lot like his own work. LOFT's lone original closes the EP with comedown IDM.
NEW YR NEW US is mostly a bit of fun, as these sorts of tracks are usually thrown together for DJ sets. But for anyone with an interest in this scene, the music offers another way to hear DJ-style sonic connections outside of the club.
Tracklist01. Sky H1 x Nunu - I Think Loud (Why Be Blend)
02. Nunu - Core x Cog
03. Jam City x M.E.S.H. - City Hummingbird x Optimate (SHALT Edit)
04. Bey x Nunu - We Run This Mamamamama (Kablam Messup)
05. LOFT - A Salaam Male Genie