The queer collective DURCH is releasing their first compilation, featuring a refreshingly forward-thinking group of artists, with all proceeds directed to nonprofit organizations providing healthcare to queer, BIPOC and trans folks.
DURCH is a queer collective, based in both Berlin and Tel Aviv, that has built a strong following through its hedonistic events featuring cutting-edge electronic music artists. Not merely a party, DURCH is a catalyst for community building and LGBTQIA+ solidarity. Their events are a means to promote tolerance and inclusion, and all the profits are directed to nonprofit organizations offering health care assistance to queer, BIPOC and trans individuals in need. In terms of their music selection, DURCH has embraced the federative potential of techno, house, acid and hardcore, while providing a space of expression for musicians seeking to disrupt the conventions of dance music and lead it towards an enhanced future.
The collective’s first compilation, defined as “a love letter to queerness,” is the first installment of three releases which are set to become the soundtrack of a new summer of love. True to DURCH’s intention to act as a fundraising platform for the queer community, the revenues collected from the sales of the release will be donated to the nonprofit organizations TransInterQueer e.V. (TriQ) and Casa Kuà. The album offers an eclectic range of fine-tuned musical selections, with styles spanning from gloomy new wave to pounding techno and psychedelic acid. The artists represent a diversity of sexual and gender identities, in line with DURCH’s commitment to the celebration of difference and self-acceptance.
Leipzig-based artist Tsorn leads the dance with “Victima G,” a slow and broody take on new wave and EBM. Distorted vocals refer to the iconic Latin-American anthem “La Camisa Negra” while providing a politically conscious insight on one’s encounter with nationalism and class struggle in Europe. Up next, queer party icon extraordinaire Projekt Gestalten drops some acid-drenched techno in the psychedelic “Never Phase Me.” Rather than following the norms of peak-time techno tools, this track focuses more on creating a heady and hypnotic atmosphere that creeps under our skin while urging our body to sway. In comparison, Hybral’s “Sagacious Subversion” hits much harder with its noisy and grimy industrial techno sound. The density and complexity of the production provides an intense sensory experience that reflects and exalts its creator’s non-binary identity.
On the forth track, rising techno star Chlär delivers a nineties trance-inspired rave anthem in “Without Prejudice.” The artist’s characteristic high energy drive shines through in a track designed to lead the masses to collective festive action through roaring leads and heavy thumps. CLTX’s “BWSS” ensues with its blissfully hard kicks and invigorating vocals, announcing the return of a “sick sound” in a melodic and euphoric dance floor weapon. In the following track, “Napalm,” Raël pays homage to the campiness of queer culture by referencing the pop club hits of the 2010s in his sampling, while unleashing a gritty and raw kick. The result is an explosive journey that maintains a powerful contrast between softness and violence, at once sweet and relentless.
In “Rox A Ria,” the Naples-born DJ and producer Elykua creates a fusion between a surprising variety of different sounds. The ethereal chant-like vocals bring about a heightened spirituality, while the industrial kick and EBM influence provide a much more concrete and hard-hitting dimension to the track. The follow-up is a devastatingly effective banger by a new producer, Fluid. Entitled “Body Politics,” this very physical track uses thunderous bass and an unstoppable beat to generate a discussion around freedom and corporeality. Political engagement is at the core of this release, as each track wields the codes of dance music in disruptive ways to exploit its potential to induce change. “Hydro,” the product of a collaboration between Sparkly Pony and Dgeral, is a gorgeous conclusion to this exciting album, with its obsessively dreamy chords and melancholic mood. It evokes a meditative line of flight that prompts to consider the pain of the past while looking poignantly at a bright, and resolutely queer, future.
-Théophile Gatté
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