Connected #1 is a compilation album released by i u we records, a new label founded by Munich, Germany-based Martha Bahr, also known as Panic Girl. The album features nine tracks curated by Bahr and is a showcase for female modular synth artists. The album is a uniformly strong showing for all the artists featured and a very well put together and balanced compilation. Taken as a whole, Connected #1 has a very nice cohesion—a testament to Bahr's curation—while allowing for each artist's unique voice to come through. Standout tracks are Hélène Vogelsinger's "Ascension" with its classic synth tones and ethereal arpeggiations, Arushi Jain's "Moksha"—an undulating and pulsing journey, an evocative soundscape that mixes interesting bits of vocalization that intertwine and morph between the track's rising pads and synth tones, and Panic Girl's "Unconscious Stream," featuring understated beats, a dream like atmosphere, interesting layering, and nice compositional balance. There is a welcome consistency of quality in these tracks and a pleasing through-line of musicality and craft that can be absent from strictly modular endeavors. Kudos to the artists and to Bahr for assembling such a strong collection. An excellent debut for i u we records and a great introduction to some of modular's female luminaries.


iuwerecords.bandcamp.com