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Music

This New Compilation from Compassion Crew Is a Crate Digger's Dusty Dream

The Dublin producer presents 'Compassion Cuts, Tapes & Acetates'—11 tracks of rare italo, proto-house, and tingly gospel that required over a year of work to make happen.

Sift your way through the release catalogue of Dublin producer and avid record collector, Compassion Crew, and expect to get hit with a whole lot of "out of stock" signage. Releasing quality house and techno—usually only on vinyl—on respected labels like Dolly, Major Problems, and Running Back, the artist has gained cult appeal for being for a lord of the crate diggers—esoterically sampling—and thus his music usually flies of the shelves. His latest project,a compilation entitled Compassion Crew presents Compassion Cuts, Tapes & Acetates (out April 15 on Major Problems) is undoubtedly his most ambitious and wide-ranging,and puts him in the curator chair instead of the studio.

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For the comp, Compassion Crew embarked on the tireless 18 month journey of tracking down the rights include and clearances to 11 extremely rare tracks spanning decades and genres—resulting in a run down of mostly bangin' italo, wacky synth jams, tingly and gospel house, that you've more than likely never heard of. Including what the artist tells THUMP is a "wealth of lost, weird, and amazing music," the magic here isn't in flashy name or obvious anthems, but a collection of varied tracks that exude the journey the artist embarked on to present them to listeners. Read our chat with Compassion Crew below where we learn a bit more about his experience constructing the comp, while enjoying a full stream of the album below ahead of Friday's vinyl release.

Sift your way through the release catalogue of Dublin producer and avid record collector, Compassion Crew, and expect to get hit with a whole lot of "out of stock" signage. Releasing quality house and techno—usually only on vinyl—on respected labels like Dolly, Major Problems, and Running Back, the artist has gained cult appeal for being for a lord of the crate diggers—esoterically sampling—and thus his music usually flies of the shelves. His latest project,a compilation entitled Compassion Crew presents Compassion Cuts, Tapes & Acetates (out April 15 on Major Problems) is undoubtedly his most ambitious and wide-ranging,and puts him in the curator chair instead of the studio.

For the comp, Compassion Crew embarked on the tireless 18 month journey of tracking down the rights include and clearances to 11 extremely rare tracks spanning decades and genres—resulting in a run down of mostly bangin' italo, wacky synth jams, tingly and gospel house, that you've more than likely never heard of. Including what the artist tells THUMP is a "wealth of lost, weird, and amazing music," the magic here isn't in flashy name or obvious anthems, but a collection of varied tracks that exude the journey the artist embarked on to present them to listeners. Read our chat with Compassion Crew below where we learn a bit more about his experience constructing the comp, while enjoying a full stream of the album below ahead of Friday's vinyl release.

THUMP: Can you tell us a bit about the ethos behind the release?
Compassion Crew: I thought it would be nice to do something just a little bit out there with the selection, but which still flows like an LP that just happened to be to be made by different artists, across different continents and across several decades.

Musically, what kind of experience does the compilation create?
I'm really hoping that on a full detailed listen that you will experience the music in the era, studio, atmosphere, state of mind and location that it was created in. The music spans the globe but there's a common thread that keeps it together. That thread to me is a uniqueness to the sound or melody, a weird and raw production style and a certain futurism which will keep all these tracks fresh for decades to come.

What artist was the hardest one to track down?
Admas was a tricky one. It required a lot of phone calls, emails and lots of waiting. [The group] is based out of Ethiopia now but one of their brothers tours regularly around Europe and through a contact-of-a-contact-of-a-contact I managed to meet up in Dublin and pitch the 'Compilation'. That was early 2014. It can be quite a painstaking task but I've met some amazing people and the stories and support I've received has been out of this world.

Did some tracks you want to get on this just simply not work out?
Those few weeks after initial contact when you waiting for the reply on weather its 'Go/No Go' are excruciating. And when you don't get a reply or you get a confirmed 'No' it's a good-sized flick in the ball—but its their music and they have the right to do with it as they want. Luckily this didn't happen too often which is strange because this is my first compilation. I didn't have a previous one to show them what I was trying to achieve, so I was just selling a dream which has magically come true. The original 'A1' got refused license mid point through the project. That hurt. I mean broken-heart hurt. I mean teenager in unrequited love hurt. Took me two weeks to get over that and dust myself off and continue on.

What's one lesson you learned from this long, tiresome process?
I learned you cannot do this alone. We were digging deep here so without the help of the artists, producers, friends and internet strangers you won't be able to do it. I'm willing to take the shine for selecting the tracks and getting the licenses but for the bigger picture its all the artists involved, Barry over at Major Problems, Thomas P. Heckmann for restoration and mastering, and Simon Landrein working his magic once again on the design. I could not be happier with how it all worked out. It just took time and patience.

Pick up Compassion Cuts, Tapes & Acetates on Bandcamp.

THUMP: Can you tell us a bit about the ethos behind the release?
Compassion Crew: I thought it would be nice to do something just a little bit out there with the selection, but which still flows like an LP that just happened to be to be made by different artists, across different continents and across several decades.

Musically, what kind of experience does the compilation create?
I'm really hoping that on a full detailed listen that you will experience the music in the era, studio, atmosphere, state of mind and location that it was created in. The music spans the globe but there's a common thread that keeps it together. That thread to me is a uniqueness to the sound or melody, a weird and raw production style and a certain futurism which will keep all these tracks fresh for decades to come.

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What artist was the hardest one to track down?
Admas was a tricky one. It required a lot of phone calls, emails and lots of waiting. [The group] is based out of Ethiopia now but one of their brothers tours regularly around Europe and through a contact-of-a-contact-of-a-contact I managed to meet up in Dublin and pitch the 'Compilation'. That was early 2014. It can be quite a painstaking task but I've met some amazing people and the stories and support I've received has been out of this world.

Did some tracks you want to get on this just simply not work out?
Those few weeks after initial contact when you waiting for the reply on weather its 'Go/No Go' are excruciating. And when you don't get a reply or you get a confirmed 'No' it's a good-sized flick in the ball—but its their music and they have the right to do with it as they want. Luckily this didn't happen too often which is strange because this is my first compilation. I didn't have a previous one to show them what I was trying to achieve, so I was just selling a dream which has magically come true. The original 'A1' got refused license mid point through the project. That hurt. I mean broken-heart hurt. I mean teenager in unrequited love hurt. Took me two weeks to get over that and dust myself off and continue on.

What's one lesson you learned from this long, tiresome process?
I learned you cannot do this alone. We were digging deep here so without the help of the artists, producers, friends and internet strangers you won't be able to do it. I'm willing to take the shine for selecting the tracks and getting the licenses but for the bigger picture its all the artists involved, Barry over at Major Problems, Thomas P. Heckmann for restoration and mastering, and Simon Landrein working his magic once again on the design. I could not be happier with how it all worked out. It just took time and patience.

Pick up Compassion Cuts, Tapes & Acetates on Bandcamp.