Various Artists - The Chants Of The Holy Oyster [4LP Box Set Ltd Edition]

Kalahari Oyster Cult

£60.72

Format: 4LP, Box Set, Ltd Edition
Catalogue No.: OYSTER40
Release Date: 05 May 2023
Genre: Ambient, Breakbeat, Tech House, Techno, Trance, Downtempo, House

A1 - S.O.N.S - & Go Dam - Force Of Will
A2 - Volodymyr Gnatenko - Subra
B1 - RDS - & Eversines - Plooooooink
B2 - Ray Castoldi - 1991
B3 - Maara - & Priori - C'mon

C1 - Big Zen - Really Bad Habit
C2 - Furious Frank - Red Herring
D1 - Sansibar - Between Two Circles
D2 - Roza Terenzi - Beat Pig

E1 - Adam Pits - Spreadable
E2 - Sound Mercenary - Float Downstream
F1 - Syzygy - Can I Dream?
F2 - Sohrab - Silk Road

G1 - D. Tiffany - Ghost Filter
G2 - Maara - Floating In The Swamp
H1 - Oma Totem - sardana sardana
H2 - SW. - biXsiXstreetliCKs
H3 - Eversines - Onigi (Ambient Version)

Six years, more than fifty releases, countless artists and multiple subsidiaries; the Oyster Cult’s reach extends far beyond what sceptics once thought possible. It’s only fitting, then, that we gather some of our finest under the Kalahari banner in celebration.

The anniversary release is upon us. Six whole years since Jacy helped inaugurate the label with a spin on Midwestern house, OYSTER40 signals a landmark occasion. 18 tracks, quadruple vinyl boxset action, and in true Oyster Cult tradition, it comes bearing pearls.

Dancefloor squarely in focus, the Cult assembles on a compilation spanning alumni and new inductees alike. It’s an assemblage of the fractal, explorative and ritual-ready; at once a focused distillation of the Kalahari sound and celebration of its many acolytes. Big on atmosphere, heavy on groove, we delve deeply into the musical DNA shared by all who grace the label.

Tough, direct cuts (Sansibar, Roza Terenzi, Big Zen, Maara & Priori) to the pristine and widescreen (S.O.N.S., Volodymyr Gnatenko, Adam Pits), this is all quintessentially Kalahari. Elsewhere though, the likes of D. Tiffany and SW. journey further into realms of abstraction: the former opting for hi-tech, dreamstate IDM, while the SUED co-founder dissolves a house template into dubby introspection.

Calling upon contemporary talents for the most part, there are also exceptions. Raymond Castoldi - the one-time house producer best known as Madison Square Garden’s music director - returns with an unreleased nugget from ’91, while an ‘Aliens’-sampling track from Detroit-indebted techno outfit Syzygy gets the reissue treatment.