Israel has become the promised land for underground music trends. In the last decade, artists and DJs have flourished on the dancefloors and in the hedonistic warehouses of Tel Aviv (namely, the Breakfast Club). Tel Aviv is all about the crazy parties and for making something truly magical through music. Tel Aviv’s underground electronic scene screams versatility and haunting, ice-cold rave tracks. The sounds that emerge from this exotic and eclectic music scene are strangely foreboding and nostalgic.
Red Axes is the name of the project created by Tel-Aviv producers and DJs Dori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi. Dori and Niv are long-term friends and have been making music together ever since this friendship was formed, having formerly been in a post-punk band together called Red Cotton. With the waning of Red Cotton, came the waxing of Red Axes. Red Axes represents an untapped energy source from Tel Aviv’s underground scene: in 2009 the duo began focusing solely on Red Axes, which deals mostly with deep house, techno, and disco tracks.
Their debut album “Ballad of the Ice” (2014) was released under I’m A ClichÌ© Records, and is described as being “…as light as love and cold as a tunnel, springy as a dance step and deep as nostalgia.” A very accurate description of the music produced by Red Axes, as Niv and Dori give us beats that make it impossible not to move to, yet make us so acutely aware of how lonely the dancefloor can be.
Their track “Silver Bed” mixes that disco punk rhythm in a way that is deeply entertaining and viscerally-linked to the dancefloor. The productions of Red Axes are influenced by a hoard of genres: post-punk, new-wave, synthpop, gothic rock and more. Red Axes’ sound is undeniably the sound of the modern age, yet referencing so many sub-genres that were cultivated on the shores of Europe during the 70s and 80s. That is the beauty of Red Axes. Their music is alienating, yet relatable.
The track “Waiting for a Surprise” illustrates how this amalgamation of 80s post-punk and a modern sound can create something truly mesmerizing. The track features the eerie vocals of Abrao: an 80s punk legend from Brazil, who was a huge source of inspiration for the Red Axes duo.
Now we move on to Moscoman – aka the curator and owner of the dazzling Berlin-based, Tel-Aviv made record label, Disco Halal. Resident Advisor described the work of Disco Halal to be like a gathering of “kaleidoscopic fragments of found Middle Eastern sounds and fractured European rhythms…finally washing up on the shores of Berlin.”
The name “Disco Halal” itself is a stroke of magical genius: it highlights the stereotypes that arise when Westerners think of the Middle East, juxtaposing it with a seemingly stereotypical Western concept of the disco. Moscoman and the extended Disco Halal family simply serve up a meaty dish of tracks that Western ears could simply never have imagined or dreamed of. The Old Western and almost ironically-spacey references in Moscoman’s track “Fernandez” illustrate the true extent of how versatile Tel Aviv’s music scene is.
Next we have Nadav Spiegel, better known as Autarkic. Spiegel is also signed onto Moscoman’s label, Disco Halal. He was the first member of the Disco Halal family, and contributes the everlasting, mesmerizing capabilities of the record label. His track “Solo Gun” has been stealing the hearts of electronic aficionados.
And lastly, but most definitely not least, we have Magit Cocoon: a DJ diva who hails from Tel Aviv but is currently based in Berlin. She’s been making some serious moves in the European club scene since relocating to Berlin. She recently released her newest album “Other Dimension” under the label Upon.You Records. The album is described by the label to be, “…a seductive, yet playful and surely spine thrilling statement of a matured and fully grown artistic mind.” This Isreali boss-babe also founded her own record label, Girl Scout Records, in 2011. With Girl Scout records she created a platform to release her debut albums. In 2012, she began to collaborate with Upon.You Records.
With all these unique and rare tracks coming out of Tel Aviv’s electronic scene, it’s hard not to catch the sickness of an underground obsession. Tel Aviv has a historically enchanting nightlife that provides the perfect hub for techno and acid house lovers worldwide. It seems as if Tel Aviv’s DJs all know their history and can see into the future.
*P.S. as a little added-extra, I’m posting two mixes by a friend of mine, Lily Haz, who’s also deep in the Tel Aviv electronic scene. If you check our her mixes, I can assure that you won’t be disappointed.