VILL4IN: Ten Years of the Underground

Well, I’m not going to retell you the story of VILL4IN and what came out of it, because they’ve already done that very well themselves here : MTHRBORD 10 YEARS I just want to talk about the new Void Moon event and a few memories that moved me over these 10 years (already 10 years… that doesn’t make us any younger ! ). At the time I discovered Vill4in I was starting my vinyl collection,I bought a couple of their first releases and it was the beginning of a long love story with the label. I must have around 50 vinyls from them. So of course this short article won’t be very objective, I’m a real fanboy.

VOID-002 – 暗号零 by 暗号零

To be honest, I only discovered Vill4in in 2019 with the release of Void 002: 暗号零. That first interaction with the label was also, without me knowing it, the discovery of my favorite album, impossible for me to find the words to express all my love for that album. I’ve listened to it hundreds of times since, and it’s still just as incredible. In addition to the vinyl with the superb artwork done by POLYGON1993, the first edition came with a mask. I remember posting an Instagram story wearing it and my dad replied that it was cool and that he wanted one to protect his neck from the wind on his motorbike. So I gave it to him, and for a while I found it funny to see him heading out on his rides with that mask under his helmet ! If ever you have a VHS or a Tape of this album lying around, I’m looking for one. 👀

MANA-003 – 小圈子 by 輕描淡寫

Another album that I consider one of the foundations of my own musical practice is MANA 003: 小圈子 by 輕描淡寫. My eye had been drawn to this artwork, very pure and simple but effective, which stood out a lot from the very cyberpunk artworks of VILL4IN at the time. I fell in love with this album straight away; for me it was the perfect blend of dreampunk and naturewave, synthetic soundscapes of wind and rain. Everything to create a timeless space conducive to introspection.

a blight, most foul by Hozokauh

Vill4in has plenty of sub-labels, and one of them is dedicated to barber beats: Satyr. Plenty of friends have had the chance to release on it, undersaken, Time Fragment or Guild Merchant, to name but a few. But one release in particular caught my eye. First of all, just look at the beauty of this design inspired by dungeon synth. And then the flips made by Hozokauh (Hozogoat, as I like to call him) are simply incredible.

VoidTV

Something that quickly became an obsession for me was VoidTV. I had already experienced online festivals / URLs a bit, depending on what you call them, but VoidTV pushed the limits of what I had seen. It was no longer a question of listening to music online together, but truly living an audio-musical experience together, of discovering, and diving into the unknown. For me VoidTV was like watching souvenirs from earth but for music fans. Let’s be honest, if the Vaporloot Festivals exist, it’s partly because of / thanks to VoidTV. For a long time I envied the artists featured on VoidTV, and then I had the chance to take part earlier this year in their event ENTER THE VOID III, then later in the year DreamTV.

And again tonight, a special stream to celebrate the label’s 10th anniversary : VOID MOON : 10 Years of Vill4in. I know it’s a bit late but I hope you can join us tonight !

WHEN & WHERE to watch upcoming VOID MOON:

Time:
Show is planned to start on 30th October 6pm EDT (10pm GMT).

Watch :
https://voidcity.live/ (We will be on the roof inside Void City)
https://mthrbord.com/void/ (Unusual Art stream)
https://stream.unusualart.net/

(artwork by bluskreen)

There’s an enormous amount to say about this label and the people who orbit around it, too much for a single article. I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to talk about Vill4in / mthrbord or the VoidTV crew again in the future ! In the meantime, thank you for these 10 years of music and audiovisual creation. I can’t wait to see the next 10, and I’m very honored to have been able to play a small part in this story through the VoidTV episodes. Long Live the Underground !