Foundation.fm is the music platform platforming women, queer and non-binary folk. Ever since launching in 2018, the radio station and label has championed a wide array of DJs to designers, including Naomi Shimada, Rosie Lowe, Art School Girlfriend, and Charles Jeffrey. Now, releasing its debut compilation to coincide with International Women’s Day, BODIES is a 12-track record featuring some of the hottest electronic acts out there by the likes of Karen Nyame KG & Ikonika, Ariel Zetina, LUXE, Club Eat, DJ Lycox and more. “We endeavour to continue this mission and showcase our position in club culture by creating a project that brings together the artists and producers who we have been watching and admiring,” says the label. 

In celebration of the compilation’s release, we asked the artists to give a rundown of their respective tracks, which span sensual club bangers to horror movie-inspired hits – take a look below.

‘ALL ON ME’, KAREN NYAME KG & IKONIKA 

KG: “All On Me” is a sensuous club bop for the lovers, the yearners! Enjoyed producing this with Ikonika. 

Ikonika: What a dream collab to be working with the rhythm goddess herself, KG. The energy was immaculate from start to end and what you get is a sultry call to the dance floor. I’ve been impressed by what foundation.fm has been able to achieve since opening, and for this reason I already knew I wanted to contribute something for their compilation. The collab with KG was a no-brainer. We both respect each others work and we’re both very sexy people so it was only natural the track we made was just that.

‘DIA 14’, DJ LYCOX

DJ Lycox: In what concerns the feeling of the sound in itself, it’s unique. I think of it as a message. We live in a society in which a number of women think that only they deserve care, attention and treats, mostly on the February 14, while men, most of the time, are neglected and think they’re supposed to not show their vulnerability and mutual need for affection and loyalty. 

‘POISON AND THE CURE’, PESH

PESH: The project is intended to accompany the movies in your mind and draws inspiration from mysticism, philosophy, and the avant-garde. “Poison and the Cure” was written in our home studio. At the time, we were watching horror movies, soundtracking the primal fear on screen with their contemplative compositions. What they landed on was something of an evocative guided meditation that loses its sanity.

‘RAINING’, CLUB EAT

Club Eat: Long a mainstay of our live sets, “Raining” combines a spacious ethereal atmosphere with hard-hitting, low-end, custom-designed for a big system, making it the perfect choice for club sets as well as great for blending with acapellas.

‘SHADE RATTLE’, ARIEL ZETINA

Ariel Zetina: “Shade Rattle” started as a deep dive into the ‘shade rattle’ noise prominently used in reality TV (and especially one show about drag) that is just the sound of a güiro (mostly used in Caribbean and Latin music). Originally the shade rattle was gonna be the lead actress in the track but she ended up being the commentator, throwing shade at whatever drama is happening in the track’s ecosystem.

‘SPACE SHIFT,’ LUXE

LUXE: Space shift started as an exercise in using a slightly more experimental/leftfield UK bass leaning sound palette that still feels very true to my signature psychedelic, somewhat sparkly sound. It evolved into a full blown club track and I’m so happy it’s out in the world on foundation.fm.

‘I GUESS, I’M LIVING’, LEO GOSH

Leo Gosh: “i guess, i‘m living” was inspired by giving people lifts in my car. The first thing I laid down was the main drone sound. I loved that it sounded like a passing car engine that keeps looping throughout the track. 

‘SELF CONTROL ft. SUCCI’, OURI

Ouri: Failure to drift through Rainbow Road’s curving path sent you flying into the blackness of space. You contemplated your high school crush as you fell further into oblivion. But just when you began to understand the nature of infinity, you miraculously landed back on the euphoric and familiar course, in perfect time to get in 8th place. 

OK, I wanted to share something out of my own box. I’ve been stepping away from solely electronic production for a while and I missed it. And I thought this collaboration with suCCi would be perfect for the compilation; we were so excited when we made ‘self control’! The three of us have grown up in somewhat of a religious environment and each of us had a way to kind of break free from the repressed mindset that religion forced onto us. We had so many conversations about it at the time we made it and wanted to honour this feeling in a euphoric and less serious form. 

‘PRETEND’, KLURAX

Klurax: “pretend” incorporates glitched-out beats, hollow synths, and ghostly vocals to evoke the liminal space between dream and reality. Growing up, I always felt like making electronic music was inaccessible to me. I think I felt alienated by the bro-y, masculine culture often associated with music technology, gear, and software. This all changed when I became a fan of people like Grimes, Yaeji, or SOPHIE. As it turns out, I eventually learned there’s a rich history of queer/femme people shredding electronic music going back like 50+ years (Wendy Carlos, Laurie Spiegel, Eliane Radigue…). I’m not sure I would have ever attempted to make electronic music had it not been for the inspiration I gained from these artists. That said, I’m really excited to be a part of a release that foregrounds and archives the ongoing legacy of women in electronic music. 

I chose to contribute my track “pretend” because I think it showcases my appreciation for my favourite producers, male or female. In making the track, I wanted to add my own (literal and figurative) voice to the 90s glitchy-drum-and-bass aesthetic I’ve become such a fan of.

‘RIVER DREAM’, TAMANARAMEN 

Tamanaramen: A dream by the riverside.

‘NINE HIGH’, YANGZE 

Yangze: “Nine High” is a song about being tumbled around by life and finally rewound home. Like a vinyl being constantly stopped, then released and eventually spun back to the beginning. It can be loud or quiet, sad or happy, energising or soothing. 

‘(LIKE) LIQUID’, HALINA

Halina: I wrote “Like Liquid” on a writing weekend to Brighton back in 2021. To me, the track is about searching for stability in life and relationships. Wanting to hold onto something solid but it being constantly out of reach. 

I felt honoured to be part of the Bodies compilation as I’ve been a follower of foundation.fm for a number of years now. Like Liquid” is about searching for stability in life and relationships. Wanting to hold onto something solid but it being constantly out of reach.