Ciel has curated a V/A compilation celebrating Toronto electronic music for Air Texture. Have an exclusive first listen to myst milano.’s contribution, ‘Sex on Acid’, below.
Following previous editions spotlighting music coming out of Egypt, Tunisia, Kenya, Chile and beyond, Toronto-based DJ, producer and tastemaker Ciel steps up as the latest curator in Air Texture’s ‘place’ series. Landing this Friday (9th May), ‘Place: Toronto’ takes in 23 “groovy, deep and psychedelic” cuts from from rising names in the Canadian underground, including Ninechecker, Ricardo Laine, Measure Divide, Generator, Emissive and tons more.
“My approach for this was very honest and personal,” Ciel (real name Cindy Li) explained. “I thought about the styles of electronic music that particularly resonate with me, made a list of all the artists in Toronto who make music in those genres, and started reaching out to people.”
“You won't find much in the way of gabber or business techno here,” she added, “but if you're looking for groovy, deep, and psychedelic music of all styles, you will definitely find them here.”
Our pick of the bunch is ‘Sex on Acid’ from Toronto’s myst milano.: a playful rave hybrid loaded with tricksy, lo-fi grooves, storytelling raps and voice notes samples.
The remaining three editions in the latest comp run will focus on electronic music from Morocco (curated by Bergsonist and due out in June), Ireland (overseen by Efa O’Neill and due in July), and Switzerland (compiled by NVST and Nicola Kazimir with a release date set for August).
‘Place: Toronto’ lands 9th May via Air Texture. Pre-save the compilation here, and have an exclusive first listen to myst milano.’s contribution, ‘Sex on Acid’, below.
Last year, Air Texture released a compilation celebrating femme and non-binary artists in electronic music, featuring contributions from Introspekt, Bored Lord and more.
2024 was a busy year for Ciel, as well, who partnered with D. Tiffany as Psychedelic Budz for the ‘Wonk Donk’ EP on Banoffee Pies Records. Earlier in the year, she teamed up with CCL on the ‘Tilda’s Goat Stare’ EP, as well as releasing a solo EP, ‘Sada’s Dream’.
Revisit myst milano’s interview and mix for DJ Mag’s Fresh Kicks series here.