Don’t let the title “Next Big Thing” fool you: the follow-up to Berlin-born artist and DJ Exildiscount’s 2019 debut “Gift” on Reveller Records makes no claim to deliver the hottest shit right now. Instead, their EP serves as a comment on fragile masculinity packaged in infinitely danceable beats.

Ranging in tempo from 100 to 130 BPM, the EP offers a stylistically diverse approach united by tongue-in-cheek subversiveness. The opening track “IdNTT” is a Dark Disco/New Beat anthem built around a “mantra of denial” voice loop. In “Going to Bed Hungry,” house beats and an EBM-inspired bass line suggest danceability, while a sampled monologue cries out against ideological brainwashing. The third and last track of the EP culminates in euphoria born out of driving beats and organ melodies, ranging from harmony to madness. It is nothing less than a battle call: "Down with the Dickness!”

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Exildiscount – Next Big Thing (UXS001)

If some bands are created for the fame and p*ssy, Exildiscount’s motivation behind their side project is to indulge their penchant for the absurd. They thought to themselves: there simply has to be a band named Glied (“member”). Any hints towards fragile masculinity or male fragility conveyed by the uncomfortable sounding term are of course purely incidental.

With Glied, Exildiscount opted only to use hardware synths and drum machines, removing the process of composition from the computer. Not to pander to nerdy elitism and gear hype, but so as to explore how conscious boundaries can spark creativity. The result is an unclean sort of “kraut disco” which mixes repetitive sequences of a psychedelic bent with melancholy EBM vibes.

The two-track EP “Gone Viral” is the second release out of Exildiscount’s Unboxing Shadows label. “Svp3rm4nspr34d3r” (supermanspreader), the opener, delivers hypnotic warmth interspersed with modulations of noisy, aggressive elements. Meanwhile, the captivating bass lines and rhythm loops of “Careful with that .exe Eugene” make the second track more at home on the dancefloor.

Mixed by Redshape
Mastered by Bob Humid
Cover Artwork by Kiki van den Molen

Glied - Gone Viral [UXS002]

A decade-long friendship, a shared passion for techno’s deep roots, and a bold push into the future—Aha, the new EP from DJ and sound artist Exildiscount and Hamburg club legend Stereo Jack (Front Club, VDT, …), is a powerful reflection of both their personal and musical journeys. The EP is both a tribute to the evolution of techno and an intimate chronicle of Exildiscount and Stereo Jack’s enduring friendship. Stereo Jack, a staple of North Germany’s 90s club scene and a key mentor to Exildiscount, brings his deep-rooted knowledge of classic techno to the project, while Exildiscount—a respected DJ on Berlin’s queer club circuit—injects a disruptive energy that challenges norms and pushes boundaries. Together, they craft an EP that feels timeless and contemporary in equal measure.

The title track, Aha, captures a moment of revelation—a fleeting epiphany—as well as the detached apathy that comes with it. It’s the paradox of our time, but embodied in sound: rhythmic, hypnotic, and undeniably classic, yet disturbingly fractured. As Exildiscount, known for their ability to subvert the traditional, layers tension over a framework of deceptively run-of-the-mill stock vocals and a throbbing beat, the track constantly asks us not just to surrender to the groove, but to question everything we think we know about dance music.

Track two, In the Boat, dives into melodic techno territory, offering a harmonic, almost cinematic experience. With distorted, haunting vocals and a rolling, immersive bassline, it pulls you under, leaving you suspended in a trance of uncertainty.

The closing track, Sashimi Stew, takes us on a journey into classic tech house with undeniable Detroit influences. It’s funky, it’s raw, and it’s the perfect culmination of a collaboration that transcends both time and genre.

The Aha EP is a reflection on growth, mentorship, and the ever-shifting terrain of techno itself. Don't just listen—feel it, dance it, question it.

Exildiscount & Stereo Jack - Aha EP [UXS003]

Next Big Thing

Exildiscount – Down With The Dickness

Exildiscount – Going To Bed Hungry

Exildiscount – IdNTT

Gone Viral

Glied - Careful With That .exe Eugene (Original Mix)

Glied - Svp3rm4nspr34d3r (Original Mix)

The closing track, Sashimi Stew, takes us on a journey into classic tech house with undeniable Detroit influences. It’s funky, it’s raw, and it’s the perfect culmination of a collaboration that transcends both time and genre.

Exildiscount & Stereo Jack - Sashimi Stew (Original Mix)

Track two, In the Boat, dives into melodic techno territory, offering a harmonic, almost cinematic experience. With distorted, haunting vocals and a rolling, immersive bassline, it pulls you under, leaving you suspended in a trance of uncertainty.

Exildiscount & Stereo Jack - in the Boat (Original Mix)

The title track, Aha, captures a moment of revelation—a fleeting epiphany—as well as the detached apathy that comes with it. It’s the paradox of our time, but embodied in sound: rhythmic, hypnotic, and undeniably classic, yet disturbingly fractured. As Exildiscount, known for their ability to subvert the traditional, layers tension over a framework of deceptively run-of-the-mill stock vocals and a throbbing beat, the track constantly asks us not just to surrender to the groove, but to question everything we think we know about dance music.

Exildiscount & Stereo Jack - Aha (Original Mix)

UNBOXING SHADOWS was founded by DJ and artist Exildiscount in Berlin in 2021. Opening the black box of normativity, UNBOXING SHADOWS serves as a safe space in which music can be literally queer – challenging the norm in genre as much as in lived experience. UNBOXING SHADOWS brings all that is obscure and subversive into the light of the dance floor.

Unboxing Shadows

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