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There has been a steady murmur for some time now about a prevalence of exciting electronic music emanating out of Belgium. Forgetting the heady days of New Beat et al, there are times when the country’s most ambitious artists get overlooked in favour of foreign counterparts, but that murmur has started in recent times to turn into a rumble. From the well-established presence of Meakusma to the more recently noticeable Bepotel and Vlek, it’s a strong time for daring sounds emanating out of the centre of Europe, and Ekster has done plenty in the past couple of years to add to that notion.

A good deal of the Antwerp-based label’s output in the past two years has centred around local artists such as Hiele and most recently Ssaliva, although they have also been prepared to reach out to Norway’s TCF for a 10” release that turned heads for its striking packaging as much as its music. Now, just seven releases deep, a compilation has been collated to shape out a rough definition of what Ekster stands for. In the ever-densely populated field of ambient music, a sense of identity can be an elusive achievement, and of course the sweeping generalisation of the genre name itself leaves a pretty wide remit of interpretation.