Embrace by Various Artists

When Microsoft capitalized on the massive surge of the PC in the 1990’s, the company was using a secret, controversial strategy to disadvantage its competitors, dubbed Embrace, Extend and Extinguish.

This phrase – albeit not the thought behind it – has inspired the title for a trilogy of compilations, called Embrace, Expand, Exchange, coming out on the booming Danish record label Petrola 80 on May 24th.

The first chapter, Embrace, will be released digitally as well as on on cassette and features 11 original tracks from 12 Danish acts, including the Opal Tapes-signed hyperbass duo Lyra Valenza, Escho-based Astrid Sonne and the full cast from the experimental Anyines crew – Minais B, An Gella and Panxing.

In addition to brining back familiar faces in the Petrola 80- paddock, Embrace will present brand new acts, including Merdh Laleh, FHM and Yelzin. In the near future, several of the new artists will also be releasing solo material on the label.

Despite setting the previously favoured 12”-format on stand by for the release of Embrace, the cassette compilation preserves the progressive, deconstructed and experimental sound that has become almost ubiquitous within Petrola 80 and evoked rave reviews.

Featured tracks on Embrace include the first collaborative effort between Astrid Sonne and Xenia Xamanek (aka Equis) on the noise inducing Feberite, Minais B’s melancholic and ambient opener I Think Most People Here Know and the fever-frenzy stomper No Safety by Yelzin.

The subsequent chapters Expand and Exchange will feature brand new acts and collaborations respectively, both exhibiting the Petrola 80 DNA, as the label co owner Jens Konrad Barrett notes:

"We want to unite elements that may seem incompatible. Rather than being style focused, we want to be style embracing. Rather than asking artists to partake in a concept, the concept is based on who the collaborators are, and how they collaborate.”

The compilation will be celebrated on a multitude of platforms. Embrace will be available digitally and on cassette, accompanied by two music videos and a limited supply of special edition Petrola 80 shirts. On May 24th and 25th, the label will run a two-day festival at Mayhem, Copenhagen in collaboration with Knife Magazine.

Shipping every second wednesday

Danish record label run by Lyra Valenza with graphic design by Laurits Hanak

Contact: 80petrola80(at)gmail.com

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