Compilations have consistently served as a captivating medium, acting as gateways to musical scenes, catalysts for exploration and discovery, and platforms for activism. Beyond offering listeners a diverse array of artists for increased value, these collections play a pivotal role in shaping and contextualizing regionally disparate or non-existent scenes in our current digital age. In this era where musical communities have migrated online, compilations emerge as a means for these scenes to take form and gain context, providing a unique bridge between artists and listeners.

This week, I stumbled upon Yearning for: Beauty, the inaugural release from the Chicago-based imprint Yearning. The fourteen contributions within this compilation span a spectrum from cold, trippy breakcore to suffocating ambience and crystalline house tracks. What I discovered was a compilation reflecting a burgeoning and intriguing scene emanating from Chicago and beyond. To delve deeper into this, I spoke with Michelle and Collin from the Yearning crew for additional context.

What inspired the genesis of this compilation?

Michelle: I've wanted to start a label here in Chicago for a while. This past summer, I was really steeped in the concept of beauty in general and reading a lot about different dualities (beauty as softness vs. sharpness, chaos/order, pleasant/painful, etc.). I realized that I'd been kind of pigeonholing myself into making fast, hard dance music - which I love - but I was getting super uninspired and sad. I kind of fell apart and started challenging myself to deconstruct my own vision of beauty + the process of making music and what I like; what sounds beautiful and feels good to make, to me. In doing that, I realized there are probably other producers out there who share this experience, especially those who typically make harder music, and figured it would be really cool to give everyone this prompt and present it as a spectrum of beauty. I ended up running with this loose idea and asked a handful of people, including Collin/Pharmacist, who expressed a similar sentiment of wanting to create something new in the community and now helps run the label with me.

Collin: I’ve been looking for ways to bring the people that I know have dozens of songs they don’t release together. Being able to do so in a way that launches a new project like Yearning was the perfect opportunity!

I assume much of this compilation is oriented around music from Chicago. If so, can you speak a bit more on that scene?

M: I'd say over half the artists on the comp are local or used to live in Chicago. That wasn't necessarily the direct intention, but it's not hard to find extremely talented people here; it's harder to gain recognition/a platform. On one end, there's corporate techno/EDM, and on the other, there's a small club scene and a handful of godsend DIY spaces and labels that really keep the scene alive. It's really special but can sometimes feel stale and like there's not much room for growth.

C: We both felt that there are so many local voices to highlight. This comp was synthesized mostly by Michelle, but maybe half are people we both know that we decided to ask to be a part of it together. Basically, everyone on here is someone we know personally through the Chicago scene. Going forward, we plan to keep up the energy of including our peers within the centralized vision of this project, and Chicago will certainly be a focal point! We wanted to create a home for ourselves and our friends for sure, while doing something we haven’t seen done yet.

What is coming next from Yearning?

M: We have some individual releases planned for the start of next year + are conceptualizing another compilation. Curating this was so much fun and so rewarding; I cried like 100x in the last 2 weeks of putting it all together and listening to everyone's tracks. A lot of people expressed that it helped get them out of a creative rut, for some it was their first-ever track on a physical release, and being able to nurture that in any way makes me so happy. I'd also love to carry this energy over to my other home (Poland).

C: Definitely some more CD-Rs planned in the first half of 2024; we're having a lot of fun w/ that format. Look out for that!

Outside of the releases, what sort of programming or curation do you do?

M: This is our first release, and we celebrated with a big launch event featuring artists on the compilation. Curating physical releases is really exciting for me, but I just want to keep experimenting. I have a new idea every 2 hours and am always bouncing them at Collin lol. The thought of melding different creative practices w/ music is always at the forefront of my mind, and we have tons of friends in other art world realms that I'd love to collaborate with as Yearning grows.

C: We are both super interested in artist development alongside being artists ourselves. I think we are very open to new endeavors and will be exploring just about anything that we find engaging, rewarding, fresh, and exciting going forward.

I asked them to highlight and contextualize three artists with standout tracks from this compilation, Casper McFadden, Gossamer Viel and Eden Aurelius.

M: Casper McFadden, Chicago -  The first time I saw him live, my jaw would not leave the floor for the entire set. He is an absolute genius breakcore mastermind and definitely deserves more recognition in Chicago. His discography is so huge w/ releases on Deathbysheep and 909 worldwide. Also, shout out to him for letting us use his CD duplicator for this release <3

M: Gossamer Veil, Chicago / NYC - Also goes by Rottweiler, Wax Myrtle, Club Music, and Death Valley + like 10 other projects, all of which span a huge spectrum of different genres but all uniquely their own sound. Has had several self-releases + a few on Chicago Research. Also helped us draw our first logo!

M: Eden Aurelius, NYC - I've known Eden for a while, mostly through chance encounters at shows and having mutual friends. During the compilation process, a couple of people had to drop out due to time constraints, and Collin and I immediately thought, "Let's ask Eden!" She produces some of the best modern acid tracks I've come across, and although she doesn't release music frequently when she does, it's truly exceptional – it crushes. She's amazing <3 and also an incredibly talented visual artist.