INQ-Mag.com

Mikel on 08/03/2010

Landing...

We are happy to start this collab with FMA after 3 years researching the netaudio scene on our website inq-mag.com. Always faithful to our principles of audio as well as visual quality of the releases we have been posting without being closed to a genre, has been a key factor for beeing an enriching experience for us.

In the near future we hope starting to upload to FMA the episodes of our Monographic Podcast, a netaudio mix podcast by netlabel curators.

For the opening ive been diggin on my latest listenings to gather 13 songs of 13 remarkable artists. 

Together with the other half of INQ, Piotr, we have dig our 2010 folders to point at 10 remarkable songs, artists, netlabels, that have fed our minds and souls with their mind and souls. Of course we could have extended this selection to a hundred tracks but we considered this is enough, mainly because there are more 'Best Of' selections over here on the FMA to discover.

Track order has been carefully selected for a better experience.

We hope you enjoy it. 

Mikel & Piotr ///

Cover image courtesy from Tanya.

Tracklist:
1. Maps & Transit - 'Ponds' (www.camomillemusic.com/)
2. Sustainer - 'Diametro' (escalared.com/)
3. Werken - 'Now I See' (www.zymogen.net/)
4. Solid-M - 'Molecular Gateway' (spontan-musik.de/)
5. Emil Klotzsch - 'Pine' (emilklotzsch.bandcamp.com/)
6. Monokle & Galun - 'Happy Sun' (www.12rec.net/)
7. Sutekh - 'The Glorious Day Has Dawned' (www.antipop.net)
8. Emanuele Errante - 'Rettifilo' (www.laverna.net)
9. mon0 - 'Lighting Between Worlds' (www.silentseason.com/)
10. Aless - 'I'm Mobile' (distancerecordings.com/)

Listen Beyond

• monographic 045 | noecho

  First time our series visit London, facing all existing problems of flying ashes from vulcanos. The statement of NOECHO Records defines quite clearly its pretensions: “We want to make records that we would listen to ourselves”. And it trully does. The platform is an hybrid of label, that takes the advantages of netlabel free distribution [...]

  Posted on Apr 21.10

• self released | [in]anace – Persistent Basic Waves (Dj Mix)

  …”This set is basically part two of the Convenient Evolution dub mix released almost a year ago. It presents strictly dub techno and dub influenced deep house music. Starting with some classic dub sounds the set melts into pretty club flavored parts and it gets more and more groovy but without loosing its dubby space [...]

  Posted on Dec 08.10

• GFR012 | Two Hawkes – Stellar

  …”King Lush himself brings us the world of Stellar. 5 tracks, guaranteed to explode your mind inside and out. Scoop it for free nowza.”… 1.Space Game 2.Big Ping 3.Big Lowell 4.Forms 5.The Devil Come /// http://grappafrisbeerecords.bandcamp.com

  Posted on Dec 08.10

• BadPandaSampler001 | VVAA – Bad Panda Records Vol 1 (2010)

  …”Bad Panda Records is 1 today! We want to celebrate the 1st birthday and our 1st million downloads on the archive.org server with a 18 track-selection of earlier releases. The awesome artwork is by Gretchen Blegen.”… 01 Friendly Foliage – Masonic Meadows (Bad Panda Edit) [BP019] 02 Dumbo Gets Mad – Eclectic Prawn [BP049] 03 [...]

  Posted on Dec 08.10 

• self released | Galaxy – We Are The Dreamers

  …”Immediate download of 7-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. “… 1.WE OF THE CITY 2.BLACK MARKET 3.CRIMES OF PASSION 4.FOREIGN FLAGS 5.RUNNING 6.ZIMBABWE 7.PARHELION www.galaxymusic.bandcamp.com

  Posted on Dec 08.10   

• self released | Com Truise – Cyanide Sisters

  …”Melting in the Jersey summer sun, I compute mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk. It’s not about the name, its about the music.”… no tracklist www.comtruise.com

  Posted on Dec 06.10

• self released | Com Truise – Pyragony
• 

  …”Melting in the Jersey summer sun, I compute mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk. It’s not about the name, its about the music.”… no tracklist www.comtruise.com

• Posted on Dec 06.10

• anima | Various – Xmas Album

  …”Happy Holidays”… 01.Labi Siffre – Saved 02.Arthur Russell – This Is How We Walk On The Moon 03.Nas – Queens Get The Money 04.Labi Siffre – Down 05.Underworld – Banstyle-Sappys Curry 06.Uusitalo – Kalajuttuja 07.Miike Snow – Burial 08.Kid Cudi – Day ‘N’ Nite (Main) 09.Jam City – Ecstasy (Refix) 10.Clipse – Stay From Around [...]

  Posted on Dec 05.10 

• camomille006 | fescal – beautiful neurotic

  …”Korea’s Fescal freely interchange danger and beauty, current and stillness on the rightfully named ‘ beautiful neurotic ‘. The brash, abrasive soundscapes are carefully layered until they become a unified noise,sincere and rich, and somewhere along the way, lose their agressivity to be transformed into uplifting walls of sound. “… www.camomillemusic.com

  Posted on Dec 05.10   

• sfm001 | wingclipper – recursion

  …”This is the first SFM netlabel release, produced by wingclipper. Drawing influence from classic hip-hop and down-tempo instrumentation, lo-fi sound art and collage; recursion blends samples, tape loops, synths, field recordings, distortion, grooves, chopped drums, and nervous beats. Listen, download, SHARE, and/or remix.”… one eye open dim thin skin raspberry fuzz trauma fragile limb the [...]

  Posted on Dec 05.10 

• Hz-002 | Fugenn & The White Elephants – Lycoris

  …”All tracks by Fugenn & The White Elephants Produced by Fugenn & The White Elephants ＆ Hz-records Masterd by Hz-records Artwork by buna”… 1 Plant 2 Alkaloid 3 Manjusaka 4 Radiata 5 Lycoris /// http://www.hz-records.com/

  Posted on Dec 05.10

• mam141 | Joram Feitsma – Perdix Themes

  …”After his stunning introduction to our community – a release from earlier this year called An Aesthetic Voyager – Joram Feitsma returns with another set of minimalist piano pieces. Perdix Themes collects three expertly composed pieces into one tight package. Clocking in at around twelve minutes, Perdix Themes will leave you wanting more.”… 01. …

  Posted on Dec 05.10

• MIXG016 | Th.e n.d – Metaphors

  …”Th.e n.d. Norman is not an absolute newcomer on netaudio scene. He has already contributed Schizophrenic Birth EP – a symbiosis of electronic beats and acoustics instruments. And he continues with ‘Metaphors’ EP which is proudly presented to you by us Mixgalaxy Records. The listener is taken into the vast diversity of sounds and tunes, [...]

  Posted on Dec 05.10  

• tsukuboshi | VV.AA. – Essmaa Disque 3

  …”Tsuku Boshi is an independent music label for experimental, electronic and non genre specific music. the artist roster is international and features bands, solo artists and art related music projects. Tsuku Boshi is based in Montrouge (Paris – France). Tsuku Boshi is running a mail order service and alternatively offers products through online stores such [...]

  Posted on Dec 04.10

• insub36 Guez Trio – Je suis celui qui je veux être

  …”In 2007, Laurent Estoppey started to work around the words of French poet Christian Gabriel/le Guez Ricord (1948-1988). At first a solo project developed during a residency in Piégon, France), the work on Guez Ricord developed into duets with Edmee Fleury and François Rossi; Estoppey also work with about forty children to create recordings. Finally, [...]

  Posted on Dec 04.10 

• insubcd02 | DIATRIBES & ABDUL MOIMEME – complaintes de marée basse

  …”After the trio with Phonotopy, but recorded a couple of month earlier, Diatribes proposes with Abdul Moimême a new electroacoustique oriented album, where the instrumentation distinction is lost to the benefit of a sounds ensemble strongly linked by skeazing ropes and under permanent tension. Some metalico-organics imporvisations develloping under harbour influence, superpostion of poetic evocations [...]

  Posted on Dec 04.10 

• laridae059 | Firnwald – Cinder

  …”When old wooden doors in rainy Wales sway in the wind, Firnwald finds the right atmosphere for his songs. The three-part album Cinder mixes universally danceable with uniquely dissonant pieces. The centerpiece is Dance, on which the symbiosis of nature and technology is expressed in fast electronic songs with elaborate beats and in thoughtful, aerial [...]

  Posted on Dec 03.10

• rc019 | Isnaj Dui – Protective Displacement

  …”Isnaj Dui ( Katie English) is a classically trained flautist working within electroacoustic music who conveys a minimal yet capturing sound using electronically manipulated flutes and homemade instruments. To date Isnaj Dui have had several releases including 3 ep’s on her own FBox Records, ‘Amacrine’ on Smallfish (2007) and ‘Unstable Equilibrium’ on Home Normal (2009). [...]

  Posted on Dec 03.10

• bfw093 | ’I Heard Something In The Distance volume 6 – a BFW recordings sampler’

  …”The sixth compilation from BFW recordings, featuring music from current and future BFW releases, from October 2010 to January 2011. This is a great album – a fantastic, rich and eclectic mix of music – soft pianos, warm ambient, glitchy beats, guitar drones, ambient shoegaze pop (yes, we’ve decide that is a genre!) and much [...]

  Posted on Dec 02.10   

• cnv065 | Sehnaoui-Tara-D’Incise – AT .ep

  …”Dragos Tara and d’incise are two higly active improvisors from the french-speaking part of Switzerland. Dragos has a strong background as composer for instruments and electronics, he takes part of the Rue du Nord collective that organises many concerts and an annual festival in Lausanne. d’incise works in the electroacoustic fields, composed and improvised, he [...]

  Posted on Dec 02.10

 

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More Background On INQ-Mag.com

 

Before the dominance of streaming platforms and algorithmic playlists, an underground wave of digital creativity was reshaping how music circulated online. Among the most inspired and influential of these early digital curators was INQ-Mag.com, also known simply as INQ Magazine. Active mainly between 2010 and 2012, INQ-Mag was a non-commercial, independent netaudio publication devoted to discovering and sharing free, high-quality music distributed under Creative Commons or open licenses.

INQ-Mag wasn’t just another blog posting MP3s; it was a carefully curated listening experience. The editors approached their work with the rigor of archivists and the passion of fans, focusing on the union of audio excellence and visual design. At a time when “netaudio” was still a developing subculture, INQ became a trusted compass guiding listeners through the vast terrain of experimental sound, electronic minimalism, ambient explorations, and creative cross-genre fusions.

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Origins and Founders

INQ-Mag was founded by two dedicated music enthusiasts who signed their posts simply as Mikel and Piotr. Their project began as a labor of love—an extension of their fascination with the netlabel phenomenon that had gained momentum in the mid-2000s. By the time INQ launched publicly in 2010, the duo had already spent three years researching and cataloging the netaudio scene, amassing knowledge and connections across Europe’s digital music underground.

Their motivation was refreshingly pure: to share exceptional music freely. INQ was never a professional enterprise, nor did it accept advertising or commercial partnerships. Mikel described it as a “hobby and experiment,” where the reward was not financial but emotional—measured in listener appreciation, artist feedback, and the satisfaction of documenting creative innovation.

The founders’ cosmopolitan approach—one based in Spain, the other elsewhere in Europe—gave INQ-Mag a broad, international perspective. Their commentary was written in English to reach a global audience, reflecting a belief that music shared freely online transcended borders and genres alike.

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The Netaudio Context

To understand INQ-Mag’s importance, it helps to grasp what netaudio represented. During the early 2010s, hundreds of musicians and small collectives began releasing albums digitally under Creative Commons licenses. These netlabels—such as Camomille Music, 12rec, Zymogen, Silent Season, and Mixgalaxy Records—championed open distribution, community engagement, and aesthetic experimentation.

However, with the explosion of free releases came a new problem: discoverability. For every exceptional netlabel release, there were dozens of amateur or poorly mixed ones. INQ-Mag emerged to address precisely this gap. Its editors provided the quality control and context that the scene lacked, selecting releases that combined musical innovation with strong presentation and mastering.

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Editorial Philosophy

At the heart of INQ-Mag’s philosophy was the belief that artistic freedom didn’t excuse poor quality. The site’s editors insisted on highlighting releases that exhibited both sonic depth and design integrity. They judged netlabels not by fame or hype, but by their ability to “feed the mind and soul.”

The magazine was proudly genre-agnostic. An edition might feature dub techno and ambient releases alongside experimental acoustic projects or lo-fi hip-hop. What mattered most was emotional resonance and production quality. As Mikel once explained, the goal was “to point at free audio releases that have solid elements of audiovisual quality and appearance.”

Each post reflected this meticulous curation: cover art, tracklists, label details, and commentary were all carefully arranged to create an immersive listening guide. INQ’s editors saw themselves as facilitators of experiences, not just aggregators of files.

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Collaboration with Free Music Archive

A milestone for INQ-Mag was its collaboration with the Free Music Archive (FMA)—a major platform for open audio sharing founded by WFMU in the United States. This partnership gave INQ a wider audience and validated its editorial approach within the broader open-music movement.

Through the FMA, INQ launched its signature Monographic Podcast series—a set of exclusive mixes crafted by netlabel curators. Each mix acted as an audio “portrait” of the label’s philosophy, offering a deep, uninterrupted journey through its catalog. The concept was brilliant: who better to represent a netlabel’s identity than the people who built it?

These monographic episodes became essential listening for fans of netaudio culture. They distilled the diversity of the scene into hour-long narratives, blending field recordings, ambient textures, IDM, minimal house, glitch, and abstract beats.

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Signature Features and Content

1. Curated Mixes and Tracklists

Each feature on INQ-Mag typically included:

• A written introduction by Mikel or Piotr.

• A tracklist linking to the artists’ or labels’ websites.

• Comments on production, emotion, and structure.

• Cover art photography or illustration, often credited to emerging designers.

One of their early hallmark playlists, for example, contained tracks from Maps & Transit, Sustainer, Monokle & Galun, Emanuele Errante, and mon0—a microcosm of INQ’s taste for ambient, dub-techno, and experimental minimalism.

2. Netaudio Reviews and Recommendations

INQ didn’t write long essays; its posts were short, evocative, and respectful of the music’s mood. The writing style was closer to curator notes than traditional journalism. The language mixed technical appreciation (“sincere and rich walls of sound”) with poetic metaphors (“lighting between worlds”).

3. The Monographic Series

Perhaps INQ’s greatest innovation, the Monographic Series turned listening into a storytelling act. Each episode carried a number and highlighted a specific label or theme. “Monographic 045 | noecho,” for example, focused on the London-based NoEcho Records, while other episodes explored Japanese and Swiss experimental collectives.

4. The “Best Of” Selections

At the end of each year, Mikel and Piotr compiled “Best Of” lists—hand-picked selections of the most notable netlabels and tracks. These retrospectives served both as listening guides and as yearbooks of netaudio evolution, charting its creative peaks and emerging trends.

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Artistic and Technical Standards

INQ-Mag’s editors had unusually high standards for an amateur publication. They insisted that netaudio deserved the same respect as traditional record releases. That meant clean mastering, coherent design, and a sense of identity. Many of the netlabels featured—such as Bad Panda Records, Camomille Music, Laridae, and Tsukuboshi—later gained recognition in academic and music-tech discussions about digital creativity.

Their approach positioned INQ as part of a new wave of digital-humanist curators, treating the act of selection as an art form in itself. In doing so, they bridged communities—musicians, listeners, designers, and technologists—through shared aesthetic curiosity.

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Reviews, Reception, and Influence

Though niche, INQ-Mag earned genuine admiration among netaudio circles. Artists and label curators often left comments expressing gratitude for the exposure. The tone of interaction was personal, informal, and grounded in mutual respect.

In creative-commons music forums and blogs, INQ’s posts were frequently cited as examples of thoughtful curation. The site was recognized for maintaining tasteful minimalism—eschewing flashy design or advertising in favor of substance.

Over time, the publication gained a reputation for being ahead of its time. Its mixes predated the podcast boom, its open-music advocacy foreshadowed Bandcamp’s free-music culture, and its editorial tone anticipated the rise of boutique online magazines blending music, art, and design.

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Cultural and Social Significance

While INQ-Mag may never have reached mainstream audiences, its cultural footprint is meaningful for several reasons:

1. Preserving the Netaudio Moment
   INQ captured an era when music was being democratized by technology. It chronicled how bedroom producers and small netlabels were reshaping global soundscapes without record deals.

2. Championing Artistic Integrity
   By emphasizing that free music could still uphold professional standards, INQ helped legitimize Creative Commons releases as serious artistic statements rather than disposable downloads.

3. Encouraging Collaboration
   The Monographic Podcast invited participation from multiple netlabels and curators, creating a shared platform that celebrated cross-pollination rather than competition.

4. Blurring Boundaries Between Listener and Creator
   INQ’s tone encouraged active engagement: listeners were invited to donate, collaborate, or submit mixes. It was a participatory culture long before social media algorithms defined community.

5. Interdisciplinary Appeal
   INQ’s focus on both sound and visual presentation appealed to artists, designers, and programmers. Its aesthetic minimalism influenced later music-blog design—clean typography, focus on album art, and embedded players rather than cluttered sidebars.

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Decline and Legacy

By 2012, activity on INQ-Mag slowed and eventually ceased. The decline mirrored the broader transformation of the digital-music landscape: streaming platforms like SoundCloud and Spotify had begun to dominate discovery, while independent blogs faced dwindling visibility.

Despite its quiet disappearance, INQ’s legacy endures in archives and in the evolution of digital curation itself. The project anticipated much of what would later define online music discovery: curated playlists, visual storytelling, and platform-agnostic distribution.

Today, snapshots of INQ-Mag survive through web archives and occasional fan reposts. Listeners exploring its curated tracklists can still uncover extraordinary works by artists who later transitioned to labels or film soundtracks.

For scholars, INQ represents a valuable case study in early-2010s internet culture—a grassroots initiative that combined artistic passion with technological curiosity. It demonstrates how non-profit digital curators played a pivotal role in shaping cultural ecosystems before algorithms took over.

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Insights and Reflections

INQ-Mag’s short but vibrant existence highlights several enduring truths about online creativity:

• Curation Is Creation – Selecting, sequencing, and presenting art thoughtfully is itself an act of artistry. INQ’s mixes prove that editorial framing can change how we perceive sound.

• Quality and Freedom Can Coexist – INQ rejected the notion that “free” music should sound cheap. Its insistence on excellence made Creative Commons releases aspirational rather than alternative.

• Communities Form Around Shared Aesthetics, Not Algorithms – INQ’s audience was united by curiosity and trust, not by recommendation engines. This authenticity still resonates with those seeking meaning in the digital noise.

• Archiving Is Activism – By documenting netaudio’s most inspired creations, INQ inadvertently preserved an important slice of digital art history.

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INQ-Mag.com may have operated for only a brief window of time, but its influence radiates far beyond those years. It stood at the crossroads of music, design, and technology, showing what could be achieved when passionate individuals used the internet to champion creativity over commerce.

Through its curated mixes, monographic podcasts, and editorials, INQ offered more than recommendations—it offered context. It helped listeners hear not just music, but movements; not just sounds, but values.

Today, as music discovery once again becomes dominated by algorithms and commercial curation, INQ-Mag’s legacy feels especially poignant. It reminds us that the internet’s greatest cultural treasures often begin as unpaid experiments by people who simply love what they share.

In that sense, INQ-Mag’s motto—never explicitly written but always implied—could well have been:
Listen Beyond.

INQ-Mag.com