Downundaground II

La Sape Records presents a new wave of producer-led instrumentals from Australia's forward-thinking underground.

La Sape returns with Downundaground II, the second instalment in a series spotlighting producer-driven, electronically shaped instrumental music emerging from Australia's evolving experimental scene.

Where Swing on Low draws from spiritual jazz, avant-garde, and neo-classical traditions — balancing improvisation and composition —Downundaground shifts focus to producers and instrumentalists exploring rhythm and texture through electronic tools, carving out new spaces between genres and machines.

From skewed club rhythms to ambient textures, dubwise atmospheres, and leftfield grooves, Downundaground II maps a terrain where genre is fluid and technology becomes a compositional partner. These are tracks built in bedrooms, home studios, and late-night sessions — music shaped by post-dubstep, broken beat, and ambient experimentation, driven by a restless desire to work between forms rather than within them.

The compilation brings together an eclectic array of artists shaping the next phase of Australia's underground, assembled through a casual callout posted twice to Instagram. What began as a light experiment in reach and community quickly became a flood of submissions from across the country — spanning close collaborators and complete unknowns, crossing cities, scenes, and styles. The result is a snapshot of a sprawling, self-organising network united by curiosity, rhythm, and a shared impulse to explore.

The first Downundaground, released in 2019, introduced several artists who've since become mainstays in their respective scenes. This second chapter builds on that foundation, affirming the depth, vitality, and openness of what's still to come.