Early ’90s London underground ambient party, Telepathic Fish, celebrated in new compilation

A compilation celebrating the influential ’90s South London afterparty Telepathic Fish is due for release this summer via Fundamental Frequencies.

Taking in 10 tracks, ‘Telepathic Fish: Trawling The Early 90s Ambient Underground’ features tracks that defined one of the UK’s first and most important chill-out parties. It includes music by Nightmares On Wax, Global Communication, Spacetime Continuum, The Orb and Aphex Twin under his Caustic Window alias, among other acts.

The compilation will be released on 25th August through the Fundamental Frequencies label. It comes with a 20-page book documenting the history of the Telepathic Fish parties between 1992 and 1995, which includes photos, artwork and various memorabilia.

Telepathic Fish was launched in the early ’90s by David Vallade, Mario Aguera, DJ Food and the late Mira Calix, with the assistance of Mixmaster Morris (who contributes a track to the release as Irresistible Force) and Matt Black.

A statement about the release expands on the party’s history: “Rooted deep in the heart of the electronic underground they started DJing and decorating house parties or squats with mind-blowing installations and wholly idiosyncratic design, hosting the likes of Aphex Twin, Andrea Parker and Tony Morley (The Leaf Label). Within a year they were playing VIP after shows for the likes of Orbital and illegal New Year’s gatherings at the disused Roundhouse whilst guesting on Coldcut’s Solid Steel radio show on London’s KISS FM.

“Whilst collaborations with legendary club nights such as Megatripolis saw them share bills with Autechre, Higher Intelligence Agency, Scanner and Global Communication, they also created their own ambient fanzine – Mindfood – to document the scene evolving around them.”

Listen to two tracks from ‘Telepathic Fish: Trawling The Early 90s Ambient Underground’ below.

Revisit DJ Mag’s 2023 feature on the influence of the chill-out room in ’90s rave culture here.

Read our 2024 piece on how The Orb brought ambient house to the masses here, and our piece about 11 labels blurring the boundaries of ambient, dub techno and the dancefloor today here.