Phonica Friends & Family Mix Series 29:
Asyncronous

There’s something quietly resolute about Asyncronous—a sense of patience, of memory half-recalled, of dance music that resists immediacy in favour of something more enduring.
For their Phonica Friends & Family mix, the Kyiv-based duo turn inward, sketching a one-hour passage built entirely from their own catalogue, including cuts from Selected Memories We Never Had on Kashtan. It plays less like a showcase and more like a self-portrait in motion: deep, textural, and deliberately unhurried. Drawing from a shared instinct for digging—whether that’s Bohdan’s fixation on overlooked vintage records or Oleksii’s algorithmic wanderings through forgotten corners of the internet—the mix carries that same sense of rediscovery, where every track feels unearthed rather than placed. There’s a quiet emotional weight running through it too, shaped inevitably by distance and memory, echoing the kind of closeness they recall from early sets like Natura festival—moments that now feel suspended in time. We had a chat with the duo about the mix and what they have coming up:

Hey Asyncronous, thanks for joining us! Can you tell us about your mix and what the idea behind it was?

This mix is made entirely from our own material, including a few tracks from our new record ‘Selected Memories We Never Had’, which came out in early March on the Ukrainian label Kashtan. In a way, it’s a one-hour journey through the Asyncronous sound in all its forms.

What are your preferred methods for finding new music, do you still enjoy digging around in dusty crates, or do you prefer to buy online?

Bohdan: Maybe it’s just getting older, but I’ve been finding myself digging for “new” music in older records more and more — Discogs, vinyl markets, crate digging, that whole world. It could be rare Afrobeat, Japanese jazz from the ’70s and ’80s, early ambient, or all sorts of ethnic music, and honestly it feels like a lot of people are on the same wave. I think part of the reason vintage vinyl is having such a moment is that the quality bar used to be much higher. Releasing music meant real investment, so labels didn’t back things they weren’t confident in — unlike today, when you can make an album in your bedroom and put it out straight away. Because of that, a lot of those older records still hold up really well, and you’re just more likely to come across something great without spending hours searching like you would on Bandcamp. That said, platforms like Spotify or YouTube Music can still surprise you — especially once the algorithm really gets what you’re into.

Oleksii: Great music can be found all over, you just need to have good criteria and a set of rules for discovery. No matter the medium or the place, it has to be immediately appealing and reasonably well made. Otherwise, there’s always a million more tunes waiting for you just around the corner. The pace of discovery has slowed down during the war years, especially the offline portion of it, but it won’t ever stop for sure. For now it is mostly online, and the most recent outlet I’ve started using is small YouTube channels with supercuts made from vintage material — rediscovered some of the old gems that I’ve enjoyed as a kid but had no ID for and eventually forgot about. It might take decades, but great music will find you eventually.

What are five records you couldn’t live without?

Bohdan: I’d probably go with the records that have stayed with me the longest over the years, so it’s quite an eclectic mix. First would be ‘DJ-Kicks: Thievery Corporation’ (1999) — easily the one I’ve listened to the most. I first found it on an unlabelled cassette in a student dorm, and it took me ages to figure out what it actually was. Then there’s Enigma ‘MCMXC a.D.’ (1990), a timeless piece by Michael Cretu. I’d also include Fear Factory ‘Demanufacture’ (1995), which is still an endless source of energy, and Tiamat ‘Wildhoney’ (1994), something I always come back to for its atmosphere. And finally Seahawks ‘Aquadisco’ (2012), an album that somehow creates this feeling of a calm, endless summer wherever you are. I wouldn’t say I listen to these all the time, but every now and then I find myself coming back to them.

Oleksii: This is a very fluid list, and for the last few weeks, since spring has arrived, I’d say not a day goes by without giving ‘Nite and Day’ by Al B. Sure a listen. For more recent releases, I’m still massively enjoying the ‘Oni’ LP by Seba that came out on Spearhead Records in 2024, and the ‘Obsidian’ EP by Andy Odysee, which came out last year and is a perfect drum & bass blend for me. Also, the January release of Rufige Kru’s ‘Alpha / Omega (Remixes)’ on London Records has reminded me about the raw power of my favourite genre and how much I miss working with a proper big sound system. And at any time of year or day, I have space in my playlist for a series of LPs by ASC that were put out on Silent Season. If I had to pick an all-time top five, though, I’d probably fill all of the spots with a selection from The Beatles’ catalogue. Can’t and won’t let go of them since childhood.

What has been one of your most memorable sets over your career?

This was probably our first live set together — at the Natura festival by Rhythm Büro back in the summer of 2019, out in the forest by the Kyiv Sea. Everything just fell into place — the location, the time of year, the atmosphere, a lot of friends around, and this real sense of closeness between us and the crowd. In today’s reality in Ukraine, that’s something we really miss.

What do you have up your sleeve for 2026?

Continuing our inclination for storytelling, we’re getting more into film scoring this year, which feels like a really exciting new venture for us — it’s a different way of working and brings a slightly different sound, but it’s still very much Asyncronous. At the same time, Oleksii has some solo releases lined up as Leftie. He’s had his own material on hold for far too long, and it can’t stay that way indefinitely, so at least one full album is on the way, possibly more.

Thanks for your time!

Tracklist:

 

1. Retired Ships In Slumber [Kashtan]
2. Midnight Sun [Phonica Special Edition]
3. Is It So? [Kashtan]
4. Serendipity [Kashtan]
5. Point Of No Return [Slow Life]
6. Chasing Shadows [Kashtan]
7. Event Horizon [Slow Life]
8. Blocks Of Despair [Phonica Special Edition]
9. Reflections [Slow Life]
10. Hegelian Dialectics [Rhythm Büro]
11. Shinkansen [Phonica Special Edition]
12. No More Time [Kashtan]
13. Verity [Closer Connections]
14. Stage Of Delta [Slow Life]
15. A Sigh Of Relief [Kashtan]