Sleep D

Australian duo Sleep D crafts an atmospheric, layered fusion of ambient techno, deep house, and electro. From the early 2010s onward, the pair has drawn praise for entrancing, psychedelic performances along with equally immersive and consciousness-expanding studio work. Throughout that decade they put out multiple singles and live recordings, frequently via their own Butter Sessions imprint, while teaming up with artists such as Jayda G and Albrecht La'Brooy ahead of their first full studio album, Rebel Force, which surfaced in 2019. The contemplative, jazz-inflected Flashed Glass, recorded with Ad Lib Collective, followed in 2021, and the more driving long-player Electronic Arts emerged in 2023.

Childhood friends Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos launched Sleep D gigs in Melbourne around 2011 and founded both the Butter Sessions label and Butter Party events. Their debut EP, Bacon, appeared on Death Strobe Records in 2012 and contained the duo's remix of "Love & Feeling" by Chet Faker. The disco-house EP Sweetwater came next on Cuckoo Music in 2013. Late that year Butter Sessions issued its inaugural release, the three-track EP The Jackal, consisting of raw, pounding house cuts. Additional limited singles followed on the label, among them the 2015 track "Velvet Vortex" featuring DJ Fett Burger and Jayda G. The duo also issued numerous DJ sets and live sessions as podcasts, while Analogue Attic pressed Live at the Fairfield Amphitheatre to vinyl in 2016. The label further released After the Rain, an ambient house EP made with Albrecht La'Brooy, in 2017. Anthony Naples' Incienso put out Sleep D's debut album, the playful, breakbeat-infused Rebel Force, in 2019, with Kuniyuki Takahashi appearing on the track "Morning Sequence."

Several EPs arrived in 2020, including Smoke Haze on Planet Euphorique. Sleep D joined chamber ensemble Ad Lib Collective for the 2021 LP Flashed Glass, which incorporated ambient synths, home-recorded samples, gentle woodwinds, and minimalist acoustic percussion. The pumping techno EP Freak of Nature, Vol. 2 and the breakbeat electro EP Greasy Beats and Blobs, Vol. 1 both appeared in 2022. The full-length Electronic Arts arrived in 2023, drawing influence from dub, spiritual jazz, and Australian bush doof techno.