Tired All the Time – Bloody Toothbrush
Damu the Fudgemunk – Never Off (On & On)
Social Station – Awfully Pretty
Warren Wolf – Lake Nerraw Flow
OV – Perc Song (Chords)
Craig Gildner and The Blue Sky 5 – Sittin’ Pretty
Yoko K. – mimi’s heart muted
Astronaut Jones – Turkey Grease
Lilac Daze – Kathleen
A Shrewdness of Apes – Summer Job
Nitemoves – Ask Me Anything!
Peals – Trillium
The Iris Bell – Shade
The Orchid – The Arrow and The Song
Jon Miller – Jello
The Red Lines – Windy City
The Soul Searchers – Ashley’s Roachclip
Les Rhinocéros – What Do YOU Know About VELCRO
Protect-U – Down the Tubes
Nate Belasco – Automatic

The Mount Pleasant resident stops himself before getting lost in the weeds, however.

“Oh man, nobody wants to hear me talk about this,” he concedes. He loves modular synthesizers — think Moogs, with their knobs, switches and wires — and leaves it at that.

“They’re very niche-oriented and cult-y and, as result, sort of inherently anti-capitalist and DIY,” he says.

He prefers to discuss the non-musical inspirations behind Wasatch Mecha, which
will be available digitally Friday through Atlantic Rhythms, the new locally based label run by his friend, Sean Peoples. (The label also will be releasing a limited run of cassettes.)

Leitko says the EP comes from his desire to create instrumental music with a sense of place.

“If you’re representing a city or a group vibe, it feels better than just being a lonely dude with some synths and a Soundcloud account,” he explains.

On some tracks, this connotes specific people and locations. For example, closer “Harmony Gold” samples Tizita ballads, a nod to D.C.’s Ethiopian community, as well as the 1432R label, which released an EP by Leitko’s Ocobaya project with Protect-U partner Mike Petillo in July.

Wasatch Mecha, the title itself, refers to Leitko’s childhood in Utah. The first word is taken from the name of the Wasatch Range east of his home in Salt Lake City. “Mecha” is a shoutout to the 1980s anime series, Robotech.

“Robotech is very tied up with my memories of Salt Lake City, where I grew up. My whole family was into it,” he says. “It had a lot of robots. And aliens. And singing.”

Leitko and Peoples, the owner of Atlantic Rhythms, have a long history of working together.

“He used to run a D.C.-based label called Sockets, which released a CD-R for me, now mercifully out of print,” says Leitko. “We also owned a van together. R.I.P. van.”

Aaron Leitko and Sean Peoples perform Friday, Oct. 7, at Red Onion Records in D.C.

Trouble Funk – E Flat Boogie (Instrumental)
Kid Claws – Link
Teething Veils – Dinner Date
Protect-U – Time 2 Technique
Middle Distance Runner – The Fury
Otis Infrastructure – Oxbow
Sriram Gopal – Sink
Nick Garcia – Sun Jam
Drive TFC – Pocket Bitters
Waltz Brigade – Sarsparilla
Ken & Brad Kolodner – Skipping Rocks
B Side Shuffle – Introducing
Carolyn Malachi – Blowing Smoke
Power Pirate – Bring Them Back
Tom Espinola – Blackberry Blossom
aerialist – shputnuck
GoldLink – Palm Trees/Late Night ft. Masego
The Harry Bells – Rum and Coca Cola
The Linemen – Mystery in the Making
Bill Emerson & Sweet Dixie – Three Day Beard and a Rusty Jeep

Jon Camp – To Your Door
The Funk Ark – Tam Tari Ta
Trouble Funk – Trouble Funk Express (Instrumental)
Sriram Gopal – Almost Spring
The Orchid – A City of Plaster
The Harry Bells – Love, Love Alone (Honest Lee Naive Tongues remix)
Dupont Brass – Slow Jamz
Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes – Stormy Monday
Flash Frequency – Wolf of The Night
Melanie’s Magic Mellotron – Serotonin Syndrome
M.H. & His Orchestra – Marko, You Lie So Beautifully
Warren Wolf – Knocks Me Off My Feet
Jail Solidarity – Lights Out
Protect-U – Invisible Halo
Lands & Peoples – Bad Habits
Wicked Olde – Red-Haired Boy
The Seldom Scene – Last Train From Poor Valley
2nd Story Band – Dirty Mother
Akua Allrich – Shot of Sugar
Marian McLaughlin – Legend of the Neighborhood

Iritis – Monster
Justin Jones – You Saved Me
Protect-U – Down the Tubes
Fugazi – Recap Modotti
Mark Meadows – Once Upon a Purple Night
The Greatest Hoax – Opus no. 13
Mimi Loco and the Drama Queens – Let It Die – 2015 Remix – Take 2
Ricky Eat Acid – Driving Alone Past Roadwork At Night
Troy and Paula Haag – 27
John Hogge – Shanai
Beach House – Myth
Jonathan Parker – King of the Hill
The Funk Ark – Mind Meld
Future Islands – Tin Man
AXB – Quantum Chill
The Mean Season – Kurtz
Matt Chaconas – Spear
Domingues & Kane – Wko 205
PLOY – Beyond the Plain
Noah Berman + Louis Weeks – radius i

Buildings – Water In Water
Drop Electric – Church of Glass
ZOMES – Equinox
Girls Love Distortion – Psychic Raygun
Jonathan Parker – East Lorain
Fort Knox Five – Reach (Instrumental)
Marian McLaughlin – Will-o-the-wisp
The Petticoat Tearoom – Love Isn’t Gone
Iritis – Gates of Dawn
GroundScore – My Perfect Spot
Cartoon Weapons – WTLFO
Feedel Band – Girl From Ethiopia (Live At WAMU)
Bad Brains – Cowboy
Paperhaus – Cairo
Matt Chaconas – baby bear obliquity
Baby Bry Bry – Is It Anything Or Is It Everything
Protect-U – Dit Floss
Troy and Paula Haag – Lies & Cries
Speedwell – Two Conquests
Lower Dens – Stem

Dawit Eklund, Ouroborous
Recommended tracks: “Litchi Juice,” “Lies Are Chic (Makeshift Mix)”

So far, stout head-nodders haven’t been the domain of D.C. electronic label 1432 R, but imprint co-founder Dawit Eklund maximizes the 4/4 energy on “Litchi Juice,” and keeps it bubbling on two versions of “Lies Are Chic.” But don’t view Ouroborous as a departure from 1432R’s heavily Ethiopian vibe (see: E.R., Mikael Seifu). Instead, it’s a complement: All those Horn of Africa sounds have been filtered with American house freakitude in one small way or another, and this EP proudly flaunts those roots. (Joe Warminsky)

Ricky Eat Acid, “Dear Lord”
Recommended track: The only track, “Dear Lord”

Former calzone delivery guy Sam Ray, aka producer Ricky Eat Acid, has always liked futzing around: The Maryland native (who also plays with Teen Suicide and Julia Brown) started out diddling with pop and hip-hop, then graduated to thinky ambient works on his debut Three Love Songs, titling his compositions with long, vague phrases (“Driving alone past roadwork at night”; “God puts us all in the swimming pool”). Ricky Eat Acid’s latest track, “Dear Lord,” throws hooky hip-hop, techno tropes and piano chords into a Magic Bullet and watches them whirl. (Ally Schweitzer)

Future Times Records’ Vibe 3
Recommended tracks: Protect-U, “Krums,” Juju & Jordash, “Soggy Bottom,” DSR.MR, “Crystal Jungle”

Like a lot of Future Times releases, the vinyl version of the new compilation Vibe 3 is already sold out (one retailer allowed one per customer). For most of us, though, those “out of stock” notices don’t matter, because the label made these goods highly accessible on the digital tip. (The Internet hasn’t always been a priority for the Vibe series.) Considering the Future Times crew’s knack for sequencing tracks, the digi flow makes more sense, anyway: 14 cuts, a global outlook (the crew extends from Vancouver to Amsterdam at this point), tons o’ bliss and myriad lessons about popped percussion and manipulated frequencies. Lay ’em end to end. (JW)

The Walking Sticks, “The News”
Recommended track: The only track, “The News”

The Walking Sticks started as a folk-pop band. You wouldn’t know it from the Maryland trio’s new single, “The News,” a squelching earworm with singer Chelsea Lee crushing — crushing! — the vocals. The single is officially out Nov. 20 on Play Me Records. (AS)

Brett, On Account Of Your Love
Recommended track: “On Account Of Your Love (Club Mix)”

Originally based in the D.C. area, Brett now operates out of Los Angeles, which seems like the right spiritual home for the group’s bittersweet synth-pop. On Account Of Your Love is Brett’s latest EP, released on L.A.’s Chill Mega Chill label, which promises a vinyl edition next year. Also coming in 2016: Brett’s sophomore LP, the followup to their 2014 self-titled debut. Look out for that March 11 on Cascine. (AS)

Benoit & Sergio, “Dancing Shoes”/”Old Streets”
Recommended track: “Old Streets”

Benoit & Sergio, the globe-hopping party boys who started in D.C., return with two low-key house concoctions. Like earlier tracks “Walk and Talk” and “New Ships,” their vocals still ooze drowsy sleaze — the kind you might encounter in the last hour of an after-afterparty. The 12-inch is out Nov. 17 on Soul Clap and digital versions are available now on Spotify, iTunes and Beatport. (AS)

Brutalism, No Rave
Recommended track: “Friday Night”

One of the more absurd new groups out of D.C., Brutalism keeps its tongue firmly in cheek. Debut single “Friday Night” was a deceptively peppy murder ballad; “New Empire” pledged allegiance to a draconian political regime. But on the trio’s new tape, No Rave, Brutalism takes the insanity down a notch with a track we haven’t heard before: “Human Being.” (AS)

Other new local music: The latest from rock groups More Humans, Swings, Polyon and The Split Seconds.

The inaugural mix comes from (my friend) Mike Petillo, one half of D.C. production team Protect-U, and it reps D.C. with cuts from local producer Ben Jenkins and a handful of releases on District imprint Peoples Potential Unlimited.

Extended Family promises a fresh mix on the fourth of each month, with the larger goal of promoting D.C.’s diverse electronic music scene. From the project’s website:

Despite the cumbersome red tape that binds Washington D.C., the city has managed to cultivate a rich and long history of music that has grown organically, insistently. It has now become abundantly clear that a cluster of electronic musicians in the District of Columbia are responding to influences of house, techno, and experimental electronic works with open ears and a fresh delivery. Extended Family is a mix series that gathers these voices into a cohesive project: a chronicle of the vibe.

Let the chronicling begin. Stream Petillo’s moody mix, “Frog in the Coffee Pot,” below, and keep up with Extended Family at extendedfamilydc.com.

Photo via Flickr user kev-shine used under a Creative Commons license.