only 9 years after its official opening, watergate has become one of the worlds most prominent underground electronic music institutions. in no small part due to its picturesque location running directly alongside the river spree, its wall to wall led dance floor installation and most of all, its consistent flow of first-rate international talent performing every week. watergates presence and influence has spawned many side projects including a boutique-style mix cd series now in its 8th volume. a whoÕs who of the clubs regular talent and resident artists such as sascha funke, sebo k, dop, ellen allien and others have all contributed to the aesthetically pleasing series, now regarded as collectors items. for the eight installment in our mix series, we bridge the gap between two global capitals of techno: berlin, and detroit, home of lee curtiss who delivers a forward-thinking mix, inspired by time spent living in both cities. lee is one of a new generation of techno visionaries from the motor city, that includes his visionquest collaborators ryan crosson, shaun reeves and seth troxler, who are putting their own unique spin on their citys most famous underground musical export. based between detroit and berlin for the last four years, lee has a fundamental grasp of what makes both dancefloors at watergate tick, and this enduring love and understanding of the space clearly shines through in his mix. building on the raw soul and funk of those who have blazed a trail before him, on both sides of the atlantic, lee brings his own subtle melodies and keen sense of dramatic tension to the fore in a mix that encompasses all that is vibrant and exciting about underground techno in 2011

its just a year since the release of grey fades to green, and we are now talking about oscar muleros new album: black propaganda.

justin berkovi is about to burst back on the scene after lying low for a few years with his 6th album >mondrian<.

von armin van buuren bis tiesto, von fedde le grand bis moguai und von hardwell bis sander kleinenberg - dieses doppelformat laesst keine fragen unbeantwortet, die der clubber von heute stellt! fuer diesen doppelschlag bleibt das trance/progressive genre die grundlage, obwohl hier ausgiebig wie effizient angereichert wird: mit house-, mit rock-, mit techno-sounds! dieses ding rockt die clubs!

here we are again, another dose of unsung heroes from the past. all the tunes on here (bar possibly the opening tune) will be well known by the rockabilly world. however to those of you who have recently become, or are about to be infatuated with this music you are now holding a compilation of some of the rarest and desirable tunes known to the serious collectors

a perfectly formed deep-house voyage, taking the listener through blends of jazz, blues, latin and hip-hop, tourist is a must have for any dance or jazz music collection. the album transcends the ages and sounds as relevant and fresh today as it did on release, rightly staking a claim as a true modern classic.

allgone ibiza sees pete tong join forces with berlins booka shade - one the underrground electronic music scene most influentual acts - to create a 2 cd mix of evocative house and techno, this is the sound of petes and booka shades summer on the white isle.

incl. bonus mix cd! following on from the success of >dirty old hip hop< marc returns with a new visioneers record hipology. hipology is a collage of some of my personal influences as a dj/producer growing up listening to hip hop a real eclectic mix of breaks, beats, soul, jazz, and freaky squeaks and not a sampler in sight. visioneers is about revisiting my love for hip hop, what is was and what it is the musical influences and the culture. hipology will be released on bbe records late spring and features guest spots from john robinson, trac & baron, notes to self, luke parkhouse & the ariya horns!

but that the cocoon compilation l is all about love, is beyond debate: the love for electronic dance music, for its complexity and its diversity, the love for this global musical language and last not least the enthusiasm for the well-known and the still non-famous protagonists of this tonal romance that faithfully accompanies us through night and day for more than 30 years now. and thats why l begins with a proper love song: for equilibrio, the berlin residents tale of us.

these are my dj mix compilation series. and now we are about to release volume 3. they are a journey through disco past, present and future. both compilations made it into mixmags top 10 compilations of 2009 and 2010 respectively. - mighty mouse

hot as the girls : playboy sessions - paris! incl. dirty south, the shapeshifters, zoo brasil, noir & haze..

sven kacirek, the much praised multi- instrumentalist from hamburg, releases his third album with pingipung. scarlet pitch dreams presents intimate solo works, following his debut the palmin sessions (2007) and the interna- tional success the kenya sessions (2011), which was honored with german record critics award for the second quarter 2011. whilst the kenya sessions revealed fruitful col- laborations with kenyan musicians, almost every single instrument on scarlet pitch dreams has been played, recorded and produced by sven kaci- rek himself.

the greatest female soul singers of all time! incl. aretha franklin, tina turner, nina simone..

after the immense success of last yearÕs hed kandi world series: miami release, this ever popular hed kandi theme returns in 2012 with its second volume, world series: miami volume ii. floridaÕs art deco gem is without-a-doubt one of the most seductive and chic additions to hed kandiÕs global city roster, and with the hype, excitement and highly anticipated winter music conference and ultra music festival occurring in the month this title is released, world series: miami ii captures the upfront sounds from hed kandiÕs legendary pool and club parties at this prestigious and iconic jet set destination. hed kandi headline djs, eibhlin and carl hanaghan, lay down the mixes over 2 cds titled pool & club, each selecting tracks that define the atmosphere of one of the globeÕs most celebrated dance music capitals.

kitsune parisien incl. tomorrows world, slowdance, exotica, about the girl, nameless, lescop and many more

fedde le grand (put your hands up for detroit / let me think about it) returns to host this year sensation festival in its home: amsterdam. this year, sensation presents to you innerspace - the world within.this is the 2 cd compilation with all the tracks & hits of the festival incl. rene amesz, umek, david august, fedde le gand, uner and many more

this year hard style event promoter b2s is organizing a new edition of hard bass. the 4th edition of this huge and already sold out event will take on saturday the 11th of february at the gelredome stadium. on this night it s all about hardstyle and again b2s divides the party over 4 areas yellow, red, green and blue and selected sixteen of the best djs and acts. the 4 headliners of the different areas are also mixing and compiling the cd s and this year we selected the best of the best with: the pitcher, luna, frontliner and chris one. expect a lot of new and exclusive material which is a perfect reflection of what sounds hard bass is all about. a great start to the new year with this 4cd must have compilation!

please allow us the pleasure of introducing axel willner s loops of your heart. hailing from sweden, the man behind this record alone needs no introduction, as he is already well known in the electronic music scene for his project the field. loops of your heart reflects axel¼s experience in germany, where during his lengthy stays, his mantra-like arpeggiators contributed to the first manifestation of the sound of cologne tape, a group that formed while he was staying there. you can also hear this on the much sought after debut render, which came out on magazine last year. only a foreshadow for what was to about to come, willner has been living in berlin and letting his creativity go crazy. with an arsenal of special synthesizers and guitars he has put together and never ending nights . after touring worldwide with the field for the last 10 years, and never ending nights is like coming home again. you can hear german children speaking outside his studio in berlin (on the track neukšlln ) and it is not only the track titles which tell of things that have come to an end and or are about to happen. the old german musical tradition of letting yourself go (holger czukay, you, anima, cluster, you name it) is in the air, and willner breathes it. his highly personal approach to music and composition leads to nothing less then a matchless album that embodies beginning anew

even after more than 30 years of living the lifestyle of electronic dance music, techno is still sometimes looking for a matching form and sound language to transfer the special thrill of a live event to a club night adequately. so, sven vŠth and his crew were even more excited about the live set of eric estornell aka maetrik at cocoons closing party at amnesia / ibiza this year. for the final of a season that was once again exploring the limits of party culture, maetrik celebrated an extraordinary energetic state of emergency for more than one hour. the resulting live cd is reflecting that matchless mixture of pumping deep house, energetic soul and adrenaline-enriched noise.

2012 album from the british indie rock quartet. ester neatly combines elements including the dream pop of beach house, the sweet nocturnal melancholy of the xx and the sonic exploration of my bloody valentine to form an album that s streets apart from any of its contemporaries. it s a great achievement that from the first listen makes it apparent that a lot of people are about to fall in love with this band.

2 cds with 30 tracks...

status quo are set to release their new studio album at the end of may, which will also featuring an exclusive official bootleg life albuum recording in amsterdam & melbourne in 2010.

jeff mills once again indulges his passion for classic sci-fi with this 2cd re-imagining of the score to harry kleiner s titular 66 flick. it follows his -cyborg 2087- recreation and imaginary soundtracks for -the power- and -the occurence- with a deep voyage of discovery. but unlike the aforementioned, the original film plot - about a team of scientists who re miniaturized and dispatched inside a human body to fix a blood clot - thematic scales are inversed and we re drawn to mills inner, as opposed to outer, space-scapes. the action unfolds across 22 tracks and 2 cds, from bleepin, womb-like viscera and hazardous noise bursts through archetypal rhythm arrangements and fluid programming reflecting the man/machine, organic/synthesized themes of the film and his own alien/human aesthetic. it s wonderful to witness mills maturing as a composer and refining his art to something beyond a soundtrack for dancefloor rituals, but without ever losing his original blueprint, and showing that the line between cinematic imagination and dancefloor functions can be a very fine one.

el rego is a true legend of african soul music. here for the first time on album are 12 of his greatest recordings from the late 60s and early 70s hand-picked by daptone records. afro-soul collector/ dj frank gossner had spent years combing west africa tracking down 45s by theophile do rego (aka el rego) before finally meeting him face to face in his home in benin. from that relationship came this album, which we present to you here in a 20 page hardcover bookcase cd featuring el regos own story of his life and music along with pictures from his personal collection and artwork from his original 45s. the music has been remastered with great care, and the vinyl contains an exclusive bonus 45 (while supplies last) of se na min, one of his most sought after afro-funk tracks, backed with e ma non tin me, a beautiful and somewhat more traditional song about two blind men who agree to go together and leap to their deaths into a river.

neues album des schwedischen singer/songwriters und multiinstrumentalisten loney dear nach releases auf sub pop und polyvinyl und touren mit u.a. andrew bird. die elf neuen songs auf -hall music- leben vom kontrast zwischen orchestraler und synthetischer instrumentierung, aufgenommen mit teils ungewoehnlichen instrumenten. ein spektakulaeres und intensives werk zwischen freude und duesternis!

when david essex sang -gonna make you a star-, he knew what he was talking about because he d already been there. and -the best of david essex- showcases his star quality to perfection, delivering all of his smash hits from the seventies, including -hold me close-, -rolling stone- and the classic -rock on-. a superstar from a golden era of pop.

-introduction to zoology- is the first album of music composer and film editor bartosz cichonsky. the title of his album is certainly sarcastic and that is in fact a clue about how much offbeat it is. doctor in atmosphere for some, pytors signature sound

gem club is an exclusive society: two people, a piano, and a cello. vocalist christopher barnes sings in a quivering whisper, and these minimal accompaniments assure that their sound never becomes louder than a hush. but the massachusetts duo s debut ep, acid and everything, showed just how much emotional intensity you could pack into compositions so spare, and how much could be suggested with so little. everything on breakers, their first full-length, sounds frozen over: icy, quiet, austere. you know that eerie feeling when you find yourself alone in a huge public place that s usually crowded-- maybe a shopping mall or a playing field- but at that moment is totally empty? this record sounds like a sustained version of that feeling. -i heard the party- juxtaposes echoing piano chords and a general sense of unease (-no one could have told you / your body would fail you-) with the refrain -i heard the partys here- floating across the track like the sound of dried up laughter. the word -party- feels so out of place in a song so pensive and lonely that there s something jarring about the experience. the feeling crops up repeatedly on breakers: a sense of slow-motion detachment, a suggestion that there were signs of life here once, but you ve arrived a couple of hours- or maybe a couple of weeks- too late.

hot on the heels of the wildly enigmatic debut from wu lyf, bristol-based guitar band zun zun egui continue the british avant-garde scenes fascination with indecipherable lyrics on their first offering, katang. with tracks performed in english, french, japanese, and creole alongside several mutterings which appear to be from an entirely made-up language, its impossible for anyone, bar the most accomplished of multi-linguists, to understand what their self-described -free-range rock music- is about.

its a love story: stil vor talent have long been mad about niconŽ and sascha braemer so that the recent past has seen some very memorable releases by the two producers. now its about time they join forces to release a whole album together. while sascha braemer only recently caused waves with his Ÿber-track people, nicone is a long-established pillar of top-class electronic music.

2011 debut from the brooklyn-based band. rapprocher sees front person elizabeth harper pushing the songs into new directions. harper remains the force that binds the songs into a cohesive statement, her winking coo darting about in the deep drums and lofty arpeggios, and her passion backed mostly with electronics summons thoughts of yazs alison moyet. in concurrence with the title (-rapprocher- is french for -bring closer-), the candid, sincere lyrics meld with the atmosphere, enveloping the listener into class actresss world of 21st century romanticism.

5 cd set includes the albums, chic (1977), c est chic (1978), risque (1979), real people (1980) and take it off (1981).

ex-harry pussy guitarist bill orcutt s 2009 side a new way to pay old debts was an instant classic for those attuned to his brand of stomach-scrapingly raw, hoary blues improvisation. few could have expected the album to be subsequently issued on cd by editions mego, but the more you thought about it the more it made sense - though all-acoustic, orcutt s music is every bit as extreme, violent and threshold-testing as that of, say, florian hecker, russell haswell or mika vainio. as if to prove it wasn t a token gesture towards eclecticism, mego boss peter rehberg has signed a brand new album from orcutt, and what an album it is. for the most part it s in that visceral, coruscating style that he s best known for, all finger-bleeding fretboard assaults that manage to sound at once virtuoso and completely out-of-control, reaching a psychotic climax on the visible bosom: but there are some more reflective passages too, hell, the title track might even be the most chilled thing he s ever recorded. the album was cut at d+m in berlin, which really teases every last drop of blood, sweat and tears out of the recording, which took place at orcutt s home studio in san francisco in spring of 2011. brutal, bludgeoning but incurably romantic, how the thing sings demands your steadfast attention. mind-blowing.

sander van doorns new artist album 2011. if theres one thing we can say about the evolution of the worldwide dance scene this year, is that its genres are being mashed up like never before. on his new artist album eleve11, sander van doorn once again does what he does best, mixing up styles, genres and artist-cooperations. along side his smash hits koko and love is darkness, eleve11 is packed with artist-cooperations such as believe with singer/songwriter tom helsen, eagles with adrian lux and sanders latest purle haze installment timezone. an emotional dancefloor-killer that brings shivers down your spine each time you hear us singer fredericks voice. more uplifting is sanders collab with fellow-dutchman laidback luke. whos wearing the cap is an idea born when their resemblance on a photo was so anstonishing that the songtitle was placed underneath it, making fans wonder if they might be brothers. those who have heard nadia ali on iios classic rapture have probably wondered when her voice was due for a svd treatment. well, that time has finally come and the result is called: rolling the dice together with sidney samson all in all, eleve11, with its neatly corresponding 11 tracks all recorded in 2011, shows the world exactly what sander van doorn has evolved into.. a worldwide dancemusic phenomena.

in keb darges own words: i ve done many a compilation in my day, mostly based around the tunes i played at my long running deep funk nights in madame jo jos. that night is no longer on the go, possibly due to a growing lack of interest on my part, (sorry). in the last few years the lost & found: nights at the club have been my real passion, and indeed little ediths and andy smiths passion too. what a marvelous era this is for good music. we may still have pure stuff like dub step: pulling in large numbers of sheep, but an equal number of youngsters are being attracted to retro, or at least retro sounding music. people tell me it is because the youth are fed up with computerized music, or men with drug problems angrily shouting at them over a dull repetitive beat, but i know lots of teenagers who have bypassed this muck all together. must be the internet that is helping kill off the demand for empty music. you no longer need to go to a retro club night, or indeed search out rare records to be exposed to good music, the internet is full of the stuff. my fifteen year old daughter is a marc bolan fan who while researching the poor fellows influences discovered chuck berry, sun records, etc, etc. i dont really know or understand why so many are at last getting into the good stuff, but they are, and it is wonderful for the likes of me.

being a product of the age it was written, slow clubs 2009 debut, yeah so, dealt with the all too familiar space between adolescence and the oncoming storm of adulthood. a boy-girl duo who played a flower-adorned chair live, they were the polar opposite of what was coming out of post-arctic monkeys sheffield. slow club were fun, cute, whimsical and all manner of other words just shy of twee - and they hate being called twee. paradise, however, is where the duo grows up. two years on, it stumbles out of a trivial, self-indulgent teenage malaise (where sexual adventure was priority for most) and carries itself with a sense of perspective that only adulthood can give - a darker, more thoughtful view of the world. for instance, on the poignant you, earth or ash, a song about rebecca taylor s granddad, her melancholic vocals (beautiful, as always) evoke an awareness of mortality for those around her: singing -and i know, soon you ll go,- her voice seemingly breaks under the weight of premature grief. whereas even love-wise (an inspiration every band draws from) slow club s lyrical output is glossed with a more mature and detached sense of sauce, with taylor crooning on where i m waking: -i can see you looking at me / you got the brains i ve got the body-.

with the white isle summer coming to an end hed kandis saxophonist and vocalist laura fowles a.k.a the lovely laura and producer extraordinaire tyrrell come together to bring you their debut artist album straight from the sunsets of ibiza, hed kandi: balearica unplugged. they go back to basics, bringing the hed kandi fans a taste of their balearic musical roots. they disconnected the decks, ditched the electronic beats and unplugged the sound system stripping things back creating a medley of deliciously unplugged covers of their favourite dance songs. tyrrell picked up the six string, laid down some sensual acoustic guitar riffs and atmospheric chords, whilst laura added a splash of soft, husky, phenomenal vocals and sexy sax melodies. this all combined with additional production by the legendary steve miller a.ka. afterlife, brings you a wide, laid back collection all reworked with hed kandis own balearic acoustic treatment... always keeping a sunny disposition in mind. this one cd includes their favourite renditions of songs made famous by the likes of groove armada, calvin harris, deadmau5 & kaskade, friendly fires, empire of the sun and martin solvieg to name but a few. this essential eclectic collage of music is destined for ibizas renowned sunset strip for years to come, where legendary balearic hang out hotspots such as cafŽ del mar, savannahs or blue marlin celebrate the setting of the most talked about sunset, and balearica unplugged offers the perfect musical companion.

2011 debut from penguin prison aka chris glover. this effort is quite simply the most smoothed-out, hook-heavy, unabashed lovers disco around. from the miraculous slices of shiny, infectious contemporary pop of multi-millionaire and -golden train-, to the single -fair warning-, shimmering with spectral synths and breathless, honey vocals, to the mellow and mysterious album closer -someone got everything-, penguin prisons debut effort rolls you through a sleek, melodic world where all you need to worry about is whether youve got your sunglasses on and the right moves to keep up.

the story of skint & demoralised is too long and complex to go into here, but suffice to say it was quite a surprise to see a new release from skint & demoralised, let alone the bonus inclusion of the long shelved debut. made up of poet matt abbott and producer mini dog, skint & demoraliseds songs revolve around teenage pursuits like getting high, getting the girl and getting pissed as well tackling social issues like unemployment and alcoholism.

tunisia has never been a referent place in the electronic music world. it was better known for its beaches and sunny weather, hardly for its political regime but the events of 2011 brought quite some changes about that. these changes have been nurturing in the underground of the country until exploding to the face of the world, with fantastic momentums of rebellion, courage and union. shinigami sans album is a signal that emanates from the underground of tunisia: a hybrid of dubstep, techno and noise, very dark, but most importantly, very true. this is neither the sound of london or berlin, and if a couple of ingredients from here and there are recognizable in -toys-, it is most definitely the electronic sound of tunisia we bring to you here. from the dusty, 8-bit dubstep of -lofi- and -toys- to the dark techno rollers -post trauma- and -migra-, you will go by tribal beats, eerie atmospheres and heavily distorted sound textures. shinigami san draws a panorama that shows both impressive skills and style. -toys- is not only about excellent and true music, but also about original product design and diy manufacturing. this 450 digipack limited edition was hand-printed and crafted using silk screen printing, rulers and cutters. the graphic design is based on drawings from sabrina ben hadj ali, and each cd comes with 3 original prints on the theme of the album. today, we are up to put tunisia under the radar of electronic beat diggers, today, we bring you the first album of tunisian-born shinigami san: nothing cheesy here, just a raw, brutally honest vibe.

whilst barlande may be difficlut to classify in genre it has been described as having its roots in flamenco and some ramifications of contemporary classical music. but any attempt to pigeon-hole this album should be ignored beyond deciding what shelf or floor to place it on in a record store. barlande is about creativity and discovery and its story is both fasciniating and inspiring a father, pedro soler, and his son, gaspar claus have created something entirely unique. the opening track insomnio mineral is a gentle begining with sparsely plucked cello before being joined by a gently sweeping flamenco guitar. what takes place from there on in is difficult to describe in words. the language between the cello and guitar become unlike anything i have heard before. the cello comes alive, a voice at times, leaping and striding in near freeform before coming back to join in mutual step and melodic interplay with guitar.

wretch 32, real name jermaine scott, is one of the uks most loved mcs - from the underground up. from his early years in londons flourishing grime scene back in the early 00s, the tottenham-raised lyricist has always stood out from the crowd. his conscious and reflective bars, along with an extremely relaxed flow, made him a firm favourite on the uk hip hop circuit. much like tinie tempah, wretch 32 has proved that british mcs can reach the mainstream without selling their soul to pop. the first fruits of this crossover success were tasted in january 2011, when his single traktor broke into the domestic top five following an appearance on the bbc sound ofÉ list. and his second official single, unorthodox, fared even better, peaking at number two in april. so its clear that much has changed since his debut lp of 2008, wretchrospective - but has public recognition come at the expense of what marked wretch 32 out as such a talent in the first place? not at all - on the opening title-track, the rapper lets the listener know that its the same old wretch at work. over a drum-heavy hip hop beat he sets up the rest of the album well, advising everyone to fasten their seatbelts as he prepares to take them on a ride that they wont forget in a hurry. never be me finds wretch delving into his past, opening up about making certain decisions in life that got him to where he is today. featuring rnb newcomer angel on the hook, the track has an inspirational feel to it - all over another impressive, but this time more grime-influenced, beat. a true standout is anniversary, with alex mills on singing duties - its a love song, minus any cheese. then the album lurches into the electro-infused sanes the new mad - a glimpse into wretchs party lifestyle, with ladies and alcohol at the forefront of his attentions. and closer dont go just might be one of the tracks of the year.

last year, we here at mexican summer came under the spell of the starry kaplan sisters: piper and skylar, and their band pearl harbor, who graced the land with their beautific something about the chapparrals ep. funny how time flies for the beyond their year siblings, as its suddenly 2011 and pearl harbor now goes by the name of puro instinct. now piper and sky find themselves bolstered by four other bandmates: cody porter, jessie clavin, mike baum, and crazy murray to make their hazy, swirling pop even more realized and sumptuous.

berlin-based djs and composers ricardo villalobos and max loderbauer - two of the best-known names in contemporary electronica - share their admiration for music on ecm in a unique double-album of specially-created >sound-structures<. their project >re: ecm< will bring the labels music to a new listenership. it is certain to be one of the most talked-about albums of the season. using original ecm recordings as a starting point, villalobos and loderbauer create new music that bridges several worlds, including ecms world of space-conscious improvisation and composition and the worlds of ambient electronics and minimal techno. source materials on >re: ecmÓ include recordings of christian wallumr¿d, alexander knaifel, louis sclavis, john abercrombie, bennie maupin, arvo pŠrt, wolfert brederode, paul giger and more - looped, sampled, remixed and reworked in evocative new treatments. pleased with the duos creative response to his productions manfred eicher gave them carte blanche to carry on experimenting with the ecm titles of their choice. eicher subsequently supervised the mastering of >re: ecm< in munich, completing a unique sonic experience.

finn enlisted burke reid to co-produce fomo after recognising him as a kindred spirit, and reid certainly challenged finns perceptions about what constituted a great record. the often confrontational collaborative process pushed finn to develop his sound and the resulting lp exudes raw energy.

2087 is inspired by the science fiction film -cyborg: 2087- (1966) by the writer arthur c. pierce, directed by franklin adreon. plot modification and soundtrack by jeff mills. it is the year 2087. the world had become a place where thoughts were not only monitored and restricted, but also, muted or reconstructed to favor the current rulers of earth and its inhabitants. the once exceptional human was merely reduced to a byproduct in the multi-dimensional industry of planetary hypostatisification. a boundless depository of cosmic energy controlled by an unknown force that had become too powerful to even reveal itself. a small and resourceful group of young scientists, engineers and devoted supporters create and send back through time a cyborg. a low technological invention consisting of human fibers and machine. out of desperation and precise planning, he is sent back to the year 1966 to prevent earths leading mathematician from thinking about the numeric breakthrough that would eventually lead to the mass thought control and human manipulation of the future. the cyborg (garth) soon discovers he is not alone in his mission, giving grave suspicion to possible traitors or spy within the young group of his creators. garth succeeds in finding and assassinating his target, but as the result, he alters the future and becomes the only remaining symbol of a time that never existed. a man out of time.

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