just a few minutes till impact. final approach, three, two, one… stephan bodzin and marc romboy aint no astronauts. they are first and foremost musicians, producers and long time friends. both would admit that arguing and talking music is as important as making it. together with their own long running imprints, systematic recordings and herzblut recordings, they have proven how to build up a distinct label sound. however, similar to some well-known astronauts, the word >luna< has a very special meaning to the musicians because its the name of marcs daughter and coincedently that of stephans wife as well. therefore it had been the obvious choice when they were looking for a fitting title name back in 2005. six years on, and the project nears its final touchdown and is honored with a an outstanding vinyl-set of six records!!! 16 different producers from all over the world take you to a musical orbit, starting in germany with moritz von oswald (basic channel, rhythm & sound), dominik eulberg, chris liebing, oliver huntemann, martin buttrich (desolat), roman flügel (dial) und robag wruhme (pampa records), continuing with speedy j (plus 8) from the netherlands, minilogue from sweden and even abe duque and brendon moeller from new york from the u.s.a.. an electronic transmission from the moon to the earth takes a little more than one second to cover the distance. but when listening to >luna<, you wont dare to think in minutes or seconds ignition sequence start, trois, deux, unité!

ltd white coloured vinyl, produced together with flying lotus, moodymann, dj mitsu

siriusmo, der seit einer dekade auf verschiedenen berliner labels veröffentlicht und mit remixen für scissor sisters, gossip, chikinki, simian mobile disco, boys noize, digitalism, chromeo, munk u.v.a. ein beachtliches repertoire vorweisen kann, liefert endlich ein komplettes album ab. seine musik beschreibt der ex-graffiti-künstler, der mit stevie wonder, den beatles & hip hop aufgewachsen ist, als futuristisch. nicht jedoch dem heutigen bild der zukunft entsprechend, sondern eher wie man sich die zukunft in den 1970ern erdacht hat: übertrieben, ausufernd, improvisiert, farbenfroh, extravagant und offen für alles jenseits der eigenen vorstellungskraft. >mosaik< ist eine ca. einstündige musikalische zusammenstellung unterschiedlichster musikalischer ideen und stilrichtungen. futuristisch, vielseitig, überzeugend und einprägsam!

back with a bunch of killer collaborations from the labels hottest talents! supported by: paco osuna, gregor tresher, gabriel ananda, markus fix, andrew grant, slam, michael reinboth, raresh, davide squillace, 2000 and one, karotte, nic fanciulli , m.a.n.d.y., julien chaptal, anthony collins, nick curly, enzo siragusa, robert dietz, gregor tresher, markus fix, michel de hey, fabrizio maurizi, anja schneider, julietta, luca bacchetti, michael reinboth, davide squillace, raresh, arado, 2000 and one, simon baker, nic fanciulli, kabal und liebe, audiofly .. every now and then, chance pushes two artists into the studio together. when that happens not only do interesting combinations of artists arise, but also the opportunity for exceptional music to be created. the epic pairings of dan drastic and matthias tanzmann, chris lattner and luna city express, and martinez and matthias tanzmann team up for the second edition of the very special moon harbour joints series. dan drastic and matthias tanzmann open the record with >puddle trouble<, a dry, reduced deephouse track which elegantly builds a bridge from funky oldschool grooves to modern house…

aldo cadiz is one of the most well known djs and producers from chile and head of the label disco royal music. in the year 2000 he opened his own club in chile called casa club which was his homebase for him and many many djs from all over the world. his 1st release on lust und freu.de musik called >spanked ep< contains two very energetic and groovy tracks called >fuego< and >spanked<. the track >fuego<, which he produced together with his friend flavio lodetti from italy has a very deep basic structure which is decorated with spacey click drums, toms and snares rounded off by an amazing vocal that gives this track a deep soul. the track >spanked< is a classic cadiz style house track and pure rhythm. a very dry piece straight for the dancefloor.

its an album, its deep, its acid, its fragile, its party, its lonely, its all together, its music itself, its special, its rvds with his >moments<. after the ep >waiting, kiss and love< comes the album now. inspired by classic deep and acid house. good to listen to these old instruments: tr-808, roland jp-6, wurlitzer e-piano and some other specials combined with new accents, but always a love to detroit music.

boys noize and housemeister, 2 good old friends from berlin with a lot of love for analog found together again to rave in the studio. after their first collaboration in 2006 under the name of eastwest, they are now brining us 3 new jams you don¥t want to miss. shizzo is the track youd probably expect from these 2 f..ckers:loud, noizy and stupid! its up and down parts shake the club like you were sitting in a rollercoaster - beware this is not for everyone. nbaxx is a new breakbeat track. breakbeat?yeah! with a hint of inspiration by lfo freak, this one comes quite minimal but hard, just the way these buddies like it. saturday the secret a side on this maxi is a disco-tech track, with moving arpeggios and big melodic break where spheric disco pads cool you down before you and the kids jump up to this piece of 2011 disco music.

what a journey! well, these guys have been around for a while- they have gone through: rave, jazz, krautrock, garage, detroit, house, hip-hop, disco, folk, dubstep, electronica, funk, punk, wave, chicago house, handmade music and soul. all those nights at clubs, the records, the shelves, the dirt in the second-hand record shops, the stacked audio- and studio magazines in their toilets or elsewhere in the house, the hours spent making their own radio-shows, hundreds of hotels checked in and out of, dozens of sound-checks done. last but not least, the revivals, the subgenres, the fusion - well these peeps have given real influential input into some of these (sub)genres in the past. >lovin< is the second single release of the upcoming >alex and the grizzly< album which is due out in april 2011. alex barck is on the vocals together with lois longerling, who is known for her work with dollkraut. andre lodemann delivers a smart remix giving the tune his trade-mark sound and putting onto the house-dancefloors. prommer and barck are on tour with their own live show.

cynosure starts off 2011 with a killer collaboration project of label head mike shannon and one of berlins hottest young producers david dewalta. dewalta has been recording for years for the likes of vakant and meander records. no stranger to working with mike having already collaborated on the surrender ep on haunt music. the first effort together proved that the two producers make an excellent combination.

after a brilliant label start, now its time for two best friends to do the second release on their own freundchen label. der schmeisser & timo jahns together show up with an outstanding minimal / techhouse bomb. >schöne zeit< will bring back the sun to this long and cold winterdays. listen and dance with a smile in your face! massive support from: m.in, mihalis safras, hermanez, flavio diaz, electric rescue, patrick lindsey, david keno, ziel100, paul nazca, alex cappelli, edgar de ramon, franksen and many more...

dubline presents their latest hot signing from israel: tomba (buygore, rottun, basspunch records). started together with borgore and grew up in the metal scene he is known for his raw party style dancefloor. ready for some serious demolition work? slab this piece of vinyl on the turntables and youll be ready in no time!

eminor 29 again comes up with massive minimalist techno.
coeter one & dubit - granatapfel - bring together a german and an italian sound designer and you get an experimental mixture of drums and carefully quantized grooves. the minimalistic framework of >granatapfel< is teamed up by vocoded vocals and an unique break which leads majesically from confusion to musical order.
scalameriya - ridley - by the serbian techno-guru scalameriya has a fast and pushy bass-dominated rhythm, an almost factory-like precision and a compulsive eye on the floor.
granatapfel - re:axis s going down remix - the remix of portuguese duo re:axis is less stripped-down than the original. with its thrilling melody, re:axis manage to give the track an epic touch.

big with: nick curly, laurent garnier, sebo k, jackmate, radio slave, ripperton, deetron, anja schneider, anthony collins, gregor tresher, mathias kaden, paul woolford, brothers vibe, arnaud le texier, reboot, martinez,... all thirteen releases of the label to date have have showcased the talent of a solo artist, but today five are welcomed for what is not only their label debuts, but also a first >v/a< release for bass culture records. danny fiddo & jm aboga lead from the front with >evil intentions<, which strangely enough, with its smooth feel good vibes, is anything but. fiddo needs little introduction. as a resident of valencias barraca club, he has shared the dj booth with the worlds biggest names, and his music has already found a home on labels including buzzin fly, rekids, ovum and barraca. fellow valencian jose maria, has also resided in the house of barraca. his solo production work can be found on time has changed and novo music, and together with fiddo, the pair have released on fumakilla and monique. fabio giannelli demonstrates just how much his production style has matured on the beautifully cultured, >leitmotiv<. fabio has, over the past three years, become one of italys finest house music exp

together with matthias tanzmann and the >freude am tanzen< crew, daniel stefanik belongs to the most reliable initiators of electronic dance music in east germany. the fact that the readers of groove magazine have voted daniel one of the best newcomers in 2010 n&#771,,,,,, despite his more than 75 releases on mobile&#768,,,,,,e, statik entertainment, moon harbour or dessous n&#771,,,,,, may be due to his fantastic remix of the ubertrack >no worries<, that has been played, together with butch s original version, on literally every deck between ibiza, frankfurt and london in the past months.

for the second and far overdue release on his little leaf imprint matt moroder delivers a superlative psychedelic reimagination of shuggie otis which sits far beyond the realm of your blog standard ableton edit. matt scliced the original into little pieces put it new together and added some drums and percussion with the respect this soul classic deserves. this rework is hypnotizing makes you wish to never end. on the flip hamburgs hardest working entertainer erobique used the same kind of gentleness to rework some cello and voice by one of the greates disco visionaries and songwriters that left us much to early. by creating a dirty mpc beat and blend it with vocals and cello erobique creates his own vision of the late arthur russell far from the average four too the floor mediocrity. this vinyl only release is strictly limited to 300 copies and shines even more with a splendid artwork that shows love and care

well rounded kick off 2011 with the deep space bump-n-hustle of littlefoots aptly named >interplanetary< ep.
all 4 tracks contrast tuff dry drums & low sweeping subs with cosmic atmospheres and twilight melodies and chords. theres a unique strictness in the drums here, less swung than typical garage but with innovative programming that shows a producer keen to explore new possibilities. as ever with well rounded and our producer friends, we are celebrating influences from the past - think classic 4/4 uk garage in the vein of dem 2, mixed with early 90s rave sounds and welded together in a motor city car plant. with added post-dubstep production sensibilities, littlefoot is creating an unheralded hybrid sound. all 4 tracks contribute to the completeness of the ep - we go in hard, explore different areas and complete our journey with the last track. we hope you enjoy this trip.

south africa to paris back to new york... as we toured south africa last year we all came to enjoy a seed coming out of sa named black coffee and what a year it has been for him. the man has taken the music world by storm with his deep vibes and timeless songs that will stand the test of time. we signed this record almost a year to the date and have waited to get the perfect team together that we feel could take on this record. black coffee joins forces with tsepo on vocals to deliver >never saw you coming< a record that has serious written all over it.. on remixes duties the almighty franck roger & dj spinna. we will let the record speak for itself, enjoy this project that is very close to our hearts...

matt tolfeys cutting edge, underground uk base house and techno label leftroom, prepare to release the commemorative 20th leftroom release with fantastic new distribution! this four track 12inch ep features several artists who are closely linked with the label and have come together to contribute something special to this great ep.

after the big succes of hi tech booty, we searched for some really special guys out there to put hand on ahmets bomb. well here it is. a1 comes from maetrik which was a strong desire of ahmet and for sure an excellent choice. he totally brings in his own style while getting a little bit closer to the darkside of the track. a2 is a special collab between rainer, which we know from the last regular stock5 record together with cesare vs disorder and viudez, a mexican guy that seems to have a very nice influence to the production style. the vocal is very present but placed, arranged and transformed geniously. for sure a weapon! b1 is written by our special friend chris sylvester aka inxec. starting with a very housy groove, it falls quickly into a hypnotic mood that is unique in inxec productions. he really knows what the dancefloor requires and for this we are very happy to have him again in our release roster. b2 presents a very new and fresh artist called rico casazza. he interprets the track in a very detroit way, works verz little with the vocal but hits it very perfectly for the sense of the track. after this debut on our imprint you can be sure to hear more of this young guy in the next time!!!

early support from locodice, matthias tanzmann, gregor tresher, dubfire, nic fanciulli! new japanese dance music label, arpa records is launching as its first release very own label boss dj sodeyamas techno track >miles<. previously having released on respected labels zenit, ante zenit and more recently on labels archipel, kumo, we are, dj sodeyamas tracks feature a wide range of musical dimensions and have gained much credibility and interest from djs worldwide. the original mix features ontop of some heavy minimal beats and an expanding rhythm, a poetry reading by richard spitzer and a deep but solid synth groove. 8bit and cecille label boss nick curly takes the other side into a trade mark remix featuring some long breaks but kept together by some solid groovy rhythms throughout.

right after the success of his massive crude ep on adam beyer s famous drumcode imprint, patrick comes up with the titletrack dome - and boy what a follow-up it is! over ten minutes patrick keeps the tension high, teases us with the raw force of dome over just a few little kickdrum pauses until the track goes through the roof in on hell of a break! on the flip we have hot mess, another primetime weapon, and this one patrick produced together with per hammar, who made a name for himself with releases on great stuff, starlight and kant over the last year, but it was especially his track el salvador on mija rec. a few months ago that introduced per to a bigger audience, causing quite a stir on dancefloors worldwide!

thomas fehlmann is integral to kompakt and the labels history. his solo releases and collaborative work with alex patterson as the orb have been some of the kompakts most revered and cherished tunes. following the success of his 2010 full length gute luft (a collection of re-edited versions from his score to the hit documentary 24hr berlin), we start 2011 off with titan one / dfm. on october 16, 2010 thomas fehlmann performed in montreal, canada at the historic molson coors brewery building together with members of the montreal symphony orchestra (osm). together they sought to recreate a version of gustav mahlers classic symphony no. 1 (titan). kompakt is proud to now offer a new recording inspired by that epic concert of symphonic and electronic with a new recording inspired from that performance – renamed as titan one. the hum of cellos and strings conjoin fehlmanns electronics – held together by the sublime, unobtrusive thump of a bass drum. titan one flows with a beauty and edacity that is rarely heard in both classical and electronic music form. the b-side features a new recording inspired from the second piece of the performance - a new version of thomas fehlmanns du fehlst mir from his 2006 kompakt full length visions of blah. reanimated as dfm, the piece again conjoins the different musical worlds in a way we have never heard to such a high standard. a much more upbeat affair than to titan one (of course) bass and keyboards mingle with the symphony the playfulness of the original song rolls throughout dfm. whether as palais schaumberg, the orb, or 3mb (to name only a few alias). fehlmann may have 3 decades of professional recordings under his belt but he continues to prove to the world as being one of the most fascinating and creatively open musicians in his field. this release clearly proves his story is far from over.

we are happy to announce the first release from ultrastretch featuring nottingham-born and now london- based artist matthew burton. a – who loves yous short, sharp hats and robotesque samples build slowly and aloofly to what becomes a somehow familiar and nostalgically tinted style. it is in fact, sampled from the 1987s >the running man< soundtrack, originally composed by harold faltermeyer and picked and plucked apart by matthew burton to make it into his own. the epic synth riff melted with its strong kick and tightly sprung sound corners are eerie and atmospheric. >who loves you< resonates with all of us with its clear 80s feel thats been manipulated into a new and exciting piece of underground music from matthew burton. b – small winner takes us on another journey all together. a deceivingly kicky intro steers us into a combination of swooning orchestral brass and delicate jazzy piano keys who share their space with a crunchy and inviting rhythmic stride. its cleverly concocted instrumental experimentation lends its listeners ear towards the smooth ambience while the hypnotic beat keeps us subconsciously moving. dramatic pauses, a syncopated yet soothing orchestral fusion build >small winner< into an original and intriguing musical piece.

first 12 inch in an exciting new series from all city - >collabs< joins the labels favorite musical minds together, and this first killer pairing of martyn (3024/techtonic)& mike slott (all city / lucky me) is a hell of a way to kick things off

january 2011 marks the 5th anniversary of the label and to celebrate there will be two very special releases, the first of which brings together new killer remixes of tsuba classics. the one and only sebo k remixes nina kraviz & okain creating a true peak time house bomb. arto mwambe deliver an atmospheric acid mix of label boss kevin griffiths and art department live up to the hype with a synth driven mix of dyed soundorom. all in all a fitting package to celebrate part one of a very special birthday!,

radius continues its superradio series with one of the deeper but bigger tracks from the superradio catalogue. every self respecting disco dj has hammered this gem for years. catch by sun la shan. the best way to describe this track is to picture yourself visage and moroder working out together in a gym staring at a blondie poster. catch is most definitely a seminal piece of work combining disco and new wave in a sexy and sleazy molotov cocktail. the ep comes with a stripped down dub version and a disco devil remix. also hailing from gent, belgium, where radius is based, disco devil stayed quite close to the original vibe with minimal synth efficiency and equally sleazy vocals. catch is sexy!

one 12 inch vinyl ! four tracks ! jay haze worked together on this ep with ricardo villalobos, reboot, dj sneak, brett johnson... a huge collaboration !!

with her self titled debut, ana helder bolts out the gates with the comeme party approved classic >complicado< - a morphed track of epic proportions that bring the dive of menacing techno together with the fine line that lies between disco and house. >buena punteria< is extreme body music with a tremendous strobe lit inducing rhythm. >el groove de tu corazon< is full of life - a special track a good dj knows how to use and create a magical moment during the night. >next club< is a frenzy. the inevitable and seducing bass line, anas vocal with the grooviness of chicago house and colombian champeta, making this tune the likely candidate for the most obviously dance floor _hit_ on her astounding debut ep.

manchester based freak seven, known for his releases on new religion a few years back, teams up with renowned vocalist aniff akinola, whose large cv includes co-writing a guy called geralds >voodoo ray<. together they produced two 21st century techno soul tracks that both are on heavy rotation at rh hq ever since they made their way into our offices. nano kids is a pulsating house track which get uplifted by aniffs voice, creating an anthematic message from the future. feel the soul is a more intense, urgent track based around repetitive feel the pressure,.. vocal. its dark, robotic feel will surely cause mayhem on the floor.

with his latest album >saturn drama< on harthouse techno primary rock miro pajic, who has records out there on labels like proper nyc, kiddaz.fm, tic tac toe or tora tora tora and collaborated with artists like chroma or the horrorist, crossed the border of minimal techno with his tight and powerful arrangements full of black romantic rooms and intelligent sound design. now we have the first single >do it< out on vinyl, together with the album tracks >alien angels< and >sexy beast<!

a somewhat mysterious collaboration between three people from varying parts of the world is finally pieced together after being lost and found over the last two years. the final result being two stripped down and uncompromising tracks that go from chicago to detroit and beyond. also included is legowelts remix of comeback dust which takes the original and adds his signature chicago smudge sound to the mix.

bigbait006 - bigbait006 explores the undefined space between elektro, house und dub-step. on this four-track-vinyl-ep s-max, peter clamat, 2=&#824,,, geweih and citizen funk mingle together to make a statement on electronic dance music. bigbait006 is actually a vinylized idea – the title occurred to the two citizen funks during a studio session in france in 2009. around the head note >dj killed 90 people< the four tracks cristallized into a record in the subsequent 12 months. each records cover is hand-printed individually and therefore unique

chicagos own anthony nicholson & glenn underground team up for this two track 12 inch of electronic dance fusion. warm electronic sounds for club play and home listening. b/w pretty noise extended mix. two house music heavy weights together on one record!

shakarchi & straneus are faik and daniel, two bffs from gothenburg who are making some of the most catchy, emotional and well crafted dance music we have heard in a long time. both had been involved in music for a while when they started working together at their hometowns top tapas joint, manana. in between washing dishes and serving patatas bravas, the boys would burst out short tracks and sound experiments in the makeshift studio they had set up inside mananas cloakroom. this led to a debut 12 inch on malmo based geography recordings and now comes their five track ep >dodskallar och korallrev<: studio barnhus second release, the best swedish house record since jesper dahlbacks >what is the time mr. templar?<, something we are immensely proud of being able to release.

surefire sounds third release features three up-and-coming producers from two points on the map: distal and mayhem hailing from atlanta, georgia and hxdb from vancouver, canada. collaborating together, this trio brings together a pair of innovative tracks that exemplify the exciting future of dubstep and bass music in 2011.

groovin minimal , incl half hawaii rmx

the exceptional quality of these two pieces of music, combined with obvious dance floor appeal and a coincidentally similar theme made this pairing a logical choice. one side is a hybrid hip hop-dubstep monster put together by los angeles based producer bare. the flip is a drum & bass stomper created by accomplished british producer and long time basshead family member dj silver. both songs are a proven commodity for any bass dj and are causing ruckus on dance floors around the globe.

upfront final copies only at decks.de !!! friendship and the love of good music is what brought mike machine and sirion records together for this special ep. mike machine has quite a wide-ranging horizon of musical experience - from member of a band, student of music & media, video & audio artist, label member, promoter/organizer to dj in clubs. mike has the curiosity and the urge to create in any area of musical creativity and transfers this in exciting and thrilling ways each time anew in his productions. designed multi-variantly, based on an original rhythm and fashioned with individually created elements joker immerses the listener into a world full of energetic surprises. the repetitive, flowing foundation most definitely guarantees a gripping experience in mikes machine. david labeij chose not to play a joker when we met recently and luckily the remix resulted in a quite atypical style thanks to the quite euphoric surrounding. we most surely like it!

for the second release on his own hardrive imprint, terror danjah is joined by joker and nottingham bassline don illmana. a-side >gully goon estate< happened via the power of the internet, td and joker had long spoken about working together, and danjah eventually initiated the collaboration when he sent the jkr the audio stems to his classic >zumpi hunter< riddim. joker reciprocated with the parts for >gully brook lane<, and after much back-and-forth between the two instrumental grime heavyweights, the >gully goon estate< was blueprinted.

the latest release on motormouth brings together 4 artists from all over the planet. forsaken is dead from the usa brings us his incredible track everything gained. tripped from belgium with his amazing track acid stacy, stocker from the netherlands appears on this ep too. label owner al twisted alongside lost origin have an amazing track on this ep called pulsating beat. with track already licensed to the forthcoming partyraiser cd this ep is receiving accolades from some great djs & artists alike!

groove charts pos 15. falko brocksieper is back on his recently relaunched sub static label with a 3-tracker called >beau rivage<. yet again all pieces on this ep are showing falkos love for slowly building, trippy techno arrangements, aiming at various states of the dancefloor. a catchy bassline paired with edgy electronic percussions and subtle harmonic overtones make the two latenight tracks >beau rivage< and >glow in the dark< a joy to play to a tenderized crowd. with the same signature organic feel falko weaves all the elements together on deeper track >mental hangover<, featuring vocals by benjamin fehr). this ep represents falkos tie to timeless electronic music, and his concern to keep classic themes alive & interesting.

first on decks.de!!! notoriously spunky, mix mup drops a new record which is gonna be the rotgut to your party. once again its hardware which he uses to expose his twisted mind. this time around its an encounter with 2 dirty, fondling tracks together with 2 adequate bonuses. alright! so, just let your needle jiggle through this poly vinyl incident produced by your friendly, slightly scruffy pal - mix mup. brought to you by spunky monkey records. black vinyl in unlimited very, very good condition - if you know how to use it.

roberto bosco is a young italian producer with a short but highly impressive discography, citing labels such as samuel l. sessions klap klap, orlando voorns night vision and len fakis figure. lately, he has released on be as one, an israeli imprint thats attracted the tastes of loco dice, gui boratto, kate simko, agoria and gummihz. claudio mate has an unique kind of sound: there is something like classic atmospheres expressed into new spine-tingle grooves, a deep-cosmic-solid journey or more simply just the trip of his life story. claudio mate got the respect of such names like the godfather of techno music juan atkins (for him claudio remixed >game one< previously licensed on the legendary metroplex), orlando voorn, francois k, derrick may and manuel gottsching. the swedish techno heads like adam beyer, samuel l session, joel mull always supported him since the first projects. mate & bosco together are abstract souls, a new project set up to develop their deepest sound. >abstract souls ep< is their first release under their new moniker and contains 4 deep techno tracks, solid techno grooves infused with dark dubby atmospherics and cosmic influenced rhythms.

euphoric, heartfelt and utterly beautfiul, spokes present >we can make it out<, the first single from their forthcoming debut album, >everyone i ever met<. effortlessly blending together elements of shoegaze, folk and post-rock, its bittersweet joyfulness will purge your system of cynicism for a week, while its unique collective-choral vocals typify the energy of the forthcoming album as a whole.

holmby hills two smooth n ruff house tracks and two hip hop-jazz encores turn this record into a testimony for the state of mind of formresonance. when soul is melted together into an off the grid house track, it is not that far-fetched that both men have shared their music ever since tapes existed. engin oeztuerk, one half of here today, which came out on philpot and buzzin fly and block barley (who already has released two albums on hong kong records and we aint music) are both tinkering in search of music to dance to. they wickedly transform their musical masters ideas into something extraordinary sounding. an off-the-grid team

christmas is a time for people to come together. in that tradition, desolat celebrates a year packed full of music, with the second yearly christmas label sampler: a showcase of inspiring heavyweights alongside fresh talent from two continents, wrapped up in a big shiny bow. while last years christmas vinyl sampler was red, this years sampler will be blue: simply a beautiful sounding item in our favourite music format. all artists featured on the sampler have released music on desolat previously: some as special guests, some as cherished label staples. legendary chicago producer dj sneak jumps into the fray with a contemporary salsa-kissed house jam at a strapping pace, taste-making french don franck roger similarly digs deeps with the agile burner >egotrippin<. desolats taste for dancefloor atmospherics is further exemplified by loco dices stripped back and frisky track >dont make signal<, and martin buttrichs playful >roads<. livio & roby, premiesku, yaya and guti & audiofly also contribute their own takes on the desolat sound: with crunchy, sample-flecked grooves aplenty. its been a watershed year for desolat, with a super-wide variety of singles, remixes and long players by artists such as pulshar, ricardo villalobos, thomas melchior, marco passarani and der räuber & der prinz: musical explorations of submarine-worthy proportions. we are excited to see what 2011 will bring… stay tuned

a spiral of evolving and heady, sample-laden tracks unfurl on paco osunas latest ep, a richly produced melding of continent-spanning talent, with paco partnering up in the studio with real-life amigos daniel sanchez, alex under, joseph capriati and alexi delano. the amigos ep presents driven, moving grooves with satiating build ups, over densely-layered samples and drums. osunas seasoned skill-sets in the dj booth and as a producer come together knowingly in this release. osuna and his dutch/spanish counterpart daniel sanchez combine melodic and percussive samples in kawuriel, whilst with madrids alex under as his cohort, osuna transfixes with waaaa - featuring a distinctive pitch shifting sound throughout its phasing. your understanding of its unusual name will become abundantly clear upon the first listen. also notable is wope, which contains woodblock-esque percussion samples that compliment the rolling bass, co-produced with italian musician joseph capriati. the eps finale, waxfix, is a combination of the talents of osuna and swedens alexi delano, resulting in another cleverly-derived arrangement of steady bass drums and strong high hats. its a well-locked and smoothly syncopated, loop-based groove