we met fred ventura in 2006 over emails sent to italians do it better headquarters. he was one of the first people from europe to start writing the label prior to after darks release. it took us a few months to realize that this was fred ventura, the cult italo legend from milan. like a true gentleman, he had never bothered to mention it. since the early 1980s fred ventura has released numerous singles in europe & toured the world extensively as a solo artist. last year, johnny was in bologna on tour with desire & fred came out to the show to drink champagne & bring us some copies of the reissued tapes of fred’s early post punk group state of art. the lightbulb lit up & we asked him if he had any home recordings of his solo work. months later, he sent us 83 tracks of cassette recordings between 1982 & 1987. they had been sitting upstairs in a dusty box at his parents house in italy for the last 25 years. these tracks have only been heard by a handful of his closest friends. we were completely floored & honored! finding a beautiful treasure completely untouched & preserved is so rare. the songs are raw & honest written by a romantic with a love for an anthemic chorus & a drum machine running through his veins. think early minimal depeche mode with an italian heart. ornew order covering madonna produced moroder. yes, its that good. here we have the first official italians do it better release of these songs on a 4 song 12inch ep. this vinyl only release is a teaser for the >dont give up< 18 track lp out in a couple of months. so in the meantime, slip on those gucci loafers, rev up the alfa romeo and head down to the discotheque because life is too short

here at the exprezoo headquarters we like to keep looking forward and to search for new and undiscovered talents, but we also like to go back to the sounds of our roots and, its not a secret, we are in love with neapolitan techno. blend these ingredients, stir for a while, and voila the fourth release on our catalog, by rio padice. actually, the kid isnt really a new one, since he s already had releases on welt,mosaiko, metroline limited and exprezoo digital besides being half of the new and hyped horacio project along with massi dl, but hes part of the new generation of neapolitan producers who keep going down the path started by marco carola and danilo vigorito. the a-side, don dragone, has a techno mood that we didnt feel for some time and that takes us back to when hardgroove was leading the dancefloors, updating and actualizing its sounds, while on the b-side elm street is made to satisfy the classiest tastes, taking the atmosphere towards a good-for-every-purpose dub techno. the last track on the ep, leviatano, keeps up the feeling we fell in love with on question and zenit, with funky percussions and sunny, warm synths.

adf, aka adriano filippucci which manages to achieve a homogeneous fusion combining the euphoric feeling of techno and the vibrant soul of house. the title track, >perugia< is named after adrianos hometown in the heart of italy. whether it is the warmth of the sun or the mediterranean lust for life, perugia turns out to be a massive track, with its sparking melodies and a real sense of atmosphere and dynamic mischief. perugia gets the remix treatment from two of the directors at the highgrade headquarters. todd bodine sends the track firmly in the direction of detroit and into some new sonic territory. label boss tom clark sets the focus on the tracks technoid energy and simply lets the groove run away on route to its own destination. avanti avanti, amici!!

the latest release from persistencebit headquarters, comes with a killer single-sided, single-track ep, serving the brilliant donnacha costello remix of >cobra< by rolf and fonky (italian djs and producers mirco uguccioni and maurizio ottavi). and donnacha does it again, what he does best – delivering strong low-riding techno grooves. costello, who is no stranger to the electronic music world, with his sought after releases on mille plateaux, releases on kompakt & his colour series on his own minimise imprint, brings as fine echoing claps over a steam-driven shuffle move, letting the intensity escalates when a house feel seeps into the tracks hammering pulse, after which a gradual wind-down brings the lights down to help ease the hooded snake to sleep on this remix. the track is a pure dance floor sweeper in full effect, cut and mastered for optimal dj friendly use

good news from the merkur kunst headquarters, a.k.a the japanese diaspora embassy: our attempt to enrich berlin cultural activities with a japanese interpretation of electronic music has found its voice with a first 12inch vinyl release. merkur 01 features gonno, a tokyo based artist who already released on uks perc records and japans wc recordings. his track >es< is a pulsating dancefloor twister build on a solid bass substrat rising with warm and tripped out pads. the flipside brings two tracks by merkurboss shingo suwa. he operates the japanese machines in a classic chicago style - percussive, hypnotic and with this specific grasp only the inventors can provide. these tracks are well made uptempo technotunes with a slight touch of aristrocratic reserve

trulz & robin are trulz kvam & robin crafood from norway. good friends with lindstrom & prins thomas (eskimo), they produce a mixture of totally deranged nu-disco & killer techno with detroit influences (which they rightly called >acid-house gone organic<) on their own planet noise imprint they run with ost & jex (crosstown rebels). they head for the suicide headquarters with a collection of trax, produced together, separately or with fellow producer christian cook and featuring some vocals by bassman. from killer dutch-influenced electro (>chest of gold<, the title track) to seriously hitting acid-techno (the weirdly-named >gummi tarzan<) and superb techno/electronic house (>feel techno<), this is a mixed bag of really original & crazy scando-med asylum dance music for your feet and your soul

axel karakasis has put his name on the map the last years with releases on labels such as primate, mb electronics, rhythm convert and his very own omega audio. he will also make his debut on carl cox intec label very soon, so the man is on a roll! his greek partner in crime spiros kaloumenos has provided a fine remix on this ep, and so did bosnian talent mladen tomic who recently made his debut with a digital release on the fly life label which was well received. another slice of relentless techno funk, provided by the adult headquarters!

over the years, berlin has been cited as oliver koletzkis main point of reference and, more importantly, his endless source of inspiration. his albums gro§stadtmŠrchen and gro§stadtmŠrchen 2 are wholehearted tributes of the german capital, as its importance is continuously hinted and charted. friedrichshain, one of berlins vibrant districts, has always held a special place in olivers heart. this is where he started out when he first moved to the city, and this is where he lives now. kreuzbergs wall paintings adorn stil vor talents cover sleeves and host their headquarters. there are little to no corners in the city that havent brought a spark of inspiration into the mix. the schneeweiss compilation series, now at its eigth installment, is built as a form of tribute to all these particles, tied in together into a series of carefully curated tracks. each compilation stands at the intersection of the musical and cultural surroundings most prominent of their respective times

over the years, berlin has been cited as oliver koletzkis main point of reference and, more importantly, his endless source of inspiration. his albums gro§stadtmŠrchen and gro§stadtmŠrchen 2 are wholehearted tributes of the german capital, as its importance is continuously hinted and charted. friedrichshain, one of berlins vibrant districts, has always held a special place in olivers heart. this is where he started out when he first moved to the city, and this is where he lives now. kreuzbergs wall paintings adorn stil vor talent s cover sleeves and host their headquarters. there are little to no corners in the city that havent brought a spark of inspiration into the mix. the schneeweiss compilation series, now at its eigth installment, is built as a form of tribute to all these particles, tied in together into a series of care

over the years, berlin has been cited as oliver koletzkiÕs main point of reference and, more importantly, his endless source of inspiration. his albums gro§stadtmŠrchen and gro§stadtmŠrchen 2 are wholehearted tributes of the german capital, as its importance is continuously hinted and charted. friedrichshain, one of berlinÕs vibrant districts, has always held a special place in oliverÕs heart. this is where he started out when he first moved to the city, and this is where he lives now. kreuzbergÕs wall paintings adorn stil vor talent Õs cover sleeves and host their headquarters. there are little to no corners in the city that havenÕt brought a spark of inspiration into the mix. the schneeweiss compilation series, now at its seventh installment, is built as a form of tribute to all these particles, tied in together into a series of carefully curated tracks. each compilation stands at the intersection of the musical and cultural surroundings most prominent of their respective times, acting both as a reminder as well as a timeless sound capsule for the years to come.