mikael stavöstrand (lick my deck, clink, highgrade) spent a few days in berlin recently, so why not get him over to the we are hq and work on some tracks with agaric, right? the boys first track is a deeper bass driven techno track interchanging grooves and eerie strings and percussion arrangements whereas the flipside on this limited 10 inch goes more funky and presents a surprising vocal bit where vealchop out of los angeles asks himself why certain things went the way they did! already tried and tested to excited crowds in clubs like 1001 london, rex paris and tresor berlin...

quality reissue of the mega-rare blow up records release of the italo masterpiece pink footpath by loui$. originally released in 1985, this gem has become one of the most highly sought after italo disco tracks around. on the a side is magic dance which is good, but it’s the instrumental version of the track pink footpath that really gets the disco djs drooling. with its killer analogue b-line, dreamy synths and balearic guitar riffs, its easy to see why it became such an anthem at the early ibiza parties as well as a late night favourite in chicago and new york. highly recommended.

here is the next instalment in kat records, sub-label kat45. this time sees rossoulano from the blackbeard camp, who were infamous in the early noughties with their soulful re-workings of stateside nu soul & hip hop originals into a more organic sound and championed by the like of giles peterson.
first up here we have rossoulano’s extended version of the supremes – stormy. originally produced by henry cosby in 1968, the man behind motown classics stevie wonders ‘my cherie amour’& smokey robinson & the miracles tears of a clown, stormy is one of the hidden gems from diana ross’s supremes. released on vinyl for the first time here and sounding all the mightier for it…
on the flip we have an the mysterious friends in lo places… an rnb/neo soul melter that harks back to blackbeards edit hey day and acts as a nice reminder as to why the name still rings true to many a soul aficionado.

vinyl only release - massive tune - welcome sebastian weiske with his first release for bondage music ltd.

yes ... we release records. yes, its marvellous to see that journey from the spring to the sea, that spark of inspiration in an artists eye as it traverses its way to a beautifully packaged piece of 180g vinyl ... but sometimes, its also nice to remember why we started a label in the first place and to visit that dusty corner of the studio where synths, patch cables and spring reverbs lie in wait, taunting us go beyond that perfect 3am comfort zone of the 8 bar loop, hazy red/orange lights and aromatic combustibles.
in order words, heres what we did last summer ... two new ifeel studio tracks to stimulate your solar sensibilities, guest starring (via the wonders of skype) richard hawleys band, a reclusive mittle european synthesist and (lest we forget) his eccentric and slightly mad octogenarian lawyer.

jonsson/alter - the new project from henrik jonsson and joel alter - presents the follow up to their debut ep - olidan. after the summer their full-length album will drop! the deliver some fresh and organice house tracks (ok that sounds like a grocery store in williamsburg, but seriously.. thats how it sounds ,-) move d did on of his irresistible remixes and shows why he is one of the hottest house producers around! another strong kontra musik release.

as oscar wilde said music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory which is why shinedoe has arranged this intacto release with all proceeds given to the red cross in an effort to try and ease some of the suffering in japan

melbournes finest mic newman reignites the offshoot murmur-? label with three incisive, deep house cuts that prove why hes at the beating heart of the australian house scene and stirring up support worldwide for his consistently quality output.

once again, with spring, comes another addition to vakants fruitful and ever expanding family. we welcome the man formally known as cesare vs. disorder, for the first time releasing under his given name cesare marchese. in such a short period of time, cesare has amassed quite a discography and legion of fans around the world who follow him wherever he goes. yet another formally trained musician in the vakant camp, cesares music has progressed a great deal since his first release in 2006. every release drips with more and more depth and melody. his aether ep debut for vakant yet again proves why cesares accent is unstoppable. while just a 4 track ep, the aether ep covers much ground spanning afterhour afternoons to indie influenced incorrigibility, but always with that certain kink and freak that comes from a background of techno and global trotting nightlife revelry. to say deep and freaky would not be enough. to say anything would not be enough. these are tracks that must be experienced and not written about. from complete house electronics, to altered acoustic uplifts, to deep orbit accents, its all here courtesy of our new sicilian cesare

nice price deal !!! yes yes people, we are back! its been a while, but we are going to be hitting you with some seriously good tunes this year, so watch this space. anyway, on to the music: if you like your tunes big fat and heavy like an elephant on steroids, then get ready for an absolute pasting from new boy on the circuit, depone! depone is a producer that has really caught our ear at the z audio towers of late and when you hear these tunes, i m sure you will understand why. all 3 tunes are fierce, dirty, gritty, disgusting and overall very well produced. the great thing about depone is that he manages to create in your face music without pointlessly wobbling the lfo filter. theres some real depth to this young talent and i m sure you will be hearing some more great music from depone in the very near future.

aux 88 mad scientist volume 2 marks the dark side of the scientist. fans have been asking for vinyl and aux 88 and puzzlebox records deliver. gosub and mr velcro fastener pump the song >exsterterestrial time travelers<with new surgeon like precision with aux 88s great vocalization over the top to give the electro world more of what only aux 88 can bring on a dance floor.
side b is the first of 2 ongoing collaborations with the dynamik bass system giving aux 88 even more bass. last is one of aux 88 croatian brothers nter from the crobot crew. taking on time portal nter gives his mix a electro funk style mix showing why the crobots have soul.

the black tokyo project cd has been very successful for the enigmatic duo from detroit along with their two new japanese members ice truck and erika. remix sessions 1 embodies some of techno music hottest and charismatic artist such as bpitch control ellen allien, planet es keyboard guru niko marks from detroit and canada live impresario arthur oskan. ellen allien remix real to reel gives a tight minimal beat driven retake on an aux 88 funky groove. rounding out side a aux 88 original previously only available on the full length cd. side b shows why niko marks can take the >title track black tokyo< in a more kraftwerken sort of way with heavy beautiful strings and funkified groove. soul of black shows arthur oskan dance production skills as he delivers a bonafide minimal bass driven delight.

labelhead of italians do it better, mike simonetti, comes up with the 3rd part of his own edit series. hot stuff!

for berkane sol 18 we present the vinyl debut of the hugely talented aleks zen. he calls his outfit >neon bounty< and its easy to hear why. his brightly coloured music is like the soundtrack to a thrill seekers ride through the downtown areas of a tropical metropolis – sensuous but edgy, and properly booming on the right kind of car stereo. his riddims are propulsive and a joy to dance to, bringing together the best aspects of both house and dubstep.

clandestine techno/house imprint, meanwhile records reveals a one-off opus from two highly respected techno producers, niels luinenberg (delta funktionen) and samuel van dijk (mohlao). the deeply mystical >inward content< session represents the leuwarden sound of their native north holland (also former home to another master of hypnotic repetition ((of the graphic type)), m.c. escher) with an elegant, classically informed and deeply refined brand of 4/4 also identified on celebrated 12inches for ann aimee and delsin. the albums six tracks use an economical production palette, but we wouldnt call them minimal. the emphasis is on subtly monotone melodic shades, from the rippling black masses of bass which power each track, to the bluest hued pads and unfathomably expansive atmospheres which lend them their spectral grace. listening to this album is almost a mystical experience, like hearing the results of a seance conducted in low-lit surroundings calling upon the spirits of basic channel, convextion and the black dog circa 1995. >inward content< took over two years to assemble and techno connoisseurs can clearly discern why. recommended!

huge intro musical intro coplete with a perfect singing lady introducing the perfect blend of tearing drum n bass and commercial music. all ingredients are here for a hot summer anthem. the flip:>as featured in the john b podcast< is an origina piece of electro style drum n bass. compuerised vocals and uplifting synths, listen 10 seconds and you know why this is an essential part of john bs performances. both tracks will appeal to a wide audience and are the perfect hits for the radio stations coming summer.

this second ep collects 4 more hard to find on vinyl, early shoes re-edits. the killer afro perculator from shoes005 starts things off followed by afta lafta, the dub mix of timmy thomas why cant we live together from shoes004 and nautilus from the out print re-soled.

when delorean toured with teengirl fantasy last spring they told us about a song that had really blown them away. when they shared it with us we understood why. it was called >cheaters< and sounded like an instant classic. very different to the trademark psychedelic jams of the duo, the song was homage to classic chicago house from a modern perspective. built around layers of blissful synths and borrowing the vocals of first committees >cheaters never win<, it had that kind of energy that we sometimes miss in contemporary dance music. later that summer, john talabot visited new york and became aware that the track was going to be released by true panther sounds only as part of the album >7am<. something sparked inside us. we felt it was not fair that such an incredible track had to share its vinyls grooves with other songs so we thought it would be nice to dedicate a full maxi side to it.

i just woke and its pretty cold outside. i havent opened the window yet, but i somehow know it and im listening to these six tracks again and try to make an approximation of why and how i have done this ep. they are pretty different from each other but tell the same story or at least are part of the same one as a matter of fact. maybe they were done as an excuse for my overdue album which is scheduled again for this year or maybe just because i was going through some odd times and needed to immerse myself in doing something. in this case music. more the latter i guess. ok so, the opening track is in a way the end of an era and the last one the opening of a fresher one. and the rest fills in the gaps in between those two moments i guess. i hate conceptual things anyways. i never know or want to know why i do certain things. concepts define something before it already begins its existence and trying to explain why is pretty useless. so here it is. the recording of a certain period of time in my tiny existence. with collaborations with jaw (dop), my brother atilla, who is also responsible for the artwork, and jonny cruz. by the time its out itll be a distant memory for me but hope it lasts a bit longer for anyone that listens to it

part ii ? axis audio. mokira once told kontra-musik that three analog tape echoes are needed to produce one mokira track. when listening to the track axis audio you can hear why. metallic bursts of sound hits like waves on an irish shore in autumn. kept together by a solid bassline and a fragile melody axis audio is an excursion in beautiful sounds. on the b-side, echospace (deepcord, modern love) makes you dance. it is distorted, it is minimal, it is raw and last but last not least, it is oh so funky. this track will move dance floors.

4 track ep that collects some of the shoes classic, early, out of print releases. this includes the vocal and dub mixes of al greens love & happiness from shoes003, kyen kyen from shoes005 and why cant we live together by timmy thomas from shoes004. essential. dont sleep on this!

tiago is one of those guys who are able to make a summer, a festival or a trip really special. he is doing the right thing at the right time and is always prepared. in his company every single minute turns into a remarkable happening and once you are back home you keep asking yourself why he cant be with me all the time. that s reason enough to dedicate him a special tune. the same lovely thought had solomun and emerson todd and deliver a dreamy and a groovy version of tiagos destiny. after last summers smash hit manaus madness gunnar stiller hits the jackpot again.

mikael stavöstrand and cesare vs disorder are not new names to techno or house, and between them they have an impressive discography of over 40 releases that have consistently maintained their underground integrity, winning over the hearts of the electronic music elite. there is no doubt why the bulk of their supporters seem to be the most esteemed listeners, and when we see their names together we have no choice but to be compelled to listen. after making their collaborative debut with part 1 on dumb unit in january 2011, the pair comes clean with a follow up ep on clink that is earthy, sexy and elegant.
support by: anja schneider, laurent guarnier, loco dice, tiga, peter kruger, nick warren, luca bachetti, dave mothersole and many more

phonicas seventh release comes from paul woolford as he delivers a double dose of quality crossbreed dancefloor music taking his sound to new depths and illustrating hes an artist who never stops evolving. fresh from a tour with, and in advance of a release on planet e, paul woolford continues his rise to becoming one of the most important electronic music artists of the decade with his first release for phonica, a label who have unleashed some unrivalled quality cuts on their catalogue. opening this special double a-side 12 inch is >cant do without<, a bone-shaking record that is laced in originality. building up slowly from a tape-hiss-laden break, a low-slung bassline and a deep yearning vocal, >i cant do without you< is sublime dancefloor material. engaging from the outset with clever broken beats that build playfully into an emotive, psychedelic breakdown to get lost in, woolford demonstrates why he has achieved so much success in his game. on the flip >bareback< treads into dark acid territory that is a hybrid of techno and dubstep in a similar vein to actress and recent material from instra:mental / boddika

in its fourteen releases to date bass culture has welcomed a variety of talent, yet till now has hosted the mercurial beats of its boss only the once, on the edit of anonyms >lov is easy<. todays >fofoca< ep sees d julz confirm once again just why he and his music are held in such high regard, with three exclusive new cuts from the frenchman.
big with: laurent garnier, anthony collins, catz n dogz, bushwacka!, sebo k, gel abril, tiefschwarz, radioslave, marco carola, luciano, sascha dive, okain, luke solomon, slam, tobi neumann, ame, nick curly, ...

after hearing this release, one could ask himself why deetron and ripperton never did something together before?! with their debut together for music man they deliver two tracks dancing on the thin cord between deep techno and house. a true blinder!

marco zenker, the wonderboy from munich is up and looking for freedom again with his second record on ilian tape. invisible shadows was discovered by ourselves on the last ilian tape warehouse party back last year. when we heard it the first time on a big system - even marco himself - we were pretty surprised. its building up slowly and leads into a very open space - the perfect track to give the night another direction. remain silent after you heard that side and open your ears for the b side that sends us into a different sphere. here we go down. you almost can call that cut a meditation hymne - it has the same vibe as osho ashram s back then hosted by f. fuhlert. finally we have a tripping remix from one of the hottest dutch guys at the moment - conforce. known for his releases on meanwhile, delsin or rush hour he shows once again why holland is thechicago of europe. its just free spirited, soulful and openminded. qualities we are missing here more or less in bavaria. so we are trying to open up and change things. the time will come. kiss

with the release of ruede hagelsteins >emergerncy< souvenir released one of the floorfillers of 2010: >emergency< has been hailed as one of the best singles of the year in the reader polls of groove, de:bug, resident advisor and many more. no wonder why! ruede hagelstein knows how to treat an after-party stomper. >emergency< is the perfect early morning pick, the sun shines on his bongos, the nonsense raves with his lyrics, the horns roar with delight, and a plane flies over a crowd of happy, sleepless dancers. due to popular demand for this record souvenir now brings you this fabulous tune once again, remixed super flu and re.you. re.you once again proves why souvenir loves his music with his outstanding remix and super flu who are feliks thielemann & mathias schwarz perfectly proove their philosophy: >lots of herzblut and a great traum behind, nothing can harm you anymore….!<

produced in 2004, this ep marks an essential shift in the production of stefan goldmann to his modus operandi as a dedicated innovator. he had adapted the barricade guise to induce some serious deviations into the techno realm. yet, heads werent ready and he simply continued under his real name with his major breakthrough works: perlons blood ep and the legendary sleepy hollow tune. hidden from the public, aleko and frantic had built a prototypic aesthetic of rough, concrete-space sounds - reduced dark, metallic percussion grooves, spring reverbs and degraded post-acidic synths. you name it where you heard this sound years later. its revealing how far ahead these tunes were at the time of their creation. they sound more now than many current tracks. aleko is the 4/4 techno version of this soundset, locked-in clonk patterns built around a nitrous bassline. frantic could be a future development to todays dubstep, if it wasnt its actual historic predecessor. add the schizophrenic bass excursion heliotrope and you have a package of painstaking relevance. back then the a&rs simply didnt get it - thats why it took 6 years and the formation of victoriaville to finally bring these gems to light

disco cakes are back for their second release. after the success of the first release they have invited the dancefloor outlaws back and this time have bought some friends with them for another solid packed ep of 4 dancefloor shaking bangers.

shufunk and heavy hittahz team up with the drum orange crew to release this slice of heavy bass driven drum and bass. shufunk has been on it recently and this release shows you why. watch out for more from this label.

blackrose records is back with its fourth release.also supported by luciano,butch,hemanez,marco faraone,mihai popoviciu,mirco violi,daniel sanchez,dave spoon,khaan,horatio,brothers vibe. sami wentz surprises us with this huge release,on the italian label blackrose records,that is def o showing some good work and growing fast.

there are few artists making seriously great music while not taking themselves too seriously: that difficult feat is one rarely attempted and even less often successfully carried out. benoit & sergio have seemingly effortlessly managed to pull off that contradictory trick, producing songs that sometimes seem like musical open letters: editorials narrated in the voices of unidentified, yet totally recognizable colorful characters, read aloud against a backdrop of beautifully lush, warm and sensuous electronic pop music. the unexpected juxtaposition of such pristine production and playful lyricism — first exhibited on 2009s highly praised <i>what ive lost</i> ep, which included the brilliantly sardonic single >full grown man< – exemplifies why benoit & sergio are one of the most unique and interesting outfits in dance music. its good news, then, that the washington, d.c./berlin-based outfits eagerly expected dfa debut maintains both the charm and expert craftsmanship of its predecessors. single >boy trouble< (the titular counterpoint to >full grown man<) launches the ep with all manner of reasons to take to the dancefloor: an exigent beat, a beckoning synthline, a bassline of understated funk. sergio lethargically sings about girls, making note of both their ups and the downsides, without the hindrance of subtlety. >i love girls/with legs like a ferrari< he states before noting (bemoaning?) the fact that >you need poetry to turn these girls on.< its a song for the best part of the night, full of compulsive rhythms and a climax that builds on sparkly synths. the accompanying remix from visionquest — the detroit-bred, berlin-based label led by producers seth troxler, ryan crosson, lee curtiss and shaun reeves — amps things up, making the beat a more prominent, driving and club banging force. the flipside features >full grown man< and >what ive lost<, which reveal themselves to be worth more than a few revisits.

the ppu label searched for this guy for years and as soon as they got a hold of the mysterious california gospel producer the first question was, why name your group shelve? >its not shelf, its shell-vee, for shelby!< ppu was finally able to locate shelby when releasing a record with michael soward (ppu-022), turned out shelby produced the title track >hes alive<. >this world< was recorded and mixed by dale >rambo< ramsey, who went on to work with some major hip-hop acts like ludacris, raekwon and the youngbloodz! today shelby hurns is still producing records and will be releasing his latest cd summer 2011. check!

this record is the result of a collaboration between roman ruins (graham hill) and the artist hunter mack. originally launched as a kickstarter project which financed this two-song 7 inch vinyl record along with a limited art print, it is now available to the general public.
comes on orange vinyl, including code for digital download.

soeren bodner alias monkey maffia is in his deepest corners most definitely one of these. as 50% the mass of the duo wighnomy brothers he along with ex-dj partner robag delivered for more than 1 and 1/2 decades the thunderous current to the dance floors of the world. his vinyl collection has a great measure of the university library. his creativity is just the same. thats why his release debut is nurtured from a kiln of ideas and inspiration. now finally a new valve of creativity of monkey-energy, as it were. fluctuations and trends of the genre he gives a sly wink to. for him quality and originality is taken seriously. there is not just a mere taste when hearing his track-select ingredients of his own making. the same as in his sets, there is an indisputable >happening< along with a diversity in the pieces. it is quite simply monkey maffia unadulterated - sometimes coaxingly understanding, sometimes psychotic with a thump in the hand and scratching on the head...

>corky< is the third ep from brand brauer frick on tartelet records and features a remix from tartelets own james braun. music has always been the defining core of tartelet records. this may seem like an obvious statement, but that was the very reason why it hit us like a ton of bricks when we receivedthe first demo from paul frick and his new band around two years ago you might say that the brandt brauer frick sound touched on a vibration that had been lurking in our musical subconscious. we ll resist the temptation to wax lengthy or lyrical about >corky< instead, we suggest you have a listen and let yourself be seduced by its panoramic echoes and pumping bass drum. hop aboard an odyssey that leads brandt brauer frick through the technoid city of detroit. its a fine ride indeed.

a message from claude vonstroke: >sascha braemer has got the funk! i first heard him on the amazing thrill on kindisch which i charted in my top 3 tracks of 2008. after that i heard the even more amazing heinrichs and hirtenfeller album dark orbit, (my favorite album of 2009) on highgrade. i usually like to break new dirtybird artists but this time i had to go find this guy and beg him to make us something. sascha has got that tech-funk, caveman quality that is so elusive and hard for me to find as an a&r. and on this record you will hear why i went and found him. this is an absolute beast! both tracks are tried and tested club killers. truthfully, i cannot think of a better dance-floor record on dirtybird this year<

long awaited album !! amazing double lp with a unique mixture from electronic and dubstep... well done

the ever uplifting sounds of the submissions back in the djs bags once again. mezmeric rips it up with his digital washing machine. brilliant grooving techno with power. special treatment by high profile artists robert natus and stigmata. try it out and you will find out why this is yet another fave for the techno djs.

to kick-start the fina campaign we literally hunted high and low to find an artist and sound that we felt would represent us and give a statement of intent. what we didnt expect was for this search to take us south of the equator and into to the deep southern hemisphere. this is not the first place that you would expect to hear warm, deep underground house but this is exactly what you get with the melbourne based mic newman. and thinking about it, it doesnt get warmer or deeper than melbourne does it? mic is a young producer who we believe is destined for greatness. at the age of 29, hes already had a string of underground smashes on labels such as murmur, tsuba, dirt crew, freerange, and now for fina records. the intriguingly named live east, die young ep (mic riffing on his time spent living in london) sees what mic doing what he does best and demonstrates why his future is so bright. on die young, the tougher a-side, mic keeps the beats solid, and the groove tight and hypnotic, while the smooth chord stabs get right under your skin. prolonged foot tapping ensues. on the flip side, live east, mic takes it a little deeper with ever so subtle disco touches. the vocal sample asks what your name is and to take off your jacket as if to welcome you to a very messy after hours on this mcde-esque low-slung house groove. on remix duty, the on-form jacques renault and marcos cabral aka runaway, lift the track out of the south hemisphere and take it in a north easterly direction all the way to the caribbean – adding plenty of steel drums and pads on their interpretation of live east

whilst the bpitch control >werkschau< cd showcases the label and its 12-year history in its entire stylistic breadth, the first single from this exceptional album is predominantly about one thing: dancing! thats why we are not settling for album track lengths her, the single release is packed full of extended versions - made by ellen allien, sascha funke and moderat.

its not every day that we receive demos from new artists that totally rock our world, but when its happens its a joy and a reminder of why we are still doing this. and so tears of joy rolled onto the speakers when we played policys demos. when contacted policy he told us he is from nyc, is a part time movie director and only started making music recently. out of the bunch of tracks we received >specialty party< and >light over fort lee< form his debut ep. both tracks challenge the beat spectrum once again and definitely speak his cinematic mind. expect more music from policy on rush hour later this year. he surely is our contender for best newcomer of 2011.

first on decks.de !! u cant deny that holgi star und pierre deutschmann are some true techno oldschool rockers of the electronic scene. both of them with a lot of producing experience on their back have now decided to a have a couple get togehters on releases! and it truly works! they also live by one saying: >just because u hit a certain age it doesnt mean u are not on top of the game!< no wonder why. week for week they are playing around the globe and bring their fresh, modern, melodic drivefull technosound to the partycrowd. and with stylerockets they have chosen the right place to be! incl. remixes by dominik vaillant and joseph disco.

cue is definitely one to watch for 2011, he has been tipped as one of the best breakthrough jump up artists out there right now and this release shows you why. >lose control< will tear your speakers apart with the distorted bass. on the flip cue creates a beast of a tune with another aggressive track. keep your eye on this fella!

2004 double vinyl album by dark comedy aka kenny larkin.

re-issue on heavyweight double vinyl of this 1991 compilation with eurythmics biggest hits.

mixmode starts the year with a bang! delano had some great feedback on his release and no wonder why! he is one of the most consistent house producers around. delano is only delivering a hand full of releases a year and always the highest quality. overwhelming warm tracks with classic grooves and that fresh vibe. quality house music with the capital h. hearing these tracks we feel like going to a party tonight

big with: luciano, loco dice, anja schneider, dubfire, laurent garnier, d julz, daniel sanchez, ryan crosson, simon baker, karotte, mathias kaden, danny tenaglia, stephan bodzin, coyu, tim green, julien chaptal, .. jay hazes bearly legal ep was such a success, but with just two tracks, our circle of producer and dj friends were asking us why we didnt release any mixes! well, ask and you shall receive... >no need for loops< was the original eps b-side, but with positive feedback and play from ewan pearson and ellen allien, weve decided this time to let it have the glory of a-side status with a top-notch rework from ilario alicante (cécille, tenax) who combines a busy, pulsating rhythm with the lulling undercurrent of melody for a hypnotic effect. >take your hat off< gets the remix treatment in the hands of several adept producers: first shaun reeves (wolf + lamb) and duo tale of us (barraca music) team up for a sly, seductive version, while amam label boss alessio mereu offers a punchy, revved up take to give the 12inch some welcome contrast.