collaboration of french men paul ritch and okain. highly hypnotic minimal tracks at its best

okains dj career kicked off back in 1999, when at the tender age of 15 he began spinning regularly at parties. influenced by french legend laurent garnier, it wasnt long before he was offered his first residency. since then, he has gone on to play at the hottest of paris nightspots, including the rex club and social club. through playing at the now famous dimuschi parties he teamed up with paul ritch. after some time studying in sound engineering, the pair released their first ep under their handycraft alias on kickboxer. since the success of that >le bal masque< ep, okain has gone on to release on labels including robotronic, bpitch control, four twenty, tsuba, quartz and of course jetaime, and has been fully blooded in the art of touring. gigs have flooded in, and his travels have seen play many of europe s finest nightspots. his >blackrock< ep on quartz earlier this year found fantastic success with so many of you, and today our good friend is back, with the awesome >acrobat<.
the original sees okain take the warm, techy path. a lo-slung groove leads us into the melodic strings. matched with sharp efx, strong beats and a demonic laugh, this is a sure fire winner. first on remix duty is label head alex dee. toughening proceedings, alex creates a driving, somewhat tribal work out. relentless beats work brilliantly with the now chopped vocal, to create dramatic tension that builds to a crescendo in the break. a fantastic mix. a great package already, and one that just got even better with the edition of daniel mehlharts incredible rework. the frankfurt producer is hot property right now, and this mix showcases perfectly just why. deep, warm and moody, with huge helpings of classic detroit touches, the originals strings are accompanied by weighty synth stabs, to stunning effect. essential.

with mexilhao steve parker continues to impress the global scene as this awesome tune, once unleashed, is absolutely taking no prisoners on it s way. so it shouldn t be a big surprise that no other than dubfire just took steve under his musical wing. steve s tunes keep being play-listed by the likes of richie hawtin, dubfire, derrick may, josh wink etc...

die rollende bassline groovt bis über beide ohren und zeigt, dass thomas muller und okain (handycraft) trotz ihres jugendlichen alters wissen wo jack das wasser holt. die kooperation der beiden franzosen schreit geradezu nach einer fortsetzung. be prepared

third release for the french label jetaime records, which today presenting an exclusive collaboration between varoslav & okain. okain who released his last ep on jetaime has upcoming releases on labels such as tsuba. he is also the half part of handycraft with paul ritch.varoslav has just been named the new ar of supplement facts, guy gerber s label. he collaborates with david k on various projects and recently release a ep on tishomingo. with okain s loves of groovy beats and varoslav s hypnotic synths and crazy drum loops, the two buddies are dropping here a sexy ep with 3 killer tracks.

die jubiläumsfeier bei boxer beginnt mit einem aufgewecktem 4-tracker. patrick chardronnet & tadeo spielen an den remixreglern, während frank martiniq & matzak zwei frische tracks auf dem geburtstags- kuchen packen. glückwunsch

get physical are pleased to welcome paul ritch, following the well-received >fortuna ep< (together with anthony collins) with his first solo-tracks. over the past year ritch has earned his stripes with solo releases on resopal schallware, minisketch and paradigma, and as one half of handycraft, whose le bal masque ep on kickboxer was a recent underground hit. ritch saves his best for physical, though, with two minimal house tracks of real energy and sophistication comprising this new 12inch. a master of slowburning intensity, ritchs begins >june< in understated fashion, but build after build, and the onset of busy, chattering percussion, sonar pings and ravey acid lines take things to a wholly different level. ritchs skill is in accumulating layer over layer of effects and then, in a magical instant, stripping things back to raw elements, some of the compressed, filtered breaks on >june< will cause serious dancefloor damage and delight

jeroen secret cinema verheij launched gem records in december of 2009. the label represents the versatile array of sounds that verheij himself plays in his dj sets. the first two releases came from dutch super talents and secret cinema protŽgŽs egbert and peter horrevorts. welcome to my club mixed by secret cinema explores the realms of verheijs club sound and his flavors for the coming season. the package includes the latest release on gem secret cinema glad chord (gem003) and an exclusive preview of two tracks from the forthcoming ep haasten by egbert (gem004). the cd kicks off with vintage synth chords from jamie lloyd but soon twists in another direction with the sexy g-funk electro beats of big bully. after that, the cd picks up pace and reveals the energy that drives secret cinemas sets. with 20 tracks on the cd, this is one of the most action packed compilations out at the moment and takes the listener on an audible trip beyond stylistic barriers in electronic music.