Tune #110: Rammellzee vs K-Rob - Beat Bop

One of the most inspiring pieces of rap music.

RAMMELLZEE VS K-ROB - BEAT BOP
 

Beat Bop is the result from one of the most peculiar collaborations in music business. Three underground artists teamed up (or battled each other to be more precise) in order to create a hip hop track which sounded extremely different from the other songs of that era.

Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was an prominent graffiti artist and painter, famous initially for his cryptic epigrams incorporating punk, hip hop music, street art and his neo-expressionist paintings (valued today at millions of dollars).

Rammellzee (1960-2010) was also an influential visual artist with natural sleekness in rapping (you can tell from the track..,). He has been credited to introducing avantgarde elements in hip hop music. Even his (legal) name is pure art, which is stylized as RAMMΣLLZΣΣ and has the following breakdown:

- RAM

- M for Magnitude

- Σ for Sigma (the summation operator)

- L for Longitude

- L for Latitude

- Z for z-bar

- Σ for Sigma

- Σ for Sigma

K-Rob was the youngest member of the project and a gifted graffiti artist and rapper. At the time the track was recorded, he was still in his teens. In 2004, he recorded with Ram the sequel (Beat Bop Part 2).

Some interesting trivia covering the history of the track are the following:

- The rapping in the song is a actually a rap battle, presenting the alternate realms of two personas: the  street corner pimp (by Rammellzee) and the school boy (by K-Rob)

- Basquiat initially wanted to provide also his vocal contribution to the track, only to be rejected by the other members. Actually, he delivered the artwork for the cover and label of the vinyl, while it is debatable whether he produced the track (Ram had claimed that he supplied only the money).

- Beat Bop was released by Tartown in 1983, which was a one-off label funded by Basquiat to produce 500 units. It was re-released in the same year by Profile Records, curated by Cory Robbins.

- Due to small amount of units, the original pressings are highly sought by the collectors at huge prices. Sotheby's has sold a sealed copy in an auction at 126K USD (unbelievable!).

For additional info about Beat Bop, this link shares the view of Ram, K-Rob, Cory Robbins and Al Diaz (early collaborator of Basquiat). 

As most of hip hop listeners, I came across Beat Bop via the Street Sounds Electro compilation. The main difference from the typical hip hop sounds is the arrangement scheme; slow tempo, absence of 4 on the floor beat at various points (if my ears do not mistake me) and heavy use of sound effects (echo and reverb).

To conclude, you may listen a live version of the track (K-Rob's verses):

Tune #109: E-Razor - Mantra

Though an overlooked tune, Mantra by E-Razor belongs to the best tunes of its genre.

E-RAZOR - MANTRA

E-Razor was a music project by Oliver Laib and Martin Eyerer. The partners in crime were frequent collaborators within 1997-2003, producing under various aliases, such as Dixon Hill, Nervouz Boys, Van Helsing, among others. They surely adopted the classic convention of 90's producers by using different pseudonyms according to the music genre they represented, whether it was trance, techno or minimal!

E-Razor alias focused on the hard trance sound, flavored with acidic elements and seamlessly interchanged with different styles of trance (progressive or goa). It was also their most successful project, featured on two Global Underground mixes (Mantra in GU:007 by Paul Oakenfold and India in GU:008 by Nick Warren) and licensed in several DJ mixes and compilations.

What makes Mantra a trance masterpiece is how the deep bass is interchanged with the melancholic piano pads. Though it is a hard trance composition, it creates a feeling of calmness. Mantra was released as a single (with Yeti on the B-side) in 1997 by Technogold, a German label which re-released mostly techno and trance classics between 1997-2003.

So, what are they up to now?

Oliver Laib (often confused with fellow German Oliver Lieb) still works as a producer, but for other artists. On the other hand, Martin Eyerer is a successful label owner of Kling Klong (along with Rainer Weichhold) and a versatile composer of electronic dance music, extending his rich heritage for more than 25 years!

Tune #108: Underworld - Born Slippy

At first glance, you may believe that this post is related with the classic bomb called Born Slippy. Well, that is not exactly the case. The track that you have in mind is the NUXX version, which was and still is honored in either massive party events or local parties held in houses. I was always amazed by the catholic acceptance of this track, especially by non-listeners of electronic dance music (yeah, I know that Trainspotting movie is the reason, but its popularity is anyway remarkable).

A common misconception regarding Born Slippy is that the NUXX version is considered the original one (of course I was also a victim of this false impression). I guess that all started after the release of Trainspotting (1996), one year after the release of the track. Born Slippy was released as a single in 1995 by Junior Boy's Own. The A-side of the single is the actual original version, as presented below:

UNDERWORLD - BORN SLIPPY (ORIGINAL VERSION)

As you can listen, the composition shares no similarities with the well-known version; absence of vocals, different pounding beats and a never-ending melody are the key components that produce a techno-flavored breakbeat track, which is an absolute banger. 

It's a pity that the original version does not enjoy considerable recognition by the advocates of electronic music. However, Underworld have been compensated with commercial and artistic success with Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994), one of the most influential studio albums in electronic dance music.

Underworld exists as a group from the late 80's, led by Karl Hyde & Rick Smith and focused on synth-pop music. Partnered with DJ Darren Emerson in 1991, they changed their sound to a techno-ish dance approach and achieved huge success ever since. In 2000, Emerson retired from the group in order to spare time to DJ all over the world and run his independent label (Underwater Records). The group continues as a duo, alive and kicking with astonishing live performances.

If I am not mistaken, they were scheduled to perform in Greece the past July, but the corresponding music festival was cancelled (COVID-19 had  different plans). Their latest Greek (non-)presence was in 2007 and certainly not a pleasant one, since Rick Smith was injured by a brick! 

Let us hope their next performance would be bloodless!

Tune #107: Mama - Dancing Wheels

Following the appreciation for electro aesthetic music of Greece (as per previous post), today's track follows the same 80's vibes:

MAMA - DANCING WHEELS

"Δεν κατάλαβα, γιατί μας την βγαίνετε έτσι άγαρμπα;"

Mama is an alias of Manolis Zografakis, an electronic music producer with Cretan heritage. His first encounter with music was in 2000, when he was a guitar player for punk rock band Squareheads. Amazed by the unlimited boundaries of electronic music, he began composing his first tracks varying different styles (from tech-house to downtempo electronica). In the meantime, he performed as a DJ in several nightclubs of Athens. In 2006, he drew the attention of Greek label The Sound Of Everything, which curated the Hellectronic compilation, featuring the newcomers in electronic and dance scene of Greece. Mama contributed to the compilation with his track Have A Nice Trip. 

Two years later, the label released his first studio album called Blue. While the album presents in general a deep-house orientation, several elements from other music genres are blended together (minimal techno, IDM, tech-house and progressive house) to create a diverse output, which was well received by the public.

At the same period (according to Manolis), he composed two electro-flavored tracks for a new EP (1985 and Dancing Wheels), heavily inspired by the 80's culture (traces for his nostalgia can also be found in album track For The 80's). The EP was previously unreleased, until he uploaded the two tracks a few months ago in his Bandcamp page. The second track (presented today) includes rough electro beats & cold basslines, combined with vocal excerpts from Greek 80's movie "Όταν Οι Ρόδες Χορεύουν" ("When Wheels Dance" -> "Dancing Wheels"). Even the video clip, which features edited scenes from the movie, transforms the naive style of the direct-to-video film to a dark punk motion picture.

Unfortunately, Manolis Zografakis has not released any new material (at least under this alias). During the last years he has been focused on Digital Marketing and Creative Strategy through his main project Broke In London. However, his latest audiovisual touch is a neat example of the 80's revival music.

Tune #106: ΦΩΝΟΠΤΙΚΟΝ - Απόδραση

During the last years, the resurgence of the electro/synthwave music is eminent in Greece. Music projects like ΗΧΟΤΟΠίΑ and Blakaut have produced interesting albums, blending electronic music with vocal samples from old Greek films. In my opinion, one of the driving forces for this electro shift is Stefanos Konstantidis, a veteran Greek producer/mix engineer, known since the 90's through his aliases DJ Stefan & Electroware. 

Stefanos' engagement with music started in 1990, participating in the indie rock group Groove Machine. Since then, he has released several releases and remixes, demonstrating his craftsmanship both as a composer and producer. His musical background is diverse since he has studied classical piano & harmony at the National Music Conservatoire and he enhanced his technical knowledge attending Philippos Nakas School in Greece & Berklee School of Music in USA. Following his engineering duties at DSP Lab, a recording studio in Athens, he established his own (named Fabrika Studio) along with Nassos Sopilis & Dimitri Papaioannou.

Stefanos has also followed the experimental side of music as a member of Drog_A_Tek, a collective that was established in 2001 in Athens. Besides him, the group included throughout the years the following members:

- Giorgos Konstantinidis (Voltnoi Brege)

- Dimitris Emmanouil (Paranormale)

- Makis Kentepozidis (Quetempo)

- Thaleia Ioannidou (S.T.M.C.)

- Antonis Vlastos (Monochrome)

- Kostas Pantelis (Koke Nunu Fossa)

His latest solo alias is ΦΩΝόΠΤΙΚΟΝ, which is inspired by the space-punk philosophy of retro science-fiction films. Today's track is one of his latest compositions, named Απόδραση (i.e. Escape), influenced by the cult classic film Escape From New York:

ΦΩΝΟΠΤΙΚΟΝ - ΑΠΟΔΡΑΣΗ

Bonus track: The Electroware remix of TXC - Η Γεύση Του Μένους is a classic!

Label Realm: progHead memoirs

Letter H is filled with nostalgia, as it features strictly labels from the 90's!

Hard Hands was the home for production duo Leftfield, the purveyors of progressive house music! It was established in 1992 by Neil Barnes & Paul Daley. Their first releases were featured in short-lived label Outer Rhythm. The closure of the company was the starting point for the creation of Hard Hands label, under which two seminal studio albums were released (Leftism - Rhythm And Stealth).

It is certainly one of my favorite record labels of all time. Harthouse was set-up in 1992 by Heinz Roth, Matthias Hoffman & Sven Väth in Offenbach. From 1992 until 1997 it was sub-label of Eye Q Records (the former focused on harder & more minimalistic sound, while the latter hosted more commercial releases). Undoubtedly, it defined the "Sound Of Frankfurt", which was a harder but danceable version of Trance; Hard House or Harthouse. As per Eye Q, the music producers Ralf Hildenbeutel, Matthias Hoffman & Steffen Britzke (along with the artistic force of Papa Sven) were responsible under various aliases for several techno-infused trance tracks, some of which are considered classics nowadays. The popularity of the label led to the creation of foreign departments; Harthouse UK in England, distributed by Rising High (of the late Caspar Pound) and Harthouse America in US, licensed through Moonshine Music. In 1997, the mother company faced hard times, since Sven Väth left the label due to artistic discrepancies and a few months later it went bankrupt. One year later, the company rights were acquired by UCMG, while in 2004 the company was absorbed by Daredo Media. In 2017, the company UCM.ONE took over the label and all rights from Daredo. In my opinion, all the acquisitions should be credited to Joachim Keil, since he was associated with all three companies at some point. The last years the label hosts the trance veterans D3R (Der Dritte Raum).

Meet the Hoojman! Hooj Records was launched in 1991 by Jerry Dickens (aka Red Jerry) and Phil Howells (who left the label after its 4th release). The label is mostly known for several progressive house & trance classics, although it featured throughout the years several music genres (latin balearic sound, tribal house, deep tech house & electro disco tracks). The success of the company in the European dance scene was suspended in 2003 due to bankruptcy. In 2006 the company returned under the same management as Lost Language; the latter was initially a trance offshoot label of Hooj. However, the label company was dissolved in 2010. Four years later, Hooj Choons re-emerged for licensing rights of the back catalog. The iconic logo of the company, the Hoojman, was conceived by Phil's girlfriend at the time, as Red Jerry has mentioned in one of his latest interviews.

Heat Recordings is a London-based label with its first release traced back to 1996. During the second half of the 90's it licensed releases for Moonman (one of Ferry Corsten's early aliases) and Mothers Pride (Andy Cocup of the Groove Armada fame and Anselm Guise). The Big C remix of Mothers Pride - Floribunda remains one of the most epic tracks I have ever heard!

Hi Life Recordings was an imprint of Polydor Records from 1995 until 2000. While the label was mostly known for releasing Fatboy Slim's remix of Wildchild - Renegade Master, which sold numerous physical copies, I learned the label through Nick Bracegirdle's early remixes; his rework on BBG - Just Be Tonight is still memorable.

Tune #105: Rabbit In The Moon - Deeper

Rabbit In The Moon is an American electronic music group that was established in 1992 by David Christophere (Confucius), Steven R. McClure (DJ Monk) and Steve Eachon (Bunny). The group represented the Florida breaks scene of the 90's along with DJs Kimball Collins & Chris Fortier.

RITM rose to prominence with the dancefloor classic O.B.E. (Out-Of-Body Experience), which was released in 1993 by Hallucination, an indie label set-up by Confucius & Monk for releasing their output. The track was later featured in various DJ mix CDs (with Northern Exposure being the most important one) and was also licensed to west coast label Hardkiss (East meets West) with new remixes. After 1994, they broke the American barriers and reached the European electronic music scene, performing remix duties for Orbital, Goldie, Cosmic Baby and Sarah McLachlan. Additionally, they collaborated with German group Humate (then consisted of Gerret Frerichs & Patrick Kjonberg) for the 4-tracker Hemispheres E.P. The success of the EP produced an additional release with remixes for one of the tracks-hemispheres (East).

Today's track is a B-side taken from a purple-tinted vinyl, released by Hallucination in limited edition. Deeper is a hypnotic breakbeat track that includes the representative breaks sound of RITM. Firstly exposed to it via Chicane's comp CD, it is certainly not a track to pass through. A nice trivia of Deeper is that it features a slowed down sample of Kate Bush vocals, taken from her song And Dream Of Sheep.

RABBIT IN THE MOON - DEEPER

In 2002 Monk leaves the group, which continues to exist till this day as duo (Confucius & Bunny). While I am not familiar with their latest sound, it seems that their live performances are very intense and cinematic, a sight worth seeing!

P.S. I'm weak so let me sleep and dream of sheep...

10-Year Blogoversary!

Whoa! Time flies... It has been 10 years since first post!

Let me present some stats for Music Miner, in order to extract meaningful insights.

I was 100% certain that the vast majority of tracks (presented by Music Miner) would originate from the 90's. It is absolutely my favorite era in terms of electronic music. The tracks from the mid-00's follow in second place (although I remember that during my teen years which were aligned with that period I was still listening music from the 90's). The third place belongs to the first period of electronic dance music (80's). My main reason to trace back tunes from that era was to gain fundamental knowledge in music genres that emerged during that decade. Furthermore, the last time period produced the smallest output, but this fact can be justified:

- During the first years of Music Miner I was mostly listening to music from previous periods than contemporary tracks.
- I was disillusioned with the state of trance music, which was my favorite music genre (trancecracker spotted!)

In terms of tracks per music genre, I expected the results a little worse (i.e. lacking diversity). Obviously, Trance and House are the prominent genres (almost a tie), with Techno coming third. However, other genres were also presented, with smaller contribution. I believe that during the last years I was exposed at a higher level in other music realms, leading to blog posts spanning different music styles.

Drilling down to music styles, Trance / Techno / Progressive House are cited largely. I am positively surprised that Electro made it to the Top-5. It is a music style that I need to dig in deeper for more obscurities (since the majority of them were known tracks). Another future goal would be to produce more output for other styles, especially Leftfield, Future Jazz & IDM.

The country breakdown presents the Great Powers of Electronic Music (for my ears at least); UK, USA & Germany. Although tracks from different countries were presented, one may notice that Dutch music was never my preference (even Belgians had greater contribution!). One thing that I am skeptical though is if I should have focused more on Greek music or not (the last years have been very productive and interesting).


Finally, you may find below a nice visual with the labels tagged in this blog via a non-stat manner!

What would be the future plans and status of Music Miner?  One could only wonder...

Tune #104: Gigi Flag - Nymphomaniac

The cosmic disco era of the 80's is worth digging, in order to find hidden gems like the following track:

GIGI FLAG - NYMPHOMANIAC (INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)



Gigi Flag was an one-off alias of Italo-Belgian bassist Gino Malisan. During the first half of the 70's, he was one of the core members (along with his brother Tony) of Esperanto, a Belgo-English band associated with progressive rock music. The band released three studio albums under A&M Records from 1973 until 1975, when the record company decided not to renew their contract. The large maintenance costs (expensive technical equipment, large number of musicians and technical staff) and the reduction of vinyl production due to oil crisis of '73 led to band's demise.

Gino Malisan continued to work as a producer for a limited number of disco/funk compositions from the late 70's to the mid 80's. One of them was Nymphomaniac under his alias Gigi Flag. The space synths and funky bass elements constitute a fine example of cosmic boogie track.

The original vocal version of the track can be characterized X-rated, for obvious reasons...

GIGI FLAG - NYMPHOMANIAC (SEX VERSION)


Many years later, Davide Armour & Philippe Mascerano performed a re-edit of the track, naming it "It's So Exciting (High Jingo Love Love Rework)", through their Boys From Patagonia project.

BOYS FROM PATAGONIA - IT'S SO EXCITING (HIGH JINGO LOVE LOVE REWORK)


The re-edit was released in 2012 by International Feel Recordings, an indie label of Mark Barrott. Additionally, the A-side of the release featured Rimini '80, a re-edit of another old track (Joël Fajerman ‎- Racines Synthétiques). If I am not mistaken, the latter was featured in some ALFOS sets of late Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnston.

Since the 2012 re-edit is largely based on the original track, I hope that credits were given to the original composer.

Fun fact: Nymphomaniac was included in Greek LP Disco In, featuring on cover the ultimate Greek femme fatale of the eighties, Vina Asiki!

Label Realm: cuttinG edGe music

Guerilla Records was a seminal label which was set up by William Orbit and Richard O' Dell in 1990. The co-founders had already a business relationship from mid 80's when the former was managed by the latter. The label's name originated from Orbit's studio, which was obviously called Guerilla. It championed the progressive house genre with releases by React 2 Rhythm, D.O.P., Bass-O-Matic (one of William Orbit's early aliases) and The Drum Club, presenting the hottest sound in UK during the first half of the 90's. The label's trademark was the camo sleeve of the releases (designed by graphic artist Steve Cook), which was aligned with the militaristic name. Unfortunately, the output of the company ended abruptly at its peak, with the last release in 1994 (I can only assume that the two guys did not get aligned about the label's future status). Currently, the company exists with a differentiated name (Guerilla Recordings) for licensing matters of back catalog (owned by indie giant Ministry Of Sound).

Good Looking Records was founded in 1992 by Danny Williamson (a.k.a. LTJ Bukem) and is one of the most influential labels in jungle/drum 'n' bass music (along with Metalheadz & Moving Shadow). Bukem created the label in order to release his first production 'Demon's Theme', one of the first dnb tracks. According to the owner of Basement Records (Basement Phil), the track was initially planned to be released in his label, but Danny later decided to invest in a new label, whose distribution was assisted by Phil. GLR's specialties were intelligent liquid dnb productions, curated by essential players (besides Bukem), such as PFM, Artemis and Seba. Logical Progression & Earth compilations can be used an an introductory material for the label. Last traces of the company (even presence in social media) are detected in 2014, indicating its inactive status.

Global Underground needs no introduction for EDM listeners of late 90's - early 00's. The label presented the classic 2-CD mix compilations by famous DJs of the era (Sasha, John Digweed, Paul Oakenfold, Dave Seaman, Danny Tenaglia), influenced by their actual DJ sets in a specific city (even Athens got its release by Danny T!). The GU City CDs became the best selling mix compilation series of the period. Initially, it was conceived by Boxed label (maybe GU should have been included in letter B...), but a few years later a separate company was created with the same name. The last years a revival of the series appeared, with the latest installment assigned to aspiring DJ Patrice Bäumel (supposedly in Berlin city).

Label Realm: euForic melodies

F Communications was (or maybe is?) an electronic music label founded in 1994 by Frenchmen Eric Morand & Laurent Garnier, as the successor of Fnac Music Dance Division (1991-1993). It was the most important label for French electronic dance music (along with its predecessor), curating great artists such as St. Germain, Laurent Garnier, Shazz, Scan-X, Jori Hulkkonen. Mr. Oizo and Nova Nova. One of my favorite artists back in the days was Ludovic Navarre (the guy behind St. Germain alias) with his seminal albums Boulevard (1995) and Tourist (2000), although the latter was released by the jazz-infused Blue Note label. The company folded its operations in 2008, only to re-open in 2015 for vinyl releases of monsieur Garnier. Nowadays, the label celebrates the 25 years with remastered vinyl releases of F-Comm All Stars!

Full Frequency Range Recordings (FFRR) is an influential label that introduced the masses in dance music. It started in 1986 as a subdivision of London Records, run by Pete Tong, the mastermind behind the BBC Essential Mix. Focused on hip-hop and house music releases during the second half of the 80's, it expanded in other electronic music genres throughout the 90's. The label hosted important artists such as Orbital, Goldie, CJ Bolland and Armand Van Helden. Aligned with the digital era of the last 10 years, it continues to release music exclusively in digital format.

Fides is a small Italian label owned by Giuseppe Maffei, known for his Z.I.P.P.O. pseudonym and his participation in project 3KZ with fellow Italian Nico Campanella. Their collaboration produced the seminal album Parallel Reflections, one of the best releases for 2017 (powered by Fides).

The last (but not least) label to be introduced is FM Records. The Greek label was set-up at the turn of the eighties by Giorgos Koutris. Although it does not focus only on electronic music, since the variety ranges from rebetiko, folk music to rock, pop and hip-hop, it engaged the Greek audience into the alternative music scene of various genres. Several Greek artists collaborated with the label, like Stereo Nova, Imiskoumbria, Terror-X-Crew, Goin' Through (before going full commercial), Ypogeia Revmata and Endelecheia. It was one of the first Greek labels to foresee the future of music platforms, releasing its back catalog in digital format since 2005! I believe that this is the main reason that the company continues as an independent label, although physical format continues to be released by the company in small numbers...

Farewell Sir Andrew...

Fail we may, sail we must...

Tune #103: Effective Force ‎– Diamond Bullet

There are many electronic music labels that gained fame through their active years, but only a few can be considered landmarks in the history of electronic dance sound, paving the way for new boundaries in music culture. One is of them is undoubtedly MFS, an independent EDM label set up in 1990 by Mark Reeder, a legendary figure shaping the trance sound.

The label is mostly known for hosting artists such as Cosmic Baby (Harald Blüchel), Paul Van Dyk and Humate (Gerret Frerichs & Hans-Georg Schmidt). However, it is worth tracking down the first releases, in which the today's gem is found.

EFFECTIVE FORCE - DIAMOND BULLET (BEYOND JUDGEMENT)



Effective Force was the collaboration effort between Johnny Klimek and Paul Browse, two foreigners in Berlin city.

Johnny Klimek is an music composer and producer of Australian decent, born in 1962 in Melboure. At 21 year old age, he moved to Berlin, where he founded the pop rock band The Other Ones with his siblings Jayney and Alf. In 1987, he set up his own studio for his solo productions and remixes. During the first half of the 90's he was active in the Berlin underground electronic scene through his productions with Paul Browse. From 1997 until today he focused on film scoring and he is a frequent collaborator to composer Reinhold Heil and director Tom Tykwer (on films such as Run Lola Run and Cloud Atlas).

Paul Browse is also a music composer and producer, of different descent though. Born in 1959 in Sheffield, he was influenced at an early age by frequency modulation and the penetrating power of sound through the struggle of his deaf aunt and her hearing aid device. In 1980 he became a member of Clock DVA, an industrial, post-punk and EBM group, founded by Adolphus "Adi" Newton and Steven "Judd" Turner. In 1989 he left England and the Sheffield-based band to start a new life in Berlin, in search of the city's underground. He extensively worked with Johnny Klimek under various aliases (System 01, 03, Effective Force as a duo and Holy Language along with Dr. Motte) until 1997, when Klimek followed a different direction in film scoring. His last traces in music production are found in 2004 (according to Discogs), questioning whether he is active or not.

The well-known production of the duo was Illuminate The Planet (1993) as Effective Force, not in its original version, but by the World Order Remixes of Paul Van Dyk and Dr. Motte. This post however pays homage to their second release under this alias; Diamond Bullet is a 4th tracker that indicates the dark and hypnotic feel of the early trance records. Heavily based on sampling, it blends perfectly with the Horror Monologue of Marlon Brando in film Apocalypse Now.

EFFECTIVE FORCE - DIAMOND BULLET (WILL IN POWER)


EFFECTIVE FORCE - DIAMOND BULLET (RITUAL)


EFFECTIVE FORCE - DIAMOND BULLET (NIGHTHAWK)


Electronic music needs guys like Johnny Klimek and Paul Browse back (unfortunately, a not likely scenario...)

Label Realm: Evoking music mEmoriEs

Another letter with a few labels to mention...

If you are familiar with the Balance series, then EQ Recordings should ring a bell. The Aussie label was set-up at the start of this century to release electronic dance music of international DJs. The legendary series was released on this label from 2001 until 2010, initially featuring DJs mainly from Australia (Sean Quin, Kasey Taylor, Phil K, Anthony Pappa) and expanding to others from all over the world. The fifth installment has been already mentioned twice in the blog, since it is considered the quintessential DJ mix by progressive house fans. The series continued to be released from 2010 until today by Balance Music.

Eternell is a small imprint of Swedish producer Ludvig Cimbrelius, set up to release his own works and collaborations. His two albums as Purl (Deep Ground & Stillpoint) are superb dub techno albums and they are a fine reason to reference the label!

What a legendary label Eye Q Records is! It was established in 1990 by Sven Väth, Matthias Hoffmann & Heinz Roth. The label encapsulates the true essence of old school trance: hypnotic, trippy and ethereal. The production trio of Ralf Hildenbeutel, Matthias Hoffman and Steffen Britzke produced a ton of classics under the label, such as
- Sven Väth - L' Esperanza
- Zyon - No Fate
- Cygnus X ‎– The Orange Theme
- Barbarella ‎– My Name Is Barbarella
and many more!
Even the seminal Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar was originally featured in 1992 behind the Eye!

The history of label was basically over in 1997, since the parent German company went bankrupt in August of the same year due to financial problems by the American division Eye Q USA. The UK division continued for two more years, but the label has changed its musical style dramatically, resembling no more its contribution to trance music...

Happy 2020 to all!