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...

Tune #27: Armand Van Helden - You Don't Know Me

You don't even know me...
Επιστροφή για μία ακόμα φορά στο έτος 1999, στο οποίο βρίσκουμε το You Don't Know Me από τον Armand Van Helden.
ARMAND VAN HELDEN FEAT. DUANE HARDEN - YOU DON'T KNOW ME

Ο Armand Van Helden είναι Αμερικανός παραγωγός και DJ, ο οποίος άρχισε τη μουσική του καριέρα το 1990. Βρέθηκε στο προσκήνιο το 1996 με το remix του για το τραγούδι Professional Widow της Tori Amos, το οποίο έγινε μεγάλη επιτυχία. Η επιτυχία του επαναλήφθηκε το 1999, όταν κυκλοφόρησε το You Don't Know Me, με φωνητικά από τον τραγουδιστή Duane Harden.
Όπως ένα κλασικό τραγούδι house μουσικής, έτσι και το You Don't Know Me χρησιμοποιεί samples. Συγκεκριμένα, χρησιμοποιεί strings από το disco τραγούδι Dance With You της Carrie Lucas, ενώ τα drums θυμίζουν αυτά του Plastic Dreams του Jaydee. Η ομοιότητα είναι εμφανής...
JAYDEE - PLASTIC DREAMS

Άλλα γνωστά τραγούδια του Armand είναι το My My My και το Duck Sauce, τα οποία υπολειπόνται ποιότητας (αν εξαιρέσει κανείς το video clip του πρώτου...).