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 #88: 3KZ - A Love Supreme

Italian techno music delivers:

3KZ - A LOVE SUPREME


3KZ is the collaborative project of Italian producers Giuseppe Maffei and Nico Campanella. Hailing from Puglia (a district of South Italy), the two youngsters shared parallel paths in music, since they both were captivated by the techno music of the 90's.

Giuseppe is mostly known with this solo alias Z.I.P.P.O. since 2014, when his first production Symmetrica Therapy was surfaced in a EP by German label Figure. His alias is associated with the composition of eclectic techno tracks, presented by various European independent labels (Suburban Avenue, Involve Records, Enemy Records, Virgo). Additionally, he is the owner of Fides, a record label focused on releasing his and Nico's material. At the end of this month, his new project Midnight Conversation (with the fellow Italian Mattia Trani) is expected to be released, whose output seems a fine mixture of nu funk / nu jazz.

Nico emerged in the music scene as Kaelan, via his label Subosc in 2012 (initially in digital-only format). His work can be considered as a harmonic interpretation of the Detroit sound, since his training on classical piano blends perfectly with his inspiration from techno legends (Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Derrick May), in order to produce a trippy musical experience. His other solo aliases are also interesting for listening purposes (2030 for electro productions and Ixm for dub techno tracks).

Personally, I believe that their collaborative effort as 3KZ is the most creative. In 2017, their debut album Parallel Reflections was released via Fides and it is undoubtedly a top notch LP (with an amazing artwork cover!). The two guys work splendidly into crafting sublime melodic techno with modern equipment.

This year, they return with a new killer EP called A Love Supreme, released in March by Berlin-based label Arts. For some reason, the tracks remind me the early works of Ludovic Navarre (St. Germain anyone?), who was one of the pioneers for the French techno scene.

Finally, I hope that they visit someday Greece for an ambient jam session like this one!