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.