quête:david amo

Following the huge success of the lead single "Settle Down" (played twice on one show by David Rodigan!), Blend Mishkin and the Roots Evolution band deliver their stunning debut album "Survival Of The Fittest" for NICE UP! records. Having spent most of his professional career behind either a computer screen or pair of turntables, Athens based producer Blend Mishkin (real name George Mantas) has been putting in work since the mid 90s with releases on labels such as Pork Recordings, Tru Thoughts, Shadow Records and many more. For this, actually his 8th studio album, he decided to do something a little different and step out from behind the computer. A chance meeting with some like minded musicians led to a conversation about them re-creating some of his past tracks for a potential live show, but after much thought it was decided that something brand new and fresh was needed. After numerous sessions and jams, a collection of tracks had begun to take shape. Recorded live and then taken back to the lab for mixing and dubbing, "Survival Of The Fittest" is the fruits of these sessions. The next step was to scout for vocal performers to bring the rhythms to life, with the focus on using both international and local talent to give a wide breadth of influences and themes. Lining up are Rebel Salute show-stopper and Juno award winning Exco Levi and seasoned veteran Skarra Mucci from Jamaica, UK reggae/dancehall don Gappy Ranks, Italian raggamuffin KG Man, Mandinka Warrior from Denmark and fellow Greek BNC amongst many others. Retaining an authentic vibe whilst keeping it current, "Survival Of The Fittest" is a truly modern roots reggae album.

Requiem for a dreamstate. It's possibly somewhere between heaven, hell and high water, down the Thames Delta towards Eden. It may involve techno and a distorted state or simply mates sat listening to music together, drifting on the open sea of their minds. This is Jon Hopkins' world, not so much joining the dots as colouring the whole damn picture in.

After releasing his debut album 'Opalescent' at the rookie age of 21 in 1999, he's gone on to work with Brian Eno and David Holmes, produced King Creosote and via Eno, worked on three Coldplay albums. He released the breakthrough album 'Immunity' in 2013, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

The story arc with which Hopkins succeeded on 'Immunity' makes its appearance on Late Night Tales too with a perfectly sculpted excursion on this widescreen mix. . Opening with the unreleased 'Sleepers Beat Theme' by composer Ben Lukas Boysen, ghostly pianos skip elegantly hither and thither, among rising strings, as on Darkstar's 'Hold Me Down'. Nils Frahm is here, his sonic palette perfect for the job, while labelmate A Winged Victory For The Sullen contribute 'Requiem For The Static King Part I'. Sigur Ros offshoot Jónsi & Alex's heroic 'Daniell In The Sea' sends us forth towards the Baltic with tears streaming.

Beats occasionally appear, as on the Grace Jones-sampling 'Yr Love' by Holy Other or the pair of Black Country acts Bibio and Letherette, whose 'After Dawn' is almost spry in comparison to the minor key symphonies on display here. The perfect contrast to this comes from Alela Diane's wistful 'Lady Divine' or even Four Tet's mesmerising 'Gillie Amma I Love You', with its enchanting kids' choir. Exclusive to this release, Jon Hopkins provides a startlingly vulnerable new piano version of Yeasayer's 'I Remember'.

Poet and fellow Brian Eno collaborator (their joint album 'Drums Between The Bells' was released by Warp in 2011) Rick Holland narrates the exclusive spoken word closer 'I Remember', underpinned with additional sound design by Hopkins.

"Putting this album together was a unique opportunity for me to present music that I have been listening to for years, free from the constraints of a club setting or from trying to stick to one genre. I chose tracks not just because they have been important to me but because of how they sit together, putting as much thought into the transitions and overall narrative as I did into the track choices. I mixed by key and by texture more than anything else, using original sound design, pivot notes, and often recording new synth or piano parts to link things together in a way that flows as naturally as possible." - Jon Hopkins, December 2014

Davide Squillace, the Italian DJ and producer behind the This And That Lab and Hideout imprints, has kept up a hugely productive schedule since the 1990s, and lands on Luciano's Cadenza Music this fall with the 'Goiânia' single release. Previous musical output on a multitude of labels such as Primate, his own Sketch Music & Minisketch labels, Ovum, Supernature and M_nus has also seen the artist collaborate with plenty; Guti, Martin Buttrich and Philip Bader among those who he has conjured up some inventive and dancefloor-centric minimal electronic music with. On the lead track 'Goiânia', Squillace opens up a highly musical pot of orchestral stabs and brass hits, morphing bottom end and freestyle synth licks, cavorting around a steady percussive beat to great effect.'Blossom' comes heavier in vibe, but maintaining the classical atmosphere developed on the EP's opener. Pizzicato synths play a call and response with dramatic strings whilst an electro tinged drum pattern and sizzling hats lay the foundations of a track with more than a nod to the classic house sounds developed on labels like Innervisions and Ibadan. 'Unit 9 closes the release, and Squillace goes on a Galactic ride through meteoritic bleeps and humungous pads for a cosmic and pacey techno number, dubbing it up midway for a most enjoyable ride and a fitting closure to a classy release on Cadenza.

Raw District is Belgian duo Vernon Bara and Massimo DaCosta, Under the Vernon&DaCosta moniker, they have released music on labels such as OM Records, AMA Rec, Robsoul, Aroma, OFF, Icon, Doubledown and many more of the world's finest underground house labels.

They have remixed artists such as Brett Johnson, Fred Everything, Style of Eye, Miguel Migs and JT Donaldson and have garnered a reputation as important international producers and DJs with respect paid by great DJs like Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos, Jamie Jones, Mark Farina and DJ Sneak.

Vernon Bara also makes music as Ultrasone alongside Igor Vicente, which is a more techno orientated project that can count releases on Hot Creation and Supplement Facts to its name.

Ladybird is well known for being the singer of Soldiers Of Twilight and vocalist on one of the most famous Llorca's song My Precious Thing among the tons of project she been working for, One of the best, if not the best, soulful singer in Paris,
And now they can add to their resume that there are the very first new release on the briquerouge reboot, Orchestrated by David Duriez himself, the label is back for a new series of releases and reworks from the back catalogue with brand new top names added to the roster.

On this release you can enjoy top remix works by the likes of Nacho Marco (Ovum / Loudeast / Saw) and the head honcho David Duriez (2020Vision / Ovum / Classic) both on the acid side but in a very different way, A very complete package for the deep house heads as well as proper house djs.
DJ SUPPORT:

Detroit Swindle
Richy Ahmed
Jamie Anderson
Kiko Navarro
Chilli Davis
Inland Knights
Spencer Broughton
Orde Meikle Slam
Jozif
Bryan Zents
Flash Brothers
DJ T
Dubfire
nathan detroit
Hernan Cattaneo
Snooba
Tristan da Cunha basics, redux , 2020
Julian M
Florian Meindl
Sleazy Mcqueen
Dan Ghenacia
Chris Fortier
Jussu Pekka
Peter Gelderblom
Phonogenic
The Henchmen
Nuno Dos Santos
Tiger Stripes
Agoria
Timo Garcia
Ekkohaus

"Between Stars" is the debut album from Barcelona based Venezuelan producer and DJ Maurice Aymard. More than two years in the making, 'Between Stars' has been a labour of love for Aymard as he travelled the globe to collaborate with musicians and singers in Barcelona, Berlin, London and Venezuela who could help to bring his vision to life. Released on Aymard's own Galaktika Records (Garnica, James Teej & more), 'Between Stars' was recorded entirely live and features contributions from the likes of Brazilian star Gui Boratto, Columbian singers Andrea and Paulo Olarte, Argentian guitarist Mariano Godoy and many more, the resulting album takes the house music template and expands it to a grandiose level. In an age when anything that isn't packed full of buzzsaw bass and 'sick' drops gets labelled as Deep House, "Between Stars" is the real deal, and from the first bars of the albums opening (and title) track, 'Between Stars' quickly establishes itself as something truly special, a 'house' album that not only works as a coherent whole but sounds as good at home, by the poolside or in a club at 4am. If 'live' house albums have in the past had a tendency to verge on the polite, Aymard's skill as a producer and experience as a DJ keeps things rooted in club culture and nearly every track off 'Between Stars' deserves to find its way into DJ sets over the coming months. Rather than smooth things out the live instrumentation instead adds an energy to the tracks and the subtle touches, that the likes of guitarist David Rondon brings to 'El Final', lift the album up to another level altogether. Since moving from Venezuela to Spain and launching Galaktika Records, Aymard has become an integral part of the European house music scene. With releases on the likes of Berlin's Moodmusic, Hamburg's Einmusika and Denmark's Tic Tac Toe Records, and remix credits for artists such as Mario Basanov, Compuphonic and Combo, Aymard has built a reputation for delivering quality underground house music and with his debut album Aymard looks set to secure his position as one of the scene's most innovative artists.

RAWAX IS PROUD TO WELCOME MR. K-ALEXI SHELBY TO THE FAMILY!
Mr. K Alexi Shelby
Like a moth drawn to a flame, there is something utterly infectious about the music of Mr.K Alexi Shelby, better known as K-Alexi one of the founding fathers of house music direct from his home city of Chicago. Since the late 1980s, he has pioneered the true house sound, leading to a DH and production career spanning over 20 years, including collaborations with artists ranging from The Pet Shop Boys to Derrick May and from Larry Heard and Felix da Housecat to Will Smith, as well as gigs across the globe.
An impressionable young teenager, Mr.K Alexi Shelby developed friendships with Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst attending seminal venues like The Warehouse and The Music Box in the mid 1980s. Being here at this embryonic stage of dance music culture, there were no rules or precedents, so K Alexi drew on a rich musical heritage that had seen him grow up in the 70s and 80s listening to Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff. Those roots continue to influence his music to this day.
It was under the moniker Risque III that Essence Of A Dream was released in 1987, firmly establishing the name of Mr.K Alexi Shelby amongst the most prominent of all house producers at the time. Moreover, those early tracks are still recognized to be the quintessential Chicago house sound. The rumbling and dark bass, smooth strings, incredible percussion and the spoken word poetic and erotic lyrical flow became the trademark for classic Chicago house and the template for everything else that followed. To reiterate, there was no template before this. This was the beginning.
This initial success has lead to Mr.K Alexi Shelby working with the leading names across the electronic music world and beyond. Collaborations and remixes for Chicago peers like Mike Dunn, Mr. Lee and Marshall Jefferson merely served as the springboard for Alexi to work with the best in the electronic scene, from Derrick May to Paul Johnson ,Ron Trent Dave Angel to Felix ad House Kat. Furthermore, his talents have also lead to him working with The Pet Shop Boys and Will Smith.
On top of this, his tracks have appeared on compilations by artists varying from Laurent Garnier to DJ Hell, who used It's Me 2010 contribution to the Body Language series for Get Physical Music. Produced under the Club M.C.M. moniker, the 1991 EP It's Me/Club M.C.M. has been a frequent selection for compilations for 20 years and is rightly regarded as a true underground techno classic.