Too often labels can become stagnated with the same tried and tested (albeit quality) productions from some of the scenes long-standing veterans. Berlin based label Nous take a different route; regularly providing a platform for unknown producers amidst the occasional Call Super or Karen Gwyer record. George Mavrikos spearheads Nous, and along with the collaborative effort of friends and artists he’s built a label that sets an example; dig around, talk to people and get involved in the scene in order to discover the freshest sounds. The time and dedication he commits to sourcing music is nothing short of astounding, the results of which are clear from the back catalogue of largely unknowns that make up the label.
The Berlin label turns to Juniper and Ayin amongst others for its next compilation.
The Lyon-based producer makes his mark with Swahili EP due in August.
Osaka-based musician Koshiro Hino traces the genesis of his work as YPY along with the development of his birdFriend label in this discussion with Yusaku Shigeyasu.
The artist also known as DJ Rei Ayanami is back on the Berlin label with From Antarctica With Love.
The Off The Grid EP from the LA-based Brazilian producer will arrive in March.
The latest UNTHANK from Firecracker, plus records from Blackest Ever Black, Dark Entries, Nous Disques, Crazylegs and more feature this month.
The Osaka-based producer will make his debut on the Berlin label with the Visions 12″.
This month’s column features records from The Trilogy Tapes, Planet Mu, Berceuse Heroique, Nous, meandyou. and more.
Over time the layers and layers that comprise Karen Gwyer’s work seem to be getting thicker and denser still, pushing away from the airy accessibility of her Needs Continuum debut and towards a deeper, darker recess that cites Low Jack, other Opal Tapes artists, and harder forms of techno in general as its influence even as it wriggles away. 2014’s New Roof might be the most remarkable and accessible result of these interactions, a push away from using her voice as a leading instrument and into synth-focused elongated expressions with two tracks ‘Lay Claim to My Grub’ and ‘Missisissipippi’ each pushing a Villalobosian 17 minutes.
Where does Berlin operation Nous fit into the current label landscape? A straight talking George Mavrikos sits down with Rose Mardit to discuss the label’s emergence.
The Bouloman EP will arrive through the Berlin label in June – stream the opening track here.
Preview the Berlin label’s upcoming record from the unknown artist which features a remix from Karen Gwyer.
The first release of 2015 from the UK-born producer will be the Fluenka Mitsu EP.
The unheralded Hungarian producer will provide the next record on the rising Greek house label.
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It’s been a rapid rise for Wes Gray as his music career finds its feet. That’s not to say the man is on a stadium-busting level just yet, but after his self-released debut got a wider push from Peoples Potential Unlimited he has been scoring recognition left right and centre. Perhaps what makes this relative drop in the musical ocean seem so seismic is that there is an inescapable boutique feeling to the music Gray creates. In the intimate, warbling tones of his synths and the roughshod fall of his beats a thousand forgotten gems are remembered, so rich is the nostalgia that is woven into his music. That’s far from an aspersion on the worth that Gray’s output has brought to the table thus far, as his skill is in creating those emotional responses while carving his own identity with plentiful panache. As such, to hear so many people championing his music seems at odds with the up close and personal tone he often transmits.
Lo-fi funkateer tapped for the second release from the Athens-based label – preview it here.
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There’s no context to this first release for Nous, and apparently none for Miltiades either, other than a background in Athens, Greece and Hakim Murphy on remix duties. It makes for a pleasant change not judging a piece of music based on its place and time, and really that pleasantry is a feeling that carries through the whole of the EPK.X release.
Stream the debut release from the newly formed Athens-based label Nous.