Moshi Moshi Records started off as a hobby in 1998. Set up by three friends who had jobs working for major record labels. It was intended as a way of working with the bands that they loved but which didn’t fit in with the agenda of the day-job taskmasters. Early single releases from Zan Lyons, Kathryn Williams & Pedro and J Xaverre earned the label some plaudits. And sold a few records. Over the next five years Moshi Moshi slowly started to build a reputation for interesting, slightly leftfield, low-key releases. Then in 2004 things changed. For a start Moshi stopped being a hobby and became a fulltime job. Very soon after, Hot Chip and Bloc Party arrived and Moshi Moshi quickly became a name known to more than a few. Chart success followed with Yeti and The Rakes and higher-profile album releases from Architecture In Helsinki and Au Revoir Simone helped lift the label onto a new level. Then from 2006 onwards came artists such as Hot Club De Paris, Tilly And The Wall, The Wave Pictures, Slow Club, James Yuill, The Drums, Summer Camp, the list goes on.

In late 2006 the two remaining Moshi Moshi founders decided they wanted to get back to their one-off 7” release roots and the Moshi Moshi Singles Club was born. The intention was to try and release one 7” each month by a new up-and-coming artist. It would be limited to 1000 and only be available in a select group of indie stores. The artwork would be restricted to one colour and be designed by the bands themselves. Now some 40+ releases later the singles club’s roster makes an impressive list – (including) Kate Nash, Late of The Pier, Friendly Fires, Lykke Li, Florence and The Machine, Kindness, Dananananayckroyd. Disclosure. In 2011 Moshi Moshi expanded its remit by partnering up with some very talented young A&R folk to set up the imprints Tender Age, Not Even, Apricot and Dream Beach. Working under the Moshi Moshi umbrella these new labels have already yielded a clutch of exciting releases by artists from as far afield as Kenya and Seattle.

At the same time as running the record label Moshi Moshi Management has been quietly guiding the career of Metronomy and Slow Club as well as producers Ash Workman and Ollie Bayston. From 2012 this side of the business started to expand dramatically and now features a sizeable roster of emerging artists.

Looking back on the Moshi Moshi roster (particularly since the label ‘went fulltime’ in 2004) it’s a collection that bears comparison with any of its peers. For a label run by two people with no financial backing, it’s nothing short of an inspiration.

Established in London, 1999.

#HouseMusicAllLifeLong

One of Germany’s leading house music lights, Boris Dlugosch’s chameleon-like approach has helped him to amass an incredibly enviable catalogue of grooves that continues to grow every year.

Releasing on illustrious labels like Gerd Janson's RUNNING BACK,  Classic Music, Defected, Suara, Toolroom Records and Poker Flat Recordings in recent times, Dlugosch’s chunky basslines, crisp percussion and earworm melodies have found their way to all corners of the house music scene. His successful working relationship with Purple Disco Machine yielded L.O.V.E. and Set It Out, which both hit the #1 spot on Traxsource and the Top 5 on Beatport, as did Peppermint Jam’s 20th anniversary remix package of his classic Keep Pushin’.

Keep Pushin’ was the track that broke him through onto the global house scene in the mid-’90s in a big way. Germany wasn’t exactly a hotbed of house music talent at the time—making him somewhat of a rarity—and it soon became clear with further anthems like Hold Your Head Up High that he was a producer with a serious sense of musicality as well as dancefloor prowess. After this series of club smashes, the big-name remixes started to roll in: Aaliyah, Mary J Blige, Adeva, Randy Crawford… and then came that remix for Moloko’s Sing It Back, a huge crossover track that became the official radio version and hit #4 in the UK Singles Chart. Next came reworks for Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, Jamiroquai, Mariah Carey, Moby…

Eventually growing wearisome of the declining funky house / garage sounds of the era, Dlugosch discovered a new-found love for the French electro scene in the mid-noughties, releasing Bangkok on Erol Alkan’s Phantasy Sound imprint and Cycle on Lektroluv Records (complete with a remix from Etienne De Crecy), with the likes of 2manydjs, Boys Noize and Laurent Garnier all throwing their weight behind his updated sound.

After the electro scene became saturated and the times progressed once again, he metamorphosed into the producer we know him as today, taking a modern approach to classic house music that draws on multiple influences. “I constantly check for new tracks and absorb what’s out there” he says of his hunger for new sounds and styles. “We all change constantly!” he adds of his—and indeed others’—evolution over the years. “I don’t want anyone to pigeonhole me”. And nor should they. When you have as much musical talent as Dlugosch, it’s criminal to keep making the same sounds over and over again.

A Boiler Room Berlin set in 2013 introduced him to a new generation of house music lovers, and his regular In The Mix uploads on SoundCloud give a good idea of what can be heard in his rocking club and festival sets. Upfront house meets garagey classics and disco cut-ups, dashes of electro, acid and deep melodic moments to give a well-rounded selection that perfectly marries house music’s past, present and future. 

He is also an erstwhile label owner, having set up Golden City Sounds in 2013 with Digitalism’s Isi and HEY TODAY!’s Raik Fargo—but the imprint is currently dormant. He’s eyeing up the possibilities of launching a new label, but only when it feels right and makes sense on a creative level. We live in hope.

A true legend who continues delivering the goods today, Boris Dlugosch is one of house music’s real treasures.

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