Forget wonderland, Alice lives in robot land now. She's the only human being in her band and she's the conductor. Machines are Alice's best friends and she understands them: computers, sequencers, drum machines and synthesizers seem to understand her too.This serial digital artist is a cyborg woman. She cofounded Tasty Bytes Records label and has also released tracks with other labels, such as Buzzard Gulch, sub label of Coco Machete, Circuit Freq Record and Ventuno Recording.Presently working as a sound designer for a major video game production company, her music is under the influence of all the different aspects of this make believe universe.

https://www.encodetalent.com/kevin-de-vries

In the ever-evolving electronic music landscape, Kevin de Vries stands out as a luminary, crafting melodic techno masterpieces that echo through clubs and festivals worldwide. With a unique talent for melding musical intricacies, he has carved out a prominent place in the industry.

Kevin utilises the mesmerising and often transcendent potency of loops to captivate the dance floor. His close affiliation with Afterlife, where he has been a core artist since 2018, has provided a key platform to showcase his creative talent. Since his first release, Kevin has been part of the brand’s story, one which has unfolded to encompass a vast global community and a progressive ethos based on connection. Cuts such as ‘Dance With Me’ and ‘Metro’ have showcased his production abilities and distinctive style.

Kevin’s relationship with the label and event series also inspired the progression of his musical approach. The connection to his audience is the driving force behind his constant evolution. On stage, Kevin is a natural performer, matching the vibrancy of his music with his stage presence. Whether at larger scale productions, or more intimate settings, his aim is to form a symbiotic relationship with the audience - a mutual energy exchange that inspires Kevin, and the dance floor simultaneously.

Elsewhere, Kevin has released with Drumcode, Experts Only and Cocoon. With each release, he injects emotionally charged energy, combined with mesmerising beats and rhythmic arrangements. 

His unique sound has been featured in some of the most notable clubs, including Brooklyn Mirage NYC, Space Miami, and Hï Ibiza, as well as at world renowned festivals like Coachella, EDC Las Vegas, Tomorrowland, Awakenings, and Time Warp.

Kevin’s vision for the future upholds his community focused ethos - to connect with as many people as possible through his music, to keep finding new ways to communicate his message and, ultimately, to stay true to himself.

For Rune Reilly Kölsch, Kompakt has become a great label to call home. In 2013 the German imprint celebrated 20 years of record releases at the cutting edge of electronic music, championed in June by one of the most genre re-defining albums and personal music projects for an era: Kölsch’s landmark long player, ‘1977’.

A melodic autobiography on black wax, the Kölsch project has seen 36/37-year-old Rune take stock of a diverse and successful production career and draw upon his own personal beginnings: a nostalgia for childhood, family, friends and the confusion of applying his split-cultural heritage to what it means to think of ‘home’. As Rune freely admits, “being half Irish, half German and living in Denmark – it was all one big messy period of my life.” 

Born to hippie parents in the freetown of Christiania (a commune-like autonomous borough of the Danish capital Copenhagen) his childhood was spent surrounded by creativity. His mother was an artist whose family had roots in German politics and his father a singer songwriter who travelled through Asia playing music in the early 70's. Kölsch, however, did miss out on building friendships and found solace in making up “this imaginary world that I would spend days in,” before the family moved to Germany – a period of memories, relations and characters from which ‘1977’ derives its titles.

For Rune, the tracks he began building from 2010 took in this personal reflection, his being “completely locked in to reminiscing about what shaped me as a kid and into the individual that I am now” – contemplating his unique past to form the brickwork of ‘1977’, one of the most future-facing techno albums of recent years.

Influenced by hip hop, pop and the incredible legacy of Jeff Mills and Derrick May, Rune started producing in 1995, embarking on a string of success stories. In 2003 he released the multi-million selling, saxophone-infused ‘Calabria’, that saw collaboration requests pouring in from artists as diverse as Nicki Minaj, Shakira and Flo Rida. He then set up Tattoorecs – releasing pioneering underground tracks with no titles, just tattoos for artwork, that garnered critical acclaim and support from minimal and techno trailblazers such as Sven Väth, Richie Hawtin, Magda, Tiefschwarz and Ricardo Villalobos.

This appreciation of the complete musical spectrum has gifted Rune with a devotion to groove and melodics and with it the dexterity to input real creative change to the genres he reveres, not least his beloved techno. “2010 was the year of the ketamine house wave, where the music was 118 bpm and everything was extremely boring”, reflects Rune. “I wanted some melodic techno, some energy back in this scene. People needed the energy to express themselves and go crazy for a bit.”

This notion faced opposition, even from within Rune’s close circles. But it was Kompakt founder Michael Mayer who had the insight to see what Kölsch was trying to achieve. Rune’s conviction that vibrations and melodics are the key to human response had tipped the balance, underlined by his experience as a hip hop DJ where he “needed something to catch me and drag me in. And that’s what techno should do!” Here too he drew on his love of Jeff Mills and Derrick May, recalling how “they used to make mistakes all the time. It would be a big mash of all kinds of stuff, but at least something was happening. That’s what I was missing and that’s what I’m trying to change with the Kölsch project.”

The result is ‘1977’, a personal collection of dancefloor destroyers that are continuing to send clubs and festivals across the globe into melodic supernova. Take this video of Kölsch’s set at Belgium’s I Love Techno festival, one of Rune’s 2013 highlights, where “people were doing sit downs, singing along to all the tracks”. Watch it. It puts the hairs up on the back of your neck. “The response was overwhelming,” said Rune in a recent interview with Mixmag (who named Kölsch as one of their ‘Stars Of 2013’), as “when you think about it, it was just a bunch of childhood memories with a kickdrum underneath.” 

Elsewhere he’s ripped up the airways with an acclaimed Essential Mix for Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1, delivered his incendiary soundscape to Singapore’s world-renowned ZoukOut Festival, boomed his live show through the heaving basement of London’s XOYO and played the hallowed Space Terrace – in his words “a boyhood dream since I started going to Ibiza in 1999. That was what I wanted from life!” So opening Amnesia in 2014 with Joris Voorn will be a bonus then...

While these are reasons enough to keep the beaming smile beneath Kölsch’s trademark black fedora, his humility remains just as striking. While tracks like ‘Goldfisch’ have taken pivotal positions in the set lists of world class DJs from across the dance music spectrum – traversing the underground with Seth Troxler, while simultaneously providing credible new euphoric highs for the likes of Axwell – Rune remains joyously down to earth. All despite producing, with ‘1977’, an album that has crossed as many cultural and musical boundaries as his own childhood past.

From the face-twisting melodic drive of ‘Opa’ and ‘Bappedekkel’, to the chord-surfing piano groove of ‘Der Alte’ and the euphoric crescendos of ‘Lorely’, ‘Oma’ and ‘All That Matters’ (all hits in different countries), the fact remains that whether in your living room, on the dancefloors of the world’s greatest parties, or simply in your headphones on your way home, Kölsch’s ‘1977’ has re-defined techno and become an achievement that speaks for itself. 

Words: Phil Dudman – Clubs & Live Music Editor, Mixmag


NATURAL https://orcd.co/massano-natural

Label https://soundcloud.com/simulateofficial
Enquiries: dave@milkhoneyla.com 
Booking: dave.blackgrove@teamwass.com (WW) 
jschumann@wmeagency.com (N&S America)

Combining aggressive sound design with hypnotic grooves and melodies, Massano’s rapid rise continues to accelerate at a meteoric rate. Hailing from the outskirts of a thriving electronic music culture in Liverpool, Massano has been universally regarded as one of the biggest breakout stars of the last two years, not only in the techno community but across the electronic music landscape as a whole!

After the release of his breakout hit, “The Feeling”, Massano’s demand increased by the day, and new music was released, including his debut Afterlife EP ‘In My System’. The EP received huge live support and performed incredibly well on Beatport, going #1 on the Releases Chart, “Drown” going Top 10 on the overall Top 100 chart, and each of the 4-track offering hitting the Top 5 of the Melodic House & Techno chart. Massano’s music has proven to have widespread appeal by gaining continuous support from A-list DJs across all genres of electronic music including the likes of Tale of Us, Calvin Harris, Adam Beyer, Adriatique, Artbat, David Guetta, Camelphat, Fisher, HI-LO, Vintage Culture, Pete Tong, and many more. Strong radio support has also been there from the start, with Massano’s releases getting played frequently by the likes of BBC Radio 1, Capital FM, Kiss FM, and Sirius XM. He’s also proven his DJ skills match his wizkid production abilities by being booked at some of the biggest events, festivals, and venues the world has to offer, including The FIFA World Cup, Wembley Arena, Tomorrowland, Sziget, Ultra, Kappa Futur Festival, The Warehouse Project, Time Warp, Electric Zoo, Creamfields, HI / Ushuaia / Pacha Ibiza, Brooklyn Mirage, Printworks and more!

2023 started with Massano ranking as the #3 best-selling Melodic Techno artist over the last 12 months! With several stand out releases to his name on Tale of Us’ uber credible and tastemaker label, Afterlife, Adam Beyer’s iconic Drumcode Records, widely renowned remixes for Depeche Mode and Royksopp, and a critically acclaimed BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, Massano took the next step in his career by launching his own label, Simulate. Simulate serves as a platform for some of Massano’s own releases but also a place where he can nurture the next generation of artists. Embracing the idea that life is a simulation, Massano envisions a future where technology reigns supreme, shaping our world into the unimaginable. With Simulate Massano combines music, technology, and philosophical exploration into a mesmerizing sonic experience that challenges our perception of reality and takes you on a transcendent journey, where the possibilities of a technologically advanced world two centuries from now come to life through audio and visual art. As an artist-driven label, Massano curates a roster of forward-thinking musicians who dare to push the boundaries of electronic music, inviting listeners to ponder the intricacies of our simulated universe.

After playing over 120 shows and releasing 12 songs in 2023, 2024 will be Massano’s biggest year to date! From bigger shows and productions to new music, remixes, merch, fan clubs and more Massano’s world domination is on a steady, yet rapid, ascension upwards and the best is still yet to come!  


Released on:
Simulate
Afterlife
Drumcode
Upperground
Oddity
Running Clouds
Atlant
Radikon

SUBMIT YOUR REPOST: https://progressiveastronaut.com/submit-your-repost

Founded in 2013, Progressive Astronaut is a carefully curated platform, operating at the heart of the electronic underground. Initiated with the intent of musical exploration, we set out to showcase innovative content to our ever growing community. Established globally, our loyal following embraces our contemporary vision for cutting edge electronic music, as seen through our premieres, podcasts, interviews, free downloads and more. Progressive Astronaut is a platform for discovery, with a healthy blend of emerging artists, along with the scenes most revered names, operating as a central hub where music aficionados, DJs, artists and label managers unite in a thriving environment bound by a passion for music. The continued evolution of dance culture resonates from the core of our platform as we move forward into the future. Come join us.

http://www.progressiveastronaut.com

Contact & Promos: progressiveastronaut@gmail.com

PS. we do not answer to SoundCloud messages

Our label will be an outlet for unique and exceptional emotive sounds, music that moves you, lets you dance and fills you with emotions. We want to present alongside our own music, artists who we’ve followed for some time, as well as young and talented artists. 

OUT NOW: 
ARTBAT - Dance
DOWNLOAD: https://upperground.lnk.to/Dance

Baset - Drift
DOWNLOAD: https://upperground.lnk.to/Drift

Contact: info@upperground.art
Demos: demo@upperground.art

HUNGOVER with JOHN SUMMIT out 15.12.2023

https://laylo.com/mathame_/RsSaE


Contact : Guillaume@h2049.com

Record label and event series founded by Joris Voorn. Listen to our latest releases here 👇

https://linktr.ee/spectrummusicnl

John Tapiero is following