The “Distractions EP” is my first concept work: a piece of music divided into four movements intended to be listened to continuously, clocking in at a half an hour worth of music. The EP is an introduction to a different side of my writing style, giving the listener an insight to my interest in long-form composition.

My influences on this piece range from IDM to film music, which give me a wide pallet of sounds and moods to chose from. While the tempo of the piece is 126 BPM, it has the feel of a melodic techno record with the soul of a late 90’s progressive trance track.

The mood of the piece ranges from the foreboding and anticipating first movement, to the glitch-ridden, hopeful-sounding fourth movement. I used a fair amount of alternative digital signal processing and synthesis techniques, including C Sound and granular synthesis to give the piece's sound design a unique character and timbre. Thanks for the support, and I hope you enjoy the piece.

The wait is finally over: after six years, Isolée will release his third album on Pampa Records. “Well Spent Youth” showcases Rajko Müller’s talent as an exceptionally visionary producer.

No one sounds like Isolée. Not even close. The name says it all: one-of-a-kind.

Over the last 15 years, Isolée has managed to create a breathtaking trademark sound. Every note seems lovingly scavenged from the depths of his analogue equipment pool, then polished and woven into an abstract, otherworldly, always morphing yet still binding and bouncing sound composition of epic proportions. Well Spent Youth is a chameleon; it assumes different forms depending on the volume it’s played. Tunes like ‘Taktell’, ‘Thirteen Times An Hour’, ‘Hold On’, ‘One Box’ and ‘Celeste’ set the club on fire, quickly spreading the unique, indescribable Isolée vibe, which imbues the often cold, bleak dance floor with a unique, clever colour. The collective joy at being challenged is ubiquitous. People dance to Isolée’s music with their eyes closed – opened every now and then only to exchange knowing nods.

But it’s an equal pleasure to play this album at home on your living room system. Especially when you feel sick and useless, unfit for anything other than the contemplation of your screwed-up life. Throw on the record and let the sound reach out a warm, safe hand, pull you out of the whole damn mess.

In 1998, Isolée achieved a timeless stroke of genius with “Beau Mot Plage” (Playhouse), which enchanted listeners across genres and the world, pushing the boundaries of electronic dance music further than they’d ever been pushed before. This was followed by two highly acclaimed albums on Frankfurt label Playhouse, Rest and We Are Monster, along with numerous remixes for artists like Recloose, Blaze, Franz Ferdinand, Roy Davis Jr., Tiga, Alter Ego and International Pony, to name a few.

Now, Isolée reminds us yet again what electronic music is capable of – crossing boundaries and achieving the psychedelic! Pampa is happy to bring this latest album to the world. Though if we’re honest, the very best part is: we get to be friends with Rajko!

The sixth M_REC LTD’s release is signed by Samuli Kemppi and it’s another confirmation why he draws consistently attention from all corners. After work on Mote Evolver and Prologue, the finnish artist's style is unmistakable. These four new tracks on the excellent M_REC LTD strike again for its ultra-modern techno.

A techno full of expectation with its clean sound and dark. reminiscent of Detroit techno. He never loses control of the dancefloor and the mind. Great new EP that absolutely every modern techno producer must have.

We welcome Ryan Davis, an artist who should have released with us a long time ago, since his music is very close to what Traum has released over the period of 12 years.

Ryan is great musician and totally dedicated to the melodic side of dance music, with compositional skill and courage that is rare in dance music today.

Ryan has recorded for various labels but keeps a low profile for himself which makes him a true candidate for Traum also in the future.

The opening track Roads is a track of sheer extravagance. It combines different musical genres in in a very skillful way and makes an unmistakable statement towards an artistic composition.

You will find so many influences going on here that it is hard to pin down weather it is a romantic or cinematic track or even a strong club epic.

It works on all levels and that is a quality Ryan Davis has cultivated over a long period.

Lush and deep passages alternate with energetic ones, using hi tech technology to make it a firework or rather a serpentine of delicate stunts altogether.

Loophole is wise enough to dedicate itself to a more track like piece of music.

But please do not make judgements too quick... in the course of its development it attracts colourful, melodic elements and takes them in to a never-ending beat.

Step by step Ryan Davis adds long-armed synth stretches and the lushness of fragile electronic music.

Sideways, the third track is by far the most free minded spirit on the release.

Again equally beautifully crafted and refurbished to feel fresh and new as all of these tracks... Davis here suggest rather than dedicates images that seem to drown in a see of sound.

This includes slow motion or stand still passages and a general fantastic approach rather than a club head turner.

Roland M. Dill’s remix is bassline monster of a muscular beat track that puts him next to artists such as Radioslave & Dettmann. New Traum artist from the UK Morris Cowan has taken on Sideways and instantly felt he could do a interpretation it in his style. The result is a tight new interpretation based on an arrangement which takes in the coolness of dub step but also pays tribute to the seriousness of the original.

We think Morris Cowan has done great and have signed him for a full length album on Traum’s new imprint Zaubernuss!

How do you define an artist who has never performed live, nor DJ’ed, nor ever had his photograph published and has never partaken in an interview? By the music of course. Jürgen Paape has proven this time and time again. How? Listen. Hear. Right now his “Kompilation”. The man, co-owner of Kompakt and the house’s most elusive member remains the un-compromised, untainted shining star. And without ever being there…. the one who launched the label with his first release "Triumph“, has left a legacy of music that is a true core of the sound which Kompakt’s foundation is built on along the years.

Here is the review of Jürgen Paape with “Kompilation”. A well deserved opportunity to hear Jürgen Paape for fans and newcomers – revived and remastered in a way that it plays through like a full length album. Some of the biggest moments of Kompakt over a decade history are here. The chorus of “So Weit Wie Noch Nie” remains timeless – there to send shivers of pleasure down your spine as we feel at the end of exhaustive end of a night at Total Confusion. “Take That” is an anthem for the unbuilt rock stadiums of tomorrow. The bona-fide hit that put him in the charts in Australia and Italy is here – “Come Into My Life (Radio Edit)” remains undeniably one of Kompakt’s catchiest pop tracks ever. We also debut his brand new single “So Wird Die Zeit Gemacht” – which builds on his signature sound with the spirit and vitality of classic house and a truly demented vocal hook.

Jürgen Paape’s “Kompilation” shall be available on 500 limited edition CD's found only in Cologne store of Kompakt and through the record store’s online shop: www.kompakt.fm

The whole album is just fantastic, with various ambiances. Certainly one of the best album of the year, an ode to the electronic music. It has been a long time I never heard such a good music. "Kompilation" has been released on 17 December as CD version and shall be released on January 10th, 2011 digitally.

Ending the year with a Manualism compilation album has become a tradition for us, which we are continuing for the 4th year in a row. We are proud to present: Manualism 4.0!

We’ve carefully selected the finest tunes over the last months and have come up with 18 tracks for this edition!

Familiar faces like Matador, Examine, Francesco Pico (with Roell Sapphire), Elad Emek, Tundra, Sensou, Arjuna Schiks, Jeff Bennett and Giorgos Gatzigristos (on remix duties this time) find their place alongside new names to the Manual label like Sarp Yilmaz (Trapez/Kittball), Jaramillo & Bastien (Strom/Starlight), Ryan Sullivan (Perc Trax) and Luke Mandala (Get Physical/Baroque).

Throughout the years we’ve always been very keen on keeping our ears open to discover and support new Dutch talent, and needless to say with Daniel Zuur, Orbit System, Zoutman and Alessandro Diga on board we’ve got the feeling that the future of Dutch electronic dance music is secured!

Wade Bennett, a UK based progressive house and techno DJ, devotes countless hours to his music production and already has a fair few achievements under his belt. Wade’s style is a fusion of all his music passions combining euphoric melodic chord progressions, rolling tribal house beats with dark electronic techno FX and percussion. His style caught the attention of some of the industries big spinners, being supported by the likes of Sander Van Doorn, Sasha, Nick Warren, Alan Fitzpatrick, Marco V and Hernan Cattaneo.

Having released before on labels like Tokio recordings, Baroque, Televizion and Lowbit, Cinematique is proud to welcome Wade aboard for this final release of 2010. Red Like Cherry is an uplifting progressive pearl flavoured with Wade's trademark tribal and percussion influences which will surely work on the dancefloor as well.

On remix duties we welcome back Giorgos Gatzigristos with an offbeat, dark but epic rework of Red Like Cherry. Finally, making his debut on Cinematique it's Examine who received some great feedback on his debut abum Major Minor on Manual Music recently. He converted Wade's track into his typical deephouse style for which he is well known for.

Phil Kieran re-releases the Skyhook EP. First released on Novamute, he has decided to re-release on his new label Phil Kieran Recordings. With some great remixes.

Again a new groovy dark track from Szymon on his new Relax2000. After his last release on Relax2015 which was supported by remixes from Felix Bernhardt and Syntax Error, this time, he gets remixed by the cologne "Niederflur" Duo, who are one of the first acts on M-NUS since the early days.

After their return in 2010 with their album "BIPOLAR" on their very own label NIEDERFLURTRACKS, followed up by a remix series featuring the great works of Troy Pierce, Raudive, Jonas Kopp etc., they also take part of the relaxed releases on Relax2000 Records.

They chose Szymon Hollner's Freaky Poeple to add their own electronic music aspects. Szymon Hollner added two more bonus tracks which will be out digitally soon! Be also a part of this relaxed release!

We welcome back Applescal with another techno stormer.

We started to work with Amsterdam based Traum artist Pascal Terstappen with his „Paul For President“ 12" in spring 2009 and introduced his clubby side.

Later we also discovered his dark electronic side and released 2 albums on Traum with him: "A Slave's Commitment" and a "Mishmash Of Changing Moods". He has meanwhile established himself amongst the forward thinking artist on Traum and it all also lead to the opening of Traum´s ZAUBERNUSS imprint for modern new electronics.

Now Applescal thought it was time to rock the floors again. With his new "Welcome To The Woods" EP. Pascal takes you by the hand and shows you his own personal world.

Painted by numbers, this melodic but highly dramatic colourful world of club music follows his own rules.

It is a fine blend of old school vs. new school, especially notable in the twist and slides.

With a skilful precision Applescal rises the level of intensity in the title track "Welcome To The Woods" with a light hearted and gentle approach... twisting the knobs in a dynamic and explosive way, bringing in melodies and twists.

"Forced Angel" connects well "Welcome To The Woods" in a way that gentleness and high dynamics meet here again. In contrast to "Welcome to the woods" this track has an alluring altogether feel to it. In a kind of felt "slow motion" the track reveals romantic images.

"Your English Song" seems almost folk, with a bagpipe full of lush sounds and enough tiny melodies to make it a full ballad, the track shifts dynamics, jumps from sadness to euphoria... this track shows all the greatness of Applescal.

Alec Tronique has been described as a multifaceted musician with releases on various labels such as Etui and Broque and Ipoly. He has remixed "Your English Song" in a way that has Kraftwerk and the Aphex Twin come alive. A pearl of elctronica that expresses his attitude to write modern "free form" dance floor music.

Traum´s artist ThermalBear has chosen "Forced Angel" for a remix. The English artist at times seems to hit sequences which could have come from Joy Division but then jumps into next gear and makes the cross over to an advanced breathtaking dubstep like track.

Showcasing our best tracks of the year, all bundled into one massive release! Includes tracks form MYNC, Umek, Dan Castro, Jacob Plant, Chuckie, Bar9 and many more!

Desolat is proudly based in Düsseldorf, and is therefore happy to announce this new release: a release full of music with a definite sense of place.

Eerie synthesiser pulses, funk-infused drums and languid guitar-scapes have been part of the musical topology of Düsseldorf since the early Seventies: and this particular release pays full tribute to that legacy, with Jagd Auf Den Hirsch (Hunt for the Stag) comprising an eerie piece of swampy lazer-forest rock. This sound is also a modern day staple of Düsseldorf's nightlife at the Salon des Amateurs, a small bar attached to the Kunsthalle art gallery that is an oasis of hypnotic disco nightmares. The Salon is where Der Räuber und der Prinz made their first live appearance in 2008 (when the original composition for Moogwalzer was debuted), and both members of the band frequently play there: Ralf Beck with his bodyrocking club act Unit 4 and Sebastian Lee Philipp as half of art-rock duo Noblesse Oblige.

Meanwhile two of the guests on this release Detlef Weinrich also known as Toulouse Lowtrax, contributing words about a ghostly maiden on Moogwalzer, and Thomas Klein contributing drums to Jagd auf den Hirsch are both original members of the quintessential Düsseldorf act Kreidler. Salon DJ resident Vladimir Ivkovic also had a hand in the creative clarion call for the Jagd auf den Hirsch ("Hunt for the Stag"). To complete the circle, Düsseldorf's new resident and Desolat mainstay Guti wrote his remix in the middle of the night in Buenos Aires, as a kind of letter to his new home-to-be.

There we have it: a true tribute to a city we love, with tracks for the dancefloor as well as moments of melancholic contemplation.

Two friends who have known each other for many years, who have often shared the same stage and recently enlightened our summer workshops at la Carrière, who trade deeply-felt lyrics and singing for singular and refined productions and who delivered InFiné´s finest electronic rhymes.

After “Silently”, Clara called Mimu again for “Deer & Fox”, the vocal pop wonder of “Polyamour”. This Fall InFiné has invited forward-thinking remixers to work on Clara´s stems for four new opportunities to play the track. Deep and introspective, the troublemakers of dOP have kept the classy original textures, slowed down cleverly the BPM to carrying Mimu’s voice into a bubble of euphoric bleeps. Pampered by Derrick May, Juan Atkins or Kevin Saunderson, Stacey Pullen offers the clubbers a one-way ticket into his time machine.

Right back at the heydays of the Detroit second generation. Terribly old school and consequently incredibly efficient on the floors. Widely praised for their recent intrusions on the very respected Karaoke Kalk label, Tolouse Low Trax on top having a profound liking puns, have turned “Deer & Fox” into a dizzying after party chorus, adding their own dark and hypnotic sound pallet. Offered as digital extension but no less essential to the package, Austrian producer Ritornell aka Richard Eigner brings celestial violins and heavenly piano for a shining and delicate rework, which could almost let you forget the original.

Already tipped as one of the best albums of the year, Sei A's 'White Rainbow' will be given the ceremonial remix treatment in two parts.

French garçon-du-today Gesaffelstein reworks 'Body of Eyes' into a mega-industrial party weapon, Israeli prog-master Guy J brings the beautiful ambiance of 'Meth II' to the club, New Kanada boss Adam Marshall delivers a dope stripped-down dub of 'Who Dares Wins' and the mysterious "Wraetlic" - rumoured to be a well-known UK producer - turns in a haunting mix that might be the most intelligent piece of intelligent dance music Turbo has ever released.

Livingroom Techno is featuring Connaisseur's deepest shades of Techno and is the perfect sound for those who like to celebrate at home, in the livingroom or just need the prefect music for the candle light dinner. Discover the diverse back-catalogue full of laidback and touching gems. Music for your mind, body and soul.

Alex Smoke unveils his enigmatic new Wraetlic alias with three remixes of tracks from recent album 'Lux'. Now operating with a new palette of hardware and a greater focus on his own vocals, the Wraetlic sound takes his open-ended style in a logical direction.

From the decaying acid blurts of 'Platitudes' to the matte coldwave textures of 'Master Of Tomorrow' and the Coil-esque queerness of 'Adanoid' this development of his sound has paid of dividends. If you're missing the old Alex Smoke, fear not because he also drops an extended and minimised version of the killer dancefloor tool 'Paracelsus'.