We are proud to announce another new signing to the Reprise Publishing roster – Tom Dicicco

Since 2009, Manchester based Tom Dicicco has slowly been emerging as a fine dub and techno craftsmen. Early on it was labels like Germany’s Baud who saw something they liked in his heavyweight productions, whilst in recent times Finale Sessions have served up a Dicicco, Fred P and Luke Hess split 12” before Traut Musik did the same with Jonas Kopp and Dario Zenker completing the three tracks. Arguably the man’s crowning glories thus far have been a split EP with Kowton on London’s fast rising Project Squared, and a more recent solo release on Stockholm LTD.

Influenced heavily by dub, reggae and associated legends like King Tubby, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and Prince Jammy, Dicicco’s goals are simple: “I just want to keep creating music that people can connect to on different levels. Same when I DJ – my sets consist largely of deep dub techno but range to include harder edged stuff, with house a bit of dub reggae always included along the way.”After quickly forming a strong working relationship with Manchester’s AnD, together the pair have not only produced and remixed, but so too did they start their own vinyl only imprint, Inner Surface Music, in 2011. As well as releases from Dicicco and AnD, there will be similarly erudite electronic sounds in the near future with releases 003, 004 and 005 already signed and sealed.

We are proud to announce another new signing to the Reprise Publishing roster – Jini Cowan

In April of 2012 the legendary dance music magazine Mixmag christened 20 year old Jini Cowan as someone to ‘Keep An Eye On’ and its not difficult to see why. Also featured in Tillate Magazine as ‘One To Watch’ and accumulating no less than eight label signings in her first year as a producer, big things are expected from this hot new talent. 

Based in Manchester but with demands from New York to Berlin to Croatia, Jini’s unique style can be heard all across the world, she names Guy Gerber and Magda amongst some of her strongest influences. Jini began work on her debut EP in July 2011 and within a matter of weeks it was snapped up by Axis Trax and released in August to which she received support from Paul Van Dyk, Jason Herd, Serotonin Thieves, Nikki Flame and Brandon Block. Jini is able to play a vast array of styles but has been gaining much recognition amongst many ~Tech House and House lovers as of late.

Jini says that music is something that is a huge part of her life and there is nothing that she enjoys more than being able to share her love for it with the world. With the current flux of female artists popping up around the world at present, Jini Cowan is one name that’s going to be on everyone’s lips.

Distal played an exclusive mix at Rob Booth’s show Electronic Explorations with Hatti Vatti.

Download the whole podcast from here.

Distal – In the Mix exclusive tracklist
01. Kevin Mcphee – It’s what she wants [Forthcoming 'Nakedlunch']
02. Maurice Donovan – Babeh – [Sss]
03. Clouds – 90’s abloy ( Distal Remix ) – [dub]
04. Kuoyah – Convex Gravity  (Desto Remix ) – [Frijsfo Beats]
05. BD1982 – Amazon River Run – [Diskotopia]
06. Distal – Drop Like This – [dub]
07. Distal – Angry Acid – [Forthcoming 'Tectonic']
08. Stagga & Doshy – Hornets – [dub]
09. Broodlings – Bad things – [dub]
10. Wheezie – House ball – [Forthcoming 'Embassy Recordings']
11. Distal – Danger Room – [dub]
12. Sleepyhead – My Lyf – [Forthcoming 'Embassy Recordings']

http://distal.official.fm/
http://soundcloud.com/distal
https://twitter.com/#!/DistalDub

We are proud to announce another new signing to the Reprise Publishing roster – Thomas Sari.

The Belgium based Thomas who has Turkish roots, infuses many different musical genres into his specific breed of electronica. If you have not caught one if his live performances or DJ sets, you might then enjoy listening to his original works and/or remixes which have been released by such labels as Missive Music, Timid Records, Night Drive Music and Vokuhila, to name a few. Thomas exposes himself to new music night & day, and puts together and rebuilds the very equipment he records with. His calling is to always evolve, in everything, and to create soundscapes that are rooted within the foundation of universal understanding.

Artist: Dan Berkson
Title: Anything For You
Label: Crosstown Rebels
Cat: CRM074
Format(s): 12”

Crosstown Rebels welcome Dan Berkson back into the fold with a solo offering that is a spine tingling potion of dubby electronic house and stripped back moody funk that will soothe the soul and leave you spellbound.

Both tracks here have an entrancing quality owing to the warm organic instrumentals and sultry vocal snippets that ebb and flow against the melodic soundscapes – beats are expertly chopped and rearranged and scores of strings and keys stretch out into infinity to create a raw emotive sound.

‘Anything For You’ is full of Detroit inspired synths – a nod to house heritage but with a modern twist, Berkson delivers a highly sensory ride. The soulful yearning of the vocal carries softly over the tide of the track whilst deep acid inflections bleed into jazzy instrumentals.

B-side ‘Secrets’ has got more edge with a pulsing bassline and dubby textures throughout. The looped track works to hypnotic effect as Berkson teases out the hazy dubbed-out vocal and lets jazzy organ notes drift through echoes of hushed voices tempering the shades of ghostly dark.

Originally a keyboard player, Dan Berkson was playing six nights a week in his hometown of Chicago by the age of 16. Immersed in the worlds of jazz, funk and soul during his time at the New England Conservatory of Music, Dan co-founded a couple of funk bands that took off in the Boston area but a growing passion for house music led to a relocation to London to study production and pursue a solo career. In the UK’s forward thinking music scene Dan thrived as an electronic artist and began to release records on labels such as Simple, Crosstown Rebels, Mood Music, Hypercolour, Movim, Exun, Gourmet Recordings. Also famed for his part in live performance duo Berkson & What (with James What), Dan is one of those understated figures on the scene that has been evolving and exciting the underground for nearly a decade.

More information
Crosstown Rebels
Berkson & What
Reprise: Berkson & What
Above Board Vinyl Distribution

Source: Maouris.

Read the full article here: ‘New Europe: Poles dancing’ by Alexis Petridis

The clubs are packed, the crowd are young, and the music is deep and dubby. Alexis Petridis puts in an all-nighter in Warsaw, a city rapidly turning into techno paradise

Still, no one disagrees that the Polish techno scene is better than it was five years ago, when, as promoter and DJ Michal Brzozowski puts it, “Everyone was an indie kid and the clubs were playing shitty mainstream music”. I meet him at the studios of Roxy FM, where he hosts a nationally syndicated techno show on Saturday nights. “Right now,” he says, “a scene’s starting to slowly build up.”

Part of the reason may be down to technology and the internet, which have made it cheaper to make and buy music than ever before. In the past, the prohibitive price of vinyl, let alone DJ or studio equipment, placed them far beyond the reach of the average Polish teen. Now, he says, there are great local DJs at the clubs he promotes in Warsaw and a growing clique of producers gaining international recognition: Marcin Czubala, who records for Mobilee; Jacek Sienkiewicz, who runs Warsaw’s best-known techno label Recognition. There may even, he thinks, be a Warsaw sound, albeit one you might need ears finely attuned to techno to distinguish: “DJs here, they always played a bit deeper. They don’t really make rave anthems. They always go for a kind of melancholy sound.”

Another addition to the Reprise Publishing roster is a Polish techno DJ and producer, Marcin Czubala.

Marcin Czubala is not your typical techno artist: part of this might have to do with the fact that he hails from Poland; yet another part of it might have to do with his extensive background in classical music. Ultimately, however, what sets Marcin apart are his distinct and idiosyncratic musical stylings. While grounded in minimal house and techno, Marcin’s work always bears his unmistakable signature: slinky, undulating grooves full of bizarre twists and turns that ceaselessly continue to surprise the listener at every turn.

We’re very pleased to announce the signing of Dan Berkson & James What to the Reprise Publishing roster.

Dan Berkson & James What are a London based production and live performance duo. Both Dan and James have been playing music, producing and DJing in their own separate projects up to now, but have now teamed up in an attempt to create their own blend of electronic house music.

Dan grew up playing keyboards, and was performing six nights a week in his hometown of Chicago by the age of 16. He entered the New England Conservatory of Music in 1993 and quickly immersed himself in the worlds of jazz, funk and soul. As his interests turned more to house, dub and electronic music, he went to London to study production and to be able to go to Fabric whenever he pleased. Since then, Dan has released records on many labels including Crosstown Rebels, Simple, Mood Music, Hypercolour, Movim, Exun,  and Gourmet Recordings

Growing up in southern France, James first began playing guitar and other instruments in bands. He moved to London in 1999 to pursue music performance and recording arts studies at London College of Music and SAE. Since, he has been involved in a motley of music projects ranging from electronica to world music and has released records under various projects names. James What made his first appearances with productions on labels such as Treibstoff, Einmaleins Musik and Meerestief. He also produced a CD for the DeWolfe Music library and was selected to take part in the Red Bull Music Academy in Seattle.

Since their debut performance at Sonar festival in June 2006, Dan and James have been performing their unique live sets all around the globe. They have also been playing in a live band project with house legend Robert Owens. Using two laptops along with live synthesizers and drum machines, they perform and rework their music while always finding places for improvisation and keeping things fresh.

Have a listen:

http://www.berksonwhat.com/