Salmon or caramel?

It's the Я, baby
It’s the Я, baby

We have to admit it: there’s a big chance we might be the laziest writers out there. With an average of two entries per year (record releases not included), we can hardly even claim the term bloggers! But like all the finer things in life, the Retreat Blog has always been about quality not quantity. We believe it makes sense to let you know about tangible projects and not submerge you with trivial info about Hauke’s favorite breakfast spot or my musical guilty pleasure.

So what has been going on with the Treaters I hear you ask? Well, quite a lot: Quarion is enjoying the buzz generated by his comeback EP and has been working hard on remixes for Man Make Music as well as new material for Muhk and Drumpoet Community. Iron Curtis has been busier that ever with tracks for Midnight Shift and Polytone while dropping the acid pressure as part of Achterbahn D’Amour (watch out for their upcoming debut album). Last but definitely not least, Session Victim have delivered a great EP for Delusions Of Grandeur and have been slamming numerous stages with their powerful performances. But most importantly (and this is the main reason behind this blog entry has you might have already guessed), the Hamburg-Berlin connection have been hard at work fine-tuning their long overdue follow-up to “On The Roll”. So it’s with great pleasure that we annonce the (almost) imminent release of Session Victim’s “Can’t Help It” AKA Retreat Catalogue #14! Yes, it’s a very deep, almost melancholic EP and yes, you can already listen to the snippets here.

Furthermore, if you can’t wait for the wax to hit your favourite record store, you can now pre-order it on our webshop and have it delivered to your door as soon as the final copies arrive at Retreat HQ! We’ve also manufactured a new batch of fine RTR bags and there are now waaaaay too many different colors to choose from…

Thank you for your support and stay tuned.

ps: 2014 marks Retreat’s fifth anniverary…expect some very special moves from our side!

The heat is on!

so hot it will melt your chocolates
so hot it will melt your chocolates

It’s that time of the year again: the sun appears for the first time in months, Berliners are in a better mood and the Retreat HQ is buzzing with activity after a long hibernation!

But to be honest, the people behind your favourite vinyl-only label were actually quite busy these last few months: Hauke has been on an extensive touring schedule with his mate Matthias Reiling as Session Victim, smashing club after club in Europe, Russia, the USA and Canada while still dropping essential remixes and tracks for Wolf Music, Compost Black and Retrofit. Quarion on the other hand worked hard in the studio and finally delivered a follow-up to 2010’s “Moons Around Jupiter”! Introducing 3 monster tracks that cover a wide spectrum of Dance music, the “Shifts In The Environment” EP is a return to form as well as a departure from the traditional House sound associated with the producer. Expect the record to hit the shelves in mid-june, but of course, we’ll keep you posted on this one.

Actually, RTR13 is only the first out of six releases coming out this summer. What?!!? Well, sort of: we’ve decided to finally repress some of our earlier catalog on full quality 180 gram vinyl! Needless to say that you might run into a lot of Retreat wax in the shops these next months as most of the EPs were sold out until now! But if you want to secure a copy of “Pepper Candy”, “Move Me So” or the classic “Good Intentions” (yes!) you can also go straight to our webshop, put in a preorder and receive the records as soon as they’re hot off the press! Oh, and we’ll even throw in a special present for those looong summer afternoons at the festival, open-air afterparty or biergarten!

It’s getting hot in here so stay tuned for more news!

December runnings

doing it in the park

Yep, we’ve been a bit quiet for a while but looks like December will keep us busy!

First of all, we’re organizing our last party of 2012 in the magical Loftus Hall! On the bill is Mr. Beatnick for his first ever performance in Berlin. Iron Curtis with a brand new live set and the Retreat officials Session Victim and Quarion! Get all the details here but be sure not to miss out on that one!

And we’re excited to announce that RTR12 is finished and getting processed in the pressing plant as we speak! Iron Curtis comes correct with a lethal 4-tracker which propels House music into the unknown!

We’ll drop more info in the coming week so please stay tuned…

Retreat Label Night – Loftus Hall, Berlin

Get prepared for another steaming party as the Retreat crew take over Loftus Hall for an evening which promises to reach every corner of the Dance Music panel! It’s a special one indeed: not only do we celebrate the release of Retreat n°12 from Iron Curtis but we also bring a special guest for his first ever Berlin performance: Mr. Beatnick!

This talented DJ and producer has been navigating the undercurrents of the London scene for years, spinning Hip-Hop, Broken Beat, Disco and House while avidly collecting rare Jazz and obscure records. A Hip-Hop producer at heart, Mr. Beatnick broke through with the amazing « Synthetes » EP on Don’t Be Afraid, a daring House record which ended up on essential compilations from the likes of Scuba, Gilles Peterson or Paul Woolford. With his latest release, the superb « Sun Goddess » also picking up momentum, we can bet that Mr. Beatnick will be one of the hotly tipped artists in 2013!

 Also on the line-up tonight is the great Iron Curtis with a wicked new live set! It’s been a busy year for the Iron Man, but after an accomplished debut Album on Mirau and killer Acid-drenched tracks as one half of Achterbahn D’Amour, Nuremberg’s finest is finally back in the Retreat camp for a brand new EP. « Glazing » is a fantastic 4-tracker which sees Iron Curtis breaking new ground while staying true to his inimitable style. We really can’t wait to hear those new tunes live!

 Finally, making sure that the party starts and ends on a good note, the Retreat heroes Session Victim and Quarion will come up with a quality selection of House, Techno, Nu Disco or whatever the hell they feel like playing!

So come down to Neukölln’s number one spot and party with us as we close the 2012 chapter with a blast!

Event on Facebook, RA

Entering year n°4

our flashy new 2012 logo...a bit posh, don't you think?

Happy New Year everybody!

You’ve turned 2011 into 12 very special months for Retreat so we wanted to thank you for your unlimited support!

There were many highlights this year: our first Retreat tour outside of Europe (in Australia of all places!), the exponential growth of our online shop, the mad success of Session Victim‘s “Good Intentions” (which even landed on RA’s “tracks of 2011” poll!) and the enthusiastic reviews of Matthias Reiling’s “Escape The Room”.

We’re thrilled that our vinyl-only imprint is getting some props, although to be honest, our goal was never to get a piece of the hype pie with the help of charts or reviews. Retreat is, and forever will be, a label that cares most of all about music, hence our erratic release schedule: a new Retreat record only happens when Hauke and myself feel 100% happy with the tunes!

But the attention we received in 2011 has definitely proven that quality prevails over quantity: Retreat had only 2 records out last year but they might have had the most impact out of our whole catalogue! So thanks again for your endless support!

Now what is to expect from Retreat in 2012? Well we’re still juggling with different ideas, namely a new Quarion EP or the next volume of “Treats” so we won’t announce RTR11 yet…

But one thing for sure is that there’s a lot of action going on for Retreat artists OUTSIDE of Retreat in the form of debut albums: Session Victim have put the final touches to their longplayer for Delusions Of Grandeur and are prepared to drop this groove masterpiece before the summer! Iron Curtis is also working on his first full length for Mirau and the album is due to surface some time in the second half of 2012!

As you can see, everything is pretty much under wraps at the moment, but rest assured that more info on all these various projects will pop up on this blog when the time is right. 😉

Enjoy the beginning of 2012 for now and stay tuned!

Freshly repressed!

Records? Somebody wants records?

Back in 2010, we released two records that sold out quickier than hot pancakes: the “Treats Vol.2” sampler featuring tunes from Session Victim and Quarion followed by a 12″ from Session Victim entitled “On The Roll”. Since then, we’ve been constantly asked to repress these EPs and after much delay, we finally ordered a fresh batch of RTR05 & RTR06!

We were so excited to have ALL of our productions back in stock that we also took the opportunity to upgrade our webshop page with a broader display, an embedded SC player and dope new releases out of the Frank Music, Fried Tofu, or Lurker camp!

Thanks for your ongoing support, signing off for now!

Double-digit action!

Well, since this summer has been quite deplorable (at least in Berlin), we had to stay busy at Retreat HQ by putting the final touches on what will be our tenth release … Yes, your eyes are not lying, we’ll soon be 10 releases deep!

Needless to say that neither Hauke nor myself fully realize yet how far we’ve gone. Back in 2009, I envisioned Retreat as a hand-stamped, Vinyl-only white label. Flash-forward to 2011 and here we are, putting out records with proper sleeves, proposing label-merchandise and touring all over the world … with Retreat label parties in Australia, of all places!

But hey, despite the ups and downs of swimming with the sharks of the music biz, the most important thing is that Hauke and myself have faith in our label and most of all in the music that we put out. So for vinyl n°10 we’ve got a special treat coming your way: a 4-track EP from Matthias Reiling that is quite unlike anything Retreat has released so far … hence also a proper full print cover, courtesy of designer extraordinaire Gesine Todt!

As you know, we like to keep things on the hush-hush tip so we won’t reveal more information now…but you can be sure that a trailer will surface on this site very soon!

We’re also excited to offer even more choice for all you vinyl junkies out there via our dedicated online shop: apart from the full Retreat catalog and selected artist-related releases on other labels, you can now order Frank Music’s first output (featuring a killer rework courtesy of Iron Curtis) as well as the indispensable Fried Tofu edits, a series of Disco reworks that are known to turn any dancefloor upside down!

Stay tune for more news coming soon!

Retreat moves on to film production…

Well not really, but we couldn’t resist bulding another “trailer” for our upcoming release, “Treats Vol.3”, which features 3 banging tracks from Iron Curtis, Quarion and Session Victim! Each tune is edited down to 2 minutes and the whole EP is once again sequenced as a trailer, hollywood-style!

Back in the game!

How are you supposed to go to work after such a breakfast?!!!?

Phew, it’s been so long since the last post, it almost feels like a resurrection!

As always folks, I’m the one to blame: maybe it’s a renewed love affair with music that keeps me inhouse with my beloved instrument? or maybe it was a relaxing stay in Australia that infused a delicious-but-dangerous slackness in my work ethic, long after I rotated back to Berlin? Anyway, I haven’t visited WordPress in a while and now there’s a lot to say!

Concerning Australia, the Session Victim boys and myself had a wonderful stay at the other end of the world a few weeks ago: great gigs, great food, great friends and all in all just a bloody great time! Special thanks to Mad Racket, Christian Vance, Future Classic and all the aussie crew for setting up Retreat’s first international tour, we’ll be back soon!

It’s a bit late for this one, but we still wish to express our gratitude to everyone that has supported our label in 2010: it’s been our best year so far so we thank you all for helping us promoting the vinyl cause! Despite the fact that more and more labels are doing only digital releases and that Technics has (apparently) finally stopped producing the world’s best turntable, a certain “vinyl-niche” (with vinyl-only labels and vinyl-friendly DJ’s) has definitely settled in the music underground and we’re proud to be part of this movement…

So what’s in store for Retreat this year? Well, since we’re sometimes eager to continue with our traditions, we’ll start the 2011 catalogue with another edition of the “Treats” series…which brings us now to volume 3! Iron Curtis, Session Victim and Quarion have all submitted an exclusive track for this record and while we can’t divulge more info at the moment, we promise you that “Treats Vol.3” will be the best episode so far! You can also expect some hot new music from Session Victim and Quarion on Retreat later this year as well as exclusive podcasts and a few surprises…

And don’t forget that if you’re looking for previous releases from Retreat’s two main artists and their affiliated projects, our webshop has got all the goodies! From Session Victim’s first bangers on Real Soon to Quarion’s classics on Drumpoet Community via Matthias Reiling’s recent masterpieces on Giegling, you’ll be able to complete your collection at a very fair price.

Before signing off, we’d also like to mention that our super designer Gesine Todt has just finished crafting an open font for Google’s Web Fonts API! A very classy typeface that you can download here.

Thanks for your ongoing support, we promise to hit you up with more news very soon!

ps: our special heartfelt thoughts go out to our followers in Japan, as they are facing a terrible crisis. We wish you a lot of courage and hope during these tough times…