It's the R's, baby

Yes, I know it’s a bit late for a 2009 round-up/2010 forecast, but hey, we were both busy Hauke and I: the Haukster was packing his bag and deciding which suntan would be more appropriate for the tough australian beaches while I was recovering from extreme NYE parties and rehearsing for my first ever gig as keyboardist and background singer…

But we’re now on a roll again and we wanted to give you all a little résumé of our first ever year as a vinyl-only label, plus a little teaser of Retreat’s future.

Needless to say that Hauke and I are pretty amazed at how things have worked out for our little company: in a year, we’ve managed to put out four quality EP’s which are almost all sold out and placed two songs from the Retreat catalog in compilations from two of Berlin’s major clubs (Watergate and Cookies). Plus we’ve managed to set up what is now a nicely packed monthly party in a warm and intimate location. So yeah, we are very, very happy that the Retreat ship had such a smooth cruise during its maiden voyage. But if it wouldn’t have the following people (and their undenying support) on board, the vessel would have sunken a long time ago:

. The artists, Session Victim, Quarion and Hunee: you’re the reason we’ve started our label. If it wasn’t for your cut-up Discoid House, Nu-Detroit vibes or Post-Afrobeat workouts, there would be no Retreat, pure and simple. Thank you so much for creating such amazing music and giving us a strong identity.

. The designer, Gesine Todt: her input has been invaluable to Retreat. From providing us with the most recognizable “R” in the music-business since Reinforced to designing every single Retreat outlet, Gesine’s work has been nothing short of outstanding, due to the fact that we usually work with such tight deadlines.

. Our guests at the Retreat party, DJ Honesty, Andreas Andersson, Session Victim, Alex Dallas, Finn Johannsen, m50 AKA Area, Patrice Scott, Hunee, Mark August and Iron Curtis: a million thanks for providing us with the ultimate Funk for a non-average thursday night out in Berlin. Even though our budget only allowed us to pay you pennies, you all played from the heart and helped us to set up a monthly base for our musical adventure.

. The mastering engineers at Calyx and Dubplates & Mastering (RTR 01): our gratitude to you for making our records sound so crisp. We like to keep things a little bit dirty and you always managed to pull this feat off, without ever compromising on the sound quality.

. The distributor, Intergroove: thanks for supporting our small label since day one. We’re treated with the same regards as your bigger clients and we really appreciate that. Who knows? One day we might even sell more than 600 copies per release

. The manufacturer, Handle With Care: congratulations on a job well done. Although there were a few f-ups here and there, you always came through with putting our love on wax.

Then of course, we would to give a big THANK YOU to everyone that bought, played or danced to a Retreat record! We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.

So what is to expect from the R in 2010? Well, it’s only january and there’s a lot of planning to do (plus we’re a bit secretive with certain stuff) but we can already announce the release of RTR05: it will hit the shops on the 3rd of march and will feature music from Quarion and Session Victim. Yep, it’s a follow-up to our debut release and will be (quite logically) entitled “Treats Vol.2″. We can’t tell you more, except that there’s a definite disco vibe and that it’s quite freaky (a weird story about danish daughters getting nasty with pepper candy in the midnight hour…ouh!). And watch out for that new cover design

But before this one drops, you’ll be able to groove with us via our Reels page (new mixes coming soon!) and of course via the parties @ Edelweiss. Next up, we’ve got the mighty Mano Le Tough from Internasjonal to give us a disco hand aswell as Berlin’s own Elie Eidelmann who will bless us with a fresh House selection. You know where you have to be on the 28th…

Thanks again for a wonderful 2009 and let’s keep on building in 2010!

We’ve decided to start 2010 with a little disco flavour: Ireland’s mighty Mano Le Tough and Berlin’s own Elie Eidelman (aka DJ Humus) will be playing with us in Kreuzberg’s most soulful cave. Mano has been releasing disco-tinged gems on Prins Thomas’ Internasjonal and Tensnake’s Mirau imprints, so this should give you a good idea of how talented the man is!

Our second guest has been a regular in some of Berlin’s most prestigious clubs and is now organizing the successful “Jackoff” parties with co-conspirator John Osbourn. Elie has also just released his groovy debut 12″ in collaboration with Dekay on Dirt Crew Recordings.

Last but not least, Retreat’s own Quarion will provide the dancers with some appetizing Boogie and sloooow House in order to get the party started!

Miss at your own risk!