From The Stage To The Studio And Back Again

Yes, it’s been a while since you’ve heard from the Retreat HQ. We usually send a signal when a new release is in the press but it’s not the case this time. So while we’re working on RTR19, we thought we’d give you a little update on the Retreat core artists and what they’ve been up to since « Re-Treats Vol. 1 ».

Session Victim has become the epitome of touring musicians in the last months, playing all over Europe as well as rocking shows in the USA, Mexico, Australia and Indonesia. But instead of toning down their output, this constant life on the road has actually fueled the duo’s creativity. What materialized is undoubtedly their best effort to date, the colorful album « Listen To Your Heart ». Ripe with « Sun-soaked house music on the engaging side of deep, and at the clever end of funky » (Mixmag), the LP is already labelled as this summer’s go-to soundtrack. Get the full lowdown on how the album came to fruition here and be on the lookout for Session Victim’s hi-octane live show or energetic DJ sets coming to your town very soon!

Quarion has had an impeccable run of releases in the last year, including a stellar EP on Ripperton’s Tamed imprint and a contribution for Innervisions’ legendary « Secret Weapons » series. 2017 seems to be going even stronger with two bass-heavy remixes already in the can for Compost and Drumpoet Community as well as a very promising collaboration with Joel Alter that will definitely shake the floors this summer. There are more surprises in store from the swiss producer but in the meantime, make sure to catch Quarion performing in Asia and Europe in the following weeks !

After spending the first months of 2017 in the USA, Iron Curtis is back in Berlin and eager to showcase his flawless studio skills with an impressive string of releases. First up with « Industrie & Zärtlichkeit », a wonderfully quirky album as Moon (with Johannes Albert) that had Juno declare « it’s clear that the duo have worked up something of a beauty. ». Then there’s the club-ready « Maple » EP for the ever reliable Office imprint as well as hot remixes for Hudd Trax and Klamauk. But we’ve heard through the grapevine that this flurry of activity might be only the tip of the iceberg… we suggest you keep an eye on Iron Curtis’ profile or hear him out in the club for a sneak peek of what’s to come !

Thank you for the support and stay tuned!

Retreat Gets Re-Freaked

Tools of the trade

And we’re back! Test Pressings of RTR18 have been stamped while finished copies are being pressed right now on lovely vinyl. So what’s in store for the first release of 2016 from your favourite wax-only label? Nothing less than a brand new series entitled “Re-Treats”! Featuring cracking remixes by Nebraska, Session Victim and Quarion, “Re-Treats Vol.1″ is an ode to the art of the remix with each producer presenting his own take on classic material from our back catalogue. The 12” will be available from the 15th of April in all good record shops (via wordandsound) and of course on our dedicated website.

Thank you for the support and stay tuned!

The Next Move

One way or another, Retreat wax will find its way to your favourite record shop!
One way or another, Retreat wax will find its way to the record shop of your choice!

Sorry for the long period of radio silence from Retreat HQ these last 3 months, but Hauke and I have been quite busy working on the “Treats Vol.5” compilation as well as promoting it via the Retreat “5 Year Anniversary tour”. Now that things have cooled down a bit (unlike the thermometer in Berlin) we wanted to give you some insight on the past, present and future of your favourite vinyl-only label.

First of all, Hauke and I were overwhelmed by the positive feedback of “Treats Vol. 5” and we would like again to thank all of the artists involved in this adventure: Jamie Lloyd, Session Victim, Johannes Albert, Reverend G, Kim Brown, Quarion, Mr. Beatnick, Iron Curtis and Robert Oh for the exceptional music plus Gesine Todt for the ultra-slick design.

A special thank you goes out to the promoters and bookers that helped set up the “Five Year Anniversary Tour”, it was a real privilege for us to be able to play in all these locations. There were many highlights and some will definitely stay ingrained in our memories, whether it was Kim Brown’s excellent live debut in Berlin, Session Victim’s mad DJ set in Leipzig or Quarion and Iron Curtis’ techno-fuelled b2b mix in Paris.

Finally our gratitude goes out also to YOU, the DJ/dancer/record collector/Fan who has supported Retreat one way or another during these five years!

But after so many highlights in the past months, the two last weeks have however been very difficult for us: On the 16th of July, the media company Intergroove officially filed for insolvency, thus making Retreat a label without distribution from one day to the next.

Our relationship with Intergroove has always been very positive and respectful. To this day, we still don’t know what was the cause for such a major company to file for insolvency and we would like to express our sympathies to the Intergroove employees in these difficult times.

But the future of our label was looking grim so Hauke and I had to take some fast and radical decisions: first of all, we managed to retrieve all the Retreat stock from Intergroove (about 400 records) and store it in a safe place. But more importantly, we managed to get in contact with different companies who had interest in distributing Retreat. After a bit of reflection, we decided to start the second phase of our label with one of the world’s most renowed distributor: Word And Sound.

So all the remaining records are on their way to the WAS offices in Hamburg as we speak and we’re very much looking forward to work with this prestigious company for promoting our entire catalogue and all our upcoming projects.

But in the meantime, since it might take a few weeks for Word And Sound to offer our releases to the shops, we would like to invite every person who’s in need of some Retreat Wax to visit our webshop or the one from Oye Records and place an order directly.

Needless to say, Hauke and I are more motivated than ever to continue our mission, which is to bring you quality dance music on the best-sounding medium. Rest assured that you can expect RTR016 to hit the stores in the near future…but more on that one next time!

Thank you for your support and 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!

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!