We wish we could have our own pressing plant...pretty hard to fit in an appartment though!

Since the beginning of 2010, we’ve noticed that the stock of Retreat 12″s has been slowly but surely decreasing. Before we knew it, our 2009 releases were all sold out and we started receiving e-mails from people asking us to please repress those earlier records…

Well, we’re happy to inform you that RTR01, 02 and 03 are now back in stock! Packaged in a new, mat-black sleeve, these records sound as fresh as if they came out yesterday. From the heavy “Treats vol.1″ split EP to Quarion’s PBar classic “Turn Off The Light” via Session Victim’s highly praised “Out On Love” release, now’s your chance to continue your Retreat collection or start it from scratch!

Available at your favourite record store or via Retreat’s own webshop.

Yes my people, I hope you’re well. Once again, I’ve been mad lazy with the Retreat blog…please forgive me. It’s not that I don’t like updating our site (hey, who could refuse writing uncensored nonsense once in a while?), but I DO want these posts to have a little more substance than the usual 140 Characters.
So what’s new at Retreat HQ? Well, a lot actually! First of all, Hauke and I are super-happy that we managed to sell ALL vinyls of RTR03! A huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone that bought a copy from Berlin to Toyko (90 records sold in Japan alone!). Of course, it sounds a bit corny to brag about selling 500 vinyls…but you can ask any industry/label head these days and they will all tell you that vinyl is going down. Well, we’re quite proud to have proven them wrong, basically by releasing quality music and by sticking to our guns (STRICTLY wax). We’re not going to change the world, but we’re happy to build our little oasis and delighted to see that more and more people are passing by…so once again, Thanks!
Speaking of buildings, one of the upcoming tracks on Retreat is called “Foundation” and it’s solid as a rock. I can’t lie, I always have goosebumps when I play this track and I can’t wait for the peeps to hear it. The mastermind behind this tune is Hunee, one of the finest DJ/music lover in Berlin. He’s getting a lot of attention at the moment, thanks to his mesmerizing productions for Feel Music and W.T. Records, not to mention a wild cut on the upcoming Drumpoet Community comp. He produced the no holds barred “Barrio Payment” EP for Retreat and it’s a mind-blowing, booty shaking affair. More info coming soon!
Finally, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re constantly tweaking our website. Now we have a nice banner courtesy of Gesine and we’ve rearranged some pages slightly. But the big news is that we’re soon going to offer two lovely new things: the possibility to buy records (and upcoming surprises) directly from us and a page containing exclusive DJ mixes, live sets and diverse aural pleasures from the Retreat family! So please stay tuned, I promise that my next entry will appear before 2010…

As the name implies,  Dusty Fingers sees the beatmaker return to his Hip-Hop roots and dig in the crates for a sample-based deep & dirty 3 tracker!

Turn Off The Light is a tribute to mid-nineties House Garage classics, when the drums were « phat » and the basslines heavy: a distant breakbeat introduces a rhodes loop before the elements combine into a powerful groove.
The beat stops while beautiful chords and hair-raising strings evolve from the background and it’s then time for the bouncy bassline to kick in. The track keeps rolling as whispers begging you to Turn Off The Light get more present but the song soon drops into an emotional break complete with soulful vocals and extra instrumentation. When the beat comes back in, you know the track has  Classic written all over it.

Seems Like … starts with a heavy 808 pattern and phased drone that later evolves into a string section. The beat is locked down with the introduction of a percussion riff and jumping bassline while you’re taken on a deep excursion as nautilus-style keys and moody vocals bring you underwater. The flashing hi-hats keep the whole song moving and you’re soon left with only the groove to keep you company. The keys sneak in from the background and you’re taken once more on an underwater journey before the beat brings you safely to the shore…

After the deep sea, Going Away takes you in outer space as a skipping rhodes lick plays with bruk-style drums that are straight out the MPC. A P-Funk bassline nails the groove as cosmic mermaids sing about  Going Away and analog synth melodies lift the whole track into the stratosphere…

Quarion was last seen circling around Venus and we hope he won’t be gone too long because we need more EP’s like this one!

A1 - Turn Off The Light
B1 – Seems Like…
B2 – Going Away

Release: August 26th 2009
(RTR03_releasesheet)