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!

Quarion – Moons around Jupiter – RTR08

More than a year after his last EP, Quarion returns to Retreat for a fantastic expedition: a journey to the »Moons around Jupiter«. Consisting of four tracks dedicated to the four Galilean satellites, »Moons around Jupiter« is a sonic masterpiece that blurs the lines between House, Techno, Broken Beat and Disco. A certain Detroit mystique (the futurism & outer space themes) also surrounds this mesmerizing ep which Quarion himself ranks as possibly his best work to date … come and take a ride!

We may share the ultimate bond with the moon Europa: the presumption of oceans underneath its crust of ice as well as an atmosphere that is mostly filled with oxygen make this satellite a good candidate for possible extra-terrestrial life (more micro-organisms than 3-eyed aliens though). Quarion’s »Europa« hopes to reveal the secrets underneath the ice layer: beginning with a skippy beat and a tinkling piano, the track evolves rapidly as subtle keys and a cosmic choir appear from beyond. The voices morph into pure excitement during the breakdown while gorgeous new chords are being introduced. The bassline drops and an irresistible groove settles in, soon followed by a catchy synth melody. The song rises to its apex only to be brought down immediately with a new set of Boogie drums. Extra analogue synths make a welcome entry while the main chords rise again from the background. That is until the reappearance of the Boogie beat which tones the music down and brings the mysterious »Europa« to its conclusion.

The moon Ganymede has much in common with Europa but scientists agree that it is impossible for the former to harbour life. This is why »Ganymede« is the beatapella version of »Europa«, a short but effective rework with only the basic drum elements…

The moon Callisto is the furthest away from Jupiter’s radiation. It is said to be highly suitable for a human base, in case we intend to explore this part of the solar system one day. »Callisto« is therefore Quarion’s ode to space travel in the form of lush organ chords, heavy drums and ethereal pads. The track is a deep and dreamy journey that flows effortlessly as cosmic rhodes melodies and detroitish synths move around the stereophonic landscape.

The moon Io has over 400 active volcanoes and its atmosphere is made up of sulphuric dioxide. A very, very dangerous place indeed, which inspires Quarion to show his rougher side via a raw and heavy 110 bpm workout. The sounds are kept to a minimum (weird pads, strings and a heavy bassline) but »Io« is full of surprises, the best of all being a minute long break where the listener feels suddenly lost in deep space … before »Io’s« gravity pulls him back on its perilous grounds.

A1 – Europa
A2 – Ganymede
B1 – Callisto
B2 – Io

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Release: December 15th 2010
(Releasesheet)

Trailer for a space opera

Quarion‘s “Moons Around Jupiter” is due to come out next week…but you can already listen to this exclusive teaser! This is a bizarre experiment where the Q-man shortens his whole EP into 5 mins, adds extra fx and has a voice-over giving facts about certain celestial objects. The whole piece sounds like a Science Fiction movie trailer…more “Dark Star” than “Avatar” though!