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.
Slipmat 1: “Hey, let’s take a selfie with the Tokyo Skyline in the background!” Slipmat 2: “Have you grown a pair of hands?”
« The Rise And Fall Of Retreat »: what appears to be the title of a cheap gangster movie is actually the script that Hauke and I seemed to have unknowingly followed in 2014.
The rise was gradual and smooth : the label reached the small milestone of being five years old, we put out a compilation on double gatefold vinyl with exclusive music from some of our favorite artists and we went on tour around Europe to celebrate Retreat’s 5-Year anniversary. But the fall was sudden and abrupt : our distributor Intergroove filed for bankruptcy in july and this struck an almost fatal blow to our finances…
So for the first time in the label’s history, we took its name literally and folded back. Retreat moved away from the spotlight in order to heal and calmly prepare the next move.
Thus after consolidating our relationship with a new distributor (Word And Sound), sanitizing our finances and most importantly spending countless hours in the studio, Hauke and I are thrilled to announce that Retreat will be back in the summer of 2015 with the help of not one but two releases!
RTR16 by Quarion will be available in July while RTR17 by Session Victim is expected to drop mid-august. As you can imagine, there are still a few details to finalize but we thought it was important to get back in touch with all of you and announce that Retreat will be introducing year n°6 with a double summer slam!
More information to follow of course but in the meantime, thank you for your support and please stay tuned!
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!
The heat is on, but Edelweiss is about to get even hotter than Beverly Hills!
We’re honoured to have Marc Schneider headlining this month’s Retreat showdown. Coming from Hamburg, Marc has been DJing since the dawn of the nineties and went international as early as 1994. His great taste made him a fixture in underground parties and many generations of DJs and producers listened, learned and fell in love with electronic music via Marc’s sets. His dedication to the movement also led him to set up wordandsound, one of the top distributors of House and Techno. Add to that some quality releases on Metamorphic or Einmaleins and you’ll get a clear idea of Marc Schneider’s pivotal role in the electronic music scene.
Quarion has been busy working on new tunes and is looking forward to test them out live in Edelweiss! Unlike last time, his beloved ARP Axxe won’t make it to the show, due to some ongoing crackles and pops…but Quarion promised us some keyboard action anyway so let’s see which tricks the man has up his sleeves!
Last but not least, the infamous Session Victim duo will be in charge of getting this party started RIGHT. This shouldn’t be a difficult task for these international players and their sure shot selection of Disco, Funk and House grooves.
