Moodmusic is a Berlin-based label that’s shed light on DJ crates across the planet for a decade, responsible for 12”s from tech-house magnates like Sasse, Dirt Crew, and most recently, Spirit Catcher. The 10 Years Compilation, which commemorates, uh, ten years of releases, is a 2-disc piece of Moodmusic’s prolific history. Disc One sees Sasse mixing unreleased tracks from the label’s new crop, including artists like Code-E, Naughty, World of Apples, and others. Disc Two is a collection of classic thumpers from the likes of Star You Star Me, Nick Chacona, and Sasse.

Founded by Klas Lindblad (pictured below), a.k.a. Freestyle Man, in Turku, Finland, the label quickly picked up steam when Linblad jetted over to the dance music epicenter, Ber-motherfucking-lin (as they call it in some circles). Distributed worldwide by WoradandSound, Moodmusic releases have become as valued and accessible as tech-house contemporaries Get Physical and B-Pitch.

The 10 Years Anniversary Compilation is out May 7, 2007 on Moodmusic.

Tracklisting
Disc One–Mixed By Sasse
1. Sasse “Wrapper”
2. Naughty “Slave to the Dub”
3. Dave DK “Stargazer”
4. Henrik Schwarz “Walk Music”
5. Nick Chacona “Gombe Electronique”
6. Mugwump “Memory Lane Refund”
7. Code E “Libre In the Garden”
8. Sasse “Leon”
9. Spirit Catcher “Voo Doo Night 2007 Remix”
10. Craig Torrance “Two Face”
11. World of Apples “Chroma”
12. Star You Star Me “Can’t Stay (Rune Lindebaeck Mix)”

Disc Two
1. Sasse “My Thing”
2. Henrik Schwarz “Feel Da Vibe”
3. Sasse “Jersey”
4. Freestyle Man feat. George Spruce “Gotta Need (Matthias Tanzmann Remix)”
5. Star You Star Me “Sweet Things”
6. Nick Chacona “Meso Loco (Plutsch 79 Remix)”
7. Dirt Crew “808 Lazerbeam”
8. Sasse-“Soul Sounds (Dirt Crew Remix)
9. Spirit Catcher “Code Breaker”
10. Sasse feat. Kiki “Loosing Touch”

Various Shut Up and Dance! Updated.Ostgut Ton
Leave it up to the Germans to integrate the Staatsballet and electronic music on a collaborative platform. For Shut Up and Dance!, five artists (including Ame, Sleep Archive, and The 7th Plain) offer minimal, orchestral techno set to be choreographed by the Staatsballet at Berlin’s Berghain club. Atmospheric, lush, and Kompakt-esque, Shut Up and Dance! is a nice treat from five rad producers.

VariousMoodmusic Records: 10 Years Anniversary CompilationMoodmusic
It’s been a good decade for clubs everywhere, partially because of Moodmusic’s consistently blossoming tech-house catalog. For its fifth CD release, the Berlin-based label gives us a 2-disc collection of hits from Henrik Schwarz, Sasse, and Spirit Catcher, amongst a sea of others. Maybe we should relocate our office to Berlin.

Bang Gang Something WrongFrom Nowhere
Not unlike Icelandic lethargy rockers Sigur Rós, or even Bjork, Bang Gang knows the meaning of melancholic music. Multi-instrumentalist Bardi Johannsson, along with gang, gets delicate with tons of strings, mellow guitarscapes, and soft female vocals. There are few things wrong with Something Wrong.

Stateless S/T !K7
Like Thom Yorke collaborating with Boards of Canada, Stateless has emerged with a new sensitive-man sound, complete with glitchy breaks and Brit-vocals. These five Leeds-based gentlemen meld layers of crisp synths, live drumming, turntablism, and rocking guitars into a DJ Shadow-approved pop sandwich. It tastes pretty good.

DeadbeatJourneyman’s Annual Scape
Scott Monteith (a.k.a. Deadbeat) has just released his most legit full-length to date (which is saying a lot, given his history as an electronic music pioneer). Journeyman’s Annual is dubstep of the darkest variety–complete with incessantly throbbing bass, tons of fuzzy textures, and doomy percussion.

Bonde Do RoleWith LazersDomino
If the genre “baile punk” exists, Bonde Do Role is its originator. With Lazers is the Brazilian trio’s debut album, and this shit smokes. Taking cues from 2ManyDJs and Diplo, BDR makes humanized dance music that’s heavy and banging. Feel the wrath of Brazil!

Various 10 Years of Tiefschwarz: Black Musik/RemixedSouvenir
The name Tiefschwarz means “deep black” in German, and these two discs are all black, all day. Remixed features the ‘Schwarz reinterpreting its own work, and guests like Radio Slave, Samim, and Turntablerocker doing the same. Blackmusik is an uber-dark compilation of 4 a.m. rockers from the likes of Recloose, James Figurine, Brooks, Ron Trent, and tons of others. May the ‘Schwarz be with you.

ColleenLes Ondes SilencieusesLeaf
We love Colleen. It’s not everyday that an artist can shift from turning out effect-laden, sample-based tracks to creating an entire album with an unadorned viol (a seventeenth century half-cello, half-guitar). Between the thick resonance of the instrument itself and Colleen’s epic sense of songwriting, Les Ondes Silencieuses will floor anyone with a taste for classical or ambient music.

Betty DavisThey Say I’m DifferentLight In the Attic
The queen of hard funk is officially reissued–and we’re psyched. They Say I’m Different contains Davis’ signature vocal rasp and wah guitar mayhem that have influenced everyone from Tina Turner to Karen O. Get Some.

VariousArtDon’tSleep Presents: From L.A. With LoveMilan
Andrew Lojero is an L.A.-based producer/promoter who has had his foot in the underground for days now. On From L.A. With Love Lojero pulled some of the city’s top producers, bands, and MCs that have helped define a new wave of artistry. With unreleased tracks from Free Moral Agents, Flying Lotus, Exile, and Nathan Yell, L.A. is still ripe with amazing talent.

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Rocksteady fans have something new to cheer about, as London’s Soul Jazz imprint has added more to its already enormous cache of Studio One reissue compilations. Most early reggae collectors have religiously followed the dozens of excellently conceived and packaged compilations since the series debuted in 2001.

Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd, known as the father of the Jamaican recording industry, formed Studio One in 1963, and almost immediately found success with Bob Marley, Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, and Sugar Minott, to name a few. Dodd passed away in 2004 of a heart attack.

Soul Jazz has meticulously amassed many long out-of-print and classic Studio One recordings, releasing them as double-vinyl albums and compact discs. The following titles from 2007 and late last year represent some of the deeper collections, for fans that have already secured the core Studio One albums. Each compilation focuses on a particular theme or shared characteristic of the artists or songs, making for a smart overview of a label that forever impacted Jamaican music and the world’s appreciation of it.

Studio One Kings
Studio One’s list of singers launched at the famous label reads like a roll call of Jamaican music. Horace Andy, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Johnny Osbourne and more. This album features many rare and historically important songs (like Horace Andy’s “Every Tongue Shall Tell”), many which have been unavailable for decades. Highlights include Johnny Osbourne’s “Water More Than Flour,” on the Solomon rhythm, and Freddy McGregor’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.”

Studio One Rub-A-Dub
In the 1970s, Clement Dodd’s legendary Studio One Records went through an amazing period of rebirth, working with new artists such as Willie Williams, Lone Ranger, Michigan, Smiley, and Horace Andy. Dodd re-versioned his label’s classic riddims, putting Rapper Robert & Jim Brown on Full Up (Pass The Kutchie) and Barry Brown on Heptones Gonna Fight rhythm. Wicked!

Studio One Groups
This release features legendary groups from the foundation label of reggae. Bob Marley and The Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, The Heptones, and The Clarendonians. The compilation reflects the political sentiments of the time with righteous, instructive, and militant calls-to-action such as the Gaylads “Give A Helping Hand” or The Viceroys “The Struggle,” the latter of which indicts the Capitalist system as a cause for ghetto ills. Carlton & His Shoes’ “Happy Land” is a sparkling vocal harmony number that underscores the musicianship and talent of the day.

Studio One DJ’s Vol. 2
This second volume of DJs from reggae’s legendary “University of Reggae,” Studio One Records, features some of the finest toasters ever to be recorded in Jamaica. Dennis Alcapone, Prince Jazzbo, Little Joe, Brigadier Jerry, and King Stitt could show this generation’s dancehall deejay’s a thing or two about the mic. Tons of rare sides on classic Studio One rhythms. Choice cut is Lone Ranger’s “Tribute To Bob Marley.”

On June 23, Brooklyn is going to go off. Event promoter/blog Brooklyn Bodega has confirmed that Ghostface will headline its third annual Brooklyn Hip-hop Festival, a day-long celebration of all things B-Boy.

Set to perform alongside the Wu’s veteran clansman are Queens MC Consequence, Virginia representative Skillz, hip-hop purist trio Tanya Morgan, and a mass of other yet-to-be announced artists. It looks as though BB is forking out some cash for this free summer jump-off, which will be held in Brooklyn’s Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.

A grip of other events are set to lead up to the mammoth fest. June 14 sees an exhibition of David Alan Harvey’s photography (images documenting the birth of hip-hop in the Bronx), June 22 is a screening of the classic film Wild Style, in honor of the new retrospective book, Wild Style: The Sampler, and a series of late night festivities in between. All events take place at the powerHouse Arena, home to art publisher powerHouse books.

Event Dates
06/07 Stax Records 50 Anniversary Celebration
06/14 Hip-hop Around the Globe: David Alan Harvey Photography
06/21 Hip-hop Under the Stars
06/22 Wild Style: The Sampler Book Release Celebration and Screening
06/23 Brooklyn Hip-hop Festival Performances

Breakcore is alive, and Venezuela’s Cardopusher doesn’t rely on cliché spooky samples or excessively scattered, distorted drums to prove that point. Instead, homeboy melds Latin rhythms, trance synths (and, yes, they sound rad), dubstep-influenced bass, and fierce breakdowns. For his I Need Someone I Can Imitate EP, Cardo brings along Breakcore vets Sickboy and Retrigger. Chaos awaits.

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