After two years the second Netaudio Gathering in Berlin will open its gates from 8th to the 11th of October. Who is taking part in the Netaudio Berlin Festival and who are the main creators of the event?

Who is taking part? It would be a long list if we were to mention all the artists, speakers and participants! Solely the night program from Thursday to Saturday contains close to a hundred artists, groups or music projects. The free daytime program on Friday and Saturday is also packed with workshops, lectures, discussions, showcases and various art installations resp. performances. It would be better for you to flip through the lineup on our website.

Your second question is a lot easier to answer. The main driving forces behind the Netaudio Festival Berlin are – ladies first – Antina Michels, a European Ethnographer and author of the book about "Netlabels – social networks on- and offline", Don Ludwig – free Graphic Designer and long time Netaudio activist (Pentagonik, Netlag etc.) and Raimund Reintjes, an Event Manager and Netaudio Supporter, who emblazed the initial flame to the Berlin Festival activities in 2007. But without the network of activists: Henry, Sarah, Jon, Timor, Kevin, Kirsten, Hannes, Volker, Saskia and some more friends surrounding us, a festival of this velocity would still only be a dream.

What is the main driving force behind your engagement for the free music movement, also known as creative commons music or netaudio? Why do you have such a love for this culture so that you spend so much of your time creating such a festival?

Raimund: It’s the strong belief that there should be a fair and a strong relationship between the artist (formerly known as the producer), the music (formerly known as the product) and the listener (formerly known as the consumer). Creative Commons on the legal – and netlabels on the physical side of life provide the best starting point. I have realized in the past 15-20 years to re-organize the perverted relations within the music business we have to start from the very beginning, to bring the whole thing back on its feet again – but so many artists, music lovers and professionals are working on this subject.

It’s exciting to see the growing impact and effects this movement has had on the rules of the game already. Music is basically something to touch your heart and soul – not for the profit of a few big companies. Netaudio is bringing dignity back into the music business by eliminating the financial aspect as the roots of engagement. This is not the end of the story – but it’s meant to wipe out the conditions of greed and replace them with an economy of trust and attention.

Antina: The festival is the practical realisation of more theoretical thoughts in my book. The festival also stands for the "face to face" interactions, stepping away from the internet as Andi Studer from the Netaudio Festival London 2008 has previously remarked: "The offline festival for online music."

Netaudio needs the real life physical exchange – and thrives from it. The participants and guests will have personable experiences together; strengthening the relationships already formed online and making new friendships face to face. These contacts can be valuable for musical and artistic collaborations which become possible by the connections made at the festival, as an example the Trioon project which is a collaboration between J-Lab (former Netaudio London, now Berlin), Dr. Nojoke (Netaudio Berlin) and Servando (Spain, now Berlin). The Festival also allows the artists to promote themselves, to be heard and to raise their profile.

One aspect of my personal motivation is the practical/my experience of a ‘community of practice’ – (a form of collaboration in a team, which is based on- and offline communications, a learning concept developed by Lave and Wenger) working and learning together under the recent circumstances like project orientated, temporally limited collaboration. It facilitates the in-sight in collective, co-working and (co-) learning processes. I have to admit that my research instinct comes up sometimes ;)

Another aspect of my motivation is the opportunity to bring people from different cultural backgrounds together, to give them the possibility of exchange, for example in discussions. In equal measure more informal meetings are important and motivating: having fun together on the dance floor, listening to music, chatting, catching up and networking at the netaudio fair. In this way ‘offline contexts’ and a feeling of belonging are created. This gives the possibility of remembering ‘former’ online friends more enduringly than if it were just left at a single online contact.

What has changed during the last two years? What can we expect from Netaudio Berlin and why should we come?

Raimund: mo. – you should be coming because we invited you to moderate a round table discussion about online distribution and the role of netlabels as a hinge between the “market” and the creative output of the artists! All the others should come to watch you of course…

Ahem… ok, we’ve invited a few more experts for an informative daytime program. There will be some 40 netlabels presenting themselves – so if you are an artist and in search of top level contacts within the netaudio scene – we have a plethora of them. And if you love exploring the progressive developments in music & styles you should not miss our widespread night program with all sorts of electronic music like Techno, Minimal and House – but also Dubstep and Drum’n’Bass, Triphop and Nujazz, Pop, Dub, 8-Bit, HipHop, Techdub and especially the Experimantal Stage at the opening night on Thursday… The variety of styles is one of the main attractions, also the extension of the festival which now starts on Thursday. We have also extended the daytime program - which now has two long afternoons and three parallel branches of activities. We have also upgraded to a better venue – which has provided us with some better working conditions. We do not have to squat in order to have enough space…

In spring you called for entries. Now the program is finished. How many entries did you get and under which criteria did you choose the artists? What was your main goal?

We got roundabout 150 entries. But through a multi-leveled procedure and also through the required amount of information we tried to support requests from those artists who really wanted to get involved in this specifically – and not just in any other festival. We tried to give some extra support to artists from Eastern countries. So we have now announced artists from Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Turkey, Russia, Poland, Morocco and Serbia – and we hope that they all get visas and permission from the authorities to play in Berlin. Other criteria were mainly subjective. We’ve chosen what we liked the most. Around half of the program is filled with artists from the “Call for Entries”, the other half has been asked by our bookers if they would like to take part. We thought this would be a fair arrangement between our own ideas and the offers from the communities.

When organising and inviting musicians and artist to such a happening like Netaudio Berlin, I’m sure everybody has their own favorites. Which musicians or artist are your favorites and what do you yourself not want to miss?

Netaudio Ping Pong: partly music performance, partly a game for all to play.

Raimund: As I have been in charge of the booking for the Experimental Floor and the Dub & Techdub Floor you’ll find nearly all my favorites here. For sure I am also very happy about a whole bunch of artists on other floors – and I helped on decisions with one or two of the others. But to be honest I am really proud that we can present something like the Experimental Floor on Thursday.

There has never been such a line-up at a musical event before. It is a unique combination of artists and due to the nature of their music you would never normally see them billed at this time, on this day, in this setting, so we are very pleased to be able to offer them and the visitors this treat. Here we have about eight representatives with extremely creative and free minds, experimenting with sounds and musical atmospheres all combined on one floor! And the Dub & Techdub Floor on Saturday contains a close to perfect selection of my personal favorites. I can’t live without one or the other release of their music on my mp3 player – always ready to sweeten my days…

Antina: The most interesting thing about a festival is a variety of styles, not only music genres, but also varied forms of presentation like musical showcases, audio-visual performances, films, discussions, workshops, lectures and ping pong sessions. Personally, I’m especially glad to welcome reggae, dub and 8-bit artists in the night program and also to have more experimental, downtempo and ambient artists in the day program. The netlabel showcases will open up the possibility to chat, network and enjoy the music at the same time.

Besides music in the evening Netaudio Berlin also focuses on other creative commons art forms and has some knowledge to offer. What exactly?

We are showing, for example, a selection of CC-movies from Stefan Kluge of VEB Leipzig – who informs us about the ideas behind CC movies and also why they even allow these movies to be used for commercial purpose… Then we have the netaudio ping pong game, an interactive game which uses netaudio sounds. We also have some field recording projects with concerts, sound- and net-installations as well as an exhibition on netlabels. Also there are a lot of discussions about various aspects of CC on the daytime program.

In many contracts with the musicians you "signed" the music of the artists. Do you plan to offer free live recordings afterwards?

We will record the whole festival for our own documentation and maybe for live streaming – but also we might release some of the recorded material afterwards. There are only a few artists who do not want that. In matters of post-festival releases we are maybe a little more interested in the intellectual outcome of the day program. We’d love to think about spoken word releases like lectures and discussions. There are enough netlabels to release high quality netaudio music. But there is no such thing like a publisher for CC-audio books resp. intellectual creative commons.

Only here and there you’ll find single releases of this kind. We would like to develop this aspect. But we might also release some live sets of the music program. If everything goes well we might broadcast a live radio and live net-radio from the festival – but the venue is very difficult for that. During the next few days we are investing a lot of time, energy and also some money in trying to set up an infrastructure for broadband streaming. It would be so nice - and also appropriate…

Thank you very much for the interview and see you at Netaudio Berlin 2009 in october!

Related posts

• The Future of Music Distribution (9)
• “Live-Events Are The Core Of A Netlabel” (4)
• Yes No Wave Music: Free Music from Indonesia (13)
• Various – “NetAudio Russia Compilation Volume 1 & 2″ (3)
• Talkin’bout Beats with Error Broadcast (7)

Foto by Psycoded: Patryk (left) meeting the netlabel scene in Cologne
(to the right Flo and  Stoffel)

Digital Phlow Podcast | Two weeks ago I met Patryk Galuszka for an interview about netaudio and netlabelism. Patryk Galuszka is a researcher who works for the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and the Academy of Humanities and Economics in Lodz. To find out more about Patryk visit his blog and click the flag for a short English version. Or listen to our podcast and get to know some interesting facts about his research! Last not least: If you are a netlabel owner and would like to make an interview with Patryk, than contact him and read on!

About my research project: survey and interviews with representatives of netaudio scene. Aim: to learn more about netlabels, write scientific articles, promote the scene.

I am also looking for people from netlabels to conduct interviews with them (using Skype). If you have some time in December or January-February next year, let me know: patrykgaluszka [at] gmail.com (of course remove all the spaces and substitute [at] with @). The interview would last about 35-40 minutes. I guarantee anonymity (if you want). Thanks in advance!

And here some favorite tracks from Patryk

1. From Jahtari.org 8 bit music: Dubmood - Atari-Ska L'Atakk (especially track 05 VodSka-Dance)
2. From Afterbeat.org dub: Dino - Mystical Warrior EP (any track, for example 1 Zion Dub)
3. From AudioTong Chinese experimental music: BAI+IAN - anti-sound (any track, let's say 4. The City As I Found It)
4. From ProbablyWorse Polish post-rock: Folder - Inside (check out track 1 The Bad Parts)
5. From WM Recordings German (Cologne) acoustic/alternative folk: Meanwhileproject.ltd - Today is Sunday (let's say track 02. All in one)

Visiting Hidden Corners of the Global Netlabel Phenomena | While internet data highways connect more and more countries and cultures all over the world, the distribution of music speeds up and we get access to places we've never been. Places like Indonesia where cassettes are still a commonly used medium to listen to music next to CDs and MP3s. Indonesia where netlabelism is still a tiny growing plant but where the idea of Creative Commons fall with its seeds on a rich ground. Welcome to the world wide web and the first netlabel from Indonesia: Yes No Wave Music.

The head behind the Indonesian netlabe called Yes No Wave Music is Wok The Rock. As a visual artist he lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The 33 years old loves music since his 8th birthday and released his first album when he was 16. In the old days he used an old tape recorder for his first release.

Wok The Rock was involved in the punk scene 1996, writing and publishing a zine, formed a label which focused on punk music, built a web-based punk community and organized some underground music gigs. In 2002 he began forming and organizing Ruang MES 56, an artists initiative space focused on contemporary photography. In 2007 he started Yes No Wave Music by himself with the help of Bagus Jalang who writes the liner notes for each release. For a living he does web and graphic design.

Running the first netlabel in Indonesia: Wok The Rock

For Germans, Indonesia is far away. I have no clue how easy or difficult it is to release music in Indonesia. So tell us! Are there "normal" labels, are there "netlabels" and how do people in Indonesia get their music?

Indonesia which has the biggest music industry in South-East Asia, exports its music production to nearby countries like Singapore, Malaysia and even Japan. Unlike mainstream music industry, Indonesian underground music has more various and progressive genres from indiepop to drum n' bass, dub, post rock, math rock and experimental jazz which has a good fan base in many countries. One of Indonesias most popular electro pop bands, Goodnight Electric, was invited by Goethe-Institut to perform on c/o pop Festival in Cologne, Germany.

It's not hard to release a record in Indonesia. In some big cities in Indonesia, there are lots of unexpensive record studios. For your information, cassette is still popular to be used. The cost for cassette duplication is very affordable for bands with not-so-much money. The cost for cover sleeves are also cheap.

But when the internet became popular, the selling of casssettes and CDs decreased. Pirated CDs are a horible monster for Indonesias music industry. In every corner of the city, pirated audio CDs, MP3 (CD Data), and DVD Movies are affordable and easy to find. Torrent, Rapidshare and other blogs which provided songs in illegal MP3 format are very common for a lot of teenage music fans.

But, although while they are very common with torrent or other file sharing systems and there is a zine that writes reviews about some netlabel releases around the world, teenage music fans still are unfamiliar with netlabels. Yes No Wave Music is the first netlabel in Indonesia and started in April 2007.

When and why did you choose do release music under creative commons licences in Indonesia?

The DIY (Do It Yourself) ethics and the distribution of pirate material are the main reason for me to run this netlabel. To release free music together with a digital license is the logic consequence to deal with the current conditions. To get more profit, the selling of band merchandise has became more effective than the selling of CDs or cassettes. Through a netlabel, bands can easily distribute their songs more widely. With more people listening, this will impact the selling of the bands merchandise and the chance to get a gig.

Part of our "Netaudio London 2008"

1. Netaudio London 2008 we’re coming!
2. Talkin’bout Beats with Error Broadcast
3. Pictures and Impressions from Netaudio London 2008
4. Netaudio London 2008: First Night revisited!

Sven Swift, mo. and Filippo Aldovini cruisin' through London (Foto: Sim Sullen)

Interview at Netaudio London 2008 | Really good Hip Hop Music is still hard to find in the creative commons world of music. If you search for netlabels promoting deep Hip Hop Music you have to stick to a baby-handful of netlabels. But there's a glowing light at the end of the tunnel. This torch is held by Filippo Aldovini from Zymogen Netlabel and well-known Sven Swift.

Both music nerds teamed up to stem a heavy-weight bassloaded netlabel called Error-Broadcast for Instrumental Hip Hop. At Netaudio London 2008 they gave the party crowd a first listen, distributed some exclusive Promo-CDs and were caught by mo. to speak out loud into the microphone. Enjoy a Podcast-Radio-Show with an exclusive track from the upcoming Error Broadcast Compilation which gives you a glimpse how deep Error Broadcast digs into the ground.

The track in the podcast was produced by ComFormat called "Rock da Dam!!!" and will be followed by other extraordinary musicians like Apes on Tapes, The Great Mundane, Comfort Fit or B-Ju,

Part of our "Netaudio London 2008"

1. Netaudio London 2008 we’re coming!
2. Talkin’bout Beats with Error Broadcast
3. Pictures and Impressions from Netaudio London 2008
4. Netaudio London 2008: First Night revisited!

Netaudio London 2008 Report | Yesterday we arrived without any problems in London and went straight to the venue under the London Bridge. The location where the Netaudio London 2008 takes place called "Shunt" is a huge place with a small door which we oversaw at the first moment. But then we entered through the backstage door, prepared everything and started into a fascinating evening full of culture. But listen up, here comes the podcast with Sim Sullen, Sven Swift and mo.

Music in Podcast by B-Ju "Philly Run"
Photos by Sim Sullen

Netaudio London 2008 Gallery

Netaudio London 2008 Gallery 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Part of our "Netaudio London 2008"

1. Netaudio London 2008 we’re coming!
2. Talkin’bout Beats with Error Broadcast
3. Pictures and Impressions from Netaudio London 2008
4. Netaudio London 2008: First Night revisited!

Phlow Report | In the next days you've got the chance to meet the Phlow Staff at Netaudio London 2008. Sven and mo. will not only play some free music in the evening, we'll try to catch some of the most interesting people to interview. If everything works well, we got an internet connection over there in the United Kinddom and you'll read on Phlow-Magazine.com some fine reports, listen to some entertaining interviews via Podcast and maybe even see some pictures and movies. Till then, stay tuned and check out www.netaudiolondon.cc and the fabulous netaudio london 2008 compilation!

The Spain-Germany Podcast Connection | Monday evening: mo. has turned on two laptops, started Traktor, Skype, his mixer and midi-mixers and than... Click!, you hear how a microphone gets turned on, the trailer rolls in and with some more mouse clicks Cologne/Germany is connected with Calella/Spain via datacable. Welcome to the netaudio radioshow with spains smartest netaudio activist: Mr. Applejux! Listen to selected netaudio tunes from Spain and dive into the spanish netlabel scene!

Links from the Podcast Show

• Applejux
• op3n.net
• Minifu
• Persona Isla Netlabel
• Addsensor Netlabel
• Miga Netlabel
• http://remeseiro.com/konsumprodukt
• www.netaudio.es
• www.chenardwalcker.com
• www.tonatom.net

Rockin' with their netlabel since 2004! Sven Swift and Sim Sullen

Interview with DIY-Netlabel 12rec | With their fabulous 50th release it's time to visit the Do-It-Yourself Netlabel 12rec from Germany. Phlow met Sim Sullen and Sven Swift on the digital highway to have a chat about the strategies, attitude and why they enjoy exploiting themselves in the name of music! Together we unravel some old 12rec-screenshots, watch once more our most favorite netlabel-video-clip to date and listen to their new compilation.

12rec Netlabel is a two-headed squirrel. Most of you know already Sven Swift for his in-depth-reviews on Phlow-Magazine.com and his headstrong compilations he contributes to the world-wide netlabel-phenomena. In comparison Sim Sullen seems more quiet, but the head behind travels a lot through germany, fotographing creative commons- and web 2.0-conferences. I celebrated already together with them at Netlabel Festival Zürich in 2006 - and guess, what can I tell you about this netlabel-duet? Amusing, freaky and truly dedicated...

Simon and Sven, how did you guys meet and how did you get the idea of coordinating a Netlabel together?

Sven: Sim and me know each other from school days. We both grew up in a small city at the outer brims of the Ruhr Area in Northern Germany. We had a band and spend a lot of time photoshopping, doing flyers and stuff. We were listening to 60's Jazz and electronic music which none of our friends did - I think that forced us together... The first recordings of our band Majestik12 were published on tape, but for the second album we decided to go online. That was out first glimpse of what the web can do for us. The opportunity to share music via the net were pretty exciting for us these days... imagine that, kids!

One or two years later, a friend that just had started his studies at the KHM in Cologne came up with different demos fellow students had blessed him with. These were Sichtbeton, Yokölast and Jasmin. Simon already got in contact with the Netaudio scene, and listening to all this awesome left-field music we agreed to found a Netlabel as well.

Click on the thumbnails to see, how the 12rec-website looked like in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007!

On the one hand, 12rec. seems to be a very serious project. On the other hand, I had the feeling that sometimes plain fun is your agenda. Is there a main concept behind 12rec., have you got a special intention or message while releasing free music or is it just a fun project?

Sven: Both is true, actually. It's definitely important to us that people recognize the Creative Commons license we're working with; that listeners are aware of the fact that our music is free, in a political sense, if you dare. And we're glad to be a label rather than one of these faceless file hosters! Despite our stylistic versatility, people know that there is no bullshit up at 12rec. Maybe the label concept sounds dated in times of UGC but this bit of nostalgia is something I can definitely live with.

But neither Sim nor me are out for recruiting pees for the Netaudio fuzz. The main agenda is good music - good music, good artwork and a few well-written, humours words about the music. Are seriousity and humour contrary values? Don't hope so!

On the next page you get a private peek on how the 12rec-boys produce their wonderful CDs and why they like to enjoy exploiting themselves!

Interview with Broque Netlabel | The German label Broque follows a mixed strategy. Under the clever management of Christian Kausch and Heiko Schwanz Broque distributes music in several formats and ways. While DJs can buy vinyl-records worldwide at their record dealer of choice, the netizens get free mp3 music released under a creative commons licence on their website. To complete the cycle of music distribution musiclovers can purchase MP3s of the vinyl releases on Beatport. We talked to Christian Kausch to figure out, what's important for a professional netlabel today, how you push your music into webshops and if you can make some profit out of it.

While Broque recently pushed out a fantastic release called Pseudónimo "terra firme e.p." we thought, we might talk to the grown up (not only) techno netlabel from Germany. And, yes, we squeezed out some interesting questions for you. Keep on reading!

Whose scepter is swinging behind the Broque-curtain?

Music connects! Friends for lifetime, partners on Broque Netlabel: Christian and Heiko

Most netlabels publish their music only as digital downloads. You follow a mixed up strategy and distribute your music as mp3 and vinyl. Why do you do so?

When you publish a new vinyl, how do you choose the tracks? Are there any guidelines you follow?

The CC Mixter Remix-Project by Calendar Girl | Tamara Barnett-Herrin - better known as calendar girl - started a fantastic project back in October 2006. The idea was simple: Write each month a song and release the original material under a creative commons licence. Than ask other producers and musicians to remix the songs. Now one and a half year laters Calendar Girl looks back on the results: more than 300 remixes! And like she promised she publishes a record with 12 fantastic songs. A story on how to use the web to interact with other musicians worldwide.

“I write one song a month. You remix and feedback. We make a record.”

When and how did you get your idea of your Calendar Songs-Project?

I'd been writing demos in my bedroom for a couple of years, but I kept finding myself very frustrated by the process of never having anything "finished". And I felt I was working in a vacum. I could play my music to friends and family but getting it "out there" - whatever that means - felt so impossible.

I never want music to become a chore, or to find myself complaining about making music, how hard it is, etc., etc. It became clear to me that this process of making demos can also at the same time make you very bitter! So I tried to think of a way for my music to find another route into the ether...

And obviously putting it online was the best solution. But of course, MySpace isn't everything... So I kind of fashioned the idea of writing new songs for a website, where I could draw people in by inviting them to remix my songs. I wanted the site to have the air of a challenge to it, something where you could come back to check up on my progress, so I challenged myself to write a new songs each month that had to be inspired by that month.

That way I gave people a reason to come back to the site after their first visit, like "I wonder if she made it this month...". It all went online in October 2006. It took about two months to put it together from when I had the idea.

If you speak in terms of music-engineering, there is a saying "Garbage in, Garbage out!". It means, if you record music badly, you can't do anything to make it sound better. What kind of equipment did you use to produce your songs? Are they all recorded at home?

I'm not sure I agree with that saying. I would rather listen to a bad recording of a good song than an amazing recording of a terrible song. And I put all my faith in people having the same attitude as me, because I know I can't make the most perfect recordings.

I record at home into Garage Band, I'm terribly lazy, I haven't even made soundproofing! All the A Cappellas sound like my bedroom! But I made a decision to it this way - to really concentrate on writing instead of spending all my time getting the best equipment and teaching myself how to master it. Maybe I'm a bit of a purist but I like things that sound like what they are.

Free Music Digger | With his Podcast called "Machtdose" Podcaster Roland presents a treasure box full of the most terrific netlabel-music around. While fascinated hopping from country to country he presents music from all kind of genres. His Machtdose Show gives a damn about music-boundaries and leads you each time into new corners of the netlabel world. An interview with a Netaudio-Podcaster.

When did you make your first contact with the free music scene, especially netlabels? Do you remember the first release you downloaded?

What drives you to dig especially into the world of netlabels?

A lot of people claim that the netlabels are a bunch of amateurs. "They give their music away for free", they say, "because otherwise noone would buy their records." What would be your answer to such a statement?

The Love For Music | Camomille is one of the oldest and most exceptional netlabels to date. With Vince Fugère as its head Camomille set some high fidelity milesstones in the netaudio world. The sound could be best described as a mixture of Ambient, Indietronica and IDM. With extraordinary strong illustrations and artworks Camomille confronts its audience with beautiful art. In our interview Vince unveils the origin, secrets and history of Camomille.

The Roots and Origin Of Camomille Netlabel

Phlow: Can you describe the early Bulletin Board days? For instance: Was it a big scene? How did people find out about it? How did you get involved? Were the participants mostly musicians - or did non-musicians use it to find music as well? How did it actually work?

Design & Artwork taken from comic book by Selfmademusic

Timeless Eloquent House | The sound of Epsilonlab is lush, deep, melodic, dubby and techy. You find the spirit of house-music in every release. With great musicians like Paul Keeley, Pheek, Eloi Brunelle or Sensual Physics Epsilonlab published some of the finest house-music released under a cc-licence. Even if Epsilonlab is a little quiet right now, we can state, that the Epsilonlab Collective is without any doubt one of the first professional netlabels. Epsilonlab grew suddenly out of the ground, we raised our hands frenetic in the air and embraced than the beautfiful sounds from Canada.
Subhead |

Vincent Casanova- "Take Me Beyond (Paul Keeley Remix)" (MP3)
Sensual Physics - "Cold Sweat" (MP3)

The canadian netlabel Epsilonlab has quite well-known producers on its roster like Paul Keeley, Eloi Brunelle, Pheek, Sensual Physics or Jeff Benett. Somehow I think the sound is best described as friendly. While the heart is full of love for house-music, the production of most of the releases sound digital and most of the time crystal clear.

One of my favorite musicians on Epsilonlab is Paul Keeley. Paul Keeley who did also the mastering for a lot of releases on Epsilonlab produces colorful TechHouse-Music. With each release he convinced me again that he is a master of melodic TechHouse tunes with a slight trance-approach. To discover the sound of Paul Keeley you have to begin with his beautiful live-act-mix "Paul Keeley - Live @ Elektra, QC". Than dig deeper into the archive.

One of my favorite netlabel-tracks to date is still the amazing "Cold Sweat" from Sensual Physics aka digitalverein aka Joerg Schuster. Don't miss the according "Expanding Itself" EP with four fine tracks hard to define.

To make my bunch complete, check out Eloi Brunelle. Eloi is the head behind the netlabel, the man who helds it all together. Even if his musical approach is slightly harder and techno his beloved brother, he expands the Epsilonlab Music-Archive with straight forward productions for clubheads. Yet his weird, humurous track called "My Submarine" together with Vanessa Moore on "Psychotonic EP" is still my favorite.

Videoclip "Spaceball" by Fukkle Bim Jerry

Lately the german blogger, experimentalist and netaudio musiclover Janos Krüger aka Fukkle Bim Jerry sent me his beautiful little videoclip called "Spaceball". He choosed the Epsilonlab track “On The Stone” from Black Foundation Dub E.P. by Mossa as the musically counterpart for his pictures. The videoclip shows how you can combine a 99cent-toy for children with good music with some smart video-editing. Everything was released under a creative commons. So spread the love :)

MP3 Techno House TechHouse Music Download

For starters - Five Great Releases on Epsilonlab

• Paul Keeley - Rocky Mountain Funk [EPS07] (ZIP-Archive)
• Sensual Physics - Expanding Itself [EPS17] (ZIP-Archive)
• Eloi Brunelle - Psychotonic EP [EPS14] (ZIP-Archive)
• Alland Byallo - Club Soda & Salt [EPS06] (ZIP-Archive)
• Dublee - Deviation EP [EPS21] (ZIP-Archive)

Netlabel: www.epsilonlab.com

Interview with the italian Dharmasound Netlabel | Over the past couple of years, the Rome-based net-label dharmasound has put out nearly forty first-rate releases covering a wide range of music. Last Fall, Gianluigi Cocco - dharmasounds’ general manager and artistic director - was kind enough to take some time to talk a bit about the label, their philosophy of music, and their place in the net-label scene. Dave Kneifer talked for Phlow with the labelhead.

Phlow: Dharmasound has a really sharp website. It's well organized, has a clean design, and a cool look. What kind of web design or technical advice would you give to somebody who was thinking of starting a netlabel?

Phlow: You provide a means for a lot of interactivity as well. On the message boards, for instance, people can upload demos and news about releases and live dates. I think this kind of thing is one of the real advantages netlabels have over traditional label, which is that they can serve as a hub for a virtual - or even a physical community. Which raises my next questions: Did dharmasound grow out of an already existing community? Or do you feel that you've helped to create a new community?

Phlow: I see that this past August you guys hosted a live event at a club in Rome that featured five dharmasound artists. How did that go? And do you plan on more in the future?

Phlow: Dharmasound has always focussed mostly Creative Commons tracks - free downloads in other words. But for a while you also had some tracks for sale--although you seem to have discontinued that. I was wondering why you no longer have the for-sale tracks? And also what your ideas are about net-labels as potential money-making operations?

Phlow: Finally, what's been your favorite experience while running dharmasound?

Phlow: Thank you for the interview!

Links and so...

Netlabel: www.dharmasound.com