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Sublabel of Mute for electronic dance music
1992:Born out of a love of the electronic beat, novamute is formed. The tough-nut son of Mute, its intentions are simple: to provide an outlet for white labels and obscure European acts via licensing deals. Early singles come from the likes of Steve Bicknell's Lost Project, Unity 3 and Elevation.
1993:
A licensing deal with the hugely influential Tresor Records of Berlin sees the label develop beyond the singles... Read more
Sublabel of Mute for electronic dance music
1992:Born out of a love of the electronic beat, novamute is formed. The tough-nut son of Mute, its intentions are simple: to provide an outlet for white labels and obscure European acts via licensing deals. Early singles come from the likes of Steve Bicknell's Lost Project, Unity 3 and Elevation.
1993:
A licensing deal with the hugely influential Tresor Records of Berlin sees the label develop beyond the singles markets with the first of a series of globally released Tresor compilations documenting the label's no-nonsense approach. novamute releases 3 Phase's legendary Love Parade anthem 'Der Klang Der Famille'.
Often overlooked, it's interesting to note that the now renowned Belfast DJ/producer David Holmes makes an early appearance on the label under his Death Before Disco guise.
1994:
The year Richie Hawtin broke. A deal with Hawtin and John Aquaviva's Plus 8 offshoot, Probe label, and the subsequent Hawtin solo releases saw Mixmag proclaim in the autumn of 1994 that "techno needs this man". Hawtin's breakthrough single, 'Spastik' and subsequent album "Sheet One" (both as Plastikman) became instant classics. His raw and unique take on techno proved there was intelligent life beyond the 4/4 beat. By the end of the year Hawtin's "Musik" is released to equally fevered praise.
"Sheet One"'s perforated sleeve, reminiscent of a sheet of acid tabs, landed one young chap in trouble when US Police officials refused to accept his side of the tale. Hawtin AKA Robotman also scored a hit this year with house/techno crossover classic 'Do Da Doo'.
French studio recluse Emmanuel (BBE) Top releases acid monster 'Lobotomie'. The track goes on to become a DJ staple for the Chemical Brothers.
1995:
A further Tresor (III) compilation appears and LFO-er Mark Bell makes a fleeting appearance under the name of Fawn. Moby also appears under his Voodoo Child moniker.
Hawtin plays a legendary live Plastikman set at Glastonbury. Grown men are reduced to tears.
1996:
The foreign legion amass on the Harrow Road borders. Techno demi-god and baseball cap wearer of some note Joey Beltram delivers a brutal album, "Close Grind" as JB3. Luke Slater's mix of Forklift, a single taken from the album becomes a techno classic overnight.
French master Emmanuel Top reclaims the trance genre from the cheese merchants with his experimental deep-trance album "Asteroid".
1997:
A busy year for the label. West London based and sometime Underworld DJ Darren Price produces the Detroit inflected "Under The Flightpath" album, Bandulu types Space DJ'z release a couple of singles and Beltram's "Close Grind" gets the remix treatment.
The emergence of both Speedy J and Luke Slater mark a turning point for the label. Speedy's hard-ambient album "Public Energy No.1" causes a stir while Slater's all-encompassing wide-screen techno epic "Freek Funk" gets a rapturous response and garners excellent sales.
1998:
The second coming of Hawtin. The start of the summer sees the release of his third album, the Berlin inspired "Consumed". Stark, dark and beyond minimal, the standard is again set. By November the album "Artifakts (bc)" rounds up the trilogy that began with "Sheet One" & "Musik".
novamute extends a welcoming hand to Steve Stoll who produces a New York inflected album of dancefloor-techno under the moniker of Blunted Boy Wonder.
1999:
The adventures of Speedy J and Luke Slater continue with the album releases "A Shocking Hobby", a glitch odyssey and "Wireless", a gnarly breaks classic, respectively.
Hawtin showcases his unique DJ/live amalgamation with the startling "Decks, EFX & 909".
2000:
Brighton based boffin Cristian Vogel produces the abstract funk masterpiece "Rescate 137", an album of startling originality from an artist with a rich and varied past.
The compilation "Plus 8 Classics" showcases the huge influence the Canadian label has had on the techno world.
2001:
2001 : the label still lives and breathes with the same vigour that kick started it all a decade or so ago. This was the year the label initiatet a 12" singles series with releases from artists such as Dutch renegade Hans Weekhout, Tim Wright and his futuristic breaks behemoth 'Searcher', Nitzer Ebb with the long lost Derrick May mix of 'Shame' and 1st Bass, the hitherto unknown Jan Van Jansen from deepest Utrecht.
2001 also saw the emergence of the prolific Si Begg under the guise of S.I. Futures. His album, "The Mission Statement", a caustic swipe at corporate culture mixed and matched styles. The resultant singles 'We Are Not A Rock Band', 'Freestyle Disco' and 'Eurostar' plus well received live shows all cemented S.I Future's growing reputation. Richie Hawtin further enhanced his reputation as one of the world's finest electronic DJ/producers with the future classic mix "De9: Closer to the Edit" and the launch of the Final Scratch DJ software.
2002 :
Speedy J returned with a cracking new studio album 'Louboxer' following his single, techno smash 'Krekc', while Cologne legend Thomas Brinkmann unleashed his extremely funky Soul Center project. Also 2002, saw singles singles from Tim Wright, Debasser, Umek, Acid Casuals, Needledust and further Nitzer Ebb and Cabaret Voltaire remix projects featuring remixes from The Hacker/Terence Fixmer and Akufen/Tiga and Zyntherius respectively. Richie Hawtin/Sven V�th's mix collection 'Cocoon : The Sound of the Third Season' showed that the 'cream' CAN rise to the top when it comes to Ibiza themed mix albums.
2003:
Shaping up to be the busiest year yet. A novamute compilation '2Cd's & MP3's" featuring trax hitherto unreleased on CD plus 28 mp3 files out in March with singles from Debasser and Chicago's finest Tim Baker to follow. Also in the studio with albums promised this year are : Tim Wright, Si Begg, Richie 'Plastikman' Hawtin, Umek and new signing, Berlin's finest T. Raumschmiere. There are also DJ mix albums promised from UK Bass maestro DJ Cutlass Supreme and, now relocated to Barcelona, Cristian Vogel.
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