It's been a funny year to be a record label if funny is indeed the proper word. Our friends at our pressing plant say we've both passed the start-up phase and are deeply entrenched in the "struggling" phase. Given the current state of the music industry I've conceded to being in phase two for awhile. As with most small businesses, money and debt are a constant battle and this has always been the case for us. This has been the year that Broklyn Beats broke, encumbered with said debt, pulled in different musical directions and confused by the formats and markets. Nonetheless, business is a learning experience and creative entreprenuerialism, I believe, affects other creativities. 2007 sees us working on our own music for Broklyn, pulling back from our current release schedule while expanding Applecore, something new... Below, some thoughts on Broklyn Beats 2006 releases. Check tracks from these at our MySpace page.
Parts & Labor "Escapers One" 12" EP - Escaping our own restrictions, as well as the band's, for something a bit different. The covers, vinyl and production all happened in Brooklyn by friends' businesses - a cool fact, but not a cheap one! Releases like this will always be on vinyl and will always sell.
"Sky City Rising" CD EP - Luca (Drop the Lime) has shape-shifted with determined skill from innovative breakcore flourishes to U.K.- minded bass experiments and B'more breaks edits, always maintaining his signature sound and voice. This is his dubstep and it stands up to many of our other favorite U.K. innovators this year. Watch for this man in 2007...
DJ Slip "She's a Time Traveller" CD - What are we doing releasing a techno album?! Fact is, despite all of our whining, we do like techno and sometimes have to follow our impulses. Troy's an ace producer and an old friend who was always a supportive musician. There's a couple tracks here that made the soundtrack to my summer, namely "Utopia Revealed" and "Outsider Sweeet Outlander."
1-Speed Bike "Someone Told Me Life Gets Easier in Your 50's" CD, "Redux" 12"EP - Old punk friends from '90s Minneapolis re-aquaint years later, tour doing weirdo electronic music. One releases the other's music. Fruition can often surprise! Insert fart joke...
Rotator "Redux" 12" EP - The year breakcore didn't break, although we did get a big article in XLR8R. Well, we got pretty tired of most breakcore this year, preferring to shell out more on dubstep. I felt most people in breakcore released good stuff in 2006, but not much different then anything from the previous couple of years. Rotator, however, continued to impress with a distorted, compressed madness delivered at blistering speeds, yet retaining maximum dance-worthiness. Long live breakcore!!!
Les Trolls "Culture de l'Incoherence" CD - We've been fans of these French musicians for awhile and it felt great to introduce their original sound to America. One of the most rewarding parts of doing all of this is getting to meet and work with new people. Documenting all of this is important when the music is this good.
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