Few labels manage to cause such a stir with their first releases as STEFFEN “DIXON“ BERKHAHN´s Innervisions. Besides running the club night INNERCITY which takes place in the epicenter of Berlin, through his label he offers a hand picked selection of producers a platform to celebrate the current renaissance for all things deep house. This first compilation is a review of the labels output in the last year and so shows exactly where it is at. The concept behind the club orientated 12″s is a balance between peaktime A-Sides and more dubbed out B-Sides. With his special edits, DIXON opens up the tracks for household use. His shortened and stripped down versions make what is essentially DJ music more suitable for home listening.
The first shot was fired when the Japan/NYC based ALEX FROM TOYKO had an underground hit with his debut TOYKO BLACK STAR. Release number two, Rej by the two guys from Karlsruhe known as ÂME also managed to rise high in the annual Groove and De:Bug charts and provided source of inspiration for many an artist. LOUIE VEGA (MASTERS AT WORK) and DANNY KRIVIT christened Rej the “Plastic Dreams” of the new millenium and RICHIE HAWTIN was even seen stage diving to it once or twice. Such is the success of Rej that it will already be rereleased on Defected in autumn. The track has been played again and again in Ibiza and PETE TONG even made it his “Tune of the Month”. MARCUS WORGULL from Cologne had the next hit with his Dragon Loop, which fast became a universal guarantee for getting hands thrown in the air. Similar interests and tastes brought together ÂME, DIXON and HENRIK SCHWARZ, the producers of Where We At. With the help of the striking voice of Derrick Carter they succeeded in creating a tune which soon got played over and over on floors everywhere. Since his tracks are permanently in the record boxes of the INNERVISIONS protagonists, FRANCK ROGER could not have been left out and so is represented by his organic sounding number Back and Forth.
After having had a helping start with the first maxis by JAZZANOVA´s Sonar Kollektiv, from now on Innervisions stands on its own feet and is run by DIXON and his „partners in crime“, KRISTIAN BEYER and FRANK WIEDEMANN from ÂME. Where We At presents the current state of play of a highly regarded crew who are getting equal respect from purists, minimalists and freestylers alike.
The goal is not to be obsessively futurist, rather comfortably balanced between the old and the new. Thereby they capture the essence of, for example, a RON TRENT or CHEZ DAMIER number translated into the present day, just as ATJAZZ does with his piece For Real.
One view of the future of Innervisions is delivered by the Parisien buddys I:CUBE and GILB´R aka CHÂTEAU FLIGHT with their highly individual opener Baroque. Sleepy Hollow by Berlin internet forum activist STEFAN GOLDMANN who has already released on Classic, JOSH WINK´s Ovum and Perlon, is currently being heralded as this years Rej. History runs its course, but one things for sure, Innervisions is gonna leave further tracks behind.
