I have been a long time admirer of the Berlin based Restoration Records. Vinyl only limited releases pushing forward some of the finest efforts in house/techno over the past 4 years after being founded in 2007. The label was created by the Italian vinyl junkies Marieu and Lucretio, who produce both independently as well as collaboratively under the alias The Analogue Cops. Since the label's conception, there have been 12 releases, keeping the quality control high throughout. Of particular quality are the 7th and 12th releases, the former including to wonderful tracks from both Marieu and Lucretio ('Roots' and 'Where Are You'), whilst the latter signals the finest of the duo's work as The Analogue Cops (a killer 4-track EP which includes the outstanding 'Why You Love Me' and 'Wait A Second').Vinyl records and analogue production are the only way for Restoration. The use of analogue machines in their production gives their sound a more interesting and unique feel, adding to the raw and ready atmosphere of the records. It's an approach that looks to the past, in particular Detroit artists such as Jeff Miles, Robert Hood, Theo Parrish, Omar S, Underground Resistance et al, in order to move forward, confidently leaving a mark of their individual sound. The label and it's artists are only growing stronger with time, with more releases to come in the near future, as well as new labels and collaborations being initiated by Marieu and Lucretio as detailed in the interview. The Analogue Cops have kindly put together an exclusive mix/interview, which you can download by following the link below. 1 hour and 9 minutes of pure, raw house and techno. All vinyl. Download. Undoubtedly one of the finest label's around.
The Analogue Cops/Restoration - Daily Bugle Mix
Interview:Hi guys, could you quickly introduce yourselves and the label.
Hello there, we are Lucretio and Marieu a.k.a. The Analogue Cops. We are the founders of Restoration records. We also run another label called Appointment together with the guys of Live Jam (Emg and John Swing). Recently we have started two new labels focused on our solo projects: Enlightened Wax (Marieu) and Machines State (Lucretio). We have been buying vinyls for a lot of years. We are Italian but we are living in Berlin, after a couple spent in Barcelona. We play vinyl only, we make music only with machines.
The label’s been running strong for a good few years now. What originally motivated you to start the label?
Basically, back in 2006, we felt a lack of good new music, and we decide to try to do something better, to do something like THEY used to do. So we bought a few machines and we started to learn.
How much of an impact if any has Berlin had on your sound and the label itself?
In Berlin, some people built a bridge to Detroit. And as we love the music from Detroit, this was the place where we had to come. Also, the things coming from the Basic Channel camp. Nowadays, the connection of the city with Detroit is not as strong as it was, but a lot of good artists live and produce their music there. Also there are a lot of great record shops and a lot of people who love electronic music. Furthermore, it's a great thing to have the possibility to listen to your own records in places like Berghain or Panorama Bar, because these places have a proper sound system, and so you can test your works there and improve yourself every time.
You obviously like to keep things analogue based when it comes to production, something I respect greatly and that adds a raw and unique quality to your work. What’s your production set up like?
No computer. A bunch of drum machines and synthesisers from the 80s, some more recent groovebox, a big sampler. Everything connected via MIDI with a hardware sequencer. We record our tracks live only on tape.
How are things developing with Restoration? Have you got any releases coming up over the next few months?
Having started two new labels for our solo works, we have focused Restoration on the release of our other projects. So, we will mainly release tracks by The Analogue Cops and by Third Side, our project with our talented friend Steffi. The next 12" on Restoration will come
out at the beginning of June and it will be a maxi single by Third Side and nd_baumecker. We have recently started to jam with nd and the result was great; we had big fun with him in our studio. We can do great stuff with Steffi and nd, we share a raw musical taste and we have a lot of common influences.
I’ve recently heard of plans of collaboration with Blawan, and I’m really excited by this prospect. Is this going to happen? If so, are you looking forward to working with him?
We have known Blawan since the Flash Forward party in Venice. He really likes our records and he really enjoyed the DJ set of Marieu when playing there with him. There was a connection with him since the beginning. He is one of the most talented youngsters in the
U.K. ...we think. So, we told him to come here in Berlin to jam with us at our analogue studio. He got very fast into our production style. We made 10 greats track together in 3 days. Some of these tracks will come out on some very good labels, we can´t announce where yet... :)...we can only tell you that it is a UK based label.
You've also recently started operating as Appointment and founded the label with the same title? What have you got planned for this project? The Moodymann remixes were brilliant.
Thank you, we are glad you like it. I think we made a very functional remix. Appointment is Marieu, Lucretio, and the guys of Live Jam (Emg and John Swing). They are good friends of us. EMG lives in Berlin and John Swing lives in London. But we are all Italian. We started releasing tracks on Live Jam, then, Decks Reworkx asked us for this remix. So we decided to start a label for the Appointment program: raw, minimalistic, experimental tracks. No information on the record, no name for the track. Only a stamp and powerful music. We do
music together on very quick intensive sessions when John visits us here in Berlin. Appointment 004 came out at the beginning of May. It is a very strong record.
What 12"s do you rate most highly at present?
Our favourite Restoration is always the latest one :). We are always reaching out.
Absolutely big.
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