Despite recent popular belief, starting a label is far from easy. Blood, sweat and tears must be sacrificed for the development and fruition of a music label, and any artist will confirm that for you. So the rapid success of the Life & Death Label, headed by Manfredi Romani (DJ Tennis) and Greg Oreck (Thugfucker), is something quite phenomenal actually. With only a handful of EPs and releases since its inception in 2010, Life and Death has skyrocketed to the top of the charts with tracks from the labels’ own like Tale of Us, Thugfucker, and Pillowtalk, as well as various other reputable DJs and producers. The Life & Death label is the quintessential “breath of fresh air” in the underground techno scene, merging staple house and techno with dark pop, indie rock, and psychedelic soul. They are dedicated to the creation of new and innovative sounds, but always staying true to the central theme of Life & Death – emotions.
Whether they’re good, bad, happy or sad, we all have them – and the Life & Death family do a mighty fine job of conveying them for us with their diverse spectrum of music.
Resolute and Time To Get Ill, two well-known promo companies in the underground techno world, hosted Life & Death’s first New York showcase, with Thugfucker and Tale of Us’ Matteo Milleri. The venue was a remote warehouse located in the depths of Buschwick, BK where there was sure to be no interruptions as this party was scheduled to go til 10 am. The sound was…actually, maybe I should just break it down for you: a D&B Q series sound system, SIX tops, and SIX subs. Excessive, you say? Never! This is New York, and here we like our sound crisp and our bass HARD. Oh, and they didn’t stop there. The teams also had a massive LED installation put together which was comprised of 10 total led panels mounted on a high-beam above the stage. It was the perfect setup for an evening of truly special music.
The Thugfucker boys, Greg Oreck and Holmar Filipsson, got the night started with psychedelic synths and funky grooves. Truth be told, I only got to see the tale end of their opening set, but what I was able to catch instantly got me excited for what was sure to be an unforgettable showcase.
Matteo, one half of the Italian DJ duo Tale of Us, not only took one for the team in literally “coming to the rescue” after Karm was denied access back into the US, he also rocked the worlds of many fans last week. Taking the decks at 3 am, he played a melange of ToU’s tride and true dark and melodic tunes, classic dancefloor jams, and randomly wonderful wild cards. Going from Every Minute Alone – WhoMadeWho (Clockwork Remix), to Moan – Trentmoller, to It Goes On – Storm Queen (there’s that wildcard!). He took us on thrilling journey from start to finish.
…I hope that “finish” didn’t incline you to assume I meant that the party ended. On the contrary, it felt more like someone hit the rewind button and we got half our night back, when really we just gave up another three & some’ hours of life to Thugfucker. And I’m sure everyone in attendance would gladly do it all over again. They came on strong and ready to keep the party going, throwing down everything from Tiefschwarz’s bomb “Corporate Butcher” to Steffi’s “Sadness” and wait for it…. “DISCO GNOME” circa 8:30 am! No one expected it, but it was a lovely surprise and quite an appropriate one at that, seeing as it was their and Life and Death’s first release on the label.
Soon there after the mybeatfix team had to call it quits, but we left with elated hearts and big smiles smacked across our faces. ‘Twas an unarguably amazing show, and for that we thank Resolute, Time To Get Ill & the Life and Death crew.
mybeatFix’s montage of the night with our favorite snippets from both Tale of Us’ and Thugfucker’s set’s. Enjoy!
FYI the show was produced by Time to Get iLL AND Resolute. Both awesome crews in New York.