MFS: Observatory is the collaborative guise of Italian duo Matthias Tuchetti, Francesco Cozzolino. The outfit are relative newcomers having only released material since late 2014 and here we see them take a huge leap in their career stepping into international water via the Alphahouse imprint, slotting them alongside heavy hitters like Skudge, Mark Broom, Alexi Delano, Butane, and Ricardo Villalobos on the stellar roster. With a Little Helpers release also confirmed in 2015, this is a duo on the rise. Opening up the EP is ‘Observatory Y1’ which see the duo deliver a haunting slice of electronica fueled by smoky atmospherics, meandering arpeggio synth hooks and raw weighty rhythms to smoothly set the tone for what's to come. 'Observatory Y2’ provides a more reduced, but still heavy, groove with bubbling synth drones, menacing stabs, a bumpy bass hook and mesmeric vocal murmurs.
On the flip side Alexi Delano collaborates with Alphahouse founder Butane to reshape ‘Observatory Y2’ into pure vibe. The duo provides a typically infectious groovy number, which evolves over six and half minutes with a subtle dubbed out hook taking over the last half of the track. ‘Observatory Y3’ rounds things off afterhours-style, laying the focus on a sparse rhythmic foundation while howling sweeps and spaced out vocals fuel the psychedelia.
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Butane’s Alphahouse imprint kicks off 2015 with Pablo Inzunza’s ‘Convenience’ EP, featuring three original cuts from the Chilean artist and a remix from the label-founder himself. Pablo Inzunza is a Chilean DJ and producer most notably known for his recent long player on Butane & Someone Else’s Little Helpers imprint, but also acknowledged for material on Germany’s Highgrade, and French imprint Monique Musique. Inzunza has explored an array of organic and abstract Techno styles across the early stages of his career and here we see him push on with more powerful dance floor focused cuts via the Alphahouse imprint. The original mix of title cut ‘Convenience’ opens things up here and sees Inzunza employ a hypnotic 303 hook as the driving force, while ghostly synth textures flutter away in the depths of the composition and sparse rhythms further fuel its undulating groove. ‘Hypnotica’ follows and as the name would suggest lays its focus on an entrancing, percussion and pad-led groove, which subtly unfolds over its five and a half minute duration. Opening up the flip side of the release label-head Butane offers up a tougher, heads down take on ‘Convenience’, treating us to his typically rough and ready production style with gritty drum lines laid over the original’s squelchy 303 lick. Then finally to round things off we have the third and final original from Pablo entitled ‘Intimate’, which takes on a more house tinged aesthetic this time with organic percussion, sweeping synth stabs and stuttering bass tones.

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Butane teams up with Andras Toth for the ‘Elements Of Truth’ EP this March, set to be released via Butane’s very own Alphahouse imprint. Andrew Rasse aka Butane, launched the Alphahouse imprint back in 2005 amidst the minimal explosion, working with the likes of Troy Pierce and Quenum in the early stages. Now, looking back on how things have progressed and seeing the imprint reach a thirty-release milestone here, the label has made quite the standing in its time, releasing cuts from luminaries such as Skudge, Ricardo Villalobos and Ion Ludwig to name a few. Here we see Andras Toth return to the label with the duo’s second collaborative EP following ‘Futures’ back in 2011. The single opens with the original mix of ‘Truth’, a raw, stripped-back record built around an evolving bass hook, jangling percussion, splashy hats and trippy vocal murmurs. The pair subtly tweak the envelope of the bass throughout the tracks entire duration to generate a blooming dynamic while the bumpy rhythm fuels the groove. Following we have the ‘Soul Of Beauty Edit’ of ‘Truth’, which as the name would suggest embraces a more heartfelt, melancholic vibe. Bringing a weighty kick, throbbing subs and stunning jazzy Rhodes and guitar lines to the forefront, shimmering with chorus to add a further warmth and elegance to the record. Last up to close the single we have ‘Elements’, taking on a more rugged and upfront feel this time the duo tip the focus towards busy percussion, a rolling tom-driven bass line and swinging snares to create a heady drum led groove. Soft chords, bass licks and resonant, psychedelic synth sweeps then gracefully meander around the groove to add an underlying and tension-building atmosphere in the depths of the background
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Put simply, Alexi Delano and Butane share a devotion to pure artistry that few in this industry are able to claim. Both, over the breadth of expansive careers, have consistently chosen to forgo more commercial paths for wholesome, timeless, underground projects . After a chance meeting at an impromptu after-hours in Brooklyn where they rocked a packed warehouse together well into Sunday evening, the two decided to combine their talents in the recording studio, where they found an undeniable synergy. Alexi, born in Chile, raised in Sweden and later adopted by New York, has been producing music for nearly 20 years. Butane, born in the USA, dues paid in Berlin, and currently calling New York home, has been DJing professionally for 12 years and producing for almost 10. When 30+ years of experience comes together, one should take notice. Here, the results are electric.



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"None of us can ever give the exact measure of his needs or his thoughts or his sorrows, for language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity." -Gustave Flaubert
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Two American heroes team up to deliver the straight prison-funk, and they've got the tattoos to prove it. Somebody call the Department of Homeland Security. It's no secret that Kris Wadsworth and Butane have both done hard time. In this case, a simple mutual respect lead to the decision that this record must be made. And so here it is. Three tracks of uncompromising raw attitude. Nothing premeditated here. Just honest, warehouse-style jack-mode techno, done by two of the Midwest's finest. Some DJs over-sell themselves with contrived media stunts, fancy PR schemes, and little substance. You'll find none of that here. We're just a couple of convicts who rip raw techno tracks. We speak through our music. More

Andras Toth is not a nu-school producer. Please refrain from adding "up-and-coming" to his biography. He has arrived. With his second full solo-EP on Alphahouse Records, he presents a varied and captivating look into the mind of an accomplished musician. Following the success of his previous works on the label, his debut "Us" and the collaborative EP "Futures" with boss-man Butane, "Would U?" is a trip through improvisational jazz, open-air sunrises, and sonic after-hours explorations. Herein lies real music; nothing formulaic; nothing "safe". The EP embodies an ethos, held by Alphahouse, that musicianship is about originality, not following trends. There is still much that remains good in the world of independent electronic dance music. We will continue to search for, and find it.
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Continuing its string of stellar releases, Alphahouse welcomes Ilario Alicante to the family, with the versatile 4-track EP, aptly titled XXX. The young phenom from Livorno, Italy just 23 years young, has once again shown why his music appears on the world’s top electronic music labels such as Cocoon and Cecille. There’s something for every discerning taste here, from warehouse rave cuts to thick, slow-grooving afterhours jams, united by a provacative, mature thread running throughout. If you’ve ever tripped and fell into a hole on the dancefloor, you’ll recognize the sound of pulling yourself back up to join the party. Beware the breakdown in the title cut lest you have a dizzying, yet pleasant, flashback. Snaking it’s way through the dark corners of Ilario’s mind, the EP closes with the impossible-to-pronounce Sfrangianation, a track that’s guaranteed to turn even the most jaded afterhours clubber inside-out. That musical range is a requirement for membership in the Alphahouse crew should go without saying at this point. Butane first discovered Ilario’s music back in 2008 as he broke out in a big way with the underground hit Vacaciones En Chile, and has been a keen observer of the young maestro’s talents ever since. The track was and still is a pillar in his infamous afterhours sets around the globe. Now everything comes full circle, with Ilario’s fine contribution to the label he curates with such passion. Take it from the man himself: “If it’s music with integrity, I’m interested in it. This one has it in spades.”
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To remain a discerning platform for underground artists with integrity is easier said than done in today’s music market. Alphahouse vows never to forget its roots in the afterhours basements from whence it came. In that spirit, we would like to welcome two up-and-coming Italians to the family with release number twenty.Good friends Alessandro Stefanio aka Buck, and Andrea Santoro aka Santorini, both from Puglia, proudly represent the new school of deep thinking producers from a country not generally known for such restraint. If you’ve been following Santorini or Buck’s output of late, you’ll know that Italy is more than just the land of shuffled techno.. There is a deeper music movement in the country, and these guys are two of the best. Santorini’s ‘RVRB’ is an ethereal blues track at heart, driving deep into the night with equal parts Mike Ink funk and DBX bleep. Buck takes a more subtle and melodic approach with ‘Shelter’, crafting a bewitching tale all too familiar to those who ever thought they had found their angel. Finally Alphahouse mastermind Butane mashes everything together and creates a pumping remix that warns of the intoxicating glamour of nightlife, only to wake up to the reality that the music business is not what it had seemed. Three variations on a single theme from three musicians who offer music from the heart, everyone with both feet solidly in the underground.
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Alphahouse head honcho Butane teams up with upstart label-mate Andras Toth for the essential Futures EP. Intelligent and introspective, yet never losing sight of the dance floor, this is poignant modern dance music. Another feather in the artistic cap of the well-regarded Butane, and a further indication of the talents of the young Hungarian Toth, together the two have an apparent appetite for wonder; a poetic appetite, which science, philosophy, and music helps to feed. "The Disc is Rippling with Possible Futures" is a reference, in the quantum sense, to the formation of our solar system from a giant spinning molecular cloud. In that moment everything is possible, yet time followed this particular path in order to bring about our current state. Can different states of the same system exist in different parallel universes? Perhaps there is no uniform, absolute time, but an infinite series of times in a growing net of divergent, convergent and parallel timelines. In the majority of these times, we do not exist; in some you exist, and not I; in others I, and not you; in others, all of us. In the present one, which a cosmic stroke of luck has granted us, you are reading this. Right now. In another, while crossing the street on your way home, you turned left instead of right, and this music does not exist. Time Forks Perpetually Toward Innumerable Futures. In one of them we are enemies. In another, we are all friends.
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Andras Toth was born in Békéscsaba Hungary in 1985. Now a DJ, producer, and contemporary piano music composer living in Budapest, he releases his debut solo EP, Us, on Alphahouse Records. More

Luca and Kai met for the first time in Berlin winter 2002, playing long deep sets at some of the shadiest after hours in Berlin's underground. Ever since, they've been passionately working together...taking their deep techno around the world, from Mexico City to Berlin..from the southern ends of Chile to the northern reaches of Scandinavia. In addition to performing, Luca and Kai have also been working together in their studios exploring their vision of contemporary techno music. Luca, originally from Mexico City has been part of the Mexican underground scene since the 90's ..he's the mind behind Lineas de Nazca and half the mind of Ortega & Stavostrand. Luca's work has been released on labels like Eintakt, Numbolic Unlimited, Rrygular, Soma, and Dumb Unit. Kai, originally from Düsseldorf, comes from the avant garde jazz scene in the Netherlands were he lived before he moved to Berlin just when the Wall came down. If not playing around as a DJ, he still performs across Europe with his projects Ninsk and Astroperil... he's well known for his haunting and hypnotizing deep and funky dj sets, with releases on Eintakt and tracks featured on compilations from labels like Dumb Unit, and with his jazz projects on labels like Red Note, Trytone and Orkaan. For this debut EP under the name Luca Ortega & Kai Maan,, they deliver two deep techno cuts : "Kompiuta" and "I thou" using the advantages of both analogue and digital gear to create a warm, deep and driving sound, perfectly suited for the types of places these friendships are forged.
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Taking inspiration from the more timeless aspects of techno music, Elias Landberg and Gustaf Wallnerström transform their combined experience and expertise as Skudge. Hailing from Stockholm, the duo started producing together in the early summer of 2009 with a focus on a rough and raw style that features classic hardware sounds, yet marks the beginning of something new. Their debut EP comes on Alphahouse Records, and is turning heads as a late-night monster. Need a mental picture? Imagine classic G-Man, strobe lights, smoke machines, and a cavernous Berghain style freak show. The duo slyly manage to push the tracks in many directions, looking back to a time before Ableton-warped bootlegs and cheap production techniques, all the while maintaining a standard that feels fresh and experimental. Some of us are searching for more. With this record, we approach closer to that groove than ever More

Billy Dalessandro is a regular renaissance man. Beginning his music career with releases on the prestigious labels Force Inc, and Resopal, his music has evolved into a mature brand of Chicago-inspired freaky funk. Having recently started is own influential record label, Siteholder, and put Chicago firmly back on the map where it belongs, he now appears on Alphahouse records for the first time with two analog techno gems. His sound spans genres, and always ignites the dancefloor, whether at the club, or the afterparty. The "Dirty Devil EP" is a journey down I-55 to St. Louis and back again. A regular guest at the infamous Alphahouse party there, he's no stranger to the sound of the Midwest. Serious, yet playful at the same time, he presents here two tracks that tell a personal story about where's he's been, and where he's going next
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Andres Garcia, who has been releasing his music on labels like Crosstown Rebels, Connaisseur, and Num, presents us here with a super freaked-out techno track for the late night dance floors. he's captured the Alphahouse spirit here, with a drummy, drugged out trip through the deepest recesses of the imagination. Chicago native Billy Dalessandro was hand selected for the remix after his incredible string of output over the last year, and his remix is nothing short of brilliant. A jacking warehouse monster that does his home city proud. Hot Diggity Dog! More

Ryan Crosson is an American Ex-Pat calling Berlin home these days. Originally from techno-city Detroit, Ryan's first releases were featured on the storied Trapez and Minus labels, catapulting him across the Atlantic and directly onto the European club circuit.  Now firmly established in Berlin, his studio running, and with new inspiration fueling the fire, he's letting go of his newest original creations.  With a recent release on Wagon Repair, and this long awaited appearance on Alphahouse, it's apparent that Ryan has found his niche in his new surroundings.  "Under the Willow" and "I Love My Lonely" showcase Ryan's new musical direction, with sharp synths providing the theme, and rolling percussion to keep the dancefloors packed tight.  Deep techno sounds to warm you up on cold, late winter nights. 
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The next burning slab of wax from Alphahouse sees a new name added to the techno world, as a well-established artist releases here in his own private way. Savvy ears out there might recognize the sound of "Bipolar" from the sun drenched early morning sets of a few big name DJ's, so you can be sure this is one for the summer. For the b-side, Butane takes the original and twists it into a moody, drummy afterhours trip, complete with a k-bending late climactic rush.

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The long-awaited album by Butane on Alphahouse Records features 7 pieces of dark, detail-oriented contemporary techno music. From his roots in the afterhours basements of St. Louis to his current place among the worlds most in-demand DJ's, here he presents an insightful look into his
singular vision within the recording studio.
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