I have to disagree that the Turn Up The Bass series was 3 killers and the rest fillers. Those "fillers" were usually underground hits which never made it into the big spotlights. For me, most Turn Up The Bass compilations contained the best of the music of the moment of release.

Even more fun it is to look back at those compilations right now. When you look at the compilations, you can see the progression of music over the time. The TUTB as well as the House Party series show clearly how hip hop and electronic music progressed. Getting harder, and then even combining two House Party versions in a double release, one for the more mellow styles and the other for the harder styles.

It's a shame that the TUTB series stopped. I think they could still be very very popular.

Wide Area Network Records is now a dead label. I've decided to quit the label since I couldn't get anything done with it anymore. It has been a wonderful time to run this label, but it's now a thing of the past.

In it's stead, I am now running a new, hybrid label called Laidback Electronica. Laidback Electronica focusses on laidback electronic music, and releases both web releases and physical releases (cd, dvd, vinyl).

the chosen tracks are awesome (one can not go wrong with tracks by Gusto, Sunshower, Jark Prongo and Secret Cinema) but the mixing is not very good. It's beatmatched perfectly, but some tracks just don't match with eachother, the styles differ too much.

Simex seems to have the gift of making techno music interesting to listen to as well as to dance to. Most techno music sounds best when heard on a big sound system at a party, but the music Simex makes is also very interesting to just listen to when at home.

though this album is definately not a bad album, I must say that I liked his period of idm/industrial influenced music more. the stuff released on warp and a shocking hobby are just more intricate, more interesting to listen to. but I guess this album was meant as a banger for the dancefloor, and it definately fills that purpose.

I must indeed agree this is definately one of the best things I have heard from oval, period. there is something to this disc that I have not heard in other Oval music, though I can't pinpoint what exactly this is.

similar to boards of canada yet a little less polished, hoola hopz is totally recommended for those that like what's released on warp and similar labels.

awesome glitchy experimental music ...

the chemical brothers seem to become more and more aimed at whatever is popular, and not at whatever is good. the early chemical brothers work are very groundbreaking and very good, but when they released surrender something snapped, something went wrong, and now with come with us, the chemical brothers have completely lost it. it's a shame. they used to be good.

one of the best house labels to ever release anything in the netherlands, this label started simply as an amsterdam record store.

outland has released some classics! and their sleeve designs, done by dutch artist dadara, are always very nice to see.