It’s time for The Noise Gate to showcase an upcoming label, this time round we took a look at Crossfrontier Audio, started up by Marc Poppcke in 2011, who are providing the world with their infectious take on house with a unique family of artists.
The reason why I came across Crossfrontier Audio in the first place… which I have to stick my hand up and say, isn’t by some masterful stroke of discovery, sharing music with a friend or even by the powers of the internet… but instead, and more traditionally, I stumbled across a poster in Berlin last year and decided to check them out. The artwork of which was the most grabbing part about the poster, dragging me from the street and placing me like a noob… just staring at the wall. This same artwork that made me look rather odd is adorned on a lot of CFA’s promotional material, and in even more depth on their releases. The designs being done by the fantastically talented Stella Gelesh, and in a world of bad photoshop jobs or preposterous artist headshots slapped with some wording on top, Stella’s work for CFA is refreshing and different, standing out from a sea of shit.
Moving past the artwork, we move on to the actual music, with captain of the ship Marc Poppcke doing the core bulk of the releases, appearances and regular mixes… surely it wouldn’t be right to start with anyone else? Before he set up CFA, he’d had a string of good releases joining up with artists like Alex Niggeman and Solar, plus a whole load of great remixes on labels like Suara, Defected and Soma Records. I guess he was saving the best work for his own label though as the output certainly got nailed with records like the Hidden Dub, Summer Dress, Silent Picture and more recently Antonym, which collectively put Marc in a respected position in the industry with his tracks heavily watch and wanted by all your favourite DJ’s and your favourite DJ’s DJs. If you want to get a good taste of Marc’s music, try ‘Yellow’ or the aforementioned ‘Antonym’ which are both something else.
With CFA having a close family of good artists, the next honourable mention has to go to MUUI, Australian born Patrik Carrera, now headquartered in Berlin and master of his own imprint Paranoid Dancer. It’s MUUI that has begun to standout in his own creative way, stealing the show with his remix of ‘This Is Just The Beginning’ on the ‘Ups & Downs’ Remixes release this year, playing live a lot, putting out a whole lot of mixes and even finding time to bring out the impressive ‘Back To Yours’ EP on CFA, to try out the crafted sounds of MUUI, have a look at ‘Slam The Door’ for his cross between really deep house and shifting techno.
The newest release on CFA has seen Stefan Mint take the reins and show us what he’s capable of, with his first EP on the label ‘Conventional Wisdom’, the title track whips up a tech house storm and with remixes like his version of label mate MUUI’s – Slam The Door, it’s clear to see why he’s a mainstay in the Crossfrontier family, ‘How To Be King’ is a great introduction to the man himself.
Not forgetting the rest of the crew, with Svjet Lana, Yoram and MAXIMONO providing regular releases, remixes and a lot of output on mixes/podcasts that are all worth notable mentions, especially with the incredible Midas 104 making some regular appearances… this label is full of exceptional talent and is one of the ones to watch for influential releases in the future.
Just released today are some nice freebies on their Facebook page and a great way to be introduced to the sounds that Crossfrontier Audio explore, have a listen to Marc Poppckes’ new podcast for Ritter-Butzke – It’s a fantastic mix!
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