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40 Years Of Agent Of Liberty!

1986 was a very good year for Mike Mareen. It was the moment when something changed in his music. After years of searching for the right sound, Mike decided to change his production team and it turned out to be exactly the right decision. The first major result was “Love Spy”, with Lutz Rahn playing a crucial role in shaping its sound. The record simply exploded. Even without the kind of massive promotion normally associated with an international hit, “Love Spy” became one of the defining records of that peculiar German intersection between synth-pop, electro, Hi-NRG and Italo Disco. But Mike and Lutz were only getting started. Soon afterwards they wrote and recorded “Agent Of Liberty”. And once again, everything worked. The single travelled far beyond Germany, appearing in places as distant as Mexico, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Venezuela and South Africa. It was another demonstration of how sophisticated Euro Disco could be when it was treated as serious electronic music rather than disposable dance-pop. The sound was simply dope. Sharp digital synthesizers, metallic FM textures, punchy electronic drums, dramatic arrangement changes and the kind of bright, futuristic timbres that made the Yamaha DX7 era so instantly recognizable. But the biggest change… was Mike himself. This was no longer the romantic lover of “Dancing In The Dark”. On “Agent Of Liberty” he sounds tougher, sharper and more confrontational. His half-spoken, half-rapped delivery cuts through the production with almost streetwise confidence, while huge uplifting backing vocals and highly melodic synth lines keep pulling the track back towards the dancefloor. And beneath the attitude there was something much more interesting going on. “Agent Of Liberty” announced a new chapter in Mike Mareen’s music, a direction that would later be developed much further on the “Let’s Start Now” album. Mike wanted to belong to the intelligent side of the electronic scene. And, just as importantly, he wanted to help shape where that scene was going next. “Agent Of Liberty” is probably one of the clearest examples of that ambition. It has all the ingredients of a huge club record, but there is tension in it, drama, attitude and a sense that something bigger is happening behind the beat. Four decades later, it still sounds completely distinctive. Not merely like a record made in 1986, but like a record that captures what was exciting about 1986 in the first place.

For its 40th anniversary, Vintage Pleasure Boutique brings “Agent Of Liberty” back to vinyl in newly remastered form. The release will be available on classic black vinyl and in a striking bright orange edition. And because this is not meant to be just another archival reissue, we have added two brand-new interpretations. Disco Computer takes the track into more adventurous territory. His remix is the more unconventional of the two, approaching the original from a slightly more modern and experimental angle while keeping its unmistakable melodic identity. A.P. Mono takes almost the opposite approach. Rather than trying to reinvent “Agent Of Liberty”, his version works more like a contemporary DJ edit. The original character remains intact, but the structure has been reshaped for the modern dancefloor, with stronger build-ups, clearer mixing points, carefully controlled changes in dynamics and moments designed to let the tension rise before the track hits again. The idea was simply to give DJs two new ways of playing it.

Forty years after its first release, “Agent Of Liberty” remains one of the most characteristic records not only of Mike Mareen’s career, but of the entire German electronic dance scene of the 1980s. Powerful, melodic, intelligent and wonderfully excessive. The Agent is back.

20 years after its release, Cage's legendary debut album "Movies For The Blind" is now being reissued on vinyl for the first time! Featuring productions by DJ Mighty Mi, El-P, RJD2 and Necro among others, "Movies For The Blind" remains one of the most influential records of its era as well as one of the stand-out titles in the Easter Conference Records catalog.

Nervous Records, the iconic label synonymous with the rise of house from the streets of New York City, will mark 30 years in the music industry by releasing the celebratory compilation LP ‘Nervous Records: 30 Years’ on October 1st (Part 1) and October 15th (Part 2).

Featuring original mixes of the label’s biggest tracks, plus remixes by some of its most celebrated acts, ‘Nervous Records: 30 Years’ is both a celebration of the past and of the future. Featuring a who’s who of electronic dance music, the long player sees names including Louie Vega, David Morales Darius Syrossian, Tensnake, Monki, Franky Rizardo, Danny Howard and more take on iconic Nervous cuts: ‘You Make Me Feel Mighty Real’, ‘Treat Me Right’, ‘Future Groove’, ‘Feel Like Singing’, ‘Get Up Everybody’, ‘Break You’, ‘Hot’, ‘End This Hate’, ‘Unspeakable Joy’, ‘Can Ya Tell Me’, ‘Jerk It’, ‘The Anthem’, ‘It Makes A Difference’, ‘Learn 2 Luv’ and ‘Don’t You Ever Give Up’.

The album marks one of the most enduring, extraordinary legacies to grace America’s illustrious music history, not just in electronica but far beyond. Founded in 1991 by Michael and his father Sam Weiss, and recognizable immediately by its distinctive character logo, the label grew rapidly, in no small part due to Michael Weiss’ practically unmatched passion for discovering new music.

“Louie Vega and Kenny Dope woke me at 4am on Tuesday night, Wednesday morning from their studio telling me they had something really different that I needed to hear,” Michael recollects. “I asked if they could play it over the phone. They said if I wanted to hear it I had to come to the studio. So of course I got myself up, got dressed and went there. That “really different track” ended up being ‘The Nervous Track’, a tune that became our signature release and was also highly instrumental in the emergency of London’s ‘Broken Beat’ movement.”

The label’s willingness to take chances on fresh sounds and innovative concepts rising up from the melting pot sidewalks of NYC ensured a body of work that has become a living musical history of the city. House cuts ‘Unspeakable Joy’ and ‘Nitelife’ (Kim English), ‘Get Up (Everybody)’ (Byron Stingily) and ‘Feel Like Singing’ (Sandy B) bump up against hip-hop anthems like ‘Who Got Da Props’ (Black Moon) and “Bucktown” (Smif-n-Wessun) and reggae cut ‘Take It Easy’ (Mad Lion); soulful flows from Mood II Swing (Kim English ‘Learn 2 Luv’, Loni Clark “Rushing”), Armand Van Helden (‘The Anthem’) and Nuyorican Soul (‘Mind Fluid’) sit alongside seminal techno singles like Winx’ ‘Don’t Laugh’. The young artists and producers who joined the Nervous Records’ family have gone on to become some of the most hallowed and celebrated dance acts of all time: Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, David Morales, Tony Humphries, Roger Sanchez, Armand Van Helden, Kerri Chandler, Kim English, Byron Stingily, Josh Wink, to name just a handful.

“We did a release with Josh Wink under his Winx alias entitled ‘Nervous Build-Up’,” Michael said. “It did well and it was obvious how talented Josh was. Subsequent to that release I was pretty persistent in asking him to continue to play me his new demos. During one phone conversation he said, “Mike I’m gonna play you something over the phone but don’t laugh when you hear it.” That demo ended up being ‘Don’t Laugh’, which became one of our biggest international hits and still to this day is one of America’s earliest and most impactful techno hits.”

As much a celebration of the label’s future as it is of their past, Nervous Records: 30 Years is but a marker in the imprints’ history, a clear sign of where they’ve been and also where they’re going. With 30 years behind them, the label’s determination to unearth new raw diamonds in the rough is as unwavering as ever.

“I’ve always been one to look at what others are doing (the industry at large) and think, “ok, are they doing this specific thing for a reason, or doing it because everyone else is doing the same thing” and make my decision based on that,” says Nervous Records’ General Manager Andrew Salsano. “In an age where data metrics and analytics reign supreme, I remain steadfast that they should be complementary to your decision and not the sole indicator to make one. So many songs today are written with 15 second hooks in mind for social media, and while there’s nothing wrong with that business model you will always be chasing the wave instead of carving out your own path and identity.

“My primary focus for the sound of the label has and will continue to revolve around signing good songs and music that has the ability to react at the street level first. The best results come from artists that are firstly given a bit of local love that grows into a global impact. Fresh ideas that express child-like curiosity and artists showing vulnerability in their music are also something I look for, artists and producers that are not making music with certain markets in mind, but rather their own style and signature that is unique but able to straddle the fine line of underground and overground.”

Still as raw, as underground and as finely tuned to the dance floor as they ever have been, perhaps the secret to the success - and the longevity - of Nervous Records has something to do with that hard, dogged, no-holds-barred NYC edge that runs through the veins of the label. With the next generation of producers rising from the clubs of New York, one thing is certain; Nervous Records will be there to find them, nurture them and bring them to the world at large, over the next decade and beyond.