Trapez  

Trapez biography

Trapez, run by Riley & Jacqueline Reinhold, has now reached the 100th release. It started in 2000 as a DJ tool label dealing with the DJ necessities and nightlife. The label first signed Anton Kubikov/ SCSI9 who released under different monikers, sometimes in collaboration with other Russian artists such as Milutenko. After a period of dubby tech house releases Trapez discovered Akufen, the first label to do so in Europe, and recorded the Psychometry series with him. His work inspired a whole new generation of artists to experiment with micro sounds and we believe it actually cleared the way for the minimal sound.

Artist like Oliver Hacke and Jeff Samuel changed the style of Trapez and gave it a new funkiness. Records with Gabriel Ananda lead to a big following in the UK. Later a collaboration with Spanish artist Alex Under lead to 4 Ep´s and a whole LP on Trapez and established him as one of the leading minimal techno acts worldwide.
 
Actual artist that joined Trapez have contributed a modern and fresh direction such as: Roland M. Dill, Jakob Hilden, Tom Dazing, SLG, Florian Meindl, Patrice Bäumel, 3 Channels, Gow, Raw Hedroom and Tim Green.

MBF BIO

My Best Friend/ MBF the youngest label of the Traum Schallplatten family is 100% devoted to big basslines, heavy duty sounds and cool rhythms. Early releases came from Dirt Crew, Riley Reinhold & Jorge Gebauhr, M.A.N.D.Y, Break  3000 and Kango´s Stein Massiv. The discovery of Cologne youngster Daso lead to two emotional singer songwriter disco stompers, an album by Riley Reinhold and several cool records by Cosmic Sandwich, who originally started to release on the sub label MBF LTD, followed. After Martin Eyerer & Oliver Klein´s “Kairo“ EP, a new sound was developed for MBF with new artists such as Bukaddor & Fishbeck, Piemont, Citizen Kain, Steve Lawler, Jaxson & Brede and
Kaiserdisco.

Trapez ltd biography

The idea of a "limited" label, fast and flexible, with no egos and no heroes gave birth to Trapez ltd. Trapez ltd featured in it’s first years no artist name, no titles, just music. All records where hand labeled by Jacqueline and Riley Reinhold.
 
Trapez ltd started in 2001 and the label was considered a non-commercial playground and some of the artists were taken up later on Trapez for an official release. With years going by the label became more established and carried even well established artists such as Dominik Eulberg and Gabriel Ananda.

New artist like Jakob Hilden as well as Roland M. Dill, Mihalis Safras, Amir and Bülent Gürler/ Butch have joined and have been a reliable source of innovative music for the Techno scene since then. Recent releases by the Italoboyz, Blind Minded and Worthy from the US label Dirty Bird have added a slight note of house to the experimental techno label.

Trapez ltd will release its first album by Mihalis Safras in June 2009 and will be the home for Cologne artists such as Roland M. Dill who created a big stir with his “Lucio Aquilina - Disco Bus“ remix that made it into many charts.

PAINTWORK

Our answer to 2009. There is something going on in Cologne.
PAINTWORK knows where.
Emotions on a string... icebergs that melt... melodies that sink in... a singer who can sing. Paintwork is a free-minded spirit based in the electronic city of Cologne. The graphics were developed by Yvette Klein, with mastering by Emanuel Geller who creates the sound design for all our labels. Electronic music with soul and energy - PAINTWORK 01-- 100% digital.

Traum BIO

Traum recently celebrated it's 10th year and 100th release and is regarded as one of the pioneer labels from Cologne, Germany. Starting in 1998 as a bedroom label, the label has developed to one of the top labels in Germany, linking electronic music with visuals and showcases. The label has settled down in the heart of Cologne including a mastering studio, graphic & video studio, booking and promotion agency and A&R area which is frequented by artists every day.

The label has never relied solely on straight functional techno, but has always kept an eye on experimental electronic music that can also rock the club crowd. This has lead to it's international reputation and has over 10 years attracted artists from countries all around the world such as Steve Barnes aka Process, Dinky, Nathan Fake, Fairmont, Philippe Cam, Ricardo Tobar, Moonbeam, Jesse Somfay but also a lot of domestic super talents such as Dominik Eulberg, Oliver Hacke, Thomas Brinkmann, Bukaddor & Fishbeck, Super Flu...

Dominik Eulberg´s big international hits: “Die Rotbauchunken vom Tegernsee“ and “Der Buchdrucker“ have influenced the label's attempt to approach the dance floor with even more determination. Hits by Minilogue and Extrawelt opened doors to a wider audience. BBC features followed and John Peel of Radio 1 was always a big supporter. The original philosophy of the label still remains the same... “Not to administrate but create music“.

MBF LTD BIO

The brother of MBF, MBF LTD is an outlet for crazy mutant disco with groundbreaking releases by Cosmic Sandwich and Break 3000 and a label for experimentation with styles in general.MBF LTD is unpredictable and non-commercial.
The track “Cosmic Sandwich“ was one of the big achievements in the history of the label. Being played to death by DJs buying second copies, from Ricardo Villalobos to the American house community in San Francisco that have been supporting early MBF LTD releases.
Recently MBF LTD has become home for Riley Reinhold's (aka Triple R) own music, it has put forward a cine-edition thinking, working very much with sounds from the 70ies to create a special less focussed “heavy“ atmospheric feeling.

"Lights In My Eyes" released in May 2007 created a stir with its atmospheric chords and dubby bassline and was picked up by UK artist Bushwacka aka Matthew Benjamin and was remixed by Dominik Eulberg and Patrice Bäumel.