Introducing Handmade Recordings, a San Francisco-based label embracing a DIY ethic and its city’s history of mixing and matching electronic music styles. The label had its beginnings within the Subculture parties dating back to the year 2000. These parties were known for booking DJs of differing styles, with house, electro-influenced sounds, and techno all sharing time in the booth. As the label developed, its founders strove to capture this diversity, mix it with an old school aesthetic, and apply it to a digital label. With almost monthly releases issued for over a year, Handmade Recordings is on its way to becoming an established staple of the west coast house music scene.
Handmade is pleased to present “Glow" from bay area producer Michael Ruris. Hooked on San Francisco’s distinctive house music sound in its 90’s heyday, Ruris began recording and performing on his own and as part of production teams dotRock and Ribbon. His sound is refreshingly organic and very much influenced by the classic tracks of west coast house music. “Glow” showcases this angle with a chunky, tech-house flow underneath an appealing vocal hook and some understated, funky guitar hits. It’s a fully written song that feels equally at home in peak time club sets, late night radio shows, or early morning ‘back to mine’ sessions. Also included is the Power Bass Line Mix which does what it says on the tin: the bass is amplified and the groove intensified for a little more electricity as needed.
Handmade also has included a bonus track in this package, the War No More Remix of “Come To Me" by Roman Stange. Stange originally hails from the Detroit area, having been in attendence for many early Richie Hawtin sets at The Shelter and on the dancefloor repeatedly at the famed Music Institute. He’s contributed tracks and remixes to the likes of Auralism, Mothership, Aftersoul, and Blipswitch Digital. Now in San Francisco, Stange is working on a techno project with [KONTROL]’s Craig Kuna and hosts multiple club nights. His contribution here is a throbbing after-hours techno track with various nods to a classic sound in arrangement, style, and a familiar vocal sample at the breakdown.
Johnwaynes - “Good house stuff! Handcrafted really well.”
Onionz - “‘Glow’ original mix is rockin’.”
Scott Harrington (Savoir Faire Musique) - “Nice raw sounds, great for my peak time sets.”
Danny Ward (Dubble D / 2020:Vision) “I like the quirky vibe of ‘Glow’!”
Al Bradley (3AM Recordings) - “Great stuff here. The Power Bassline Mix is a killer, will get loads of play from that. Wicked stuff. Also feeling the ‘War No More’ remix, too. Powerful grooves!”
Louis Hughes (Two Deep / 1999 Recordings) - “Now we are talking … This is proper Tech House! Full support.”
Jota Wagner (Lunatic Jazz) - “Really diggin’ the old school techno feel of ‘Come To Me’ … this will be played.”
Joey Silvero (Distant People) - “‘Glow’ is a cool track … Reminds of the 80’s.”
Tom Hoch (Mile High House) - “Floppy weird house.”
Rob Pearson (Evasive Records) - “Full support on these … Good stuff indeed!”
Bobi (Global Movement on Club FM) - “I love the Power Bassline Mix. I’ll definitely play and chart this one! Great stuff.”
Eric Davenport (Guesthouse) - “I’m digging the groove and built up tension that ‘Come To Me’ delivers.”
DJ Ingo (BOP FM, New Zealand) - “Excellent quality production. I’m diggin’ the funky guitar riffs.”
Jasper Gape (Nerdy Frames blog) - “Damn, this is good!”
Available now from Juno Download and Beatport