Radikon celebrates one year of age by releasing the annual Reto compilation. Second edition. It’s been a year full of ecstatic highs and grueling lows for the Berlin based collective. But with Reto ll the focus is put right on the heart of electronic music.
Reto II features ten tracks by Radikon veterans and newcomers. Returning artists include label heads Jonas Saalbach and Guzy. Also Dahu, Tony Casanova, Søren Laga, Foreign Guest, Yubik and Yuven have delivered quality to this compilation. Radikon welcomes several debut artists to the label. Copenhagen’s Baime, Cologne’s youlaike and Berlin native Matthias Schuell offers up astounding compositions that seem to be be hitting home in the Radikon family.
Reto II
Imagine a dark, grimy warehouse. Now add lasers, strobes, smoke machines and a sound system that could blow you away like a hungry bottom you found on Grindr. In these settings I would love to hear Reto ll in its full length. The uplifting and energetic beats hits you like a punch to the stomach from Iron Mike Tyson as Yubik kicks off the compilation. Baime and Yuven builds on this intense energy where you can almost picture yourself on the dance floor if you close your eyes and let yourself glide into the music. Foreign Guest, who on this album could be a guest from outer space, takes us for a ride in his 90’s dance and punk inspired spaceship and leaves me screaming for more. The deeply underrated Dahu takes over with a beautiful track that seems to have grown from his Vessels EP, but sprouted into its own new deep dance-contagious dreamer of a track.
Jonas Saalbach, who you can read more about HERE, takes us even further with some high driven melodic realness that represents his sound of melancholic optimism quite well. After Saalbach, Tony Casanova takes us for a slow mo rave experience with the talented Frida Darko. Søren Laga kicks it back into a high driven melodic gears as the parade of earporn continues. Guzy & youlaike are the second to last on the album. You can almost hear in the track that the guys are long time friends in this slowly build and very emotional track – uplifting yet a bit sad. Matthias Schuell waves goodbye on the final track of the album. Just that last track I need to hear as the imaginary rave party goes on in my head and I close my eyes only to dance around in my living room one last time. Reto II is the musical equivalent to a warm and loving reach-a-round. YAS, please!
All in all a versatile VA album that you need to put on you listening bucket list. Well thought out and varying from the high driven melodic techno to slow mo rave that just makes it tickle in all the right places.
Featuring Baime
On the fast yet still organically growing Radikon label there have been a solid core of friends making up the roots. But trees need nutrition to keep growing. Therefore we see the addition of youlaike, Matthias Schuell and our very own hard hitters Baime to this compilation. Mikael of the duo is happy to be part of the this one year anniversary of the Radikon label that is only going one way – up.
– We are super happy to be part of the Radikon family. We have followed them for some time now and there has been nothing but really high quality releases and a coolness to the label. Besides this we feel that Radikon fits the sound of Baime exceptionally well. Honestly we are just looking forward to working even closer with our friends in Berlin in 2020, where we release en EP on the label, says Mikael, the one half of Baime
But enough talk for now. Time for you to put on Reto II.
BY MARTIN ESKESEN – ARTWORK: SIMON KNEIP
