Micro/wave invites two key figures in the German house and techno scene, one veteran of many labels and styles in Offermann, one relative newcomer at the helm of one of the most exciting labels currently, with Jacob Chenaux and Traffic Records.

 

 

"Music is the direct access to the soul", says Oskar Offermann, who made his first musical steps as a teenage drummer and beat producer in his hometown of Frankfurt. He moved to Berlin, and house took hold of him. In 2007 he founded the imprint White where he released his own material and also introduced artists like Edward and Moomin, who have since become household names on leading house and techno labels Giegling and Smallville. EPs on labels like Mule Musiq, Riverette and Hardworksoftdrink followed.

 

 

The albums "Do Pilots Still Dream Of Flying?" (White, 2012) and "Le Grand To Do" (Mule Musiq, 2015) gained international praise, and his DJ sets have had some of our favorite DJs raving and dancers around the world agreeing - Offermann has brought his uniquely swung, psychedelic-tinged deep house sound to Panorama Bar, Fabric, Robert Johnson and Secretsundaze - and that's just this year. Can't wait for him to light up the dancefloor at Elevator!

 

 

Traffic Records is a vital piece of this puzzle. Across ten releases and four years, it has come to the forefront of a loosely defined scene that condenses a range of styles into strikingly fresh productions. While it's easy to describe some of the shapes within the Traffic sound, the complete picture can't be reduced to a genre tag or shorthand phrase. 

Traffic inhabits the gaps between recognized genres. There's the b-boy rhythms and bizarro synth textures of electro; the bump and wiggle of early UK tech house; the hypnotic pacing and advanced sound design of minimal house; the shuffle of 2-step; the grinning insanity of Sheffield bleep techno; the syncopation, big bass and organic samples of early breaks - and the glue keeping the pieces together, the dare-to-be-weird spirit of Playhouse and Perlon. But part of what sets Traffic apart is that, despite the scope of its influences, the style is remarkably accessible and has an infectious edge that connects with a broad set of listeners." - RA 

It goes down at Elevator- Shanghai's new cozy dance home for underground sounds, powered by a killer MODE AUDIO sound system, fresh juices, ping pong and hands-up/heads-down moments on the floor.