500 3x12” vinyl (100 in limited edition white vinyl)
release date: July 2006


The 'Lifeworks' compilation series was initially the brain child of electronic music producer Doug Adamson (aka Jacen Solo). After spending over a year and a half travelling to different cities and meeting with likeminded artists, the collection of music Doug sourced has now been put together to form 'Volume 1' of the series.

At the start of 2006 Doug teamed up with Samantha Allen, head of Open Mind Recordings, and the vision is now a reality, with 'Lifeworks vol.1' being the debut release for the label.

 

Click here for how to buy.

 

'Lifeworks' artwork by emile facey - www.plant43.com

 

audio previews :
A1: erell ranson - a quiet day in summer A2: matt chester - never see us
B1: in2minds - the beginning B2: reporter - k for cars
C1: jacen solo - sculptor C2: arne weinberg - obtained
D1: common factor - sleeping thoughts D2: mysteron - heat
E1: vlf - ground wave A) E2: adj - spaceman
F1: ben browning - ubik's cube F2: junkmale - void

 

featured artists:
mysteron (uk)

Chris ‘mysteron’ Hartley is best known for his work as part of a series of now classic releases from ‘insync vs mysteron’ during the 1990’s on labels such as peacefrog, plink plonk, and their own imprint 10th planet. Chris has been away from the scene for some years but after a fruitful studio session digging out old DAT's and audio cassettes came the featured track ‘Heat’. ‘Heat’ is a nostalgic slice of classic techno, created around a decade ago but still sounding fresh and relevant for today’s fans of both the genre and the era.

common factor (usa) www.commonfactor.net

Nick ‘common factor’ Calingaert first came onto the scene in 1995 based out of Chicago, but it was his work with Carl Craig’s 'planet e' label that propelled him into the spotlight. Nowadays Nick is back in the studio after some well deserved time out, with a new album being planned as well as numerous remix projects and tour dates. ‘Sleeping Thoughts’ stays true to Nick’s take on the original house sound, combining analogue synth ryhthms with a groove that proves difficult to ignore.

matt chester (uk) www.11-hour.com

Founder of 11th hour recordings, canadian born Matt Chester has made his mark on the electronic scene with his Detroit-esque style of techno and electro. Matt has had a variety of shows worldwide and his work as a label boss has certainly kept him busy over the past few years. 2006 sees Matt setting out more time to concentrate on his personal music projects. ‘Never See Us’ sits nicely between techno and electro, driven by the kind of rolling bassline that works equally on the dancefloor as it does for home listening. Overlapped with dreamy synths this looks set to be another timeless piece of electronic music.

arne weinberg (de) www.arneweinberg.de

2001 saw the German producer Arne Weinberg's debut release and since that time he has proved himself as an electronic music producer and dj to take note of. Arne has had releases on respected labels such as headspace, technoir audio, starbaby, and now on his own imprint aw recordings. Arne’s sound is melodic techno that makes you feel as well as move, and ‘obtained’ is no exception. Reminicent of tracks from the bioryhthm compilation series of the mid-90’s, ‘obtained’ is a fitting addition to the life works compilation.

adj (uk)

Andy Jaggers aka adj is undoubtedly one of the most respected electro djs on the scene today. As well as touring the globe dropping dark and twisted electroness from the likes of bitstream and labels such as touchin bass, Andy has kept up a steady flow of quality releases over the past decade. Former record shop boss and co-running pyramid transmissions, Andy’s discography includes releases with labels such as touchin bass, ai, and district six, and his featured track ‘spaceman’ is true to his sound and a welcome addition to the series. It's electro, but has a beat pattern and shuffle that somewhat defies the trademark electro sound. Squelchy synths accompany deep subs before finally being treated with almost sinister strings.

jacen solo (uk)

Since signing with ai records and releasing his debut ep ‘forbidden medicine’ Doug ‘jacen solo’ Adamson has been working hard to make his mark on the electronic scene. His debut lp ‘virgo’ was widely praised for both production and emotive effect which has allowed him to take his sound on tour traveling to 6 countries in the past 12 months. As founder of the 'Lifeworks' series Doug has searched wide and far for the right music for the compilation and his personal addition is ‘sculptor’. ‘sculptor’ is a chord laced piece of dancefloor techno with an eeriely familiar theme. Warm yet driving ‘sculptor’ is music that will almost certainly demand movement.

erell ranson (fr) www.myspace.com/erellranson

Nicholas Petit-Jean, aka erell ranson is set to burst onto the scene in 2006. His influences are from producers such as fabrice lig, dan curtin, and carl craig, and this is almost immediately apparent upon hearing his music. With just the one release to date, erell has a string of high quality tracks set for release as the year progresses and 'Lifeworks' is pleased to set the ball rolling with his featured track ‘a quiet day in summer’. As the trackname suggests the sound is warm, wrapped up in soothing pads with an analogue heartbeat.

reporter (uk)

Latvian born Viktor ‘reporter’ Margevich moved to London looking for new music inspiration and a new haircut (his words!). As well as making music he is the co-founder of promo group ‘kautchuk’ and is a regular guest at the respected ‘aftermath’ parties. Vic’s sound is eclectic, but it was his form of electro that grabbed the attention of the Lifeworks' team. His featured track ‘k for cars’ is deep electro of the highest order. Simple in pattern but emotive in content ‘k for cars’ combines a distorted bass driven groove with free flowing synth lines that are indicative of the life works series goals. Electronic music that you can feel.

in2minds (uk)

The ‘in2minds’ duo comprises Doug Adamson and long term collaborator and friend Rob Piper. Rob was instrumental technically in Doug’s early attempts at programming and finally they have found some time to create again, and the featured track ‘the beginning’ will be the pair’s debut release as production partners. ‘the beginning’ was created in an attempt to relive the early emotive power shown in tracks by such artists as kenny larkin and carl craig and fuses together vocoded melodies with analogue rhythms. The longest track on the compilation ‘the beginning’ takes you on a journey that will make you listen, with emotionally charged changes that would suit the twighlight hours.

ben browning (uk) www.benbrowning.com

Ben Browning is a welcome discovery for the 'Lifeworks' series. One of the many producers that stockpile music, Ben’s release history is somewhat limited, but we know that this will soon change. After producing on and off for the last 5 years Ben is now set to make a serious impact on the scene with his debut 'Lifeworks' addition being no exception. ‘ubiks cube’ is hardware created, danceloor techno at its finest. Simple in form but not lacking in effect, ‘ubiks cube’ flirts somewhat with what was the ‘original’ house feeling with a melody that is both infectious and extremely dancefloor friendly.

vlf (uk) www.discogs.com/artist/Plant43

vlf is Emile Facey (aka plant43 – ai records) and Jo Johnson. They began writing electronic music together in 1999, and although they have colloborated on many tracks, groundwave a) is the first to be committed to vinyl. The track is taken from a live set that they produced using only an analogue drum machine and two hardware samplers. Jo and Emile are long-standing members of London crew bleep43. They design and contribute to bleep43.com and help to organise events with artists such as convextion, hieroglyphic being, cim, max duley and dez williams.

junkmale (uk)

Sometime guitarist with a motley assortment of punk-esque garage bands, Samantha Allen aka junkmale discovered the joys of techno primarily through Colin Faver’s early 90’s late night radio shows and the seminal Lost parties. It wasn’t until the late 90’s that Sam started experimenting with electronic sound, and the last few years have seen her honing both her production skills and dj sets with gigs throughout the UK and the Czech republic. ‘void’ is junkmale’s first outing on vinyl, a dark blend of electro and techno influenced brokenbeats that we think augurs well for the future.

 

 

welcome

 

info@omrecords.co.uk


:: open eyes :: open ears :: open mind ::