Desolat co-owner Martin Buttrich on working with Loco Dice, Timo Maas, Tom Jones, and Sugababes

By Christine Kakaire

At the Controls is a series of interviews conducted last year that peeks under the curtain of electronic music production, to highlight the behind-the-scenes people whose contributions have had a lasting impact across the dance music landscape.

Martin Buttrich has been a stalwart of electronic music for two decades, but this year he appears to be on the cusp of something big. For many years, he was the silent studio partner of Timo Maas, guiding him towards landmark tracks like his signature remixes of Azzido da Bass and Tori Amos. Buttrich also bolstered the productions of his Desolat label co-owner Loco Dice, as he ascended to the highest ranks of popular DJs. But a few years ago, Buttrich began to ease himself into the spotlight more and more.

Festivals

Hawtin, Digweed, Moby, Carl Craig, and tons more make Movement's 2013 installment legendary

By Beatport News Editors

Last weekend, as you’ll likely know from some of our earlier coverage this week, the Beatport team was in full effect at Detroit’s Movement Festival, hosting a huge riverfront stage, scouring the backstage area for interviews with Moby, Masters at Work, Kevin Saunderson, John Digweed, and tons more (which you’ll catch in the weeks to come), and checking out every last artist to grace Hart Plaza that weekend. On the ground (and on the afterparty floors), writers Lauren Salm and Emma Robertson, along with photographer Jordan Loyd, took in as much as was humanly possible, and today we’re excited to present their personal highlights from that huge blowout dance-music weekend.

Beatport Mixes

Loco Dice commemorates five years of Desolat with a Beatport Mix

By Emma Robertson

Dusseldorf-born Loco Dice began DJing in the ’90s, and although his roots were originally planted in hip-hop, he’s become one of the most respected and recognized figures in contemporary techno. An early partnership with fellow techno DJ/producer Martin Buttrich in 2002 led to the founding of Desolat Records five years later and since then it has grown to become one of the foremost labels in electronic music today, featuring a stellar crew that includes tINI, Guti, Hector, Shlomi Aber, and Pulshar, to name a few. Today, the label is commemorates its fifth anniversary with a Beatport Mix comprised solely of Desolat releases. We caught up with Loco Dice to chat about hip-hop, artistic performance, his favorite tracks, and how it feels to be celebrating five years of Desolat.

At The Controls: Martin Buttrich

By Christine Kakaire

At The Controls is a new series that peeks under the curtain of electronic music production, to highlight the behind-the-scenes people whose contributions have had a lasting impact across the dance music landscape.

With a planned full-time relocation to Los Angeles, a new artist album, a new jazz project, and a new release for Carl Craig‘s Planet E label, Buttrich has set off on a path that will take him him further from DJ/producer projects and closer to the new field of production possibilities that has blossomed in the United States. We called him up while he was in Dusseldorf to talk about his long-term balancing act at the controls of the producer and the artist.

Interview: Martin Buttrich

By terry church

Co-founder of Desolat records and collaborator with names like Loco Dice and Timo Maas, Martin Buttrich [a] has been busy in the background, making music and keeping his head low.

Although he’s been releasing and producing material for over a decade, it’s only been since 2006 that he’s come out of the shadows and into the spotlight in his own right.

In a recent interview, Buttrich talked about his new release with Loco Dice, New York influences and life in Hannover.

Catch the full story with this mystery producer on ResidentAdvisor.net

Hit the jump to check out the player, and here for a video.

WMC Interview: Loco Dice and a different perspective

By terry church

For someone who’s become quite well-known within the techno scene, the last thing you’d expect to hear out that person’s mouth is, “I’m still hip-hop. I never left hip-hop.”

And if you were to take even a quick listen to much of the upcoming album by Loco Dice [a] , ‘7 Dunham Place’, it still may be difficult to see (or hear, as in this case).

But to understand the man behind the persona, hip-hop is fully part of the equation.

As Dice (as his friends call him) was spotted perusing the streets of Miami in the middle of a four-gig grand slam marathon during the annual party known as WMC, we pulled him aside to try to decipher the method behind the madness.

Beatport Music Awards nominees

By Beatport News Editors

Beginning March 18th, Beatport users will have the opportunity to vote for the best electronic music artists of 2007 in the first ever Beatport Music Awards.

Broken down into 19 categories — including Best Artist categories from each genre and the multi-genre Best Remix and Best Single — the nominees for the BMAs are based solely on unit sales at Beatport.

A full listing of the categories follows the link.

Voting has now opened: Click here to vote.

The 20 - Beatport’s top picks for November

By terry church

This month’s The 20 is a disparately diverse collection of electronic music goodies. There’s deep tech house from Martin Buttrich [a] , anthemic funky house from Fish Go Deep [a] , driving techno from Christian Smith [a] & John Selway [a] and perfect minimal grooves from Kabale Und Liebe [a] & Daniel Sanchez [a] . And east meets west on Onur Özer’s fabulous ‘Kasmir’ which, if anything, shows that the world is getting smaller.

Dubfire ‘Ribcage’

By zack rico

Loco Dice and Martin Buttrich kick off their new label with a quality release from Dubfire [a] , one of the producers behind Deep Dish. In the last few months the Washington-based producer has made a concerted and vociferous attempt to move away from the progressive house sound that him and his studio partner Sharam Tayebi are famous for.