Ouvrijster - No. 3 (Make Believe Disco)

Over the years we've worked with artists from all over the globe, from Australia (Tornado Wallace, Andy Hart, Francis Inferno), Ukraine (SE62), Finland (Saine), Germany (Max Graef, Luvless) to New Zealand (Frank Booker). I grew up in the 80s and remember that trying to plan a train trip required Phd-levels of wit to figure out the booklets and schedules and get from A to B. Now all it takes to get a record produced with people from the other side of the planet is a few mouseclicks, without ever meeting face to face. A Dutch/Dansih label working with a Kiwi producer, having its lacquers cut in the UK, records pressed in Germany, distro back in the UK again and available worldwide? Without breaking a sweat. Humankind sure has come a long way hasn't it?

At the same time, I've always been convinced that music is one of the strings that holds communities together. You ever meet a friend of a friend who happened to like the exact same artists you're obsessed with and you hit it off straight away? Music is all about connection, and the more personal it gets, the stronger that connection. Which is why I really cherish the records we've done with our Dutch artists, Ben La Desh and Junktion (Hans). We broke bread with those dudes, went to parties together and discussed the ever-changing musical landscape and intricacies of the 'industry' over a beer or two. Or three. Kris and I started the blog back in 2009 because we were really excited about all this slow disco gear that was coming out at a point in time where vinyl sales were falling off a cliff and as two avid collectors of the black stuff, we thought these records deserved some TLC.  The label sort of followed accidentally with no grand plan, and we were still just two random kids with no production pedigree, not part of any clique or posse and no idea what we were getting into really. Working with Ben and Hans led to us getting in touch with the guys behind Midnight City, who started throwing parties around the same time our Sleazy Beats label really took off, and Midnight City quickly became a linking pin for a loose collective of kindred spirits, involving Nachtbraker, Daniel from Fouk and Magnier from House of Disco after he moved to Amsterdam.

It was Vincent from Midnight City who got us in touch with Ouvrijster, a Midnight City regular and budding producer that lives here in the Dam. Ouvrijster - or Yannick to the postman - might be the only Millennial that doesn't seem to care much for social media and self-marketing. He'd been producing tracks for a good while but was hesitant to shop stuff around, as Vincent had to really twist his arm to actually get to listen to some of his bits. Vincent was blown away, fired over the link to us, we were blown away, we got in touch with Yannick, he sent over more tunes, we met up for a beer and the ball got rolling. Fast forward a few months and we're back at a bar, celebrating the fact that the record is out and passing over some label copies to Ouvrijster, while the Midnight City gang is putting up posters of their next party with LK and Ouvrijster on the bill as well. Ah that human connection, it doesn't get much better than that does it?

Long story short: we have a new record out and we're really happy Ouvrijster let us put out his debut 12". The scribes from Juno seem to dig it too:

'Long-time Amsterdam selector and digger Ouvrijster goes legit on Sleazy Beats Black Ops new label Make Believe Disco with three immaculate slices of glitterball deep house. "Lazarus" is a sprightly piece of Farina-level jazzy magic with persistent keys and subtle dub effects, "Mostly You" ups the jack factor with layers of hypnotic rippling washes and "Flamboyant" dims the lights with a sultry, loopy groove and the perfect balance of cosmic flare. Stunning.'

Have a listen to the tunes below.  Diggin' the tunes? Then scroll down to the bottom where you'll find links to a few of the haunts that have the record in stock. 



Juno / Piccadilly / Phonica / Cold Cuts / Deejay / HHV / Decks / Red Eye / Rush Hour