Toolroom Records Ibiza Underground 2012

You don’t have to move too far to find a repetitive Electro banger or Euphroic European festival anthem these days. But in a year of the unadventurous overhaul and an allegedly regressive trend for breakthrough underground talents, Toolroom Records look to throw a little heartfelt flare into the thriving Ibiza club scene for 2012.

Boasting a sizeable selection of fresh floor fillers between the sheets of this seasonal nod to all walks of Electronic music, Knights’ renowned House stronghold play their strongest hand to bring forth a slew of talents as ready for the floor as they are aligned with the labels’ creative pulse. Led by exclusive material from Mihalis Safras and long serving British protagonist Jon Rundell excel the new school stead such a compilation might suggest, the likes of Matt Smallwood, Jack Dixon and George FitzGerald hold the new age contenders’ corner with proficient strength. From boisterous European Techno to the more exotic waves of tropical tech grooves and the rare hint of stern British Garage, it takes just 35 cuts to establish that amid the tedium of headline 21st century Dance music, there is a lot to shout about below the surface of the White Isle’s signature Balearic House bliss.

But with Pirupa, Jay Lumen and Ramon Tapia bringing that essential dose of credibility to this essential nod to the promising culture of collective club integrity, there are few better spotlights of fine European Dance music than collected in this short yet sweet installment that paints Toolroom as an imprint more than capable of feeding both ends of the industry with notable stamina throughout.

Toolroom Records Ibiza Underground 2012 is out now on iTunesBeatport.

Mark Knight

When one reaches the heights of their wildest dreams, balance becomes the hour-robbing battle of everyday triumph. For all his years on the beat, Mark Knight remains one of the most ardent flag bearers to the ‘have-it-all’ heroism that has engulfed the overwhelming ascent of modern Dance music. As an artist of note for sparing yet quality productions and a thirst for tectonic live endeavors that has kept his passport in excessive use over the years, that fatherly instinct now pervading his life amid a new family is cut from the same paternal mindset that has forged Toolroom Records and its affiliated concepts such eccentrically appraised movements from Maidstone to Miami alike. Dan Carter caught up with the paternal peak timer to scope the essential tools of the trade that have allowed his likeminded army to bridge the market like few other independent labels of this generation.

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