Buzzin Electronic Music

Subtrak Records

Subtrak was started in 2006 primarily as a way for Ryan Brogan and Christian Bloch, two Detroit DJs and producers, to showcase their individual and collaborative work. The label moved to New York following a brief hiatus and the two founders have since increased their output and the label’s roster. Currently, they have 20 releases to their name, recently releasing records by The Pale and Alex Israel.

The label supplies quality Minimal Techno, Electro, House and Breakbeat for a generation of dance enthusiasts put off by the glitz and hype of current DJ culture. The choice of artists on Subtrak’s roster reflects Brogan and Bloch’s intentions to push things forward in the digital era from the basis of their techno/electro background.

Ryan Brogan and Christian Bloch first worked together back in 2002 for a series of live performances and DJ sets. Their initial release on the Danish label Kondi, ‘AudioRiot’ is now considered by many to be a staple in the electro world.

The first Subtrak release was by Ryan Brogan himself, ‘Signal Expander’ – a 1000 copy limited release which sold out overnight. Brogan makes pulsing, crisp techno/electronica, his most recent release being ‘Doubledutch’, quite traditional in its field, but no worse for that.

His difference to Christian Bloch becomes evident as the latter remixes the track, giving it heavier and darker edge, lending it a spark of classic electro fire.

Christian Bloch also released ‘Dirty Panoramas’ in January of this year. This two track EP is muted and minimalist electro, taking a lot also from minimal techno. He has followed it with two releases, ‘Access By Inode’, a track which becomes more ecstatic and irresistible as it progresses, and ‘Mars’, a much more playful track with a heavier snare and shuffling hi-hats.

Minimalism is certainly Subtrak’s thing. Other releases by Alex Israel and Matt Hagerty (aka Dubstep artist Tapir) may be slightly fuller and experimental than Bloch and Rogan’s stripped-back, raw beats and synthetic melodies, but they are clearly rooted in the same imprint.

Listen to Alex Israel’s ‘Besheret‘ for an example of the experimentation over the techno base – ‘The Fate Of A People’ stands out. The melodies, synths, tribal drums and voice samples lilt over a gently beating bass. It’s quite a laid-back record, as are many of the other releases on Subtrak. These are mature and sensitive DJs and producers.

There hasn’t been much of Bloch and Rogan live in the past two years, but when the time is right, they will doubtlessly return to dancefloors internationally. For the meantime, things are going quite nicely on their ever expanding Subtrak imprint.

Subtrak struck up deals with Beatport, Juno, What People Play and Dancerecords.com to bring their music to you via high quality digital downloads.

The the best place to find out about Subtrak is on their MySpace.