Octopus Agents

Despite being 15 years old, Delsin is one of the most relevant labels in underground electronic music. Under the stewardship of Marsel van der Wielen, the Amsterdam imprint has balanced a reverence for the past with dreams for the future, forever exploring both darkened dancefloor and heightened home-listening territory with the music it releases.

In the early days it was electronica and Detroit styled house that found its way into Delsin's catalogue, with the first release a cassette produced by the boss himself as Peel Seamus. In the years since, the label's remit has touched on electro with Dynarec, and broken beat with Yotoko, but has most recently evolved to include analogue techno that's both timeless and tasteful. Amongst almost 90 releases, there have been landmark debuts on the Dutch imprint from Redshape, Newworldaquarium, Aardvarck and D5, whilst unquestionable talents like A Made Up Sound, Shed, Delta Funktionen and Conforce are also key members of the family.

At the heart of Delsin has always been the full length, where artists are free to tell longer stories. In 2011 alone, there have been critically acclaimed offerings from techno composer Morphosis (co-released with Morphine Records); ambient master John Beltran and Berghain favourite Mike Dehnert. Of course, past classics like Redshape's The Dance Paradox, Vince Watson's The eMotion Sequence, Newworldaquarium's The Dead Bears and a wide-reaching label compilations of its own are still prized musical assets for the real aficionados.

As well as the respect of music buyers and writers alike, the world's finest touring DJs often keep Delsin records close to hand: Ellen Allien, Steve Bug, Laurent Garnier, Marcel Dettmann and many more all appreciate that the label's diverse offerings are important tools of their trade. So, too, do many of them cherish what lurks in the deeper shadows of Delsin, namely sub label Ann Aimee. Since its debut back in 2003, the imprint has entertained many an interesting strand of techno from the likes of Brendon Moeller and debutant Delta Funtionen.

There's a final part to the story as important as any, though: not only does Delsin unearth and nurture generation after generation of underground talent, but so too do they present their findings on lovingly pressed vinyl, always resplendent with sharp art. It's a label of love, then, but also a label inexorably linked to the on-going development of electronic music.