18th of October 2017

Released on Man Recordings

28th of January 2017

Happy to have licensed Bert On Beats "Pa Pa Pa" feat. Deize Tigrona and Feadz' "Subiu, Desceu" to the French movie "Going To Brazil" directed by Patrick Mille.

16th of December 2016

The KDMS, the duo made up of London singer/songwriter Kathy Diamond and Silesian producer Max Skiba, return with a brilliant sophomore album of club anthems and torch songs, synthetic beats and live instruments. “The New Old Normal”, out 9th December, follows their debut album “Kinky Dramas & Magic Stories” on Gomma. 

On “The New Old Normal” Max Skiba (who follows last year’s massive “Shanghouse” on Prins Thomas’ Internasjonal imprint) presents his most mature and developed tunes, whist UK artist Kathy Diamond’s vocals (known for her work with Maurice Fulton on Permanent Vacation records) reference the late 70s disco icon, adding charm and emotion throughout.

Despite the album’s overall pop sensibility, this is a set of eleven intricate tracks, touching upon multiple genres and quite often blending them all together: from breezy yacht rock, Paisley Park funk, Hall & Oates’ blue-eyed soul to Kompakt-style house music. It’s T-Rex glam and disco glitter, complemented with a techno cover of Kate Bush’ “Babooshka”. 

On “The New Old Normal”, The KDMS are accompanied by several high-profile guests, including the unmistakable Kurt Maloo of Double. Cover art comes courtesy of Filip Pagowski, the international graphic designer known for his work with Comme Des Garçons and most recently for his artwork for Drake.

Combining hypnotic rhythms with addictive pop melodies that carry clever lyrics –  “The New Old Normal” is a rare achievement in today's formulaic world of club-inspired pop music.

"Top Album - 10/10" (Mixmag, Germany)

Published by Highscore Publishing.

21st of November 2016

Label boss Shir Khan’s excellent A&R skills proceed him by this point, but taking stock of just a fraction of what he’s signed along the way in these 30 tracks really drives his reputation home. From breaking Claptone as an unknown artist to helping him become one of the biggest-selling names in dance music to introducing the world to other major players like Adana Twins, Doctor Dru and Joyce Muniz, he has unearthed a staggering amount of talent in such a short space of time.

Dancing & Romancing showcases some of the label’s high points from the last half decade, attempting to provide a summary of what Exploited is all about. It’s a compilation that reminds us that dance music is no longer simply the preserve of the clubs but something bigger and further-reaching than it’s ever been.

Nov 11 2016

Four years after their highly acclaimed debut album on Gomma, The KDMS is back with their first single "Terminal One" with the gentle voice of Kathy Diamond, produced by Maximilian Skiba. 

The new The KDMS album 'The New Old Terminal' is out December 5th and we can't wait to hear more of these beloved gems.

Oct 21 2016

We’re happy to announce that Stuart, an on-demand delivery platform, licensed "Dembele" by So Shifty & Milangeles for their recent commercial. Thanks to Stuart, Budde and Man Recordings.

Sept 9 2016

Man Recordings is really hyped to debut the first collaboration between legendary French producer and dembow-don Douster a.k.a. King Doudou with Rio De Janeiro hot ticket, the rasteirinha-bass mestre Omulu. The result is the “Baile Saboroso” EP. Naturally, the “Baile” is related to Baile Funk, and this EP is a trans-atlantic joint-venture that mixes up the best of two continents guaranteed to make culs and bundas move!

“Baile Saboroso” is a carefully dosed mix of trap and baile funk drums. The menacing melodies and heavy 808s responding to Mc Pedrinho’s Vocals quickly morphes into a 4×4 rumbling club track designed to smash dancefloor from Paris to São Paulo and beyond!

“Bonde Da Pantera” ft. MC Tha brings baile funk to the lounge floor, with the sensual and hot lyrics of upcoming São Paulo vocalist MC Tha. The sweet marimbas chords and vocal chops are giving the track a late summery vibe ideal to listen to while enjoying a last agua de coco on the beach.

One dancefloor smashing club banger, and a sweet, baile funk inspired mid tempo groover – this is the heat of the “Baile Saboroso” EP. Pump It Up!

22nd of August 2016

29th of July 2016

    It´s been a bit more than four months since Daniel Haaksman´s “African Fabrics” album has been released and it has become a success story. “African Fabrics” was nominated for a German Music Critic prize, was praised on leading media outlets such as SPIN, NPR, XLR8R, Der Spiegel, NZZ, Songlines Magazine and Goethe Institute Podcast amongst others and has been played by countless club and radio DJs around the world.

The accompanying single releases “Sabado”, “Rename The Streets” and “Akabongi” received remix and video treatments, now the other tracks of the albums have been reworked. The result is “African Fabrics Remixes”, which presents a trans world cast of amazing remixers such as LV, Izem, Dotorado Pro, Mo Laudi, 2Pekes, DJ NK, Weird Together, Cybass and many more!

February 26th 2016

Alluding the famous Rene? Magritte painting “Ceci n´est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”), the British- Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare declared in 2011: “A picture of a pipe isn´t necessarily a pipe, an image of “African Fabric” isn´t necessarily authentically (and wholly) African”. In his artistic work, in which he drapes African fabrics on Victorian figures, Yinka Shonibare reflects on colonialism and post-colonialism. After all, the colorful, pattern-rich cloths which are commonly referred to as “African Fabrics” and can be found on flea and cloth markets, mostly are not “African” in its origin, but rather artifiacts of a complex political and economical interplay between African, Europa and the world. Called “African Fabrics” or “Dutch Wax” these cloths emenate mostly from Holland, lately from China.

 The story of the “African Fabrics” can also be applied to the perception and the image building of music from Africa. Here, one can ask: What kind of sounds are associated with the African continent? How does Africa sound in the 21st century? What´s “African” music in the age of digital media and a frenzied globalization? The Berlin DJ, producer and label owner Daniel Haaksman deals with answers in his album “African Fabrics”. Because many of today´s urban music styles which come via the internet today from Africa to Europe have nothing more to do with what we previously imagined as “African Music”. In 2016 it should be clear: The popular cliché of Nigerian Afrobeat or drumming communities need an urgent update. Africa has long since arrived in the digital age, music videos from Africa with millions of plays on Youtube or tracks with tens of thousands of clicks on SoundCloud are emblematic of the long practiced, local African reinterpretations of global circulating signs of pop culture.

For more than ten years, Daniel Haaksman released urban Sounds from Brasil, his compilations and releases on his label Man Recordings created the genre-term “baile funk”, now used internationally. In 2012, he travelled for a DJ appearance for the first time to Angola and plunged into the world of Kuduro, that specific Angolan high-speed dance style that originated in the late 1980s from hybridization of Euro house, US rap and Angolan semba. On another trip through the former Portuguese speaking colony Mozambique, as well as numerous visits to Lisbon, Daniel encountered various musical concepts for the future that are far from the nostalgic look of pop and club music in Europe, the UK and the US these days.

For the eleven tracks on “African Fabrics” Daniel Haaksman synthesized internet and streeet market finds with current bass music styles of the northern hemisphere. “Ceci n´est past l´Afrique”, as the album is not about the one-on-one mirroring of current sounds from Africa. It´s not about authenticity either. As with the African fabrics from Holland it´s about transcontinental cultural dialogues and their artistic interpretations. The results are fueled by the global resonant space named internet in which genre confuse and new musical artifacts emerge. Yes, on “African Fabrics” we hear afro footwork, minimal marimba house, a two-step bass track paired with a kalimba, or a regional Angolan language mounted on a futurist beat. Haaksman is playing with the characters, literally. The word “Fabrics” in the English language not only means “materials” but also “structures” or “textures” – and Daniel is putting big, colourful splashes of sound onto them.

“African Fabrics” begins with “Akabongi”, a new version of a pop hit by South African group The Soul Brothers which Haaksman recorded with legendary South African rapper Spoek Mathambo in Zulu. “Sembène” pays a bass-heavy Congo funk hommage to Senegalese writer and filmmaker Ousmae Sembène whose films represent a great source of inspiration for Daniel. “Kaggua” ft. Tshila is a rap with Ugandan singer Tshila in the Ugandan Luganda langugae about fun at a party. “Rename The Streets” and the accompanying music video focuses on the colonial history of Germany. The video shows two dancers which transform street signs in Berlin´s “African Quarter” bearing names of questionable colonial figures.

"Sabado” features the great Colombian champeta guitarist Bulldozer, which echoes West African music influences that are still very dominant in todays Colombian music. “Black Coffee” is a track with the Mozambican rapper Dama Do Bling over probably the most popular African plant that is consumed worldwide – coffee! The Portuguese-Angolan kuduro-punk band Throes + The Shine is guest on “Xinguila” and combines the energy of punk with the bass and rap flow of Kuduro music. “Aho” takes the listener to a street choir in Harare (Zimbabwe) and adds a footwork groove from Chicago to it. “Afrika” is an amazing song with the inventor of Angolan high-speed dance genre Kuduro, Tony Amado, and the Mozambican singer Alcindah Guerane that is sung in Kimbunde (a regional Angolan language) about the history of Africa the time of slavery to the present, mounted on a beat that eclipses a production of Timbaland. “Raindrops” is a Berlin electronica interpretation of a Zimbabwean mbira song. And finally, “Querido”, again with Bulldozer on guitar, recapping the transatlantic and global music connections.

The eleven songs of “African Fabrics” are visually illustrated by German artist Tobias Rehberger. For years Rehberger has artistically reflected on the relationship between patterns, sculpture and space. For the cover artwork, Rehberger interpreted patterns of “African Fabrics”, abstracted their colours and shapes, creating a visual counterpart to the musical approach and the fresh new sound of Daniel Haaksman.

All tracks, except for "Akabongi" are published by Highscore Publishing.

22nd of January 2016

Did you ever wondered how a Steve Reich minimalist kalimba composition could sound in combination with a heavy sub bass and a two step influenced rhythm? Well, Daniel Haaksman serves the answer: His new single “Rename The Streets” perfectly combines the best of classic minimalism with the bass love of today, the kalimba is rooting the track somewhere in Africa, the sound the bass connects it with Europe.

The great thing about this beautiful track: You can dance to it, at the same time it raises political awareness. The music video to “Rename The Streets” is adressing the demand for street name changes in Berlin´s colonial quarter, the so called “Afrikanisches Viertel”. In the video, two pole-dancers transform street signs bearing the names of questionable colonial figueres with their moves. Yes, call “Rename The Streets” funky postcolonialism!.

The single comes with a DJ friendly extended mix and two remixes. The first remix is by Lisbon´s Kuduro whizkid and Afro don of the hour Dotorado, whose “African Scream” track was considered by many DJs one of the major club tracks of 2015. The second remix by South Africa´s DJ Spoko – the inventor of “Bacardi House”, which laid the foundation to the global success to DJ Mujava´s “Township Funk”. The artwork is by German artist and Venice Biennale 2009 golden lion winner Tobias Rehberger.

“Rename The Streets” is the first single from the upcoming Daniel Haaksman “African Fabrics” album which is scheduled for a late February 2016 release.

20th of July 2015

Thanks to Mario Testino for using "No Eyes" by Claptone in the forthcoming fall winter campaing by Italian accessories brand Furla.

Published by Edition Exploited / Highscore Publishing.

May 18 2015

Brazilian-born Joyce Muniz immersed herself in the world of electronic music after moving to Austria at the age of 12. By the age of 16, she purchased her first 1212s and became one of Vienna’s youngest DJs. When the raw and pulsating sounds of Brazilian dance music baile funk infiltrated European house and techno, Muniz connected with her origins by providing vocals for Viennese producer Stereotyp.
Solidifying her stance as a multitalented artist and MC, Jocye Muniz satisfied her craving to produce by diving deep into house music, carving out her own niche through a smooth-yet-funky sound often complimented by sultry vocals and thumping basslines.

’An early coup for Exploited was 2011's 'Morning Love', Muniz's collaboration with Louie Austen. An old school Viennese crooner who'd worked alongside the rat pack in Las Vegas, he'd risen to prominence again after the turn of the millennium, alongside the likes of Peaches and Gonzalez, on the crest of electroclash. With his lived-in vocals riding a spacey house groove punctuated by snippets of breakbeats, Austen was so impressed with Muniz that he asked her to produce his next album.

This mutual respect was to arise again in the shape of Maya Jane Coles, who helped get Muniz's music into the hands of 20:20 Vision, so far resulting in two EP's. Then Richie Hawtin got hold of an unreleased track and played it on his Ibiza Boiler Room. “I really was wondering how Richie Hawtin got it!” Joyce said. Still, got it he had, leaving just the clearance of its Kraftwerk sample from 'It's More Fun to Compute' and the addition of a vocal by ex-Jungle Brother Bam, for the modern day hip-house of 'Back in the Days' to
become a hit for Exploited last year.’ (DJMag)

Not to forget her collaboration track ’Warriors’ with Bpitch longstay Kiki or her recent remix of Traffic Signs aka Steve Bug and Jake the Rapper’s ’Cookie Jar’.

Published by Edition Exploited / Highscore Publishing.

30th of April 2015

«New Age Disco» act Sirens Of Lesbos made their debut with the summer ode «Long Days, Hot Nights». An instant summer Ibiza champion featuring the poetic and catchy lyric «You are the summer of my life», the song has been favoured by radio stations and DJs all around the globe. Bearing a mystical, sun-drenched video – directed by Camilla and Marc (Pet Shop Boys, Battles, El Guincho) and featuring the gender-bending top-model Tamy Glauser (Givenchy, Kenzo) – to further support the track’s message, «Long Days, Hot Nights» was an absolute must listen in 2014 and still is about to unfold it’s mainstream potential.

Now the Aegean super group delivers their follow-up single: «Ecstasy». And no, it’s not an homage to the infamous 90s drug. The song that, according to Sirens Of Lesbos, sounds like a «rainbow coloured waterfall in the forested mountains of Tahiti», reminds us of those rare moments, where we feel one with the universe and tells us, where to find Shangri-La.
The release comes with a "b-side" containing a slow mo'ish caricature of an 80s pop anthem that never existed. It goes by the title of «Flowers».

About Sirens Of Lesbos:
The six piece collective claims to have its Kibbutz somewhere in the Aegean Sea. Sirens Of Lesbos aka SOL (Sun in Spanish) have a serious, noble goal: They want to spread mantras – musically uplifting and spiritually meaningful songs that inspire you to embrace life in all its forms; that make you dance in your fantasy or in the real world. Buy on Beatport here

Co-Published by Edition Exploited / Highscore Publishing and Sony/ATV EMI Music.

13th of April 2015

As a regular spinner in Rome best parties, Luminodisco knows how to work a dancefloor in style and does so again with the tracks here, which will appeal to fans of everything from house to disco to feel good beats. He's also half of Studio22 with Francisco (Jolly Music) releases on Edizioni Mondo and generally always impresses with his unhinged sense of sound.

This album has many tricks up its sleeve but always manages to sound like nothing else as well as making you feel good in its presence. It’s moving both physically and emotionally and really takes you on a unique trip.

Published by Expanded Music / Highscore Publishing.

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