Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich.
Already in the early 50s the city was a centre for new music. Home to Herbert Eimert's 'Studio für Elektronische Musik' which was taken over by Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1963 and also a musical home to Pierre Boulez.
The 90s had the 'Sound of Cologne' redefined by musicians such as Wolfgang Voigt, Whirlpool Productions or Mouse on Mars and influential labels like Trapez, Kompakt or A-Musik.
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Wolfgang Voigt | |||
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Homelabel
Kompakt |
Having started his impressive career as early as 1991, Wolfgang Voigt is without a doubt one of defining figures in German electronic music, commonly credited for pioneering the minimal techno style as a native musical language of Germany's techno scene....
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Mathias Schaffhäuser | |||
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Homelabel
Ware |
Ware label founder Mathias Schaffhäuser has been roaming the techno and house scene since 1994 and has released tracks on Definitive Records (house sub-label of Plus 8), Blaou Sounds, Force Inc., Multicolor and Frisbee Tracks. In 1997 he started the label...
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Reinhard Voigt | |||
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Homelabel
Kompakt |
As a member of Kompakt since the early nineties, Reinhard Voigt has been a key player in the development and subsequent success of this legendary Cologne-based record label. Taking early notes from his infamous older brother Wolfgang Voigt (aka Mike Ink),...
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Michael Mayer | |||
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Homelabel
Kompakt |
Michael Mayer was born in the Black Forest in the west of Germany. As a young boy he already started his passion for the DJ's craft and collecting records from Italian disco, the Pet Shop Boys to extended 12" mixes of pop tracks and classic funk. At the...
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Maral Salmassi | |||
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Homelabel
Television Records |
Maral Salmassi is a Cologne based DJ and producer, who has been running her own label Konsequent from 1996 till 2005, releasing music from the likes of Jay Denham, Pacou or The Advent. In recent times she has shelved the serious techno approach in favour...
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Adam Kroll | |||
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Homelabel
Squonk |
Passionate drummer and Cologne resident, Adam Kroll, appeared first in 2000. To date he released on such labels as Traum Schallplaten, My Best Friend and on his own label Squonk, which he launched in 2007.
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André Kraml | |||
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Homelabel
Firm |
Born in the German Democratic Republic, André Kramel, moved to Frankfurt at the age of 16. After some years of Dj-ing he started 2002 producing Techno & House music in his very own style for the Label FIRM in Cologne, where he resides since the year 2000.
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Burnt Friedman | |||
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Homelabel
nonplace |
Germany's exceptional producer Bernd Friedmann, a.k.a Burnt Friedman, started producing at an early age. His peculiar production style of dub, jazz and electronica makes his music hard to classify but easy to identify. Being busy all his career long,...
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Pluramon | |||
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Operating along the borders of electronic music and rock, Marcus Schmickler's Pluramon project has always been an unpredictable highlight of the Cologne music scene. Its most recent album 'The Monstrous Surplus' on Karaoke Kalk, which features Julee Cruise and Berlin-based musician and actress Julia Hummer on vocals, Schmickler has...
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Gabriel Ananda | |||
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Growing up with classical music and somewhat involuntary cello lessons, Gabriel Ananda's musical world changed when he was privileged to experience a DJ set by Sven Väth in 1995. After this revelatory experience Ananda began experimenting with electronic sounds, two years later releasing his first record on the German Label...
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Robert Babicz | |||
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Active as a producer since the early 90s, Robert Babicz - just as well known under his nom de guerre Rob Acid - is one of Germany's best reputed techno musicians. Responsible for a countless number of releases, remixes and live performances in all corners of the world, Mr. Babicz shows no sign of slowing down his productive output...
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Misc. | |||
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Homelabel
Sender Records |
The people behind the minimal techno project Misc. are Christopher Bleckmann and Hannes Wenner - two opposing characters linked by music that have successfully grown together over more than ten years. While Christopher reaps the benefits of a classical...
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Popnoname | |||
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Homelabel
Italic |
Popnoname is Jens Uwe Bayer's project used to spread his unique blend of wavy, melancholic house.
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Ada | |||
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Homelabel
Areal |
Michaela Dippel presumably chose pioneering 19th century mathematician Ada Lovelace as her name saint, and just as Lovelace, Ada is one of the most prestigious women in her domain. Her highly regarded productions explore melodic pop influences in a techno...
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Superpitcher | |||
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Homelabel
Kompakt |
One of the Kompakt label's more esoteric producers, Superpitcher's sound is ever changing and adapting. From the lush electronic soundscapes of early works such as Shadows, to electro pop reworkings of Brian Eno to his 2005 remix album, Today,...
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Audio Werner | |||
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Homelabel
Hartchef Discos |
From the solar plexus thump of deep house to the satisfying robotic melodies of techno and the refined sleekness of minimal, Audio Werner does it all and, more importantly, does it all well. When this Cologne artist isn't releasing crowd pleasing tracks...
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Coloma | |||
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Homelabel
Italic |
As Coloma, Rob Taylor and Alex Paulick are without a doubt one of Cologne's most exciting musical duos. Fusing elements of electronic music and pop, the two friends, originally hailing from Britain, have made a name for themselves both in and beyond the...
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Marcel Janovsky | |||
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Homelabel
Treibstoff |
Cologne's Marcel Janovsky started DJing in the he early 90s, founding the Treibstoff label together with René Breitbarth in order to have a platform for releasing their own music.
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Salz | |||
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Homelabel
Poets Club Records |
Founded in 1997 by Emanuel Geller, Axel Erbstoesser and Sebastian Becky of the electro group Klystron in Cologne, Germany, SALZ are deeply rooted in techno and dub-house in the classic style of Basic Channel and Maurizio as is clear on their reissued...
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Cio D'or | |||
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Homelabel
Prologue |
Jump-starting her DJing career as a resident of Munich's legendary Ultraschall club, Cio D'or has rapidly gained recognition for her own productions since her first release, 'Hokus Pokus', in 2004. Cio has recently teamed up with Prologue for her debut...
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| other cities in Germany | |
Classics From This City
