M_Ferri

We found ourselves in Berlin for the weekend recently. After a long night and morning at the Rekids party at Panorama we checked out Golden Gate on a Sunday. We were unnervingly early and greeted with a dingy but well-loved dive still scented with the blood, sweat and tears of the previous night and a handful of ravers not yet comfortable with the weekend drawing to a close.

As the evening powered on M_Ferri (Ferri Borbás) took to the decks for a set that was a masterpiece. Perhaps a little controversial to say, but this far exceeded the ones we’d witnessed at Golden Gate’s better-known cousin Panorama on the Friday night. It was passionate, intelligent and an example of the finely balanced track selection required for the Sunday night jaded. Heavy and light, cutting edge and classics; a 3 hour journey into house, driven predominantly by Berlin’s signature ‘techier’ sound, where the DJ visibly loses himself as much as his followers.

M_Ferri runs the Berlin-based Autist label which specialises in a ‘pursuit of explosive and innovative dancefloor music ranging from minimal to tech house’ and houses artists such as M_Ferri, ANNA (Boris Brejcha), Niko Schwind and Christopher Manik. Now in its twelfth year, Autist has seen collaborations with top producers such as Luciano (Bla Bla Bla), Guy Gerber (Stoppage Time – Danton Eeprom’s Controversion Version) and Stimming (the Stimming remix of  Lee Jones‘ Safari). Autist’s discography is now fairly extensive and has additional channels such as concept label Franz Franz, dedicated to delivering material from new producers, and a limited edition vinyl series highlighting work from its top producers.

Of late, releases on Autist have drawn primarily on the production skills of fellow German, Niko Schwind. Niko released his debut single Panotile on Autist in 2007, and the Autistic Disco EP was a great success in 2008. The Gierig & Schlect EP dropped in March this year showcasing Big Easy and Madrill; currently Autist’s top selling tracks on Beatport. More recently, Niko has released his Midnight Funk EP on Stil Vor Talent (May 2010), Feelin on Dantze and remixes of Sascha Braemer’s Thank You and Jon Donson’s Huiaa on Bar 25 and Tretmuehle (June 2010).

Niko

Niko’s biography states, “if DJing was his first love, producing music is his hot love affair”. You can sample Niko’s first love in the form of his March Promo Set.

The Autist label have a podcast available here with 2009 mixes from M_Ferri and ANNA available for download.

If an Autist artist hits your town, make sure you are in attendance.

Niko Schwind – March Promo Mix

Niko Schwind – Midnight Funk (demo)