Before the insults get hurled at us, we would like to explain our progressive change of opinion towards W&W imprint, Rave Culture, in the latest months.
Re-branded in 2017, the Armada sub-label initially didn’t convince us. At first, it consisted just of W&W and Maurice West releases, a problem which haunted the antecedent brand in its dusk, Mainstage Music. Absence of an expanding roster, few releases and just the same acts (and, obviously, styles) lead to an unfortunate decline of the once peaking imprint.
We would like to think that the managers picked up on our little rant because, after that, Rave Culture gradually began developing a certain personality while keeping an impressive quality level. Saying this, we can dare compare its newfangled status to the golden era of Revealed Recordings in 2014, considering the similar genre. Solid releases were constantly published at steady space, introducing new (Paris Blohm, Deorro) and old (Dyro, Dannic) talents to the fanbase. Finally, we are seeing something similar in the scene.
The lower amount of releases aided as a pro, when supported with the introduction of new, important names of the underground scene. Will Sparks, Sound Rush, SaberZ… Rave Culture is now principally oriented towards Big Room, “Trance-Room” and Psy-Trance, the quintessential festival genus of Electronic music. In a scene where labels are pushing out as much as possible, W&W kept a “quality over quantity” approach. And we love it! We REALLY love it!
The newest entrée is Dannic, a veteran who formerly focused on Revealed. This choice made us think why the leading Breda native isn’t releasing this on Fonk, either on Revealed (who still have a great relationship with him!). And there is no dearth of a suitable reply here: Rave Culture has presented itself as an appealing choice for this particular style of underground releases. It developed a style, attired a lot of new fans, and with a point of strength being that the moderate amount of release let every song breathe and be valorized without rushing… The only thing missing was a good roster.
And sure enough, it seems that the revamped label is building a great one!
Alexander Liu
February 6, 2020 / at 7:40 pm
I can agree with this, at least big-room wise. Rave Culture is the best big-room label right now, hands down. Although I’ll still go to Revealed for vocal progressive house releases, which is what they are currently doing best.