Steve Lawler has been busy with the beats long before genres were but a twinkle in clubland’s eye. This November Steve’s VIVa MUSiC imprint is celebrating 10 years. To commemorate a decade worth of success we have asked the man himself to put together a top 10 list of tracks from each year of the VIVa catalogue. Our pleasure to host such collection of souvenirs.
Undisputedly one of most recognised and regarded modern house and techno brands, VIVa’s achievements within electronic music are hard to go unnoticed. Since its launch in October 2006 VIVa has released music from a wide range of established and upcoming artists, ranging from Jamie Jones, Guti, Patrick Topping, Nicole Moudaber, Tiefschwarz, Andrea Oliva and Livio & Roby to Anek, Solardo, Detlef, System2 and Denney, under it’s roof.
See also: Interview: Steve Lawler
1 – 2006 – Steve Lawler – Unicorn (Dino Leny Vocal Mix)
The very first record on viva which i did with a good friend Dino Lenny. super talented guy. This track was a reflection of the times, lo fi deep techno for the purists.
2 – 2007 – Andrea Oliva – Sombatiki
First met Andrea when i played at a club he was resident at in Switzerland, he loved the label from its beginning so i was more than happy to have a release from him. to see how far he has come now is amazing. Happy to have him back on the 10th anniversary LP. such a nice guy. big love to andrea
3 – 2008 – Infrared (Jamie Jones Remix)
Jamie’s mix on this is a dark master piece. this sound was very much owned by Jamie and still to this day he is pushing boundaries musically. i for one am and have always been a big fan of jamies work. first time i really heard jamie play was at my annual lights out party in Miami back in 2005
4 – 2009 – Tiefschwarz – Voodoo (Tolga fidan Remix)
This was taken from the ‘On the Bus’ LP which was a project we did on viva. where myself along with tiefschwarz and audiofly toured for 1 month on a bus across north america with a studio set up on the bus. this was Tiefschwarz track of which they brought a remix in from Tolga who did a super stripped back minimal soundscape a real quality piece of music.
5 – 2010 – Steve Lawler – Gimme some more (Guti Remix)
This was a huge release on the label of which we had remixes from Mendo, David K, Sean Miller & Daniel Dubb. but this remix from Guti was in my opinion one of his best works to date.
6 – 2011 – Francisco Allendes – esa Nena Quiere
Extremely talented Francisco did this originally as a bootleg, luciano played it so much everyone thought it was luciano’s
I held it back for a while and just let lucient have it exclusive. a very big record really of its time in 2010/2011
7 – 2012 – Livio & Roby – odus noch
Livio & Roby have release more on the label than any other artist, good friends of mine, we first met when i played in Romania back in 1999, we got on like brothers from our first meet and still do to this day. They also have a release on the 10th Anniversary LP. which wouldn’t be the same without them
8 – 2013 – Claire Ripley & Zeitgeist – Come to the Disco
I am such a huge fan of these two, both claire and zeitgeist are incredible song writers. i was so happy when i got this which was an exclusive track for the very first Warriors Compilation.
9 – 2014 – Steve Lawler – Do Ya (Patric Topping Remix)
A track i built at the Ushuia studio’s in Ibiza. I have picked this mix out from the bunch as it was very much a sound that only belonged to Patrick at the time, raw almost under produced sound but just works.
10 – 2015 – Alex Neri & Federico Grazzini – Desert Rose (Burnski Remix)
Burnski turned out an absolute gem of a remix on an already amazing track from alex and federico. everyone was playing this from apollonia to carola.
