Legacy

The idea behind and the short story of Miraloop Spades, the exploration ship of Miraloop Records


The first Italian label of electronic music in the digital era

With the birth of Miraloop Records and its four independent labels in 2007, the experimental project Spades became the first Italian label dedicated to electronic music. Spades was inspired by the English and American labels born at the end of the 20s and those German and Dutch ones rising in those years. Pioneering with its vocation, within few years Spades created the world of sound exploration without borders.

From exploring genres to exploring the world: the short story of Spades

Miraloop Spades takes off in 2008-2009 with “My Winter Pets” by Click and two productions by Matteo Scaioli. In its first years Spades gives a lot of space to diverse artists and producers in search of pure creativity, which results in the vast and varied panoply of styles and genres, from space music to chiptune, from glitch to minimal. The first artists arrive from the east of Italy – Trieste, Bologna, Rovigo, from Emilia Romagna down to Puglia, offering sounds never heard before. Then, one year later, first foreign productions arrive from London and Berlin.

It was the time of explosion of the Border Community in Europe, still selling vinyls while Beatport was taking its first steps. For the first time the absolute creativity was about to face the world without the necessity of mediation of any kind. Nothing like this had happened since 1968, when the synthesizers became portable giving musicians instruments they could never access before.

In the period of 2011-2012 the digital market enters a great revolution which gives everybody the chance to propose a beat without having to go to a recording label. At the same time many new electronic music labels are born in Italy, USA and other European countries. And the majors start to face this new music world. On top of all that Spades evolves in the matter of time: it embraces the genres which wouldn’t be given place somewhere else and it paves the way for the brand new ideas.

The first step was to work the concept of dub music - evolve the identity rooted in the instrumental versions of reggae into a creative model capable of exploring and experimentally remodeling any music influence from any place in the world. 2013 brought the first appearance in top100 on iTunes in Italy with “Wake Up’ by Pablo Ort, the first Deggae (dark+reggae) track merging the new wave and dub in a modern way. In the next year we have the first success on the international chart: Top100 on Beatport with “Black Magic” - lethal 100bpm voo-doo track about Africa, spirits, and mechanical colors. In 2015 “Look Beyond, the Evolution of Dub” stays number 1 on Beatport in reggae-dub classification, a success repeated one year later by the first album by Ethiopia Ringaracka – Afrofuturism. In 2016 Afroturism will also be the album to preannounce Ethnotronica, a great project by Spades aimed at taking electro and dub around the world. “Ethnotronica, a borderless journey around the world” is already scheduled for the Radio in 2017.

After more than 30 appearances on national and international charts, in 2017 the first “western” dub in history brings Ethnotronic world into the wild west, broadening the creative boundaries of the genre even further. Simultaneously, Miraloop starts selecting artists and project expanding its possibilities also to hip hop and beat, preparing the base for a free and uncompromised music scene with identity. By the end of 2018, in occasion of Miraloop’s 10th anniversary, Spades will play the main role in the series of compilations designed to tell the story of the evolution of sound in more than 50 records.

A temporary experimentation: between the past and the future, the Retro-Futurism of Miraloop Spades

Our experiment is based on time. In the world of air, time is a relative concept. It’s where you’ll find vintage and futurism - voyages constructed on ancient samples like a broken piano, or synthetic sounds of the last generation spreading through the frequencies. Listening to electro is a time travel experience. And time travel brightens the present.

A spatial experimentation: from East to West, from North to South – around and across the electronic world

By launching the Ethnotronica genre, our music started to spread towards every culture and territory. Dub version - afro, Indian, oriental, up to the western – gave us the possibility of creating an unprecedented music category. Ethnotronica became a series of compilations distributed internationally with the participation of the best electronic music producers.

Symbology: Spades – air

The English word “spades” comes from the Italian “spade” which is connected to the air element, which in the symbology has always meant exploration, knowledge, and conscience.

Where to listen to Spades on Radio Miraloop

You can navigate through the website and choose the category of your preference. Also, Radio Miraloop 

broadcasts programs where you can enjoy Spades’ catalogue continuously. There are many to choose from:


The Glitch (Glitchand extreme beat experimental) from 12pm to 1pm

Ethnotronica(around the world without borders) from 6pm to 8pm
Mira Soundscapes
(electro sound panorama)
Coffee Time Edition from 8am to 10am / Teatime Edition from 5pm to 6pm

The Progressive Suite (progressive and minimal) Music from Spades and Clubs. From 10pm to 12am.

Top Buyers

1. GERMANY
2. ITALY
3. USA
4. UNITED KINGDOM
5. FRANCE

Respect

Warp Records






           

 



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