Welcome to the ninth edition of our series of short interviews affectionately titled Talking Shop. The majority of media and fan attention gets showered on the artists who create the music we love to listen to/DJ with/dance to, and for good reasons. But without the hard work, keen ears and business savvy of label staff, we’d be stuck only streaming tracks on Myspace. This time we have to put on shades to talk with our next interview subject, the white hot Oslo. Though the Frankfurt-based collective got its start around the turn of the century, the label only released its first record in 2007. But within a few 12″s, the label’s trajectory has been positively meteoric. Headed by Federico Molinaro and Nekes, the label family includes Johnny D, Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts, Mara Trax and Christian Burkhardt, serving up minimal, tribally influenced deep house that’s heavily influenced attitudes in 2008. Molinaro was rather tight-lipped, but we managed to get his views on vinyl and the essential qualities of a label, but not the meaning of that name…

Please tell me about the beginning of Oslo. Why and how did you start out? How did you decide on the name Oslo?

We started around six years ago, at that time we all of us met and our friendship began. In the beginning we were all DJs and promoters and the label was the normal development for us. Why Oslo? It’s a secret!

How did you select the artists for Oslo’s roster? How do you select tunes for the Love Letters From Oslo sub-label?

In first place, the person must be close to us, almost our artist are friends since long time. The music for Love letters from Oslo has to be something really special for us, and of course something that we wouldn’t release on Oslo.

Do you get many demos? What are some qualities you look for when sorting through them?

Yes, we get a lot demos at the moment. And we really enjoy to see a huge feedback, even if the music doesn’t fit with our label philosophy. There’s not a rule to follow to decide if the music is good or not — as you can see every release has it’s own character — so basically there’s not a special sound aesthetic to follow. But there is, for sure, a sound aesthetic that we don’t follow.

What is one of your favorite releases on your own label? Why?

That’s a really a difficult question. Every release has something particular for us, that’s why we choose every EP.

According to many doomsayers, running a record label isn’t one of the “smartest” fiscal things to do. How do you keep Oslo running with sales “as they are”?

Very good question at this time! I mean, everybody knows that is not possible to make big money with a record label. I think that in the past there was not so much music like now (it was not so easy to have a studio before). Now you have much more music around, and much more platforms like the Internet or Beatport or whatever to find music. So basically the secret is, as a label, you have to concentrate in bringing out quality music and also very important: something fresh. That’s it!

Do you think mp3 blogs like mine hurt the music industry? Do you think blogs have a role in the future of dance music promotion?

I don’t think blogs can hurt the music industry, why? I mean, all these things about blogs can really help in all what is promotion about. But I really don’t follow blogs, so I can not tell you how important they are or will be; I am not really into it.

There is no shortage of labels in dance music. What does Oslo do to stand out from the crowd?

Like I said before, the only thing you can do is release good music, all the rest is not important.

As technology advances further, vinyl is moving closer to becoming obsolete to many DJs. What are your feelings on this? Do you think the end of vinyl is in sight?

I do not agree with this. Vinyl was often announced to die and always became widely accepted again. We have to wait to see what the future does. For me personally it’s a a real shame if one day the vinyl completely disappears. Vinyl is the soul of electronic music, NO VINYL NO SOUL.

What are a few other labels you respect/revere most?

In the past it was Playhouse and Perlon, now Deep Vipes and Raum…Musik play a decisive role.

What can we expect from Oslo in the next year or so?

We are planning a lot of things at the moment, but we can’t talk about it. Be patient!

For our fourth report, LWE’s editor in chief Steve Mizek picks his top five overrated singles from the first half of 2008.

The number of dance music singles released each year is absolutely mind-boggling, likely well into six digits and rising each year as production software becomes more accessible. So how does a track stand apart from the multitudes of would-be hits? Unlike rock or pop, many techno and house artists rely on other artists to give their tracks exposure in their DJ sets/charts. Or, if producers are of a sizable stature and credibility, they can cane their own work to massive crowds of receptive fans (and consumers as well, though the correlation between underground popularity and sales is quickly ripping at the seams). So if John Digweed loves your newest, you may receive a deluge of new fans through his DJ sets, mix CDs, radio show and even word of mouth between $uper$tar$.

But this formula for exposure can also lead to the over inflation of some otherwise underwhelming tracks. Because there are more DJs than producers, and DJs want to get popular too, many opt to follow in their heroes’ footsteps and crib relentlessly from their playlists and charts — Beatport and Juno make this exceptionally easy. Because a DJ’s success also depends largely on the happiness of the audience, some may select low-hanging people-pleasers (or at least familiar tunes) over less obvious gems. And of course the print and online press are complicit to a degree in all of this, as well.

With that in mind, I’ve cobbled together a list of five tracks I believe have grown far more popular than their characteristics warrant. Not all these songs are crap, per se, though many of them rely on rather base, lowest-common denominator tactics to get crowds worked up, remembering the track and clamoring for more. And so the circle continues.

01. Hugo, “The Sloop” [Tuning Spork Records] (buy)
I suppose it makes sense to sound the foghorn for a nautically themed track, but it’s an increasingly common way to spice up otherwise ho-hum arrangements, especially one so typically Tuning Spork in execution. Combined with its tonally static build, “The Sloop” hardly strikes me as novel so much as a cheap shot in the arm for DJs with flagging dance floors. Try Âme, “Enoi” instead.

02. Radio Slave, “Grindhouse Tool” (Dubfire Terror Planet Mix) [REKIDS] (buy)
That Dubfire is a massive prog-house to “minimal” convert is less troubling to me than how awful everything he touches comes out. His vast reworking of Radio Slave’s perfectly balanced gloom tool, replete with bug-eyed, de-pitched vocals and generic chromatic scale progressions, lets loose Dubfire’s “scary” indulgences to reverse the original’s haunting restraint. What surprises me is not Dubfire’s poor taste, but that so many DJs are willing to punish their audiences with this “Terrible Planet” tripe. Try Raudive, “Here” (Len’s Podium Remix) or Sasha, “Park It In the Shade” (Audion Ain’t Got No Friends Mix) instead.

03. Patrice Bäumel, “Roar” [Get Physical] (buy)
Credit is due to Mr. Bäumel for his relative bravery in omitting a requisite kick drum, but one bold decision cannot save “Roar” from his meeker ones. The rubber band plucks and claps are a good start, but are run off the road by an oppressively tight and overdriven loop which revs like a motorcycle. It seems every other year someone imitates this sound, if for no other reason than to make dancers rev their invisible choppers like metalhead tykes. Taken in a different and more complex direction, “Roar” could’ve lived up to it’s “tool of the summer” tag; instead, creativity whimpers in the corner as clubbers mount their big wheels. Try Stephan Bodzin, “Liebe Ist…” or STL’s carefully reduced tracks instead.

04. Laurent Garnier, “Back to My Roots” [Innervisions] (buy)
LG’s so-called return to form is a poignant reminder of why he had moved to less floor-driven electronica in the first place. The drawn out and searching tones at “Afrodiziac” mix’s core are promising, but soon find themselves buried under every organic percussion sound Garnier could fit without freezing his Mac. The fact was made even more evident as Henrik Schwarz, Âme and Dixon’s “D.P.O.M.B.,” which vastly improved the mold, upstaged the tune only one release later. I sense many DJs played and charted this one out of devotion to Garnier’s legacy, but would have done better to stick with his prime cuts.

05. Johnny D, “Orbitalife” [Oslo] (buy)
Last year if you asked me who Johnny D was I would probably have half-heartedly guessed an old NYC cat. This year his “Orbitalife” is the most charted track on RA ever. Unlike the rest of my list, however, “Orbitalife” deserves some of the buzz it’s received. His smooth and soulful voice rises from the nagging beat without disturbing the flow as the perfect compliment to subtle adornments. Still, I can’t help but feel this is a weak choice for the year’s biggest track, its immense popularity smacking of a bid for hipness more than a vote of confidence in a stunning tune. But much worse could top this list, and therein lies some hope not all overrated tracks are complete dreck.