Josh Wink Celebrates 30 Years of Ovum Recordings with 10 Essential Tracks
Josh Wink
May 17, 2024
The Philadelphia-born DJ/producer and undisputed pioneer of techno, house, and all its allied styles celebrate three decades of his pivotal Ovum Recordings imprint with the stories behind 10 of the label's most groundbreaking and momentous tracks.
Ovum Recordings is a label I started in 1994, 30 years ago, in order to have a label run by artists for artists. We had a motto for our releases in the beginning, which still rings true today. “Life Music”. We have an impressive roster of talented artists who we’ve released and supported over that span of time. Some unknown, some known, and some becoming known as they released on our label.
We sign music based on how it makes us feel with our ears and heart, not music based on trends and fashion, where we feel it will stand the test of time and be appreciated and not limited by the constraints of time-stamped music. And because of this our music sounds relevant, regardless if it's older tracks or spankin' new. We are happy and proud to be turning 30. It's crazy to think about it. That’s like having a 30-year-old child. Amazing! And we continue to move forward and deal with the challenges that present labels in this time of uncertainty and growth in our industry of music and technology.
Josh Wink has kicked off a new series of releases to celebrate his label's 30th Anniversary with his latest track, "The Deepness" — out now via Ovum Recordings. Buy it on Beatport.
Check out Josh Wink's '30 Years of Ovum Recordings' chart on Beatport
Wink - How’s Your Evening So Far? (feat. Lil Louis)
This was simply a tool and secret weapon track that never was intended to be released. It became our biggest record and continues to influence and rock dance floors and festivals since its release 24 years ago. I got a lot of insane responses when I played it. But the biggest buzz movement that helped break this record and caused us to release it was when we got Danny Teneglia a CD of it for the WMC in Miami in 1999. He played it for about 15 minutes at his legendary all-night marathon at Space, and it was the record that everyone wanted to find out what it was. Amazing memories of this exploding and becoming such a seminal release and defined a special time in music.
DJ Dozia - Pop Culture
A Philly native DJ who created this underground monster that crossed genres. Where both house and techno DJs supported and championed. Another record that broke at the WMC in Miami and continues to this day to be a distinctive release that makes you feel underground and can thrust you back to a special time in house music in the '90s.
David Alvarado - Klugh
David has always had a sound of his own. Merging deep house, tribal and techno together beautifully creating a tapestry of lush waves of deepness. A pure head trip! Sounds just as good now as it did when we realised it in 1998. Blissful.
Aaron Carl - My House
An underground hero in Detroit who created a house anthem. Whether it be the original, Accapella or remixes by Hollis P. Monroe, Dj Dozia, Dennis Ferrer, Doc Martin & Eddie Amador. This record is still a gem in the house scene and the acappella became true gold that when played people simply threw their hands in the air.
Nick & Danny Chatelain - Is Killing Me
Another seminal release in our 2000’s catalogue. This caused such dance-floor devastation when played. It became a 'had to play' record to ensure that your set went off! An amazing, tension-filled track that simply drove people crazy! It is a great record that saved many DJs' careers, as when the snare roll build up, and frenzied build-up was poured out of the speakers, it ensured pure chaos! Still sounds powerful to this day.
Loco Dice- Flight LB7475
His second release on Ovum. This became a deep tech house anthem. Coming out of the minimal scene, blurring the lines of deep house, minimal and tech House. Dice was a big part of our Ovum family, giving us two EPs that stand the test of time musically. Dreamy, techy, heady, deep, sexy, analog, smooth and driving. This release helped Dice solidify his name in the industry as being a major player in the electronic music industry.
Josh Wink - Superfreak (Freak)
This record became a house/tech house anthem that still stands out 22 years after its release. Not much else needs to be said about this gem, which still stands the test of time.
Shlomi Aber - Freakside
Another seminal release on Ovum, that helped define our growing sound and catapulted Shlomi into the growing techno/ Tech-house scene. A superb combination of hypnotic minimal and tech house that builds and builds, which causes as much dance floor destruction now as it did then. A great moment in my memory is playing this at DC10 on Sunday afternoon during peak time. The venue just erupted and screams of joy and excitement when I played this for the 1st time. The entire club all crouched down on the floor during the break, and just before the peak of the build up a plane flew overhead at the outside terrace dance floor at the same time the track climaxed. Insane!
Levon Vincent- Love Technique
Raw, quirky, jacking Acid house at its best. More goodness from such a special time in music from the mid 2000’s. Released in 2006 this track caused havoc as Levon became a powerhouse in the underground techno and house field. A tweaky, psychedelic vocal comes in and out of bubbling 3O3 goodness and solidified its status as a much sought after crossover jewel.
KiNK - Existence
This three-track EP by a once unknown Bulgarian producer, helped Kink become a hot name and major player in the underground techno and house industry. He’s a unique producer and is in a league of his own. This EP shows his impeccable and unique style of production, that effortlessly crosses different musical genres, blending deep house, techno and acid house. One of my personal favourites. A treasured release.
