Beat Traps: Project Mooncircle at 10

By the time Chris Daly was 10, he was fluent in the language of 5th Century Tibetan street urchins. A decade ago, a young man was inspired by German street urchins with a penchant for beats. During...
By    March 7, 2012

By the time Chris Daly was 10, he was fluent in the language of 5th Century Tibetan street urchins.

A decade ago, a young man was inspired by German street urchins with a penchant for beats. During their now legendary travels, the group found itself in Rome and made its way to the Vatican for a midnight mass. Whilst there, the young man propositioned one of the gypsies to have sex with him in a confessional, smartly pointing out that such an encounter would be a story worth telling forever more. Who was that young man, and what does any of it have to do with the 10 year anniversary compilation just dropped by Project: Mooncircle? Yours truly, and not a damn thing. I just love to tell that story.

Speaking of things I love, Project: Mooncircle was, is and forevermore shall be one of the finest labels in all of beatdom. With such names on board as Robot Koch, Pavel Dovgal, Long Arm, 40 Winks, ichiro and kidkanevil, P:M has a ridiculous roster. With a self-described mission to take listeners on a “journey to the moon…exploring the frontiers of music and art, always looking for new discoveries and giving a different perspective to look at the earth,” this is clearly a group with whom not to fuck. With such lofty goals, it’s good to have the talent to get them there.

During its ten year history, the little German label that could has dropped nearly 100 different albums by nearly as many artists. One of their main strengths lie in their reach—P:M is not restricted to local talent, as evidenced by its phenomenal Finest Ego series, wherein the best beatheads in a given time zone are allowed to run wild on some of the funkiest beat comps you’re ever going to hear. Originally envisioned simply as a one-off project, the label has morphed into one of the best and most influential instrumental hip-hop outfits on the planet.

To do justice to their decennial, P:M has rounded up its usual suspects and put together a limited box that includes 2 white & 2 black vinyl LP’s with 32 tracks, 13 additional digital bonus tracks, T-shirt, and a poster, all in a specially designed box that features a special light-reflecting varnish. I’ve also heard it contains a golden ticket, ruby slippers and a bong personally designed by MF Doom, but have yet to confirm. If anyone could pull it off, however, it certainly would be these cats. To paraphrase the bard, to the moon, Antje! To the moon!

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