25 YEARS VISITOR (PART 3)

Description

In the early 2000s, Belgium had almost no answer to what was brewing in London, the dark, hypnotic intersection of techno and house soul that Terry Francis, Nathan Coles and Mr. C were shaping at nights like Wiggle and The End. Fred Nasen (A&R Visitor Records) fell in love instantly. While working as an import manager at N.E.W.S. Records, he had a front-row seat to the records coming out of that scene, and the conviction that someone in the Benelux needed to do something about it. With Kozzmozz as one of the few local parties willing to back the sound at their parties & N.E.W.S Records giving Fred carte blanche,, Visitor Records was born and lasted for around 41 releases till 2006. Now almost 25 years later, these 5 vinyl samplers with much sought-after tracks from the label are available - never repressed since their original release. The second Fred Nasen entry in the reissue series digs a little deeper into the archive, surfacing two De Wever collaborations alongside a solo production that predates the label itself. 'Empty Bags' and 'Definition Dub' show the range that kept Visitor's in-house sound from ever feeling formulaic: one pushing harder, one pulling back into dubbed-out space. The real artefact here is 'Tranquility (1998 Version)': a glimpse into the pre-label mindset, written before Visitor took shape and released here for the first time. Twenty-eight years on, you may wonder why this never got out sooner.