Source Records, Heidelberg – 1992-2004

Co-Owner / Co-Founder – Management, Promotion, A&R
Art Director, Design – Photography – Video Production

From 1992 to 2004 David Moufang and Jonas Grossmann ran Source Records. In the early days of Techno, the label stood for freewheeling experimental electronic music, on and beyond the dancfloor. Deeply rooted in the early 90s Ambient and Chill Out scene Source Records gave home to an international cast of producers. From David´s and Jonas´ own musical projects Deep Space Network, Earth to Infinity, Move D (David solo), bton (Jonas solo) to UK´s Gescom (Autechre), Baby Ford and Higher Intelligence Agency to San Francisco based producer Jonah Sharp to Frankfurt´s Roman Flügel und Jan Jelinek and many more. Besides its distinctive sound Source Records established a strong visual identity. Source Records artworks was published in numerous design books at the time and the label was invited to the International Design Conference Aspen (IDCA) to represent German Techno culture. In the twelve years of its existence the Label released and internationally distributed 39 albums, 22 12″ Vinyl EPs, 3 7″ Singles and 3 VHS Video Tapes. Find out more about the label in Oli Warwick’s in depth Resident Advisory feature from 2019: https://ra.co/features/3573

Reissue Design 2018-2021

Deep Space Network – Big Rooms / Reissue Design 2020: Colour Double Vinyl, Gatefold Cover
Originally released in 1993, Big Rooms was David Moufang´s and Jonas Grossmann´s second album release for Source Records. In 2020 re:discovery records (Centreville, Virginia) reissued Big Rooms – after it’s initial release on CD only, for the first time on vinyl. The vinyl release comes with all new gatefold artwork.

From the liner notes:

„One thing I remember very vividly is, that at the time our fascination with sci-fi was very strong. The whole aesthetic and feel. From crappy b-movies to NASA documentaries to 2001: A Space Odyssey. The latter was shown as a midnnight-feature at our local movie-theater. I remember, seeing it for the first time one a big screen, blew me away. As I was working in video production-company at the time, this fascination also led to early video-clips I produced for earth to infinity and big rooms that would start a series of VHS Tapes compilations released on Source Records. The thing that strikes me the most looking back, is that 1992/1993 all Source Records and Deep Space Work worked completely without Internet and on, even at the time, rather obsolete computer technology: based on a cheap Atari and a Fax-Machine. Despite our fascination with future technologies, our reality then looking at music production, video production and social networking was entirely analog.“ Jonas Grossmann

„At the release of Big Rooms, techno was still fresh. A lot of things hadn’t been tried yet and it was easy to be inspired and to come up with something that maybe nobody had tried before. Big Rooms in 1993 was the follow up to Earth & Infinity from 1992 which was Jonas and I and was my first release. The first one was very much influenced by mainly KLF and their album Space if you happen to know about it. It was a genre defining album and they invented the chill out term and style as we know it to have become. What they were doing was using a lot of musical references and we were doing the same with our first record. On Big Rooms we wanted to show what we could do without using other people’s samples.“ David Moufang

Review quotes from supporters on Bandcamp, Discogs and Youtube
Love it! One of my favorite albums from the 90s. Still after all these years: timeless classic! Remembering new years night 1997, somewhere on a field in the countryside. Snow falling, fog, fireworks in the distance and Big Rooms blowing from the speakers of the car… +++
this album changed my understanding of music in the 90s. The whole album is a trip into the universe. And for me as an old acid freak, the track „the beyond within“ has the most intelligent and musical acid line I’ve ever heard, also in 2020! … unbelievable that the album will now be released again … a dream come true +++
One of the most brilliant, timeless albums from the golden age of the chillout room. Such an inspiring record- thank you so much for the love and care that has gone into the reissue. This is one I am leaving to my kids +++
Tragically underrated gem. Sounds like virtually nothing else and lights the brain on fire with drifting sonic explorations of the downtempo and chill. Has an analogue feel and drifts but never off target. Clearly crafted and labored over but not overdone. Off-kilter and odd samples take this to a new level. Music to lose yourself to. +++
Still crackles with invention, awash with sampled and synthetic beauty and strangeness, dense with trippy percussion loops and intoxicating tribal and Eastern accents. Alternately stark and pretty, sometimes both at once, Big Rooms remains a towering achievement of the genre, a psychedelic artefact of no less anthropological value than that 1000 year-old pouch of DMT recently found in a cave in Bolivia. Ingest immediately. Favorite track: Zenn La. +++
From the first note, this release has resonated with me. I randomly picked this up on CD as a teenager in the early 90’s and it has been with me ever since, having a copy to play on vinyl has completed a cycle for me. In my top 5 ambient releases all time, DSN sent me into the cosmos and I have yet to return! Favorite track: Zenn La

Reagenz / Reissue Design 2021: Colour Double-Vinyl / Spot Colours (Pantone 368 C / Silver / Black)
In 1994 David Moufang (Move D) and Jonah Sharp (Space Time Continuum) teamed up to produce the Source Records release reagenz. Recorded in Jonah Sharp´s San Francisco studio and David Moufang´s studio in Heidelberg. The reissue artwork is staying true to the original artwork, reconstructed from the original CD files for LP format. Originally released on CD only, Paris based label musique pour la danse reissued the album in 2021 on Double Vinyl.

From the liner notes
The iconic self-titled debut album from Jonah Sharp (Spacetime Continuum) & David Moufang (Move D) from 1994.
An underrated milestone of 90’s electronic music where lush ambient textures meet intricate IDM/techno rhythms.
Remastered for 2021 and available on vinyl for the very first time. Limited neon green 180g edition.

Gramm – Personal Rock / Reissue Design 2018, Double Vinyl
Back in 1999 Jan Jelinek (aka Farben, aka Gramm) released his first full length album on Source Records. The reissue artwork is an exact reproduction of the original vinyl cover – slightly retouched for rerelease on Jan Jelinek’s own fatiche label (Berlin).

Original Releases

CD Artwork – Selection 2000-2002
CD cover and inner booklet spread – from left to right: Lowtec (Leipzig) „Secret Corners“ and Johan Skugge (Oslo) „Objekts and buildings, both from 2002 (photography and design), Alex Cortex (Heidelberg) „Laconic“ (concept and design, commissioned photographs) from 2000, Adrien75 (Los Angeles) „Coastal Access“ (photography and design) from 2002

LP Artwork – Selection 2000-2003
LP cover, front an back – from left to right: Benjamin Wild (Darmstadt) „Wie es sein wollte“ (handicraft, design) from 2003, Sutekh (San Francisco) „Every dot and tittle“ from 2000, Various Artists „opensource.players“ (design) from 2001, Conjoint (Heidelberg) „Earprints“ from 1999

Source Records Artwork in Design Books

Sonic – Visuals for Music / Die Gestalten / Berlin / 2004
Sampler2 – Art, Pop and Contemporary Music Graphics / Intro, Laurence King Publishing / London / 2000
Discstyle – The Graphic Arts of Electronic Music and Club Culture / Edition Olms / Zürich / 1999
Luerzers Archive Special – Design for Musiac / Frankfurt / 1999
Szenenwechsel – German Design Goes Rocky Mountain High / Cataloge for IDCA 1996 (International Design Conference Aspen) / Design Zentrum München, Verlag Form / 1997
Techno Style – Graphics, Fashion, Culture / Edition Olms / Zürich / 1995
Localizer 1.0 – Decoding the Techno House / Die Gestalten & Chromapark e.V. / Berlin / 1995

Source Records Discography

ALBUMS
1992
920910 / earth to infinity / deep space network / cd
1993
930611 / big rooms / deep space network / cd
930612 / electronic congress / redagain p / cd
930613 / homeworks / various artists / cd, 2×12″
1994
940714 / reagenz / cd, 12″
940815 / my little yoni / yoni / cd, 12″
940916 / headshop / various artists / cd
940917 / kunststoff / move d / cd, 2xlp
941018 / multiple void enjoyment / elfish echo / cd
1995
950119 / gigantochelonia / redagain p / cd
950220 / kobat / cd
950821 / ro 70 / roman flügel / cd, 2xlp
950822 / true frequencies / cd
1996
960123 / rob gordon projects / robert gordon / cd, 2xlp
960424 / deep space network meets higher intelligence agency / cd, 2xlp
960125 / live & final fridge / pita & general magic / cd, lp
1997
970526 / vulvic yonifications / vulva / cd, 2xlp
971127 / plays / sad rockets / cd, lp
1998
980328 / active technologies / system 360 / cd, 2xlp
980529 / orange peel / ymc / cd, 2xlp
980730 / strong medicine / elfish echo / cd, 2xlp
1999
990131 / transporter / cd, lp
990832 / arsequake / yonder kids / cd, 2xlp
990933 / personal rock / gramm / cd, 2xlp
991234 / earprints / conjoint /cd, 2xlp
2000
000535 / laconic / alex cortex / cd, 2xlp
000736 / devolution / eyephone / cd
2001
010137 / opensource.players / various artists / cd, 2xlp
010638 / offene schleifen / sensual physics / cd, 2xlp
2002
020239 / secret corner / lowtec / cd, 2xlp
020440 / objects and buildings / johan skugge / cd, 2xlp
020541 / opensource.code / various artists / cd, 12″
020842 / coastal access / adrien 75 / cd
020943 / lideskape / veer / cd, 2xlp
2003
030144 / wie es sein wollte / benjamin wild / cd, 2xlp
2004
040345 / raise this flap / dsn (deep space network) / cd
040646 / nattmusik / deltidseskapism / cd
2005
050147 / bton / 4th floor / cd
050248 / seltsam&strahler / ^ö^ / cd

12″ VINYL EPS
1994
1231 / homeworks 1 / move d, d man
1232 / homeworks 2 / move d
1234 / view to view / robert gordon & move d
1235 / heavy dose / deep space network
1995
1036 / planet jazz (10″)
1237 / fluresence / space time continuum (licensed from reflective rec., us)
1238 / reagenz
1239 / yoni
1241 / black knight
1996
1242 / hydroponics / d man
1243 / motor 1-4 / gescom
1245 / ro 70 meets move d
1246 / adaptive pattern recognizer / system 360
1997
1247 / tubed / alex cortex
1244 / bford13 / baby ford
1998
1200 / move d & ro 70 II
1201 / aitiai / alex cortex
1203 / klettermax
1204 / redagain p
1999
1205 / tengenenge / alex cortex
2000
1207 / every dot and tittle / sutekh
020541 / opensource.code / various artists (akufen, thomas brinkmann, jan jelinek, sutekh)

7″ VINYL EPS
701 / music for mix tapes / sad rockets / 1997
702 / 8 qm stereo / 1998
706 / kid kisnki vs the äppler mob / sad rockets 1998

VHS VIDEO TAPES
sctv01 / synchronized chaos tv / 1993
sctv02 / liquid screen / 1993
sctv03 / sctv03 – tv cruising and drive-by shooting / 1994

Source Records Links

Source Records feature on Resident Advisor, by Oli Warwick from 2019: https://ra.co/features/3573
Source Records on Discogs (archive and market place): https://www.discogs.com/label/1122-Source-Records-2
Jonas Grossmann (music projects) on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/46461-Jonas-Grossmann
Jonas Grossmann (video production) on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user3095003
Jonas Grossman (video production) on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/envsctv/playlists?view=1&sort=dd&shelf_id=0

Deep Space Network – Live

With their musical project Deeps Space Network, David Moufang and Jonas Grossman toured Europe in the 90s playing at clubs and festivals, like „Interference Festival“, part of the official Love Parade program in 1994 (Tresor) and 1995 (Planet), „Chromapark“ (E-Werk) and „Maria am Ostbahnhof“ – all in Berlin, „Sonar Festival“ in Barcelona, „The Big Chill“ in London, „Oscillate“ in Birmingham, „Trippin on Sunshine“ in Kopenhagen, „Lucid Intervall“ in Amsterdam, „Ultraschall“ in Munich and „XS“ in Frankfurt. In pre-mobile-phone-foto-days, little was documented and only few photographs have survived – however somehow four pictures form Deep Space Network´s 1994 performance at Tresor Club in Berlin have lived to see the day. It was summer in Berlin, Love Parade was still cool back then and Interference Festival was staging live-sets from electronic producers from around the globe for the very first time. On the line up Air Liquid, Deep Space Network, Atom Heart, Plastikman, Higher Intelligence Agency, Pete Namlook, Sun Electric, Space Time Continuum, Sähkö – 1st & 2nd of July 1994, Tresor, Berlin

The earliest references of David Moufangs´s and Jonas Grossmann´s musical projects date to 1993 and capture the duos first live performance at XS Club in Frankfurt. Negatives and prints lost, two contact sheets survived. For the live set, performing tracks from their first album project „Earth to Infinity“, David and Jonas were supported by Indian percussionist Shivamani.