It’s hard to believe, but Get Physical is 100 releases old! Time flies when you’re having fun… To celebrate this landmark occasion, the label has prepared a very special 100th release. GPM100 is comprised of six disparate “battle” tracks from the label’s best known producers and recent signings alike: M.A.N.D.Y., Booka Shade, Italoboyz, Nôze, Dakar, Siopis, DJ T, Thomas Schumacher, Lopazz, Heidi, Einzelkind and Meat. What a roll-call! The first of these unique collaborations is M.A.N.D.Y. vs Booka Shade, who most famously teamed up for the worldwide smash ‘Body Language’, and more recently for an inspired remix of Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman’. This new track, ‘Donut‘, is the latest fruit of a long and creatively prosperous partnership, and it wastes no time getting down to business. Propelled along by phased sub-bass, snatches of saxophone, Booka’s trademark melodic synths and what can only be described as the mother of all breakdowns, ‘Donut‘ is an incredible club track that also acts as a neat summation of Get Physical’s core qualities and aims. Next up are two rather more recent additions to the Physical stable: London-based Italoboyz and flamboyant French showmen Nôze, who released their crazy, utterly original album Songs On The Rocks on the Berlin-based label earlier this year. A truly beguiling mix of 1930s style swingtime brass and pounding techno rhythm, this is a piece of strange, timeless dance music that showcases Italoboyz and Nôze’s proclivity for merging past and present. Dakar and Siopis do what they do best on ‘Dubai’, delivering a slick, brooding techno track that sets old-skool-style chords against a driving bassline that positively pulls the listener along with it. The next track is a tale of two Ts: DJ T., who co-founded Get Physical with M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade, teams up with Thomas Schumacher for ‘May Contain Nuts’: a jacking techno track with an incredibly spacious arrangement and a succession rapturous builds that will whip any discerning dancefloor into a frenzy. Canadian gal Heidi teams up with LOPAZZ for ‘Funkshovel’, a bumpin’ house track topped by a laconic, irreverent American voice offering his thoughts on techno, and some sage advice to us all: “Let’s party, let’s have some fun…” Heidi and LOPAZZ really work the drums, building up layer upon layer of rolling beats, and reaching near-tribal levels of intensity. Einzelkind vs Meat round off the vinyl package with ‘Gin’, a track based around what sounds like a field recording of an ethnic folk song. This sample is simply a jumping-off point, though, as the Physical regulars tweak a minimal set of musical elements into an undeniable dancefloor monster. But GPM100 doesn’t end there. Physical have prepared a further three special tracks for digital-only release. First up, one of the label’s most promising producers – Patrice Bäumel, whose ‘Roar’ was one of the summer’s biggest club hits. For ‘7 days’ he enlists the former vocal talents of Elektrochemie’s Caitlin Devlin, casting her elegant, darkly euphoric tones against a sinewy, funked-up techno track that seems to cruise smoothly and jack fiercely at the same time – if only all vocal house was this good! Djuma Soundsystem, the brains behind the massive ‘Les Djinns’, return to Get Physical for a new track, ‘Zillion Lights’, with multi-talented singer/producer Raz Ohara; Raz’s plaintive vocals and brass add warmth to Djuma’s incredible, chugging italo-style backdrop – the result is subtle but really powerful. Last but not least, Tiger Stripes vs Audiofly, and the deep, kinetic techno of ‘Hundra’. Propulsive chords and off-the-hook drum editing make this a fitting finale to GPM100, reminding us of the label’s origins in the very heart of the dancefloor. For Get Physical, the 100th release isn’t an excuse to wallow in the past; it’s an opportunity to look to the future. This is a celebration of the work and commitment of the label’s founders and veterans, but also of its new and recent recruits - and the desire they all share for continual innovation, evolution and party-starting. GPM100 confirms what we know and love about Get Physical, but also points to exciting and unpredictable things to come.