Buzz

I'm not having total certitude but I think that Jan Van den Bergh (aka Monte La Rue) was influential in what this label released in the early 1990's; specially so in the realms of Electronica, Detroit Techno & the likes.

Hello all,as theres so many boootlegs out there i thought you might like to know how to tell the originals from the bootlegs. Its quite simple ,the originals have a double ring pressed into the centre label,check pictures of Placid Angel release as pictures showing this are very good.On the bootlegs you can see how this feature has been photocopied and it looks like a shadow,thats all folks.

Nobody did mention their high quality pressings, mostly on 180 gr. vinyl, which was not common back in the days

Buzz operated from Brussels and was run by professional music lovers with lots of international s and a very good musical taste. To pay the bills commercial records were signed too... They had absolutely nothing to do with the cheap bootlegs.

Indeed, Buzz is a label covered in a thick veil of mystery. There's barely any clue as to who and from where ran this label. Story goes that it's a 'belgain imprint which used to release ground breaking techno from Detroit'. It's one of those labels which never got the recognition of many of its contemporaries, despite having shed some light on classic Detroit releases and giving europeans a chance to hear 'em out. As stated before, much of the label's back catalogue fetches astronomical prices, be it on eBay or here on discogs, but what it all comes down to is that most of their stuff has that "I gotta have that one!" value, while real and ever lasting musical beauty, which could justifiy the price, has often been lost somewhere along the way.
That said, to my knowledge, releases such as Revelation's "Stairway to heaven", Derrick May's "Relics - A Transmat compilation", Pod's "The vanguard EP", Baruka's "Black out EP", the classic ambient master stroke "Sublunar oracles" by Trans-4M and a handful of other various artists compilations, introducing tunes by soon-to-be legends such as Carl Craig, Eddie Flashin' Fowlkes and Kenny Larkin, are all safe purchases for all techno/deep house enthusiasts, standing the test of time, and simultaneously acting as undeniable historical documents in relation to the development of electronic music, but above all, it's just fantastic and timeless music. Pure and emotional techno from the city where it originated, with no strings attached. Some of these heavily sought after gems are Buzz exclusives, so if you see them in bargain bins at your local record store - do not hesitate. But the issue, though, is how and where to find those releases for accessible prices. What I own took me quite a while to accumulate, and let me tell you, it would be some offer in order for me to consider selling ;-)

Yes, Buzz is truly an underrated label. Not only because they introduced Europe to the Detroit sound, but also because they offered a wide spectrum of releases, from the bleepy UK sound of Fantasy UFO to the ambient sound of Trans 4M, or to the raw acid techno of Damon wild & pals from Atmosphere, and so on.
But this is also logical, as it was essentially a licencing label: most release were licenced from other labels (Atmosphere, Outer Rhythm, DFC to name a few of the European ones), and it never seem to be producing its own stable of artists.
Of course, people like Renaat Vandepapeliere (from R&S fame) were mostly talent scouts, but they successfully (for a while) made the transition to having their own artists and their own style.
This also explains that Buzz's discography alternates innovative releases with more commercial ones, and sometime even dull ones...
Who was behind it, and why they could love and releases either Carl Craig or Mundo Muzique alongside with Rozalla or Nomad remains a mystery to me.

Usually, when we start thinking about the entrance doors for the Techno made in Detroit overseas, it’s easy to the names of the labels that played a very important role in the European scene such as the English label Kool Kat, responsible for the pressing of “Strings Of Life” there; R&S, where the ers could find tunes from Carl Craig’s 69 to Model 500; the Berliner label Tresor, which started as a close alliance between Detroit and the German artists; and Network, through where Neil Rushton could bring special sounds from the Motor City in the UK. Few ones will mention the Belgian label Buzz that had the Honors of having released some of the earlier pressings of seminal Detroit Techno anthems such as Rhythim Is Rhythim’s “Kao-Tic Harmony” (1992) and Carl Craig’s “At Les” (from 1993, which appeared at the Virtual Sex compilation), as well as Derrick May’s remix for “Sueno Latino” and the “Relics” compilation, containing Stacey Pullen’s remix for “Wiggin” and the Interval series by Derrick May & Carl Craig.

Indeed, the represses are cheap bootlegs. I guess they were probably recorded from CD, not from vinyl. Buzz is one of those Belgian labels that did not survive although it was highly respected by both, 1st & 2nd generation, Detroit techno pioneers. It's rather striking to notice how sought after some of their releases (mostly compilations) have become by now and how expensive they got sold on sub-markets as ebay. However, let's be honest... Many stuff released by Buzz was below average. Have a look at their catalogue on discogs and imagine there is a lot still missing. Quality not quantity sadly enough.

This label is responsible for bringing some of the best Detroit Techno compilations around, some of which seem to be getting illegally repressed recently. I doubt the label is repressing thbem as they went bust a long time ago.

Some of the represses have been recorded from old vinyl and are really poor quality. Also the covers are always a little different. Nevertheless, if you didnt get the releases the first time round then grab them when you can.