LABELS I LIKE: Business Casual

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Started by graphic designer and music producer John Zobele in May 2013, Business Casual (known as Business Casual 87' until 2014) has become one of the most well known and praised labels to come out of the internet music scene as a whole since the label's founding a proud eleven years ago.

For those that don't know - Business Casual specializes in "internet music" - this can range from vaporwave to future funk to sweet nostalgic pop to underground late night jams (and the odd bit of electronica in some weird cases - even jungle!) so there's something for everyone in the label's extensive catalogue of over four hundred releases, making it a goldmine to explore, listen and discover new and awesome things.

To provide examples, BC initially started out as a small vaporwave label, with contributions from artists such as architecture in tokyo, REVERB LITE and even John Zobele himself under the name christtt. Over time, the label developed and some interesting things soon popped out - examples include Veno's series of house inspired albums which graced the label in 2015 and 2016, Desired's Lovestory - a future funk classic which proved to be a giant hit on the internet and also the introduction of the Digital Office compilations - showcasing the label's talent in a rather formal style.

Personal favorites on the label for me include:


 VENO - 6000

Released on Business Casual in September 2015, this body of work successfully merges jackin' house beats, breaks and that warm vaporwave feel neatly into an eight track album. Highlights for me include Monsoon, Wanna C U and All Night.


Color Television - Tonight

This simple four track EP is one of my personal favourites from the future funk scene - with an irresistible funky vibe coming from every track, this EP is one not to be missed, and it has been bought over fourteen thousand times since its release in January 2016.

Various Artists - Digital Office One

This twelve track album is the first ever release on Business Casual and features several contributions from a variety of producers such as Blue Limits, christtt. architecture in toyko, ezbaked and DeLorean 88. With a great lineup of producers and a selection of lovely songs that demonstrate vaporwave brilliantly, this has become a deep favorite of mine, even if it isn't the most polished release to come out of the scene in particular.

 Overall, Business Casual is an awesome label, and to this day the label's output is as fresh as ever - with new releases dropping every Friday on the label's Bandcamp page and tapes and CDs being sold daily, there's always something new and exciting waiting every week. (The most recent release at the time of this blog post being written is Jingoro's ExoTik, which is a sweet future funk album!)

Find the label right here:



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