The deeply influential compilation sequence from deadmau5’s storied file label is primed for its thirteenth installment.
Earlier than streaming platforms dug their algorithmic claws into the a part of our brains that dictates our music style, discovery was human. For Gen Z, the phrase “burn” is usually used earlier than the phrase “out,” however again then it was used for the act of printing your favourite tracks on CDs and naming them in Sharpie. There was no present extra private, and mau5trap remembers.
That intuition is embedded in We Are Buddies, the long-running compilation sequence from deadmau5’s file label. Since its inception in 2012, every launch has behaved like a dusty mixtape handed between mates lengthy after the remainder of the business outsourced that job to an algorithm.
Every WAF quantity features as a curated time capsule of mau5trap’s affect, capturing the exact second an unknown artist catches lightning in a bottle. The collections present an interesting blueprint of how dancefloors shift over time, regardless of how unrecognizable, providing loyal listeners a front-row seat to the genesis of generational expertise.
The outcomes converse for themselves. REZZ confirmed up on Quantity 4, again when “brain-melting” was nonetheless a praise reserved for horror motion pictures. Quantity 7 launched the late visionary i_o earlier than earlier editions surfaced simple virtuosos like ATTLAS in Quantity 3, BlackGummy in Quantity 4 and No Mana in Quantity 5. The sixth quantity spotlighted Rinzen, who’s now having his lap across the solar after releasing an official remix of deadmau5’s ‘Not Precisely’ and garnering help from digital music legends like Tiësto, Armin van Buuren and Above & Past.
What makes WAF really feel so out of step with 2026, in the easiest way, is its refusal to get swallowed up by the advice engines which have insidiously turn out to be customary observe in digital music. Whereas there’s no denying the utility of algorithmic information for the sake of staying aggressive, it’s just one brushstroke in a a lot bigger mosaic for mau5trap.
“At mau5trap, music is style, intuition, timing, tradition and soul,” says Jimi Frew, who operates in a twin position offering A&R and inventive technique. “WAF has all the time been about that form of listening. We ask, ‘Does this observe one thing distinctive, and does it belong within the mau5trap catalog?’”
The imprint is holding that spirit alive with an open name for Quantity 13. True to type for its unabashed founder deadmau5, the pitch to artists is refreshingly direct and devoid of cringey company platitudes, acknowledging upfront that file labels have earned a popularity for demo submissions vanishing into silence.
“mau5trap is a small, passionate staff,” reads the Quantity 13 demo submission web page. “we’re human. and we take this significantly. we obtain an enormous variety of submissions, and we hear to each single one. that takes time, care, and actual effort, so we method it with respect. with that in thoughts: please solely submit music you’re actually happy with. no works-in-progress. no half-finished concepts. simply your BEST & FINAL model… prepared for launch.”
The label is eagerly ready to find the subsequent members of its horde. For everybody else, it stays the right excuse to revisit the archives and keep in mind precisely why we turned mates within the first place.
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