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We like to keep our finger on the pulse with our 'In the groove...' series, we've often featured labels with just a handful of releases that are so en vogue that we just have to talk about them. This week's pick, Electric Deluxe has elements of influence that are both old and new.

Started in 2008 by techno veteran Jochem Paap - known to me and you as Speedy J - Electric Deluxe was the Dutchman's return to label management after a break of over a decade since the short lived, but productive, output of his former imprint Beam Me Up! in the mid 90s.

With almost 10 releases in a under 2 years, the policy here is carte blanche. Artists like Tommy Four Seven and Terence Fixmer, as well as Speedy J himself of course, have "a platform to operate within any conceivable genre in the broad spectrum of techno and to fully explore and embrace ever-expanding technological possibilities". Moreover, there is that maturity and wisdom here, the antithesis of Beatport top 10s and the like, to allow producers complete creative expression without compromise; an opportunity to do the things they perhaps always wanted, but never got the chance, to do.

In pratice, one of the best examples of what this means is Speedy's Open Collabs project, an idea that requests parts, loops and samples from producers around the globe, so that they can be rebuilt into a dedicated album just from this source material. There is also a refreshing declaration from all involved with regard to the issue of digital music and the impact of this with respect to technology, creation, distribution, intellectual property rights and how people consume and experience music. It's not that any sentimentality towards vinyl is lost, just that the reality of how things are right now is fully embraced.

Electric Deluxe has also began a series of showcases 'Electric Deluxe Presents' where, at their residency at Melkweg in Amsterdam, label artists and friends such as Chris Liebing, Edit Select, Adam Beyer and Paul Ritch have been amongst the guests. David Lynch famously described negative energy and depression and anger as the "the suffocating rubber clown suit". Electric Deluxe, quoting the flimmaker, have their core goal and agenda as enabling this 'suit' to dissolve and thus, free the artists and their potential.