Eltron: Wirefall
Festplatten
Andi Teichmann: Refaded
Festplatten
Refaded, a four-track remix of Andi Teichmann's Fades album, is one of the best EPs I've heard this year. After a 20-second overture (“Fades in Loops” whose ten loops spotlight a loop from each track of the album), the EP's purest stroke of genius arrives: Hannes Teichmanns' ‘Romantica Mix' of “They Don't Care,” a glorious fusion of winsome pop melodies, entrancing vocalizing (by Hans Forster), and inspired dance pulses and funky edits. Teichmann rhythmically chops Forster's voice into hiccupping fragments that elevate the tune's already infectious burbling groove. His feathery singing also grace Ada's (Michaela Dippel) dreamy makeover of “Tape” with the Areal star bringing sparkle and soul to the downtempo original. Wholly different in character, Dubmasta (Serge Dubrovsky from Kiev ) gives “Endscapes” an ambient ‘Redub' overhaul that closes the disc in stately manner.
Though issued on Festplatten too, Eltron's Wirefall inhabits an entirely separate stylistic universe. The three techno cuts on the Berlin DJ's vinyl debut groove forcefully despite being minimal—melodically at least—in the extreme. In the title cut, the two lead instruments, a low-slung bass and a convulsive percussive hammer, worry their respective single-note ‘melodies' into the ground while the beats hold the listener's attention by incessantly twisting inside and out. One hears not only early Chicago house in Jan Haufe's tracks but—on the B-side's “Loadbalancer” in particular—strong echoes of Minus-styled minimalism too. Keep your eyes peeled too as the grimier closer “Patcheraser” chops heads with its guillotine snares and blistering bass sputter.December 2006