Clubland
It used to be that there was always a bit of a lull in the release of decent club fodder. Usually it was likely to happen around Christmas when producers would hang up their sustain pedals and induce forced hibernation upon their trusty mice. But often things would go through a bit of a flat patch for no apparent reason, the tide out in the ideas pool at indiscriminate times of the year. Though to be honest it’s been a fair while since I’ve been haunted by a lack of stimulating releases, lately the problem has been managing to keep up with the quantity of quality rather than finding it at all.
Over the past six months to a year there has been a slew of new labels and artists emerging that are raising the bar in techno realm. Connaisseur is definitely one of those labels, started by friends Alex Flitsch and Martin Henkel in Germany towards the end of 2005. From the outset they established an ethos of uncompromising finesse, illustrated perfectly by their first three releases, ‘Eve by Eve’ courtesy of Poker Flat hero Patrick Chardronnet, the Pin & FKO EP by Afrilounge and ‘Chateaubriand’ by Markus Müller. ‘Eve by Eve’ has been their biggest seller as has seemingly influenced other artists, Oxia’s subsequent release ‘Domino’ on Kompakt Extra was arguably a bigger track due to its exposure on the more established label but it is undeniable that it borrowed heavily from Chardronnet’s ‘Eve by Eve’. Kompakt boss Wolfgang Voigt even apologized to Flitsch and Henkel for the release, having not been aware at the time of ‘Eve by Eve’. Even so the Connaisseur original has now sold in excess of 10,000 copies, no mean feat for a small independent techno label.
In the words of label founder Alex Flitsch “…we would like to sound more like a leather shoe than a sneaker, more shirt than t-shirt.” More recent releases have seen artists like Daso, Plasmik and Ripperton all add to the commanding Connaisseur catalogue and perhaps their finest release to date is the just-out compilation Grand Cru 2007. Available either on double 12” vinyl or double CD pack (which contains two extra tracks and a mix CD by Patrick Chardronnet featuring unreleased tracks) it highlights the best of the techno/minimal/tech house scene right now.
The focus – and indeed the difference about this label is that they make sure that the tracks they release are not just floor friendly, but carry about them a warmth that invites the listener, not shutting them out with purely mechanical semantics like many labels of the moment can be accused of. Even the most robotic of the ten tracks on the CD (‘Monte’ by Jochen Trappe) has an inherent sense of feeling in itself, probably the human element of organic sounding congas riding alongside the short circuiting bass line. Elsewhere though the feeling is enveloping, a toasty stay under the covers with Kollektiv Turmstrasse’s ‘Tristesse’, which is anything but the translated sadness that this word implies. Girrèsse & Erb deliver a similarly gorgeous track of snug ardor, fractured vocals and deep tolling bells frame a bass melody of profound depth on ‘How’.
Estroe and ZoëXenia proffer a more proper vocal track that lilts and sways the heart into complicity, the title like the song, one you ‘Can’t Forget’.
Not all of the tracks tug at the heart strings of course. Bavarian newcomer Pele’s ‘Mars Marijh’ is an uncomplicated, playful groove, calling from the dance floor with a friendly bass line and heedless disposition. Daso & Pawas take this vocation one step further, adding to the compilation a straight up techno cut via a simple three fingered bass line and equally simple melodies that belie their effectiveness. ‘Crawl Around’ is in fact quite a devastating track that personifies the brilliance of the less is more vibe and already is burning up the chat rooms and bandwidth around the globe. Plasmik, whose ‘Eight to Nine’ EP stands out as one of the other highly successful releases for the label give a nod to Detroit with ‘Sanatorium’, a growling one track minded exercise and basic chord progression that adds another bulls-eye for the Fritz brothers.
It’s hard to find fault with this compilation at all or indeed the Connaisseur label. Together with sister imprint Connaisseur Supèrieur, which is dedicated to one sided one track releases, Flitsch and Henkel are showcasing some of the most well sculpted pieces of techno available at present.
Silverbeat’s Classic
Joy Division – Still
Silverbeat’s Top 5
Connaisseur – Grand Cru 2007 comp
Trentemøller & Buda – Gamma (Minilogue remix)
SLG – Sleepless (Oliver Hacke remix)
Martin Eyerer & Oliver Klein – Tiflis
Pantha du Prince – Saturn Strobe
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