Ruff, rugged and raw. Mentioning Marcel Dettmann as well as his feeling for and vision of electronic music, his way of dealing with it, is impossible without these attributes. Whether you take his DJ sets (Marcel has been made a resident DJ at the old Ostgut and also at Berghain from the very start), Dettmann's productions for the self-conducted MDR label, his remixes for the likes of Fever Ray, Junior Boys, Modeselektor as well as Scuba, or if nothing else his debut long player for Ostgut Ton into account, all the various contrasts and distinctions that come with it are manifested in these qualities.
Techno as Marcel Dettmann defines it, is neither a movement without history nor wistful nostalgia. In the hands of the Berliner, the well-known game of hi-hats, bass lines and kick drums draws its tension and momentum from a historically grown tradition and the conscious decision to break the rules. Reformation and solid construction outplays the use of any gimmicks. Dettmann pours Detroit's oil into European engines, puts British bass music under the control of Chicago's very own Jack, cuts classics with abstract nuances and connects yesterday with tomorrow and today. In the unrelenting manner of a great DJ, he generates moods and connections that are age- and classless, but never irrelevant or tasteless. Marcel
Dettmann links up the art of improvisation with careful preparation and finally gives techno some of its often painfully missed serious physical constitution back.
ALEX SMOKE (Soma/Hum+Haw)
Alex Smoke is a Scottish talent making electronic records that blur together European minimalism, pop structures and emotional strings and pads. He has released two full length albums, 'Incommunicado' and 'Paradolia' [Soma Records] and a slew of singles and remixes, many of which have arrived on Soma and German label Vakant.
His debut release 'Random As' came out in January 2002, but Smoke has always been immersed in music. In his youth he sang in a choir for four years (a far cry no doubt from the mournful tones on his 'Don't See the Point' or 'Never Want to See You Again'), his parents are involved in classical music, and he has classical training in cello and piano.
Smoke's own productions are often described as moody, a reputation he doesn't shy away from. His debut on Soma was the euphoric 'Chica Wappa', described by Smoke as 'undoubtedly the most optimistic track I'll ever write. My music will never be this upbeat again. ' His wish might have come true: recently Smoke's remix work on Vakant and especially his reedit of Junior Boys 'In the Morning' have focused heavily on melancholic electronica, although Smoke has a noisy, brash side too, evidenced on big tracks such as 'Meany' and 'Brian's Lung'.
Smoke both performs live and DJs, and his agenda as a spinner is perhaps well represented by 'Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi Vol. 3' from 2006. His debut DJ mix combined a fascination with dub techno, classic Detroit (Smoke is not averse to playing old records at all) and new European minimal techno.