Kaiserdisco, please be minimal

Kaiserdisco, please be minimal

25 March, 2010 | 10.09AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: kaiserdisco, mbf, terminal m

What is the quickest way to lose the respect of an artist? Ask them to describe the music they make.

The last thing dance music producers think about when making beats is what genre category they’ll be on Beatport. At least, that is, any serious artist.

Of course, where there is the genuine, there is the pastiche. And dance music is crippled by a culture of imitation that, too often than not, is driven by a desire to fit into the sound du jour. It’s all about sales. And in this globally connected world, a passing bandwagon resembles a phone booth crammed with a philharmonic orchestra.

How many sub genres and micro movements have been drowned out by the thunderous echo of the sheep horde?

Minimal techno might be the greatest victim - the once great machine-driven sound that enjoyed a wonderful period of creativity in the mid noughties seemingly disappeared overnight as its greatest purveyors jumped ship, disgusted at the flood of substandard productions that had reduced the reductionist intelligence of the music to a few simple presets.

Progressive house too, has a shot at being the greatest martyr of the parrot producers (although its decline was more graceful as digital copying mechanisms were not yet prevalent circa 2001/2002).

Dubstep’s boldest producers are already moaning that their scene is dead, despite the fact it has hardly stepped out of the shadow of London’s grime and garage scenes. ‘It’s the bloody blogs than done it guv, hypin’ it before its roots were strong enough to handle the global spotlight’, they might have groaned.

So why not do away with genre categorization all together - it’s all just dance music after all?

Because in the age of exponentially increasing music archives and digital content, classification is more important than ever. Without genre tags, a DJ would be lost, like a lonely vessel in a vast ocean that grows faster than the speed of light.

Genre pages on sites like Beatport, at least point us in the right direction.

But where there is progress, there are sharks that scupper the hunt. For every accurate track genre classification online, there is another that does not quite fit. All fingers point to the curators - it’s Beatport’s fault that so many tracks appear where they should not isn’t it? - but what many do not realise is that behind much of the wrongful classification is a label or a producer who insists their music is that which it is not.

Take Hamburg duo Kaiserdisco. Formerly known for their solo careers as Kaiser Souzei and Nudisco, Kaiserdisco might just be the most exciting thing to happen to minimal techno in years. Except that most of their releases are tagged as ‘techno’.

A mute point? To outsiders perhaps, but to diehard techno fans the difference between techno and minimal techno is like the difference between a Ferrari and a MINI. One offers a fuel-injected white knuckle ride. The other is deceptively sexy and surprisingly fun despite its rather plain cover.

Kaiserdisco’s life began in June 2008, when Frederic Berger and Patrick Buck joined forces for a stupendous remix of a Phunklarique and Pierce track, and following its success (it remained in the minimal Top 10 for over a month), they remixed Koen Groeneveld before dropping their first solo material on Micro.fon.

A number of standout minimal workouts ensued, including a remix of Extrawelt and Access Denied (see below).

The duo have since broadened their horizons into tech house and even techno, which of course, ruins the ramblings of this writer somewhat.

But the fact remains that Kaiserdisco should be considered minimal techno producers, because the beleaguered genre needs inventive minds such as theirs to be tied to the sound, even if their releases are increasingly offered up as techno because it currently sells more.

I’m hoping the Hamburg duo won’t mind me tarnishing them with the dirtiest word in electronic music. What’s that you say? The quickest way to lose the respect of an artist is to...oh poo.

Kaiserdisco Essentials

Phunklarique, Pierce ‘Swoosh’ (Kaiserdisco Remix) [Yellow Tail]

Kaiser Souzei and Nudisco’s first remix together is a bopping minimal cut, and was one of 2008’s best stripped back techno releases.

A jaunty bleep line skips frequencies, whilst the boys shift rhythmic patterns of bass and drums to inspire a perfect heads down minimal trip.

Extrawelt ‘Im Garten Von Eben’ (Kaiserdisco Kesse Rippe Mix) [Traum]

Another fine slice of minimal madness, Kaiserdisco’s pertinent funk punctuates Extrawelt’s elegant original whilst retaining some its hidden melody. Superb late night techno fun with a memorable drop.

Access Denied ‘Animals In Space’ (Kaiserdisco Remix) [BYT]

Rather silly high octane minimal, with just the right amount of swing to cause a beautiful dancefloor cataclysm. Blame it on the weird animal noises and circus sounds in the background. Surely enough to drive any sober person quite mad?

Daniele Kama ‘Smashing Dust’ [Sphera Records]

Fist pumping techno that wouldn’t seem out of place in an Adam Beyer set circa 2am. The glittering high frequency squeaks and precise minimal bleeps are pitch perfect, and when combined with the low-slung druggy vocals, create something of a mild dystopia.

Kaiserdisco ‘Trombone’ [MBF]

Kaiserdisco’s approach to techno borders on simplicity, and whilst the majority of their cuts are concrete DJ tools, the pair do occasionally veer into more musical territory. The digital only ‘Trombone’ is a horn-driven tech house number that reminds of the Wighnomy Brothers jazzy trumpet classic ‘Guppipeitshce’.

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• Check out Kaiserdisco on Beatport