One-man band Dirk Dresselhaus has been creating quite
a stir in the last six years with his blend of electro,
funk and pop. With just two albums and a handful of
singles under his belt, Dresselhaus confidently established
his musical character across Europe, and the extensive
tour that followed the released of his second album,
Zoomer
(City Slang), saw his unconventional act, augmented
of friends Kpt Michigan and Christian Obermaier, take
over stages all over the world, including the UK, US,
Japan and a string of high profile festivals including
performances at Sonar 2003 and, more recently, at Berlin’s
Transmediale. Despite this busy schedule, Dresselhaus
still managed to record with Ilpo Väisänen
of Pan Sonic fame, as Angel.
The album evolving in territories more familiar to Väisänen,
showed that Schneider TM was as much at ease with abstract
abrasive landscapes as he is with his usual sound. He
now returns with a collection of remixes produced over
the last couple of years for artists as diverse as Pulseprogramming,
Margo, Lamb, Phillip
Boa & Voodooclub, Ruby or Lambchop.
Hailing from Berlin, Dresselhaus’s influences
range from the Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth to
Aphex Twin or Autechre
to Sun Ra, yet, he confesses that the essence of Schneider
TM is to be found with the vocoded vocals of Neil Young’s
1983’s Trans. Despite having played music
for years, Dresselhause’s quirky mix of electro,
funk and pop first appeared in 1997 with his first self-titled
EP, released on German label Payola, and a few months
later, with its follow up, Up-Tight, and his
first album, Moist, both published on City
Slang, It is not until he returned, four years later
with Zoomer, that
the Schneider TM imprint became almost unavoidable.
Schneider TM Reconfigures is an interesting testament
to how his work has become so highly regarded across
the board. Dresselhaus’s approach to remixes doesn’t
appear dissimilar to his own work. He actually admits
in the press release that he treats each song as if
it was his own, vowing to ‘give them a Schneider
TM dress’. Despite the variety of artists featured
here, from multi-media experimentalist Pulseprogramming
to alt country Lambchop and from electronic popsters
Lamb to reggae/hip-hop flavoured Turtle Bay Country
Club, the Schneider TM touch is palpable all the way
through. Across a wide range of atmospheres, Dresselhaus
works his magic by fucking up beats and grooves and
putting vocals through filters and vocoders. If some
versions tend to remain close to the originals (the
superb Lanzarote remix of Lambchop’s New Cobweb
Summer), others take a whole new dimension once
pulverised. It has to be said that not every remix entirely
works here (Turtle Bay Country Club’s R&B
mood appears a tad tedious at times), yet, this album
remains extremely fun and entertaining as Dresselhaus
appears to easily retain the original mood of a song
while applying his own touch. His version of Margo’s
Take Me or the previously unreleased reworked
version of Lamb’s Wonder are extremely
touching, while the Tractor Mix of the Faint’s
The Conductor or Schneider TM’s collaboration
with Rechenzentrum on Ephe Kicks In, Feel
Like Kevin injects some punk attitude and elements
of psychedelic funk.
Often leaving his natural soundcapes flirt with that
of his guests, Dresselhaus enriches his usual environment
and lifts up that of other equally. In the absence of
any new Schneider TM material, this collection offers
the perfect opportunity to investigate once again the
work of this quirky genius.
4.2/5 |
