While last year’s middling full-length Care didn’t quite have the man once dubbed “the coolest m.f. in minimal house” showing up Oslo, Eklo and all those other minimal house m.f.s biting his style, another LoSoul release in 2009 was definitely better than a Bitshit. Pardon my potty mouth, but Peter Kremeier’s For Disco Only edit of the B-52s “Love Shack” was neat work with the scalpel, doing everything a good nip’n’tuck should and definitely embarrassing all those other re-edit m.f.ers hiding behind pressings of dubious origin (you know who you are). Kremeier’s remix of the Neue Deutsche Welle band Ideal is similarly steady work from a skilled plastic surgeon who has moonlighted more often than you might think from his day-job as purveyor of the finest percussive tracky mixing fodder. Think of his “Say Goodbye” or “International Snootleg” rather than “Open Door.” It seems that Kreimeir has a natural affinity for Teutonic post-punk, finding the funk in otherwise decidely unfunky places — check his thrilling remix of UnknownmiX a couple of summers back for reference. A natural fit, too, for Playhouse sub-label Robert Johnson. The back sleeve of Christiane F’s seriously whacked-out NDW anthem “Wunderbar” declared it to be a hit at the Frankfurt-am-Main club, something that will come as a surprise to any overly-adventurous DJ who has successfully cleared a conservative dance floor with it.
“Schöne Frau Mit Geld” carries no risk of that. Weird, but not that weird, it again demonstrates LoSoul’s way with a groove, be it reduced house or full-fat disco. Ideal’s 1982 original (not included) was something of an ugly duckling, and while LoSoul’s judicious editing hardly turns it into a swan, it’s certainly a more graceful beast. Opening with a steady bongo-led bass-drum that you’ve heard on a thousand sub-Cadenza records, your jaded sense of deja vu is rudely and delightfully interrupted by a constantly EQ-ed highlife guitar line, a whole conga line of marimbas, and a giggling, echt Deutsch sing-song voice informing you that the protagonist wants nothing more in this world than a beautiful, rich woman. A laudable desire, but if fruity German vocals aren’t your thing, or your copy is so warped that the vocal side is unplayable (thanks Phonica!) then you can enjoy the slightly dubbier, slightly extended version on the flip. Something for everyone, and a veritable hit that only begs the question of why this wasn’t released earlier in the year so that it could become a summer anthem for poverty-stricken bachelors everywhere.
“The back sleeve of Christiane F’s seriously whacked-out NDW anthem “Wunderbar†declared it to be a hit at the Frankfurt-am-Main club, something that will come as a surprise to any overly-adventurous DJ who has successfully cleared a conservative dance floor with it.”
Hahaha, yep!