Coming from a contemporary, pop vocalist background, Michaela Dippel’s entry into electronic music was not the easiest. Not only did the artist who would become known as Ada have to drop the support of several band members to collaborate with on music, she needed to push herself beyond the regimented confines of the traditional pop song structure, where ideas wrap themselves up within neat, four minute bundles. Forging a strong friendship with the owners of the Areal label in the early 2000′s, she began to produce for the label in 2002, quickly making her name synonymous with the label’s minimal tech house output. Although her records at times seemed to move at will over a broad spectrum of techno and its affiliate genres, the one thing underpinning Ada’s work has been her keen ear for eking out memorable melodies from unlikely sources. This has seen her forge a strong body of work spanning nearly ten years, two albums and over a dozen single releases. Her latest work is the new full length, Meine Zarten Pfoten, an adorably German to English translation meaning “my tender paws,” which tugs at both the heartstrings and restless, sneaker-clad feet. LWE opened up the lines of communication with Dippel to talk about the differences between creating music for dancing and music for headphones, the lengthy process of creation and keeping your neighbors happy during the recording of an album. She also provided LWE with our 90th exclusive podcast, which she titled “Nightime”; a deliciously cosy mix of melodic techno that will warm even the coldest heart.

LWE Podcast 90: Ada (47:09)

Tracklist:

01. Bibio, “Saint Christopher” [Warp Records]
02. Lawrence, “Just Like Heaven” [Smallville Records]
03. Roman Flügel, Dishes & Wishes” [Live At Robert Johnson]
04. Guti, “Sun” [Desolat]
05. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!” [FXHE Records]
06. Soul Clap, “Lonely C” [Studio !K7]
07. Greg Paulus, “Nightime” (Crazy P Remix) [Wolf + Lamb]
08. Tom Trago, “Being With You” [Rush Hour Recordings]

I understand you first started out as a singer before you became interested in electronic music. Were you in a band?

Michaela Dippel: From the age of 18 I was playing/singing in several bands. The first one was a rock band — I remember our guitarist could play the full solo of Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing.” The second one was a bossa nova/jazz band I started after I got vocal lessons from a jazz singer. Everybody but me was sight-reading mostly songs from The Real Book. The first musical project that involved samplers and sequencers I had in the late 90′s. Me and some friends rented a studio, an old bunker located in Frankfurt. We recorded some sessions there — more just for us than for releasing. As it was a huge space, each one of us could have our own studios to record our ideas and later we would get together to finish the songs.

So what were the things that lead you to become interested in making electronic music?

It was my friends from Areal Records who brought me into electronic music. They started their label in the year 2000 subtitled “Advanced Tech-Electronic Minimalism.” I had no clue of what this might be before I moved to Cologne. They also introduced me to Kompakt’s music. Songs like Jürgen Paape’s “So Weit Wie Noch Nie” or Michael Mayer’s “Hush Hush Baby” remind me of the time when I moved to Cologne in 2001.

What were some of the things you had to consider in going from writing songs with a traditional verse/chorus/verse structure to writing instrumental tracks?

Assuming my musical history it was a new experience for me to write instrumental tracks. My first tracks for Areal Records were about three minutes long and my colleagues asked me to stretch them a bit, because no DJ would play them. The bending and stretching of my tracks seemed very unnatural to me, so unwillingly I extended them towards five minutes but it was a hard-bitten process and it bored me. It took me a while to discover the beauty of building a track up slowly, introduce new sounds in between and give them space to unfold. Now my longest track is about 10:44 — quite something.

Your first release was the Blindhouse/Luckycharm 12″ on Areal. How did you come to know Metope and Basteroid?

We’ve known each other a long time before I started making music on my own. Michael (Metope) and me grew up in the same district nearby Frankfurt. We hung out quite a lot at a studio in Frankfurt with some other friends making music all day and playing computer games at night.

You’ve recently released your second album, Meine Zarten Pfoten. Tell us about the album and how you feel you’ve grown or changed since your first album, Blondie.

By the time I made Blondie I was totally overwhelmed by the new possibilities of using sequencers/samplers and creating music and especially beats on my own. Some songs might sound well structured and harmless but most of them are very playful with lots of uncontrolled noises and bleeps, and the recklessness that comes to light when I hear those sometimes makes me laugh nowadays. I wouldn’t say Meine Zarten Pfoten sounds more grown up. I could have bought dozens more machines and play around with them, but in the end this is just a sport and has nothing to do with creating music. Actually using guitars, flutes and my own voice brought me closer to making music that pleases me than arpeggiating weird noises.

I read an interview with you where you said Blondie was largely made on headphones out of consideration for your neighbors. What can you tell us about the recording of Meine Zarten Pfoten, was the process a bit more free and without constraint?

I remember my neighbors knocking on my door from time to time when I recorded, Blondie but in the end we made our peace. For recording “Meine Meine Zarten Pfoten I mainly used headphones because I wanted to create intimacy. There are some songs on the album I can only listen to with headphones because in my opinion they need to be this close to the ear to unfold completely.

Blondie also included a cover of Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Maps.”

There’s also two cover versions on my new album. I like the idea of putting a song into a new robe without losing its spirit.

And you’ve released the album on Pampa, did you feel it was a better fit with the label than with Areal?

If not Pampa I would have released it on my own label IRR (sub-label of Areal Records). But I also was linked to Pampa since they started the label and had constant interchange about the album with Koze. In the end I found that Pampa is the perfect home for “Meine Zarten Pfoten.” But surely I will go on working with Areal and IRR. We just released my new 12″ called “Me and the Three.”

Do you feel you get to explore different sides of yourself when releasing an album more so than with releasing singles?

I think lots of people who like my first album don’t know about the singles and remixes I have done later on. It’s people who probably don’t go to a record shop every week, they want something they can listen to at home. The same for me — at least once a week I enjoy listening to music on headphones and concentrating just on this.

How do you typically go about writing a track? Do you find you think of vocal melodies a lot whether you use them in a track or not?

It’s usually a longer process. Before I write a single note or work on a sample there’s a lot happening. I take some time for thinking about the idea of the track — it’s shape, mood, instrumentation, color. When these things are clear to me (weeks might pass in between and meanwhile I might start writing another song) I start searching for the beginning of the track. The first tunes, harmonies, timbres. Then I would work on it for weeks sometimes months until one certain moment I think about another song. Back and forth…

You put out the Kompakt Adaptations mix a couple of years ago. Do you DJ much or do you mainly play live sets?

I mainly play live sets. The DJing is more like a gratification for myself.

What does your live set consist of?

My live set consists of stripped down versions of old and new songs as well as unreleased stuff.

What can you tell us about the mix you’ve put together for us?

The mix is entitled “Nightime,” like one of the tracks by Greg Paulus. Opened by Bibio’s wonderful “Saint Christopher.” It’s how I imagine an early night’s set in June.

And what can we expect from you over the next year?

Besides performing myself I’m hoping to have lots of performances with my new band project, Cologne Tape.

LWE Podcast 90: Ada (47:09)

As Cherry, Teruyuki Kurihara’s debut EP for the Four:Twenty imprint may not have scored much of a blip on the techno radar when it was released mid-way through last year, but his follow up effort, the World Waits EP, should register some more deserving attention for the Tokyo producer. Keenly focussed on the emotive layering of melody, Cherry nevertheless fuels his tracks with plenty of kinetic groove. “When the Truth Is” tracks chiming, Detroit infused techno through wandering pathways of euphony, passed through bursts of steamy noise and rough shod wooden percussion. The relentless high notes figure in to the track like Robert Hood style minimalism played out in long form, though each element is scuffed up around the edges, taking the shine off that distinctive Hood chrome plated feel. Kurihara’s hard whiplash claps slam the opening track into overdrive and bounce off the wistful melodies, giving them more onus, not allowing them to succumb to their own precious beauty.

Restless organs sweep back and forth through the sci-fi infused echo box of the title track as if they are searching for something, while space critters cry in the night, howling at a dozen orbiting moons. The bass line is rooted in classic deep house, providing a moment of simplicity in contrast to the drawn out release of never ending chord sequences. Built lovingly over twelve and a half minutes, “World Waits” is a gradual, gentle track that nonetheless hits with a surprising force via its tightly compressed kicks and rounded bass.
Ada takes “World Waits” and applies a dry, reductive hypnosis to the track, reversing some of the sounds and purging extraneous parts of the melody to present a dry ice dance floor killer that burrows into elements of Detroit funk. All told a highly impressive release from Cherry with Ada’s remix providing the extra namesake on top.

[Kompakt]

Back in 2004, Ada’s Blondie was the go-to album to persuade your girlfriend or boyfriend that techno really was “okay.” Borrowing from pop-house veterans Everything But The Girl (via a cover of “Each and Everyone”) and indie-rockers Yeah Yeah Yeahs (“Maps”), Michaela Dippel broke out of the Cologne techno ghetto to achieve crossover critical, if not commercial, success. That’s not to say that she left behind her Rhineland roots — every one of Ada’s solo releases has been on a hometown label; and with frequent remixes from the cream of the Kompakt label, it was inevitable that one day she would release on the venerable imprint. Her music is a perfect fit for Kompakt with it’s emphasis on somehow euphoric and melancholic melodies, pastel-coloured but chunky bass-lines and cute pop-culture references. It’s a move that should ensure her the wider audience she deserves, and, as the title intimates, Adaptations Mixtape #1 is intended as an introduction from a trusted friend, but it’s a shame it’s such a collection of warmed-over odds and ends.

That’s not to say this is by any means a bad release, and certainly has a number of excellent songs, but it is perhaps an indication of the increasing conservatism of Kompakt’s output. In particular, DJ Koze’s Jay-Z baiting remix of “Eve” was conspicuous by it’s absence on his remix collection Reincarnations, so it’s a pleasure to have that here. Similarly, “Living It Up” from 2006 is a fantastically lithesome floor-filler, and the Cologne old guard of Michael Mayer and Tobias Thomas turn “Maps” into the end-of-night singalong it should always have been. It’s difficult to talk about Ada’s music without mentioning the f-word, but her music really does have an inviting, feminine touch to it, a more than welcome quality in the dick-swinging contest that the current vogue for colder and harder techno can occasionally turn into. Her remix of Tracey Thorn’s “Grand Canyon” is a case in point, as affectionate and comforting as a cuddle and a cup of tea after a long night’s raving. “Forty Winks”, from last year, ranks amongst the best things Ada has ever done, and illustrates her considerable compositional talents perfectly, outdoing pretty much anything on the last couple of Pop Ambient compilations.

However, Ada’s sentimental sensibilities are occasionally cloying, as on the closing “Our Blindhouse (Each and Everyone)”. While neatly bookending the record with a further EBTG reference to match the opening Tracey Thorn remix, the re-version of the Cologne classic that made her name may prove too syrupy for many ears. Likewise, her retouching of Alex Smoke’s self-pitying “Never Want To See You Again”, whilst a valiant effort at polishing a turd, cannot save the execrable source material. Ultimately, Adaptations is as lop-sided and wildly variable in quality as all your favourite mixtapes, but let’s hope there’s not another volume in this series — fingers crossed for an album proper instead.

[International Records Recordings]

Michaela Dippel (aka Ada) likes to say she was raised by pink ponies, fashioned herself as pseudo-vampire, and had a blond pup named Fizzmann. If you pay close attention, these are all selling points for her music. Ada is part of Areal, a label which dabbles in large amounts of distorted fuzz, songs that double as dance tracks and a surreal PR department. From her first single “Blindhouse,” Ada has stood out as the label’s devout populist. Her tracks are hyper-saturated with melodies, full of synths that alternate as down-pillows or stun-guns. Paired with her singing voice, it’s easy to interpret Ada as Areal’s softer, warmer (and *ahem* feminine) side. But Ada’s disinterest in hiding her music in Areal’s characteristic faux-grit makes her records age better than most of her label peers’.

Ada’s latest single arrives on Areal’s new sub-label International Records Recordings. IRR might be the most banal name in techno, but the label’s output from John Daly and DJ Koze has been anything but ordinary. Ada’s contribution is just as bizarre, despite a B-side, “Kink-a-Jou,” which is just pleasant enough — the track’s drums shimmy as the melody dissipates into the mist. The standout, though is “Forty Winks.” The A-side is broken into three parts, each less dance-worthy than the last. Pared down to a muffled breakbeat, organ drone and a plaintive guitar, “Forty Winks” is decidedly quiet. It stumbles completely away from Ada’s melody-drenched sweet-spot and in the process becomes more sensitive and affecting. Stretched around a confetti of guitar strums, “Forty Winks”‘ tone is a sleepwalk’s mixture of tugged heart-strings and placidity. The hackneyed phrase “Forty Winks” might suggest a track to nap to, but “Forty Winks” is the first worthy soundtrack to Ada’s pink ponies and vampire daydreams.