[Raum...Musik]

As a relatively fresh face in the German house and techno scene, Christian Burkhardt’s specialty seems to be the quirky, bad-ass strut. His tracks combine funky beats with misshapen vocals and trippy aural flourishes to create something as sinister as it is playful. And while “Doubledub EP” boasts pretty much the exact same style as “The Yard EP” from last fall (which, by the way, sounds notably fresh today), it’s hard to criticize such a colorful artistic persona. Furthermore, the title track on this EP hits on another fetish of mine: incredibly catchy gibberish.

On “Doubledub,” Burkhardt makes an unusually infectious track by taking elements of pop music and cloaking them in dark humored tech-house motifs. The rolling bass line and tight beat ensure this track’s clubbability, but the gleefully incoherent vocal line makes it a hit — much like Cassy’s “April,” this one will have you singing total nonsense to yourself in the shower. “Sweater” is a bit more by the book, but still delightfully quirky. It has the same arrogant strut as “Doubledub,” but a slightly more traditional house vibe, with organ stabs and deep voiced “yeah”s thrown in the mix. The EP slumps a bit with “Peau a Peau,” which is funky enough, but less embellished and generally less compelling than the earlier tracks. The digital-only track, “Ovaco,” is equally bare, but gradually transforms, slipping loops in and out of the foreground to hypnotic effect. While the EP might sound a little redundant if heard from start to finish (or, notably, in conjunction with his earlier releases), it’s a must have for fans of warped and vaguely nefarious tech-house.