It’s no surprise that Dettmann, Fl?gel and Mayer picked these two tracks off the latest Tocotronic album – “Die Unendlichkeit” (“The Infinity”) and “Bis uns das Licht vertreibt” (“Till the Light Disperse Us”). “Die Unendlichkeit” is probably the first Tocotronic song with dub effects. Funny and “full of devotion and tenderness”, as Dirk von Lowtzow sings it in “Die Unendlichkeit”, are the three DJs and producers’ take on the material. A jolly historicism takes its course when each track triggers a specific time and place of dance music’s history. In his “Die Unendlichkeit” clubmix Roman Fl?gel invokes that kind of New York sound of the 80s, which once New Order get it’s inspiration from. The snare is bone dry, the synths sounds melancholic; thanks to Fl?gel Tocotronic came to an terrifically retroactive appearance at the Danceteria. Rather uncanny and latently dangerous sounds Marcel Dettmann’s remix of “Bis uns das Licht vertreibt”, which matches perfectly with late-morning out-of-body experiences that one experiences at a club such as Berghain. Michael Mayer delivers his remixes in a colourful and humorous manner. For his “Nikotin Dub” he took vocal samples on smoking cigarettes. A repetitive Cough! Cough! sample accompanies the track which reminds of Soul II Soul, Dee-Lite – the forgotten genre of hip-house is reawakened. Last but not least: “Dirk’s Diner Remix” resuscitate the lethargic groove out of Suzanne Vegas “Tom’s Diner”. Decades-long having none of it, Mayer shows us, as well as Fl?gel and Dettmann, that the archives are full of surprises and hidden treasures. It could goes on infinitely, however, the 12” format is not unlimited. - Aram Linzel
