Tracks like 'Rej' don’t just spring out of nowhere. RA backgrounds the mysterious duo Âme, the force behind the biggest club hit of the last twelve months.
If you've been anywhere near a club in 2006, chances are you've raised your hands in the air to the synth stabs and unforgettable melody of 'Rej', the track that has ruled dancefloors from Miami to Ibiza to Tokyo and beyond since it was released. Yes, hype merchants will tell you a lot of tracks ruled clubland, but this one truly did. Created by the German duo Âme, 'Rej' introduced the sound of two relative unknowns to the world at all sorts of parties: it was caned at house, techno, minimal, electrohouse parties – heck, even the neighbours downstairs from us play it (and they don't get much clubbier than 'Blue Monday' usually). Recently 'Rej' has been picked up by major UK house label Defected and rereleased with new remixes, so expect to keep hearing it for a good while yet.
But tracks like 'Rej' don't just spring out of nowhere. Behind the big single is a pair of producers who have been quietly, carefully putting out records since 2003. Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann have a string of releases on Jazzanova's Sonar Kollektiv imprint, and they already have one full-length album in the bag. This summer they also followed up 'Rej' with big rerubs of Akabu's 'Phuturebound' and 'Where We At' (together with Henrik Schwarz and Dixon), the latter of which came out on Innervisions, a new label run by Âme and Dixon which breaks with Sonar Kollektiv's deep house past and looks toward a more electronic, yet still soulful, future.
After the meteoric success of 'Rej', you could be forgiven for thinking that Âme rode in on the wave of love for all things Berlin that's been sweeping through clubland, but you'd be dead wrong. In fact Âme are not even from the German capital; they mostly live in the quiet city of Karlsruhe on the French Border, and they're quick to disassociate themselves from the minimal scene, the capital's twenty-four hour party culture and the trends and hype surrounding the genre.
RA's snoops were keen to know: So what's the real story behind the mysterious duo Âme? RA talked to Kristian Beyer and found out.
Progressive house kingpin John Digweed drops the second volume in his 'Transitions' comp series next month. 'Transitions 2' includes cuts by Robert Babicz, Guy Gerber and Tobi Neumann.
Groove magazine's birthday bashes in Germany, Desyn Masiello in Bulgaria and Mylo in Aix-en-Provence warm up dancefloors on the continent this weekend.
What are you doing for the biggest night of the year? There are hot line-ups in the UK, beach parties in Mexico and stadium raves in America in our NYE party picks.
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