Tiefschwarz / Schneider & Galluzzi - Cocoon Morphs Tokyo

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  • Fun. It's an essential component of all dance music, from the sleaziest disco to the deepest house to the toughest techno. You can have serious brooding tracks, sure, but every set needs a splash of silly genius to brighten things up, a track to turn to your mates, wag your finger round like a goon and pull a grimace like a yawning sea lion while screaming your lungs silly. Schneider, Galluzzi and the Brothers Schwarz are renowned purveyors of such joyous delirium, go-to-guys for trusty disco weapons. When they've focused their production craft away from the serious side of techno and house, they've spawned absolute classics. With that in mind, this all-star release from the Cocoon Morphs Tokyo album should be a belter. Right? Sadly, no. And it certainly isn't fun. Production-wise, it sounds more like leftovers from a techno banquet devoured and left long ago. Schneider's slew of Poker Flat releases and dry-as-dust style made him techno's pin-up boy for a stretch and Galluzzi's contrast between his campy, prancing pony DJ sets and pumping, linear techno cuts has proven a winning formula. Together, they're an unpredictable duo, with tracks ranging from plodding drivel to sweaty masterpieces. But compared to the brilliant "Albertino," "Too Late to Land" sounds as stale and thin as it does dry and hollow. Schneider's trademark percussion dominates from the outset and with no real shift in mood or tempo, bar vocalist Florian Schirmacher's Villalobosian vocal posturing, you begin to glaze over by the latter third. Usually merchants of outrageous twists and turns, cavernous breakdowns and slippery funk, Galluzzi and Schneider just seem content to get this one off their chest. Tiefschwarz have turned their deft touch to just about every kind of house music this decade has thrown about, from deep to electro to tech to minimal, which makes it all the more curious that "Liquid Cherries" sounds so formulaic. With reverb-ridden bell chimes and a horrible Yamaha sounding synth riff riding awkwardly over crisp drums and random hand claps, it sounds lazy and devoid of warmth and invention. It's not that "Liquid Cherries" is bad, it's just that like the Schneider and Galuzzi track, it breezes past like techno tumbleweed.
  • Tracklist
      A Tiefschwarz - Liquid Cherries B Schneider & Galluzzi - Too Late to Land
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