- Ostgut Ton sublabel Unterton started last year as a home for oddities and one-offs that don't fall in line with the stern aesthetic of its parent label. After the industrial-strength house music of Gerd Janson and Philip Lauer's Tuff City Kids collaboration, the label strays even further from familiar territory with the Wheels in Motion EP.
Manhooker are the producer-singer duo of Guiddo and Mavin, and this is their debut release: two starry-eyed modern disco tracks with something of the budget soul feel of early Chicago house. Of course, there's plenty of precedent for appeal with this formula, but Manhooker don't quite pull it off. A cluttered arrangement and some distracting stadium-sized reverb put paid to "Wheels in Motion," while the lascivious tale of dance floor seduction on "Club Anonymous" suffers from clumsy second-language lyrics ("Let us hook up / my cuckoo").
Remixes of both tracks are supplied by Rotciv, founder of Brazilian disco house netlabel Mister Mistery. He manages to scrub up both sides reasonably well, in just the manner you'd expect: by toughening the percussion, removing extraneous details and lengthening them to tantric proportions. "Club Anonymous" in particular is given a new lease of life by foregrounding Mavin's wispy melisma and tightening up the bassline. Still, there's a fundamental shakiness of execution overall that makes these tracks largely beyond salvation.
Tracklist A1 Wheels In Motion
A2 Wheels In Motion (Rotciv Remix)
B1 Club Anonymous
B2 Club Anonymous (Rotciv Extended Mix)