- 20-year-old Berliner Max Graef seems blessed with a prodigious talent. His house music is so organic, you can almost hear it breathe and exhale. Informed by a love of jazz, hip-hop and the fine art of sampling—Graef is also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist—his music glistens with sweaty, raw funk. His Box Aus Holz label has been home to his early productions, and an album of wonderfully rich house and downtempo is forthcoming on Tartelet, but in the meantime there's "Bummse," as featured on Brandt Brauer Frick's recent DJ-Kicks compilation.
With a rhythm track that sounds like a table tennis match, "Bummse" shimmers to honeyed pads and crashing live hi-hats, although perhaps its standout feature is a lopsided bassline that staggers around like a late-night barfly. Graef's cut-and-paste prowess is more evident on "N° 5," a sampleadelic house track that revels in a searing string loop and snippets of soulful vocal. Remix duties are handed to Glenn Astro, who displays several of Graef's traits on his "Rebumms" of "Bummse." Muffled live kicks, express train snares and growling analogue synths collide as the German producer cooks up a raw dancefloor weapon.
TracklistA Bummse
B1 No 5
B2 Bummse (Glenn Astro Rebumms)