- Originating out of Karlsruhe a little town in West Germany, Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann a.k.a Âme have surprised many with their self titled album. Hailing off the well known Jazzanova label Sonar Kollektiv. Ame (French for soul) take their music seriously, heavily influenced by the Detroit, New York and Paris scenes, Their mission is to explore soulful tunes far and beyond the reaches of normal House and electronic music. This CD blends the sounds of Electro, with Deep-Tech House, Creating an atmosphere all their own, reminiscent of there earlier work and tastes of fellow label mates and highly respected Jazzanova. Already releasing a string of 12" releases, Kristian and Frank first met up through various gigs and later on Kristian record shop Plattentasche.
Described as dance music with brains, Sun Sugar starts the CD of well with a deep number. Orchestral fills, over mellow percussion and moving female vocals, the next few tracks follow the same vein. Nia has a nice acid layer over a quirky percussive loop and epic electro sounds. Stand outs for me were Hydrolic Dog a first-class tune with its electro-violin melody, reminiscent of the good old’ Beverly Hills Cop tune. With techy fills layered over a wicked voco-beat and deep rumbling baseline. Sasari is on a funkier tip, with plenty of blips and breaks to keep the CD travelling. The beat reminding me of Lance Desardi or Metro Area, while the bouncy baseline and techy - electro fills add credit to this late night jingle. Shiro also a nice beat, with typical air sample kicks, Synth stabs build an atmospheric background that creeps in, leading into a nice breakdown. The bass line in this one stands out with sub bass low-fi sounds hitting you right in the pit of the stomach. The CD starts deep and moves towards more techy sounding tracks. These boys are heavily influenced by the likes of Moodyman, Underground Resistance and Carl Craig from the motor city, as well as the New York sounds of Blaze and Metro Area, and it shows, with tight production skills backed up by a range of eclectic sounds.
Generally this CD is similar to most of the minimal, electro - house tunes coming out of Germany lately. Effectively sounding like releases from Naked Music or 20:20 Vision. I'd recommended it for chilling out or sitting back and watching the sunset.
Tracklist01 Sun Sugar
02 Tonite (Dub)
03 Nia
04 Ojomo
05 Mifune
06 Hydrolic Dog
07 Sarari
08 Shiro
09 Life Changes