- International DeeJay Gigolo Records. To a certain type of electronic music fan, the name invites derision. But ever so quietly, the imprint has been making strides in the past 12 months to combat its image problem. DJ Hell's ambitious double album may have spent one-half of its time giving his fans exactly what they wanted, but the other was pretty close to a weird Kraut electronic disco masterpiece. (At times.) Peter Kruder is releasing some of the finest solo work of his career on the label, and the imprint's annual compilation, as fellow RA scribe Stephane Girard wrote, pointed some interesting ways forward as well.
Kruder aside, though, the 12-inch material hasn't quite matched up to the ambition professed by Hell. In that format at least, it has largely been business as usual. There are some bright lights, though, and Sei A is assuredly one of them. After work for Imprimé Records, Urbantorque, Missive and his own Seinan label, he arrives to Hell's home with two driving tracks that each have something to offer the listener.
"Chinese Whispers" is a roller, pounding along in a propulsive techno style. Add an air horn and you might have a Berghain hit, save the woman performing the titular Chinese whispers, floating in and out of view. "My Montage," meanwhile, has a heavenly synth sequence that is as rhythmic as it is melodic. Its epic breakdown belies how well it pounds it out with the best of them. But despite its functionality, there's more than enough individuality here to mark it out as something special on IDG.
Tracklist A Chinese Whispers
B My Montage