DJ Hell
(International Deejay Gigolo)
I'm pretty sure his mom didn't name him Hell. No matter. The EDM legend, since the late 80s and his start in hardcore tech has steadily insinuated himself into the pop world with each passing phase. There've been the supple curves of Chicago acid-house and open toed German trance records. He's remixed Bowie and dropped fun tracks such as "My Definition of House Music."
But with Teufelswerk the Munich machine man wants it every which way on this two CD set. Broken down into "Day" and "Night" themed discs, each volume hardly seems confined by lights and darks. While airy chugging cuts just like "Nightclubbing" move from heavy breathing to sprightly thumping on the "Day" disc, the "Night" volume seems oddly poppier. Bryan Ferry does his spookiest croon through the midnight-express-esque gurgle that is "Can Dance." (Don't get me wrong. It's delirious and dreamy and cushioned by rubbery rhythms. But Ferry's listed as a backing vocalist. And suddenly his ambient hush - everything he's ever done - now seems like a background vocal in retrospect.)
The robotic "Electronic Germany" seems to suffer no foolishness in its lack of ironic distance. And P.Diddy - that P. and that Diddy - appears Diddy-like on "The DJ" also without a sense of ironic distance. Oh heck with that Hell.
Standout Tracks: "Nightclubbing," "Can Dance" A.D. AMOROSI
