Paul Kalkbrenner’s New Album “7” Is Techno Gold.

Paul Kalkbrenner – 7

Got an advance copy of Paul Kalkbrenner‘s new album for the last week or so (Benefits of working in the industry!). So glad I did! This is prime Techno that needs your attention. 12 tracks of crisp, satisfying depth from the Berlin champion. This stuff runs the gamut from minimal to anthemic and everywhere enjoyable in between. Not only is the album out on iTunes, but Paul has brought us a trilogy of YouTube videos, telling the story of a young boy attempting to bring his favorite music to the world. I’m serious, it’s a series of videos that tell a –surprisingly unhinged & disturbing– tale.

“Cloud Rider” showcases a large amount of what looks to be LA and some dude walking around, listening to his favorite tunes. This is an interesting metaphor, used reasonably effectively. We’ve all felt like this guy, thought I can assure you folks that I’ve never taken my headphones and actually put them on anyone. That would have resulted in a similar ass-whupping to what we see in the video. The subway in the Bronx don’t play.

“Mothertrucker” is similarly splendid techno that deserves to be played at high volume at many fine techno establishments. There’s crushing realism to the techno that mirrors the video in a great way. I like that Paul seems to have something to say, and is using his medium, that being techno of course, to communicate it. Not all producers do, and it’s refreshing to hear 12 tracks in a row on a seemingly unheralded release and have them be unabashed quality. It can’t all be Kaskade’s Atmosphere.

“Feed Your Head” brings the stellar music video series to an anthemic conclusion. Florian shares his music with the world, or does he? The vocal sample is taken directly from a Jefferson Airplane (go ask your parents, or that one uncle who smokes too much pot.), and the subtext is actually pretty wonderful. But I’ll let you go YouTube “White Rabbit” by them & think about things.The tracks that didn’t get Florian videos are just as wonderful and deserve your attention.

“Battery Park” kicks the album off to a solid start & there are half a dozen tracks that I could hear at every single dope techno party over 300 people I’ve been to in the last 2 years. It’s not experimental, the album doesn’t get off on itself, abut it delivers on what it sets out to do. Provide dope stuff you can roll your eyes when you hear someone referring to as a “Techno Banger” when you’re at the bar. And dance to, if that’s something you’re into of course. Show Paul some love & seriously think about picking the album up. It’s gonna be thumping out of my cans for a while.