Artist: Legowelt
Album: The Paranormal Soul
Label: Clone
Release Date: 12/11/12
...Irrespective of it being an anti-thesis to all that's underground, many electronic musicians are now seen as brands by marketing-minded listeners, and so surely there must also be luxury, aspirational, and budget options therein.
Making the rather arrogant presumption this proposal holds even an ounce of truth there's no argument as to where we might position Danny Wolfers. After producing beats and the like since the 1990s, under and as part of guises including Dickie Smabers & The Moerwijk Crew, Franz Falckenhaus, and Jackmaster Corky, two things are clear. Firstly, he knows how to construct stand out aural arrangements. And, secondly, he appreciates an amusing moniker.
Though less smile inducing, Legowelt certainly stands out as his most popular alter-ego, and, if we're looking at things in such a way, this would be the first name on any Wolfers stamp of quality. Invoking forward thinking, futurist techno for the mind and feet, the reputation precedes any release or live date. As such The Paranormal Soul, the artist's brand new album, landed with a notable weight of expectancy.
Thankfully, though, that doesn't seem to have outbalanced the decidedly heavy nature of its contents. Travelling from club music pillar community to club music pillar community, there's a sense of grandeur to the 12-track offering befitting such a proud, celebratory journey. These are tracks that will demand full attention, even on the dancefloor.
Transform The Universe nods to a rawer Detroit, refrained synths and groovy basslines capped with sharp, if not jagged reversed cymbals, giving things a decidedly un-polished flavour. Shades of Britain and Motor City then, we venture further into UK territory with the bouncing acid lunacy that follows, also known as Voice Of Triumph, yet again by the time it's course is complete Stateside tones are more than audible.
Elsewhere, the aptly titled Rave ‘Till Dawn, its broken drums and epic saw-melodies, will leave most people reasonably sure similar scenes and locales again provided the inspiration here. This ethic is then picked up by Sketches From Another Century, a wonderfully commanding, space age offering of huge, near-haunting but uplifting harmonies, twinkling keys and runaway train rhythms. Needless to say, it accentuates Mr Welt's Penchant for the impossible to ignore, and should hopefully serve as the final piece of evidence needed to prove this latecomer stands as one of the year's essential LPs.
