Kölsch - Speicher 106

November 2, 2018 - Kompakt

No, it’s not broken beat, it’s Kölsch with his Speicher 106 release. Alternately challenging, dancy, and romantic, the first track ‘Emoticon’ is a long-evolving to-and-fro of bombastic percussion, twinging strings and, for two ever so brief moments, overly simplified electro. What a thrill. Part of thrill is disappointment. All other elements in ‘Emoticon’ are so beautifully intertwined and individually fulfilling, it’s hard to know what Kölsch was thinking when he included an Ed Banger style synth growler twice. Until you hear it in surround sound. Then a certain sense fruits. Without installing such an emotional low, would I know the same joy whence the beauty returned? Most tracks would not be able to recover from such a transition. ‘Emoticon’ thrives nonetheless. “Your pain only furthers your pleasure.” --the evil portion of Kölsch. The distant mouthwatering woodblocks, the near-broken tribal beat which opens so loudly and lays least audibly under the track in full swing—I laugh, I cry, I frustrate. I suspect.

Then there’s ‘Tiny Death’—”la petit mort” as the French and Francophiles are so fond of referring to the orgasm. This is a true edge-fest. With dark dance elements inching in and out of focus, Kölsch finds a balance just a little softer south of mean acid house. Haunting children’s chorus make the title interplay a little Lolita, but we’re mostly focusing on clubs 21+ so the implications ought to be that much lessened. What beings delicately ends with big room dance melodrama. A track for the youths to sweat one out, Kölsch blends the decontextualized phrase—what could pass as a requiem in a sick twisted dance hall— “tiny death” and its orgasmic counterpoint slowly rimming its hi-hats towards a climax. ⛰️