Tolouse Low Trax – Rushing Into Water
Even if you haven’t witnessed a Tolouse Low Trax set in the club, it’s hard to escape the influence Detlef Weinrich has had on the Düsseldorf scene centred on the charming Salon Des Amateurs. When I spent a weekend in the city to interview Lena Willikens last year, she was effusive in her praise of the club’s co-founder and his capacity to make the strangest music work in the Salon. Dip your nose back into Aaron Coultate’s profile on the Salon for RA in early 2015 and Weinrich’s ambassadorial role becomes all the more clearer.
Listening to this latest Themes For Great Cities 12” from Weinrich as Tolouse Low Trax, it’s clear his music contains that same maverick streak. The epitome of low-slung, there is far too much character and detail sown into the three tracks’ grooves to dismiss this record one-handedly as warm up fodder. Instead you feel compelled to unleash tracks like “Rushing Into Water” and “Reserves To Talk” to upset the rhythm of a night and veer off in another direction. There is a sense of space apparent in the former track; air to breath between the gentle yet sludgy bass groove, ever-evolving percussive tones and malevolent vocal samples.
In theory, nine minutes of this might sound over-indulgent, but Weinrich proves devilish in his capacity to shape the track into a heaving mass of slow-release hypnosis. Around the seven minute mark, foggy memories of being caught up in a strange krauty groove at the Salon circa 2am came rushing back to the forefront of my mind. For anyone that has patronised the venue, it’s all too easy to see “Rushing Into Water” working magnificently in this environment. Let’s hope it is similarly embraced by the more-open minded out DJs and clubbing audiences there as the year progresses.
The following track “In Quicksilver” is even easier to lose yourself in; a fine DJ tool made up of thickset, oscillating tones, spooked-out effects, and layer upon layer of drums. Barely discernible vocal samples are used once again, but in a less narrative sense than the title track; here they add just another element of brooding darkness to this heavy production. It’s the kind of track you want to toy around with for hours on end to see how much of your record collection it might complement.
What is there to say about “Reserves To Talk” other than the track’s various strange elements might sound like an unholy mess when assembled by anyone other than Detlef Weinrich. In his hands, the sluggish tempo acts as a guiding hand for one of the queasiest yet spell-binding tracks committed to vinyl in the recent memory.
Tony Poland
Tracklisting:
A1. Rushing Into Water
B1. In Quicksilver
B2. Reserves To Talk