Cotton's Liaison

In what is becoming something of an occasional feature on this site, I have asked a producer or a DJ I rate to pick a record they love. It can be new or old, the only stipulation is that it’s not one of their own, or a release that they are in some way involved in, so that there is no promotional ‘agenda’ at play. James T Cotton is one of my favourite producers at the moment - check out his vicious ‘Like No One’ release on Spectral if you’re in any doubt about his ability to bang the box. But what fires and inspires him? He chose:

Liaisons Dangereuses: ‘Liaisons Dangereuses LP’

"The LP is produced by Conny Plank and was released on Teldec, Gig, Roadrunner, and repressed on Hit Thing. This LP should be on the must-have list for DJs and music lovers who have an interest in dance music in general. This was a short-lived project featuring Beate Bartel and the late Chrislo Haas. Another fruit from this superb collaboration was the CH-BB tapes. I urge anyone to search for these recordings as they are just as nice if not better.

This album played an incredible role in the history of Detroit and Chicago dance music. It was championed by Ron Hardy, Jeff Mills and Carl Craig among many many others who embellish themselves in the techno tradition of spinning a line of continuity between disco and European dance music like new wave, early industrial, and techno pop.

This LP is a stark and complex take on funk music from the heyday on German new wave. Its sound made its way overseas and into the box of one of the most open minded DJs in Chicago, Ron Hardy, who would influence the next wave of dancers and producers. The style is sexy, futuristic and strange. So ahead of its time it pioneered a rhythm that was maybe similar to Prince's funk, but still so experimental that any other comparisons would be contrived.

You have probably heard ‘Los Ninos del Parque’ or ‘Peut Etre Pas’ in one manifestation or another (as they are heavily sampled), but the album as a whole is a glimpse into a bizzare, dark, and twisted synthetic, apocalyptic utopia.

The sound design is stunning. Synths are enveloped with band pass and high pass filters so to shape the tones in a fluctuation between the buzz of a wasp to a bass heavy sawtooth wave. The Oberheim synths churn and twist at odd time signatures around a jacking, rhythmic pulse. Punkish vocals by Krishna Goineau and Beate Bartel ornament the songs as simple instruments and as a series of punctuations throughout an otherwise hypnotic infinite groove. These are deep and dirty cuts for the heads and this album influenced me immeasurably. RIP Chrislo Haas.”

Comments

[Hum3]

I remember 'Avant Apres Mars' from a DJ Hell mix-CD from around 8 years ago. Made quite an impression on me, hearing that band basically for the first time.

Wicked tune - and I mean that literally.

[Brophy]

my personal fave is 'Peut Etre Pas'...