German producer Fritz Kalkbrenner is one of the biggest soul music fans out there, with a voice like his, how could things have turned out any other way? Soul music is the foundation of all his musical endeavours.
Like an emotional and aesthetic thread that he weaves through his music, soul, in fact, holds together his diverse musical influences such as hip hop, techno and house.
Growing up in the shadow of real socialist prefab buildings in the Lichtenberg district of Berlin, Fritz Kalkbrenner was a couple of years shy of being able to participate directly in the anarchic techno mayhem that followed right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when new possibilities and freedoms opened up in East Berlin within a short period of time.
At the beginning of the 1990s his older brother Paul and his best friend Sascha Funkewent crazy for techno beats, while hip hop artists such as Eric B. and Rakim, KRS Oneand Wu-Tang Clan were Fritz’s heroes who could do no wrong. He studied their flow, memorised hundreds of lyrics and learned how to tell stories – all basic research that would later benefit him.
At the end of the 1990s (in 1997, to be exact) he, too, was blown away by techno and turned into a devotee of the clubbing scene as did many others of his generation. He is now an amalgamation of these two genres and influences, and he’ll be bringing his impressive show to Australia this April. To celebrate Kalkbrenner’s visit he has curated a mix of some of his favourite soul and hip hop tracks, check them out below and be sure to check out Kalkbrenner’s Aus tour dates.
Nina Simon – ‘To Love Somebody’
What can you say that hasn’t been said about Nina Simone? One of the greatest singers of the last century. I personally dig the stuff that she did in the late ’60s, the RCA stuff that was more soulful than the blues and jazz stuff from earlier in her career. This is a cover version of the Bee Gees hit and proves that sometimes another interpreter can improve on the original.
The Revenge – ‘Night Flight’
Everyone is loving Greame Clark’s stuff, me too. Great producer that works so intimately and carefully with the samples. This one is heavily influenced by a Steve Wonder record as you can hear in the final third of the tune. I can’t recall the name of the original track but i do know it was from the soundtrack to the film ‘The Lady In Red.’
Robag Wruhme – ‘Thora Vukk’
Robag is a good friend of mine and I’ve always admired his music both as a solo artist and in his days as one half of Wighnomy Brothers. This is the title track from his album on Pampa. I really love it, especially the string work. its the shit!
InI – ‘What You Say’
were a super group formed of Grab Luva, Rob O and a third rapper who I can’t quite remember at the moment. Their album was produced by Pete Rock and for some mysterious reason the album never saw the light of day until just a few years ago, more than a decade after it was made. “What You Say” is the best track from that album and one of the best Hip-Hop tracks I have ever heard.
Baby Huey – ‘Hard Times’
To say ‘Baby’ is the joke. From what I know the guy is like 7ft tall and around 300 lb. He had an incredible strong and heavy ‘corn bread’ voice.
Unfortunately he died soon after he released his first solo album, which came out on Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Curtom’ label. It featured some cover versions of Mayfields material, but his hard times version, for me, is better than Curtis’ original. The album was also heavily sampled by a lot of the Hip-Hop dudes in the ’90’s.
The Turtles – ‘Happy Together’ (Mindless Boogie) (Wade Nichols Edit)
Wade Nichols I guess is Todd Terje? This one is a heavy edit where Todd, or this mysterious Wade Nichols works with “I’m Your Boogieman” by KC & The Sunshine Band and its a very clever and tricky edit because the last part of the instrumental breakdown was used to create the whole track. This is how an edit should be.
Bibio – ‘Lovers Carvings’ (Catz n Dogz re-edit)
Greg and Voit from Catz n Dogz are good friends of mine. They heard the original version and took the guitar hook and created a whole track. Its a pretty unofficial recording so didn’t get an official pressing but whatever. It’s so highly addictive and I love it very much!
Show & AG – ‘Hold Mines’
These guys are part of the legendary NYC Hip-Hop crew DITC (Diggin’ In The Crates). Together they were always a team, with Show doing the production and AG providing the raps. This one is real heavy New York stuff running around with heavy bass. This is these guys need. Top stuff!
Tindersticks -‘ Marbles’
I discovered the Tindersticks in the late ’90s. From the first time I heard them I fell in love with their sound. These guys were doing very high orchestral sounds, with rhodes and a lot of strings. All I can say is that I really love this track.
Common – ‘Time Travelin’ (A Tribute To Fela) ft. Vinia Mocjica, Roy Hargrove & Femi Kuti
This is the intro from his 1999 album Like Water For Chocolate. For this album he hooked up with the production team the ‘Soulquarions’, consisting of James Poyser, D’Angelo and the great J Dilla. The whole album plays with a certain afrobeat appeal, as this intro does. I fell in love with the into because it was so far away from the ‘classic’ Hip-Hop sound and more in a way of art. I love it!
Australian Tour Dates
Thursday 2nd April – Spice, Sydney
Friday 3rd April – Darkbeat 12th Birthday party @ Brown Alley, Melbourne
Sunday 5th April – Courtyard Party @ The Ivy, Sydney
Sunday 5th April – Geisha, Perth
For tickets and info visit www.residentadvisor.net
