Altsounds - DJ Hell's new album 'Teufelswerk'

When Hell launched his International Deejay Gigolos Empire in 1996, his rebellious creative streak gave the label a punk DIY aesthetic. An open-ended techno imprint with a natural pop sensibility, Gigolo immediately stood out and attracted like-minded artists such as Fischerspooner, Vitalic, Miss Kittin & the Hacker, Tiga, even the Pet Shop Boys, Jeff Mills and Dopplereffekt. Today, Gigolo in Berlin is to Hell what the Factory in New York was to Warhol.

Teufelswerk – the German for “Devil’s Work” – is Hell’s masterpiece. Across 16 exquisite tracks divided into two themes, “Night” and “Day”, Hell weaves an intoxicating spell. Celestial vocals cascade around an acoustic guitar figure as a motorik rhythm propels it ever skywards, sharing space, spiritually at least, with Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk and Can. Teufelswerk is a lush, narcotic odyssey, the album sounds unlike anything he’s produced in the past. “The album is very personal,” he says. “All my knowledge is there…I don’t think I can make a better record.”

Hell, with his old friend Peter Kruder produced the "Day" half assisted by noted multi-instrumentalists Christian Prommer and Roberto Di Gioia. This is Hell's enchanting interpretation of kosmische musik. “The Angst & The Angst Pt. 2” joins tracks “Germania”, “Hell’s Kitchen” and “I Prefer Women to Men Anyway” to unravel with sinuous grace, culminating in a cosmic reading of Hawkwind’s “Silver Machine”.

The “Night” album is raw mix of Chicago and Detroit influences combined with Hell’s swashbuckling approach to electronics, this portion is for the dance floor. Ten-minute jams such as “Wonderland” and “Electronic Germany” zoom and thrust with menacing intent. Hell hooked up once more with hip-hop superstar P. Diddy for freestyle jack-track and future single, “The DJ”. The most pleasant, eyebrow-raising moment here is the collaboration with Bryan Ferry, “U Can Dance”. This serpentine disco burner, a smouldering highlight of Teufelswerk, finally unites two of modern pop’s suavest outsiders.

For his new single release Hell invited Henrik Schwarz to bring a touch of the night to “The Angst Pt. 1and Pt. 2.” As a stand-alone piece of music it’s as solid as the dance floors it will be played on, but immediately hints at the wealth of ideas that exist on this forthcoming album.

“I have done kosmische musik in a new way,” he says. “This is where I come from, I grew up with the early German electronic pioneers of music, and this is why I went in this direction. Often it is called German electronic avant-garde, or psychedelic music. I went back to the ’70s and tried to do it in my own way.”
DJ HELL

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