Sounds of a city: Frankfurt
Ben UFO, Mexico City and the art of relevancy
February 6, 2024
The month in music, February
February 28, 2024
When we think of cities and house music, the common tendency is often to look to either side of the Atlantic: deep Chicago grooves or the 90s-era London bounce of Bushwacka and co. But beyond the Anglophone world, the city of Frankfurt is a central pillar of four-to-the floor souds. Home to era-defining labels, iconic clubs and nights, and a distinct sound, it’s a city that demands to be listened to. Here, we do just that: tracing the musical lineage of the city’s scene through five must-hear tracks.
Soylent Green - After All
There is perhaps no artist more appropriate to serve as an introduction to a certain kind of Frankfurt sound than Roman Flügel. One of the brains behind the legendary Playhouse, he provided the label’s first release (in the form of New Jersey-style House slammer Surprise, alongside Jörn-Elling Wuttke). But it’s his music as Soylent Green – one of many aliases – that perhaps best capture’s the late-90s Playhouse sound. Ata Macias, involved in running both Playhouse and the legendary Robert Johnson, describes the vibrations emanating from the city at that time as ‘deep, minimal and often psychedelic’, and the Soylent Green 2 EP captures that perfectly (see the laconically glitchy synths on Jet Set). There’s a warmth - perhaps even innocence - to these tracks that a lot of modern minimal has moved away from, and that feels entirely appropriate for a man whose production philosophy is one of ‘curiosity, excitement and the ability to remain playful’.
Markus Nikolai - Chitchat on Sunset Cliff
Whilst Perlon might now be more readily associated with Berlin, it wasn’t always that way. When Zip and Markus Nikolai came together to form one of the most important outlets in house and techno history, they did so in Frankfurt. Nikolai is a Frankfurt native and you can still find him selling spectacles in the city, 6 days a week. Perlon kicked things off in 1997, just two years after Playhouse, and there’s a warmth to many of those early Perlon cuts that the two labels share (think Nikolai’s hip-swinger Manejando Un Carrito Rapidito Por Santiaguito, released under his Hombre Ojo alias). By 2002 however, things on Planet Perlon had got wackier, and Chitchat On Sunset Cliff is a perfect example of that. Chunky, organic snares, inventively chopped up vocal snippets, and that unquantifiable ability to layer a set of loops in the most intoxicating fashion possible: this is classic Perlon, and it came out of Frankfurt.
Dub Taylor - Summer Rainbow (Stardub's
Stripped Down To The Edit)
Across the city at a similar time, Raum…Musik was carving a different path. Taking things deeper and dubbier, the now-legendary label provides a more introspective counterpoint to the Playhouse or Perlon sound. The depth of quality on the label is astounding (go take a dive on discogs) but to try and meet the impossible task of capturing it in a track, take the “Stripped Down To The Bone” edit of Dub Taylor’s Summer Rainbow. Built from a rich snare, round kicks and a delicate vocal loop, this is music to get lost in. Whilst recent Raum releases offer a slightly more conventional (but still very good) wrist-flicking dancefloor fare, these earlier releases show the sonic diversity of Frankfurt at the turn of the century.
Danny Pocket & Mr. Noh - Marknofriend
I’ve a theory about a certain kind of tech house: the quirkier the name, the better the music. So when you come across a label called HardWorkSoftDrink and offering track titles like Jamie Jones and Beggs Enedikt, the expectations are high. Part of a new(er) wave of Frankfurt DJs and producers offering a fresh and relentlessly classy taste on the tech house sound, the label (led by Cédric Dekowski, Felix Reifenberg, Max Vaahs and Thilo Dietrich) its essential listening. It offers something different to the preceding labels and tracks - take Marknofriends on HWSD14, which provides 6 minutes and 51 seconds of complete dancefloor headloss in a way that the more delicate sound palettes of most Perlon releases does not.
But there’s a pleasing sense of continuity to go alongside this. Early releases provide a deep and minimal sound not dissimilar to D.Diggler or Dub Taylor cuts on Raum, and 2018 saw HardWorkSoftDrink release three 90's tracks from Roman Flügel. The fact that three tunes made two decades ago can sit seamlessly alongside contemporary Frankfurt producers speaks both to the timeless quality of that 90's-era minimal sound, and to the strength of musical heritage still to be found in modern Frankfurt grooves.
Isolée - Pardon My French
To end here is in many ways to look back to the beginning – to an artist who defines Frankfurt. Rajko Müller, born in Frankfurt and a regular contributor to early Playhouse releases, is a Microhouse pioneer. 26 years on from his debut record, Resort Island treads a line between modern production polish and classic Microhouse soul. There's a level of detail here which feels entirely appropriate for an artist who describes his production process as 'architectural', an intricacy that was perhaps absent from the music Isolée was releasing on Playhouse 30 years ago (which perhaps Clap Gently illustrates better than any other cut on the LP). But despite this evolution and Müller's distance from Playhouse over the past few years, the Frankfurt heritage can still be heard loud and clear: deep, life-affirming house and techno cuts of the highest order. If there is a line to be traced with the Frankfurt sound, Resort Island feels like an appropriate place to finish.
Music is so often indivisible from the place in which it is made. For House music, perhaps even more so: the underground breeds unity. In Frankfurt, this can both be seen and heard in numerous ways. An interview with a Frankfurt-based artist will almost always swing round to Robert Johnson: a dancefloor that shaped House sounds in the 90s and continues to mould minds and influence record collections three decades later. The intermingling of Frankfurt artists (releasing on each other’s labels, remixing each other’s tunes) speaks to a sense of community – even family – that can be heard across the city’s musical output. Put simply, 'No city on the planet can tell you a story of techno like this one here'. Go take a look.
Any list like this naturally leaves off more than it includes, and Frankfurt is a city richer in high-quality House than most. Here are a few honourable mentions (go check them out):
Markus Sommer and Pager Records - slick and quirky grooves from a modern Frankfurt staple.
Now over a decade in, Frost and Arno continue to deliver minimal of supreme quality on their Pressure Traxx outlet.
Traffic Records - the brainchild of Martyné, Jacob, Bodin and Patrick Klein, Traffic delivers innovative and playful house sounds from a classic Frankfurt foundation.
Robert Dietz: Frankfurt minimal royalty.
