Before you start thinking they’re some krautrock version of Air, just because the boys are from Germany and not France, spare a couple of quid and actually listen to it.
Picking up where RoysKopp and Zero 7 leave off, DJ Koze, Cosmic DJ, Erobique and co. can be seen introducing some svelte, jazzy gyro rhythms into the mulch and sound checking the self-aggrandizing stance of hip hop as well as throwing the more androgynous approach of electroclash into the bargain.
Beginning with a Nathaniel Merryweather and ‘Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By’ announcement, the album segues warm fuzzy slithers of soul with some bright and sexy electrodes.
Allegedly conceived as a low boredom threshold exercise in making the most of a Berlin hotel room, ‘We Love Music’ is a perfectly housed 15 or so tracks of smoothflow modern soul. From the cool, slinky intro of ‘Pony The Funk’ to the self-pleasuring fluff clouds of ‘Hello’ it’s a veritable soft-top ride in the sun, and the perfect excuse for skiving off work, chilling a little wine and heading off down south with your bonkers mates.
Likely to be a hit this summer, second single, ‘Hangin’ Around’ featuring LA hip hop trio Stepchild keeps things a chillin’ through the sweltering haze of the ‘International Pony Theme’, through the protean punk of ‘My Mouth’ to the dry, acidic buzz of ‘A New Bassline for Jose’.
The hilarious irony seems a little self-conscious at times, but it’s a damned fine record all the same. It’s out on Skint this month.