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Drei Farben House, "Any Kind Of Feeling"
After Unai's substandard A Love Moderne made for an inauspicious resurrection for Force Tracks, this full-length from a netlabel favorite picks up the gauntlet previously held by Dub Taylor and M.R.I. Still, it isn't quite enough to bolster the once unassailable tech-house imprint.
Drei Farben House's Michael Siegle has some big shoes to fill releasing his debut album with a label known for producing some of the vanguard acts of minimal house's early naughties heyday. The deep and abstractly funky sound that Force Tracks made its name on has become less relevant since its tragic disappearance, though its influence can still be heard in the clubs today. The faction of electronic music fans still very much enamored of those dubby days will likely find something to enjoy on Any Kind Of Feeling, as several of them have likely discovered the artist’s Fashion and Stadtarchiv, two impressive MP3-only releases from the respected Corporate Identity netlabel. Based on that material, this proper debut album offers little in the way of surprises, though plenty of satisfying grooves.
After the chilled out introduction "Humidity," a filtered rhythm initiates "Unprivate" before its bare bones beat makes way for a bouncy bass pattern and snippets of Luomo-esque male vocal. Whereas labelmate Unai's voice came across as strained and paper-thin, Siegle's has the intentionally disinterested inflection of some of the more subdued characters of the new wave generation. Taking that into consideration, Drei Farben House fits far better within the Force Tracks legacy. In fact, the first handful of tunes seems almost dated, only somewhat problematic given the aforementioned market. Fortunately, "It Matters To Me" breaks this trend and offers a significant progressive push towards the dancefloor, with bold stabs and a jacking almost authentic bassline. Here, Siegle finally reveals a rare lyrical song instead of a track, and the results are more than sufficient due to a desirable apathetic delivery and foreign inflection.
Also released as a vinyl-only single, instrumental "Close Enough" flaunts an affinity for house music’s roots with its shimmering disco flourishes and evolving melodies. "Collection for Thierry" and "Rain Cycling" dabble in carefree synthpop, with Siegle uncharacteristically emoting like some 80s frontman stunted somewhat by the fact that he’s working with such a limited and limiting loop-based palette. "So Familiar" closes out this album ecstatically, channeling euphoric druggy highs in its synthetic depths. The swirling pad that serves as its base eventually gives way for another appropriately distant and brief vocal, recalling countless nights spent sweating away all the pressures of the real world. While neither life-changing nor revolutionary, Any Kind Of Feeling comprises passable tunes for house heads and the lounge set, making it inessential yet nonetheless diverting.
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