BnB Review: Hamburg Elektronisch Vol.01 - Von House Zu House

Written by Youri Jozee

House -

Hfndisko, the sublabel of the acclaimed Hfn Music label, tributes its birth ground with a compilation that aims to spotlight Hamburg’s thriving house scene…

Although Berlin hogs the limelight when it comes to being the no.1 dance capital in Germany (and in Berlin’s case, the rest of the world too), the influence of Hamburg’s dance scene is not to be underestimated. Apart from being the birth ground of hard trance (which reminds me of an anecdote: former Hamburg resident Steve Bug used to own a car with license plates of which the first to letters read HH. Back in the nineties, people jokingly referred to it as ‘Hamburg Hardtrance’, much to Steve’s dismay), the city has been building a huge reputation in house music too due to its dense population of underground producers. This compilation tries to capture the city’s dynamic and highly versatile sounds with tracks from some of the Hamburg’s most notable electronic artists.

The album opens quite laidback with lush, lightweight tracks from DJ Phono (the ambient-esque Paper Aeoplane), RVDS’ downtempo house track A Walk On The Moon and the very minimal piano loop-driven Blume Der Nacht by DJ Koze. After that it’s time for some chunky basslines and peppered rhythms, woven in a variety of sparkling house cuts marked by lots of melody and at points nocturnal vibes. Extrawelt’s My Stupid (Dub Night) would be the perfect soundtrack for a midnight summer’s walk outside, while the Prince-on-minimal-techno-styled Hamburg Night by Ost & Kjex and Lovebirds’ hard rocking The Beast are pure dancefloor ammo. All great tracks, but how about any weak moments? There are some, yes, but we completely disregard them. There are just too many awesome tracks on this compilation to make a fuss of that.

Our verdict:
If you’re a fan of highly melodic house music no matter what form, then you won’t be disappointed by this compilation. Across 20 tracks, we get a good idea of the sound that’s currently ruling the city’s airwaves, and we most definitely like what we hear. Thumbs up.

Rating: 7.8/10
Label: Hfndisko
Release date: September 9^th, 2011

Tracklist
01. DJ Phono - Paper Aeroplane
02. Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Schwindelig
03. RVDS - A Walk On The Moon
04. DJ Koze - Blume der Nacht
05. Tensnake - Congolal
06. David August - Hamburg Is For Lovers
07. Soukie & Windish - Small feat. Rayo
08. Extrawelt - My Stupid (Dub Mix)
09. Solomun - Curesto
10. H.O.S.H. feat Ost & Kjex - Hamburg Nights
11. Kruse & Nurnberg - Lights Down
12. Lovebirds - The Beast
13. Smallpeople & Rau - Meadows
14. Isolee - Torn
15. Stimming - For My Girl
16. Christopher Rau - Do Little
17. Lawrence - Just Like Heaven
18. Wareika - Mold Area
19. Remute - Atomic Bell Pt. 1
20. Vincenzo - Tasmania