Electro shocks

Electro house is a much-maligned style, and with good reason; most of the releases under this banner are nothing more than cynical attempts to cash in on the popularity of grinding basslines and electronic rhythms.

However, there are a few exceptions and the most notable one is Phonique, aka Michael Vater. The Berlin producer has been making and releasing electronic house music since the start of this decade and, although he is still best known in the mainstream for Tiefschwarz’s mix of his ‘Red Dress’ track, he has put out an impressive body of work and has moved on from his electro house roots.
2004’s Identification album showed that he wasn’t just interested in the dance floor and contained ‘For The Time Being’, an overlooked pop classic featuring Kings Of Convenience singer Erlend Oye on vocals. Phonique’s second album for Dessous, Good Idea, expands on the producer’s song-based approach to dance floor composition.
While Oye’s innocent vocals feature again – on the sweet hooks of ‘Casualties’ – Phonique has also roped in Berlin singer/producer Richard Davis, who guests on the warm, chord-led ‘Always Wanted’. Then there’s Ruben, whom Phonique discovered on a compilation of electronic pop from a tiny German label, and whose vocodered contribution lends a mournful feeling to the wistful ‘Rio Nights’. So is Phonique really just a pop producer trapped in a house DJ’s body?
“Ha ha, you could be right,” he laughs down the line from Berlin. “I was trying to think of a name for these tracks, and because pop is such a dirty word, I called it ‘underground pop’. It’s interesting to see how people react to it. I played the Richard Davis track to Gui Boratto (the Brazilian producer) and he said that it was like some of the Pet Shop Boys’ work. I’m not a fan of theirs, but I respect them, so I’ll take it as a compliment! The most beautiful aspect of this music is that it is very warm and although I wouldn’t be able to spin it every weekend, I like to have one night a month where I can play it.”
Apart from a passion for pop, the other sound driving Good Idea is classic house. Modern production facilities mean that it is possible to improve on the jacking rhythms and warm, acidic basslines pioneered in Chicago, something that Phonique has succeeded with on ‘Idea’ – just check the evocative tones of ‘Mexican Sunrise’ and the plunging, Larry Heard-style squelchy bass of ‘Always Wanted’.
“My music is heavily influenced by classics, but house has developed a lot over the years,” he believes. “Nowadays, if you produce a track inspired by the classic sound, the elements will be stronger and the sound will be much better. Back in the day, the producers didn’t have the knowledge or the equipment to do it any other way.”
Phonique’s DJing also adheres to an old school approach. He stills uses vinyl and says that each EP he puts out sells at least 3,000 records, an impressive achievement in these digital-obsessed times. He also balks at the ‘quantity over quality’ approach that is all too common for record labels.
“Most labels are releasing a lot of rubbish and the digital side of the business means that it’s become easier to put out music. It’s the same with minimal: I play some of it, but it is so easy to produce and a lot of it sounds exactly the same. I’d better stop now, I’m beginning to sound like my mother!”
Those with long enough memories may not thank Phonique for ‘Computer Kidz’, a tribute to hip-house featuring Shadee on vocals, or the two jazz-funk and soul workouts, ‘Cats’n’Cars’ and ‘Worked It Out’, at the end of his new album.
“I always loved hip-house, especially the Tyree Cooper stuff, and I’m surprised that you don’t like ‘Worked It Out’,” he says incredulously. “I’m very happy with it and I’m really happy to move in this direction; a lot of club music is disposable and I hope to be able to listen back to this kind of music in five years. I want to do more of this style in the future and this is what the third album will sound like.”
Maybe that’s not such a ‘good idea’, especially as his hometown Berlin’s club scene isn’t just a minimalist’s haven and appears to have become a hotbed for house music again. However, Phonique’s not so sure.
“Yes, Dixon and Jesse Rose are here and Ame play here a lot, but it’s been this way for at least the past three years,” he points out. “I think house has found its place in Berlin because people are sick of all of these trends, of electro house and minimal house, and just want to hear proper dance music once again.”
Have a listen to Good Idea: it’s an ideal starting point if you want to re-discover house music.
Good Idea is out on May 7 on Dessous.