:: Loud

Timo Maas

We all know about Timo. The stories about “Doom’s Night,” the Perfecto deal, the Madonna remixes, the secret creative partnership between a select few technical wizards. No need for a history lesson here. Good, because the album speaks for itself. It’s a ripper. Genre crossing is not the term I’d use…more like “genre-bashing.” His collaboration with Kelis, the opening Help Me is as classy a pop record as you’ll here all year. Timo seizes Kelis (for me, the best voice in the business) and sets her wails to a horror soundtrack sample. Twisted club music where vocals work as pure atmospherics. I love it. From here we descend into Manga. A rocking 4am-middle-of-the-dancefloor piece that will silence anyone who harks back for his days on Bush Records. Shifter features the talents of MC Chickaboo and That’s how I’ve been dancing featuring regular Timo voice Martin Bettinghaus is a beautiful warped slow-house burner. Martin also does vocal duties on the now famous Ubik, which comes in both “breakz” and techno forms – a favourite of jocks all over the world. But it’s the production that stands out. Clean, efficient and completely convincing for both chart kids and clubbers alike. Quality.