"There’s a symmetry to ‘Workshop 33’, with Dash and Lowtec each serving up tracks with varied vibes – one more upbeat and bouncing, the other more introspective and subdued."
Since establishing Workshop back in 2006 together with Even Tuell, Jens Kuhn – known to many as Lowtec – has used his minimal house and techno label to showcase a prolific stream of EPs, from a plethora of producers.
“I think about 95% of the Workshop records are made up of music from friends of ours, or friends of friends”, Lowtec told XLR8R, and it turns out his friends are an eclectic bunch – the Workshop roster includes the likes of Move D, Magic Mountain High, Reagenz, Madteo, Porn Sword Tobacco, Kassem Mosse, Willow, Ital, Ozel AB and Whodat.
Lowtec himself has occasionally paired up with his contemporaries, such as ‘LD7’ with Kassem Mosse. He’s been teaming up with Marvin Dash – a long-time Workshop member – since all the way back in 2005, and now they’re back with ‘Workshop 33’: a 4-track collab that has both producers demonstrating the breadth of their individual capabilities.
There’s a symmetry to ‘Workshop 33’, with Dash and Lowtec each serving up tracks with varied vibes – one more upbeat and bouncing, the other more introspective and subdued. With the opener ‘A1’, Dash gets the ball rolling with a punchy drum loop and warm, echoey pads. The shimmering keys and racing strings are introduced, and all elements working together gives the track a tropical flavour – it’s hard not to visualise a sunset pool party, a starlit beach club.
When we move onto ‘A2’, though, we get a different side to Dash’s production. The exotic trills from earlier are replaced with droning, sustained strings and slower, minimalist drums. There’s a driving tempo as the track amps up, with a mournful humming sample joining the mix, until the wobbling bass is introduced and the 808 hi-hats come in strutting. That house backbone is there, but the effect is very different, creating an interesting contrast to the track before.
Dash then tags in Lowtec, who similarly starts off with a floor-filler in the form of ‘B1’ – a 7-minute powered by a soulful Motown vocal sample (I want to say it’s Sly and Family Stone? Either way, RIP to Sly, who passed away earlier this week). The warm chords sit nicely alongside the loose bongo percussions, and the lengthy track means there’s plenty of room for the drums to initiate multiple bouncier sections.
In a similar vein to Dash, Lowtec switches things up for the closer. ‘B2’ has wild, rebounding percussions and gongs, strange off-beat chimes, and a chaotic, DIY energy that keeps you guessing. It’s a considerably shorter track, again creating a juxtaposition to the track before, keeping you on your toes. The variety that is crammed into the 4 tracks on ‘Workshop 33’ is testament to the creativity and confidence that both Lowtec and Marvin Dash exude.
“In my opinion, if you are going to release a record, it’s very important that you should be able to listen to it in 15 years and still think that it’s cool,” Lowtec said in his XLR8R interview, “You should not be ashamed of it later.” There’s a timelessness to the Workshop output, and this latest release is no different.
It’s impossible to pigeonhole the sound – in just 4 tracks, there’s such a variety of styles and emotions, flavours and vibes. From that description alone, you’d be forgiven for thinking it might not work, that there are too many plates being spun – and in the hands of lesser-skilled craftsmen, that might be the case. But with Lowtec and Marvin Dash at the helm, there’s never any doubt.
‘Workshop 33’ is out now via Workshop. Order a vinyl copy from Inverted Audio Record Store.
TRACKLIST
A1. MD – Untitled
A2. MD – Untitled
B1. Lowtec – Untitled
B2. Lowtec – Untitled