Iron Curtis, Johannes Albert - Moon II (2020)

Long-time collaborators, longer-time best friends, lifelong analog appreciators; the German duo Iron Curtis & Johannes Albert join cosmic forces once again for another LP mission "Moon II", a heartfelt voyage through the sounds, movements, styles and machines that created this music in the first place. Think late 80s New York, early 90s Sheffield and the perennial sounds of Italo and Detroit, "Moon II" is a lunar safari that celebrates the deepest foundations of house, techno and electronic soul while resolutely refusing to get nostalgic. Written and recorded during an intense two-and-a-half month session in Berlin last autumn, there's a consistency and tangible narrative running throughout as the pair play inspiration ping-pong over the course of 10 tracks. A little Drexcyian glacial nod here, a hazy Boards Of Canada wink there. The Other People Place, Kerrier District, Environ Records, the Hacienda, Sub Club, Heaven 17, classic electro All these ingredients are constantly bubbling in the mix for both Curtis and Albert (as individuals and even more so as a duo) and the end result is an album that works as a proper album should. Peaks, troughs, dreamy departures and all beautiful things in between. Taking off where their debut collaborative album "Industrie & Zärtlichkeit" (soon to be retitled Moon I) left us three years ago, the opening modem sounds on the intro track "Canggu Laundry Club" dial us into a special sense of time and space. It's a space where anything feels possible; Visual-inspired acid lines on "Tiger Trek", lino-spinning body pops and windmills to the street sounds electro style of "The Ultimate Seduction", the club-focused, Traxx-style Cutie Schamuthie collaboration "Hurting", the melancholy plucks and struts of "Feingold", the provocative, slinky, smoky finale piece "Nektar" The list of intergenerational and cross-genre landmarks on this adventurous body of work go and on, each track complementing the last as they fuse to create a bigger collective picture. A picture that's charmed together through the consistent use of key classic studio machines. They call it Introverted Electronic Body Music, we call it warm, free-spirited and ultimately timeless. Perfect for your sets, your afterhours or your headphones alike; it's time to let Iron Curtis and Johannes Albert take you to the Moon and back Once again.