DJ Chart: Legowelt

Danny Wolfers selects five tracks, from Memphis rap to cyberpunk

Feature by Daniel Jones | 14 Feb 2014

In terms of lush, intergalactic wizardry, not many producers can compare to the freaky magician that is Danny Wolfers. Hailing from Den Haag (to us, The Hague), Wolfers has been pushing a prolific stream of releases since the mid 90s, a recorded testament to his unstinting work-rate. His productions (as Legowelt) range from tough Blake Baxter-esque techno to lo-fi electro down at the spacier end of the spectrum. Or, in the words of Wolfers himself, his style is "a hybrid form of slam jack combined with deep Chicago house, romantic ghetto technofunk and EuroHorror Soundtrack." He's not far off.

A long-time friend of fellow Hagenaar DJ TLR, Wolfers has been a part of the Crème Organization family since day one. His latest LP on the label, Crystal Cult 2080, lands at the end of March, and takes its name from "a homemade germanium crystal compressor" with which Wolfers recorded the entire album. Read about that, and more, in our Q&A with Wolfers here.

Outside of Legowelt, Wolfers has gradually whipped up a smorgasbord of other aliases (Nacho Patrol, Polarius, Smackos, etc.) which goes to show three things: one, the sheer variety of his musical palette; two, endless configurations of era-specific gear; and three, a lack of desire for universal recognition. This selection, five of his all-time favourite tracks, could well have been picked by several different versions of Danny Wolfers. As to which side of his musicality is responsible for which track, your guess is as good as ours.

K.A.T.O. Fantasies of Lust [Nu Groove]
An obscure Ronald Burrell record, every track is good on here but the gem is hidden away on the B-side, Fantasies of Lust. It's got a real sleazy Burrell Nu Groove beat with this ultra-sensual, monophonic, portamento'd lead line that just keeps repeating in an everlasting circle of longing carnal soul. And the vocals – just "Fantasies of Lust" barely catching the notes – I was really surprised this didn't make it on Rush Hour's Burrell Brothers compilation last year because this is pure hot steam!

Walt J – Feel What I Feel [Dow Records]
The essence of pure soul Detroit elixir. I've studied every millisecond of Walt J's productions and there is something about this guy, a certain impulsive sincerity. This track sounds as if it's just shuffled out of his sleeve, a few sampled chords and an R8 drum machine rhythm with some shy timid vocals that go "A lot of people just misunderstand me, about the things I do and how I express myself / I wish I could just reach out and touch you and make you feel what I feel" – and blammo, in comes that 909 kick! People just don't make simple honest records like this anymore.

SPV Click – Time To Hit The Dope [Playa Fly]
One of the staples of the early Memphis rap scene, I don't know what was going on over there but something special happened in that city during that time. A lesson in drum machine witchcraft, all it takes is a mesmerizing hypnotic melody and a sampled vocal snippet ("Time to hit the dope HOE!") that keeps repeating like a mantra, transporting your soul into a pleasant state of evaporating crepuscular light.

Flo & Andrew – Japanese Girls [Broadbean]
This is from Bologna, Italy, dating from the early 80s. Almost proto techno with tear-jerking 5th pads and little bleeps lost in a distant fog. But it's those vocals that push everything over the edge, the cryptic ramblings of complete psychotic breakdown. Desperation with intense dark beauty.

Clock DVA - NYC Overload [Interfisch]
The ultimate cyberpunk song in my book. It must be watched alongside the ultra-cool Amiga DPaint videoclip for full effect! It has this cold FM baseline over the arrangement of cinematic strings and all these freaky perfectly EQ'd bleeps and cyber-information sounds. Creepy malicious vocals, like if they would remake that movie The Conversation but with Adam X instead of Gene Hackman in the leading role. 

Crystal Cult 2080 is out on Creme Organization late Mar http://www.soundcloud.com/legowelt-official