Skip the Foreplay

You have to go to the other side of the Rhein to reach Sheldon Thompson's studio dubbed the Moose Lodge in Cologne Deutz. Actually considered to the people of Cologne as "the wrong side of the river." But if you move your ass over one of the several bridges which combine both parts ot the city, you will realize it is only for best. Nobody in Deutz complains about his loud music volume. Deutz with it's old abandoned industrial buildings gives a view of the fallen days of the height of Detroit Motor City's glory days. In one of them you could easily find Sheldon Thompson for the better part of 2007/2008 burning the midnight oils, slaving himself to new musical self discoveries. Now on to the album. It starts with "Perdon Pantone," a classical house tune in the tradition of the dialogue tracks. In this case, as in most cases, a man and a woman converse. It is a battle of emotional jealousy, underlined with warm and rhythmic music - an anthem for the fresh summer romances. This is one of the example tracks of the album with claim that house music is coming back a lot these days, but it is very rare to find it as erotic as here. My man Sheldon celebrates with tracks like "Touchy Feely" and "Dirty Deeds (Revised)" the happiness of night culture, the peek of hedonism. But as natural as he acts on the house field, his prime instigator as most know him is TECHNO with all capital letters... Tracks like "Lost Highways," "Makers Mark" or "Falcon And the Snowman" these are symbols of techno at it's finest moment as the soundtrack of transcendence. These high sounds take you definitely higher. But as Sheldon is living for the last five years in Europe - first Cologne, now since a few days - and much to the sorrow of his Cologne homies - in Hamburg - he is also influenced from European techno, mainly in it's Cologne and Berlin footprints. Listen to "Muckefuk" and you know what I mean. Or 'Donner Kebab.' the city of Cologne is rich on classical recordings and artist flavors. We saw them all here. The weirdness of the early '70s Krautrock from acts like Can. The magnificent art scene with it's highs in the '80s and early '90s and now famous painters like Martin Kippenberger, Kai Althoff or Jutta Koether. As well as the new way of photographs as marked by Wolfgang Tillmanns. The new avant garde of the A-Musik clique. And, last but not least the huge achievement of Kompakt, the mothership of modern techno. With Skip the Foreplay Pan/tone throws in all he can give you. Please be so kind and give it all of your heart and ears. This is music for all people, coming direct from a good boys heart.