Lehman’s club resident David Löhlein’s warm-blooded techno is slinking, slithering and seducing its way through BNR, with the upcoming Hotel Pool EP release.


TRACK LISTING

A1. Hotel Pool
A2. La Piscina
B1. Cuando Vengas
B2. I Just Want


INFO

When picturing the German techno scene, one likely imagines the concrete monoliths of its capital city Berlin rather than the vineyards and valleys of the enchanting city of Stuttgart in the southwest. But small cities lack the oversaturation and noise of the metropolis, allowing them to develop their own inspired and distinctive subcultural visions. Stuttgart’s David Löhlein exemplifies this potential, manifesting a singular style of sight and sound through his Vision Ektase project and residency at Lehmann Club. Now, Löhlein’s warm-blooded techno is slinking, slithering and seducing its way through BNR, with the upcoming Hotel Pool EP release.

There’s no hesitation before plunging into the EP’s titular track, with its rushing fingered basslines and rolling polyrhythms. Löhlein cites solo travels in Columbia as the source of his Latin influences, and one hears them throughout “Hotel Pool” in vocal and percussive samples. Elements more commonly found in Latin and tribal house feel uncommonly fresh once Löhlein recontextualizes them within a 144 bpm techno foundation. The words “groovy” and “sexy” are usually reserved for the stuff of Buddha Bar compilations, but “Hotel Pool” is exhilarating because it serves both of the former and none of the latter.

A stream of hedonism flows beneath all of the four-tracker, but if the opener is erotic, A2 “La Piscina” is psychedelic. The bass flutters like a mescaline come-up, as infinite loops of chattering voices and deep bamboo pipe notes mesmerize. Again, Löhlein takes certain genre tropes - in this case from psytrance - and transposes them through his own stylistic signature with thrilling results. Ask Löhlein if he likes psytrance and the answer might be “Yes, when it’s techno.”

Leading the flip, “Cuando Vengas” heats up around a dark and sticky loop of ambiguous, organic origin. Here Löhlein’s masterful sample and drum programming is clearly on display, with vocal chops and subtle rhythmic variations leading the dancefloor to shivering bliss. The EP closes with “I Just Want,” a sparse, cold, and bitcrushed stalker of a track that seems to answer Baudrillard’s famed question “What are you doing after the orgy?” That the Hotel Pool EP’s wild romp ends in the Berlin oeuvre perhaps proves the city’s primacy in the German techno scene, but after a few listens one begins to wonder what rare pleasures they’ve been missing in David Löhlein’s Stuttgart. More

Tracklisting:
A1 David Löhlein - Ilyane
A2 David Löhlein - Seyla
B1 David Löhlein - Muesca
B2 David Löhlein - Ritmo

Sales Note
- 2023 repress - More

Tracklisting:
A1 David Löhlein - Altai
A2 David Löhlein - Morava
B1 David Löhlein - Red Code
B2 David Löhlein - Six Nine

Release Note:
David Lohlein debuts Vision Ekstase with four groovy yet straight forward techno bangers.

DL code gives access to EP and a new track More

Tracklisting:
A1 David Löhlein - Altai (Rene Wise Remix)
A2 David Löhlein - Altai (Rove Ranger Gothic Remix)
B1 David Löhlein - Red Code (VIL Remix)
B2 David Löhlein - Red Code (Fabian Wegmeth Remix)

Release Note:
Stuttgart's David Lohlein has been involved in electronic music for a number of years and launched the Vision Ekstase event in his hometown of Stuttgart together with his friends before providing the inaugural release on the same titled label which picked up support from the likes of Ben Sims, Luke Slater, Efdemin and many more established names within the techno world. David now invites remixes from Mote-Evolver artist Rene Wise, Hayes producer VIL and Vision Ekstase residents Rove Ranger and Fabian Wegmeth. More

Nowadays when you talk about the new generation of techno producers and especially when you talk about "groove"... well, the name David Löhlein comes up. This new EP represents him in full effect! More