Kid Loco meets Soul Sugar – Kraft Dub Werk

When dub and dope beats entered into an open relationship in the mid-nineties and created a casual hybrid with trip hop, Jean-Yves Prieur aka Kid Loco was one of the first French people to be there. With singles like “She’s My Lover” and “Love Me Sweet” and the album A Grand Love Story, the producer proved himself to be a loverman indeed, with a knack for bedroom moods, charming little melodies and a comforting balance between minimalism and lush arrangements . He achieved higher honors in 1999 with a contribution to the influential “DJ Kicks” series. With the album Kill Your Darlings (2001), darker tones found their way into his musical erotica. He was followed by soundtrack work and other albums, most recently Born in the Sixties (Wagram), a psychedelic-nostalgic journey back in time to his own childhood, in which he didn’t shy away from cover versions (“Happy Together”).

As a keyboard all-rounder, Guillaume Méténier aka Soul Sugar has been featured on numerous Kid Loco productions for more than twenty years. From the synthesizer to the clavinet, from the Fender Rhodes to the Leslie organ, the “Funky Frenchman” is no stranger to any keyboard instrument. In fact, when his live and studio work allows it, he also works as road manager for organ idol Dr. Lonnie Smith. In contrast to Loco, who always remained Loco, Méténier scattered his entire work across a whole range of pseudonyms: He released singles ranging from funk, soul, jazz and rare groove on Lucien Entertainment, Maine Recordings, the Berlin HHV and his own Gee label Names like Booker Gee, Mr Gee, Gee Master and The Hunter. For releases on Freestyle Records, Mocambo, Sugar Shak and now Echo Beach, he chose the resounding name Soul Sugar, which well describes his contribution to each project: it provides the icing on the production cake. He has felt connected to Dub since his time as keyboardist for the French band Seven Dub.

When the rules of modern dance music were being written in New York in the mid-seventies, Kraftwerk were one of the few inspirations from divided Germany. Early DJ greats like Nicky Siano, Larry Levan and Afrika Bambaata incorporated “Metall auf Metall”, “Numbers” and “Trans Europa Express” into their sets, and the latter two songs appeared as (still unexplained) samples on Bambaata’s “Planet Rock” single. Numerous homages and cover versions followed in all possible genres, from techno to jazz to the Latinizations of Señor Coconut. Only Kraftwerk in Dub, something that hasn’t existed before on an album length.

The Hamburg label Echo Beach, which has already issued dub commissions for a number of pop and new wave classics, thought it was time to change that. Dub masters such as Rob Smith, Noiseshaper, Dubmatix, Paolo Baldini and many others remixed for the label. Songs by Martha & The Muffins, The Police, David Bowie, Grace Jones and Robert Palmer, among others. In order to honor the music of Florian Schneider, Ralf Hütter and their respective fellow Kraftwerkers with a dub set, they turned to Kid Loco, who has now established himself as a musical all-rounder, and who immediately invited his long-time accomplice Soul Sugar brought on board. The calculation really worked out.

With palpable enthusiasm, the musicians turned on the machines, especially the historical synthesizers, with which they began to reconstruct the sound elements of the Kraftwerk hits. No Kraftwerk original tracks or samples were used in the production. We hear smacking Moog basses, delicate loop particles, familiar melodies, and, as a tribute to Florian Schneider, who passed away in 2020, a transverse flute. It can be heard on “Ruckzuck” from the first Kraftwerk album, which still sounds like cosmic music. Otherwise, the song selection is limited to the early electronic years 1973 (“Autobahn”) to 1981 (“Computer Liebe” by Computerwelt), the period of Kraftwerk’s greatest influence on the music world from Bowie to basically every techno producer in the world. There are two versions each of “Trans-Europa-Express”, the (English) “Robots” and “Antenna” from the album Radioactivity. Also included is “Neon Lichter” from the album Die Mensch-Machine, but thankfully not “Das Model” again.

Between 1973 and 1981, Kraftwerk and Dub led parallel geographical and musical existences. The melting pot of New York discos was one of the few points of contact, but the consequences of this synergy effect can still be felt today. This is also the case in Kid Loco’s and Soul Sugar’s adaptations, which are characterized above all by great respect for the originals. The selected Kraftwerk melodies are short, concise and, despite the coldness often attributed to them: melancholic, downright wistful. And the basslines also lend themselves to being transformed into dub riddims with minimal rhythmic shifts in the drum tracks. Whatever is left of the power plant “cold” is swept away into a bubble bath of relaxed moods with the careful, atmospheric use of the outboard effects. See for yourself: Kraftwerk has never sounded so sexy.