- The so-called "Berlin sound" can mean a few different things. For some, it refers to the bouncing tech house and melancholic vocals associated with clubs like Bar 25 and Watergate. For others, it's the pulverising techno DJs like Kobosil and Boris play on Sunday evenings at Berghain. Until a few years ago, it also meant something more subtle: deep and dubby techno deployed at relatively low tempos, best captured on Marcel Dettmann's era-defining mix CD, Berghain 02. But as techno's popularity, and intensity, has grown, this delicate sound feels like a relic, replaced by booming sets of the globe-trotting DJs it inspired. Efdemin's Naïf is 79 minutes of hypnotism perfect for anyone who misses those formative years.
Made up of 29 new tracks, Naïf follows mixes from artists like Steffi and Will Saul by exclusively drawing from unreleased music from friends and associates. A few of the artists featured—Margaret Dygas, tobias.—helped shape the early Berghain sound, which Efdemin still pushes through his residency there. Dygas's "Fony" provides momentary respite from the tunneling groove in the middle section, while "Keep Me Insane" is tobias., a longtime Efdemin collaborator, at his clubbiest, gazing at the stars with a bubbling synth and thumping beat.
Testament to Efdemin's soft touch, Naïf's flow is smooth and steady, building up and down slowly without any disruptions in mood. The dubby haze that cloaks the mix adds to the cohesive sound, as the energy ebbs and flows with smooth chords and modulating basslines. "Sirius," one of several tracks Efdemin has produced or coproduced here, is another highlight, combining with the brain-scrambling bassline of Marco Shuttle's "Onda Anomala" for the trippiest moment, capturing its rolling momentum with a seamless transition and spacey effects. Most of the tracks are without claps, amplifying Naïf's hypnotic effect.
At 29 tracks long, the mix packs in more tracks than most. But rather than chop between moods and styles like, say, Objekt's 36-track Kern Vol. 3, Efdemin opts for patience. There are flashes of intensity, like the sharp acid of Gunnar Haslam's "Neuromantic" or the churning low-end of Patrik Skoog's "Drake Equation," but even these moments feel restrained, never messing with the set's introspective mood. As techno embraces high-impact styles like EBM and electro, it's nice to know there's at least one veteran Berlin artist keeping it deep.
Tracklist01. Autolyse - Tag Drei
02. Phillip Sollmann - Aliasing Bells
03. Sollmann / Gürtler - Watte (Efdemin Version)
04. WaWuWe - Beams
05. Efdemin - Sirius
06. Marco Shuttle - Onda Anomala
07. Jeroen Search - Modus Luminatione
08. Kuf - Untitled
09. Staffan Linzatti - Gas
10. Cassegrain - Future D'Argent
11. DIN - Glide
12. Pharaoh - Donald
13. Pom Pom - Untitled
14. Efdemin / Konrad Sprenger - Laveline
15. Margaret Dygas - Fony
16. Rhyw - Not Now, Not Yet
17. Gunnar Haslam - Neuromantic
18. Savas Pascalidis - 1Q84
19. Patrik Skoog - Drake Equation
20. Inland - Sherpa
21. Jinge - Kation
22. tobias. - Keep Me Insane
23. Nihad Tule - Lean Forward
24. Steve Bicknell - Running Man
25. Efdemin - Move Your Head
26. DIN - Akustikkoppler
27. Efdemin - Palindrome
28. Aubrey / Simone Gatto - Groove 1996
29. Efdemin - Love