Label
Workshop Special 04.0
- A for-the-heads deep house classic reissued, remastered and reworked by Lowtec.
- In an interview about his record collection, Smallville founder Julius Steinhoff described his luckiest record find as Seidensticker's Scribbled. This is a serious endorsement from a guy who's been at the forefront of European deep house for the business half of two decades. But odds are that if you, like Steinhoff, like your house music dusty, Scribbled is already on your Discogs wantlist. Originally released in 2003 by André Seidensticker on Kuhn's Out to Lunch label, Scribbled was Seidensticker's magnum opus by default. The Cologne producer put out one other 12-inch on Out to Lunch, and has a few credits on compilations from around the early '00s—but he disappeared just about as quickly as he appeared. Now Lowtec returns to the original, stretching the double-sided LP across three vinyl discs of extended edits to reimagine a record that has long been the lore of old heads at the afters, pulling off the rare trick of actually adding to the legacy of a decades-old classic.
Scribbled is all about the art of the loop. Each of the tracks is built around simple snare and kick patterns, hazy chords and the occasional chopped vocal or melody, often from easily recognisable songs (Björk, Craig David). On their own, these building blocks aren't particularly noteworthy, but Seidensticker plays with a unique set of references. There's a hint of Detroit beatdown in the broken drums and vocal sigh of "04.2 B1," like the heat from a Mark Clark track turned from a rolling boil into a gentle simmer. Shades of disco coast through "04.2 A1" while the circus-like synth bobbling like a buoy lost in the surf on "04.1 B2" has some microhouse funk to it. The record, in other words, transcends time and space in its take on house music. Mood Hut could release the twangy, almost-country chords and keys duet "04.3 B2" and no one would bat an eye.
If there's a complaint to be made about the original, it's the brevity. As the title suggests (and the Discogs comments attest to), the original tracks have a sketch-like quality to them, most running under four minutes. Kuhn's major contribution is lengthening each track, letting the fuzzy details buried in Seidensticker's originals surface through sheer repetition. These extended runtimes change not just the length, but also the tenor. "04.1 B1" becomes slightly sinister when doubled in run time. On Kuhn's versions, the minor chord keys and syncopated snare conspire to craft a slight claustrophobia edge. Kuhn pushes the emotional dial the other direction on "04.3 A1." He pitches the vocal sample up into the mix and draws out the closing Italo-like synth solo, turning the melancholic introspection of the original into a hands-in-the-air anthem.
The other difference is the recording quality. Kuhn's kept the lethargic energy of the original, but removed the dust. While this doesn't change Scribbled's vibe, it does mean that a few of these tracks might conjure up some genuinely big moments. For nine minutes, the layered hand drums crest and trough across the stereo spectrum on "04.2 B2," while the modulating pads fill the remaining channels to create an immersive diorama of turn-of-the-millennium swingy funk.
Scribbled landed right as labels like Dial and Kompakt, and later Smallville, were leading a European deep house revival. But in this newest form, it's not a stretch to put Scribbled up there with transatlantic classics from that era as well, like Theo Parrish's Parallel Dimensions or even Moodyman's Forevernevermore, at least in spirit and style. Lowtec's remixed reissue, like those albums, finds that sweet spot in the pantheon of forever otherworldly deep and groovy luxury, which would sound great in 2003, 2024 and probably even 2045.
Tracklist04.1 A1 (Lowtec Extended Mix)
04.1 B1 (Lowtec Extended Mix)
04.1 B2 (Lowtec Extended Mix)
04.2 A1 (Lowtec Extended Mix)
04.2 B1 (Lowtec Extended Mix)
04.2 B2 (Lowtec Extended Mix)
04.3 A1 (Lowtec Extended Mix)
04.3 B1 (Lowtec Extended Mix)
04.3 B2 (Lowtec Extended Mix)