05 Holy Garage - Surprise (LoSoul Remix) by Running Back Records published on 2023-05-30T07:31:43Z https://runningbackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/surprise Big things have small beginnings. Playhouse 001 was such a emergence. Founded as a subsidiary to Klang Elektronik in 1995 by Heiko M/S/O and Ata to give their everlasting love for and influence of original US-American house music a home, a single-sided 12-inch pressed with two tracks and a simple pink label and no additional info was all that one could see or hear. Some copies featured a hand-written claim with silver marker that gave the catalogue number away, but not much else. Mystery triggers interest. One of the oldest parlor tricks in the music industry – and a working one. But you also have to have the content to back it up. Holy Garage’s Surprise fulfills that demand. The spark that started the fire is a joint venture of Roman Flügel and Jörn-Elling Wuttke alias Acid Jesus with Heiko and Ata joining the recording session as vibe controllers. Taking place during a hot summer day in Wuttke’s grandparents’ garage (hence the name) in a small town between Frankfurt and Darmstadt, and only interrupted by trips to the local swimming-pool, the results still sound magical. In its main mix, Surprise is a classic early nineties house track that heavily nods towards the Big Apple, house music’s disco roots and the power of swinging drum programming, albeit with meticulous production work and engineering. In short, it sounded and sounds as un-German as Germans can. The Holy Bassline Mix on the other hand is already in the shape of things to come. Carried by a Roland TB-303, sprinkled with trance bits and elegiac pads, its in perfect balance. Others thought so as well. Heavily supported by David Holmes and Andrew Weatherall, it was the manager of the latter who licensed it to Eye-Q Records UK with the addition of the Fake Jazz Mix and ordered remixes by freshmen Isoleé and Losoul who became pillars of Playhouse. The first known for his idiosyncratic and sculptural ways of creating dance music meets the irresistible funk of his peer and both add spice to the already great menu. Here you have the chance to listen and digest Surprise in all its glory and entirety for the first time. Carefully remastered and processed by Lopazz and packaged by Running Back. Remember the good times and get some more. Liner notes by Gerd Janson