Booka Shade

A lot has been made of Berlin’s Get Physical label since its inception in 2002. Its main roster of talent — DJ T and the production duos of M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade — have been credited with inspiring the surge of electro house that helped push club music back out of its revisionist fetish. And although the imprint has issued several albums to date, their reputation still largely rides on an enviable crate of 12-inch singles. All that may be changing with Booka Shade’s second album, Movements. Here, Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier have crafted a full-length album that deftly transcends the expected trappings suffered by numerous other DJ/producers. The duo make no overreaching stake at personality, nor do they include arch guest vocal spots. From leisurely Italo-paced opening tracks like "Body Language (Interpretation)” to the jacked house crescendo of mid-album highlights like "Darko” to the noir electro leanings of "Take a Ride,” Booka Shade use their hour to reshape a genre largely of their own invention. Movements is a subtle monster of an album, one that sounds better with each listen and also one that has just set a high watermark for others to match.