Skinnerbox

Anapol Skinnerbox

For those of us that were lucky enough to spend the once-in-a-lifetime summer of 2004 in Berlin's sun-drenched city parks, the following scene will no doubt still feel like it happened yesterday: Two guys with, well, bold haircuts load up the folding table they brought with them with – no, not the usual barbecue accessories – but a laptop, drum machine, and a time-honored Minimoog synthesizer. This unusual activity is then followed by a car battery-powered live session that instantly turns the grill and chill scene into a spontaneous summer rave. This wild, uninhibited mix of avant-jazz, funk, electronica, and disco beats becomes an insider's tip within the scene in record time, and a short while later, the "Two Men and a Minimoog" are rocking Berlin's hottest clubs like Ritter Butzke and Wilde Renate, together with loud-voiced support from the Bachstelzen party crew. After releases on TonKind, Neopren, and Bar25 Records, please give a standing ovation to the brand-new BPitch act: Skinnerbox! Skinnerbox's first BPitch 12" "Anapol" is the culmination of about seven years of performing experience. Iftah Gabbai and Olaf Hilgenfeld casually juggle colorful house, jazz, and funk elements like it's their second nature. And the metamorphosis from anarchistic improv chaos to form and structure in no way impinges on the level of energy in their music – in fact, just the opposite is the case, as the newly discovered sense of auditory space in the tracks allows them to significantly concentrate each track's power. The a-side opus "Purgatory Five," which is over ten minutes long, begins with a twisted, playful melodic figure which is then quickly overtaken by a calmly pulsating house beat and moody minimal melodies with sweeping harmonic series. Effect-laced vocals give the track unending atmospheric density The flipside starts off poppy, funky, and wonderfully light and airy with the instrumental title track "Anapol" – the Minimoog licks which were recorded live immediately br