Being socialized in the GDR himself Dunkeltier (German for dark beast) aka SneakerDJ delivers a recording of two and a half hours of German (+ Austrian & Swiss) synth music from the early 80s commonly dubbed as NDW (the commercial tag) and from the Kassettentäterszene (underground tape scene). [edit: a song with English vocals and a classic one by Absolute Body Control sneaked in] The mix was recorded for eternity at the small community-run venue Pracht in the wilderness of East Germany we know as Leipzig.


An interview is passed down from back then:

Q: This is a mix of mostly music with German vocals. What is your personal connection to electronic music with German lyrics and what do you think adds the language to the music to make it specific?

Sneaker: Although everybody is allowed to play any music (free minds at least) German vocals give me an identity. Often these artists refer to a feeling apparent in the German society at its time that I can reenact inside myself and certainly relate to (you should see me dumbly gaping at Cuban musicians last month). Although I am also – in heavy contrast – into house music with my main alias Sneaker, we can play and love this music. But we do not entirely feel the Ghetto House from Chicago or the Wild Pitch Sound of the Paradise Garage. Not talking of more Gospel and black and Latin community influenced sub-genres (yes, I am digging and collecting all of that).

And on your second question – I don’t know if it’s the language, but the German vocals and lyrics were expressive to all edgy directions one could imagine. Often closer to performance art than music, they just let loose! To me – and I really like to state that in capitals – THE UNDERGROUND NDW WAS THE LATER MUSICAL PENDANT TO THE 20s GERMAN DADA ART MOVEMENT. I’d really argue hard if someone disagrees. Just like Dada the tape kids were fed up with authorities and the older generation (compare first world war monarchies and the Thatcher / Reagan cold war!). So instead of direct rebellion (’68 student movement being just a fart in history) both went into denying any logic and sense in order to reject false and pathetic ideology and by this becoming immune against these and “their devils”! At least at home and in an edition of 20 or so tapes. This no-sense layer was most obvious in the lyrics (besides dilettante musical structures): Lyrics – willfully German – against Big Brother America. Their parents embraced the occupying forces and their “Coca-Cola & Elvis” – partly (the older) in some false moral in an effort to forget the collective guilt of the 3rd Reich – partly (the younger) in blind hedonism of the Wirtschaftswunder. Us – however – are the detached internet generation (we are not NDW) looking for nostalgia to feel more real than everyday’s virtual “life in our laptop office”.

I could unfurl an extra theory on the East German scene (my childhood), but as I might bore you this is best covered already in the book “Wir wollen immer artig sein!” (only in German language). The book is mainly covering the punk scene, but also the tiny bits of high quality low key electronic DIY music in the socialist G.D.R..”

“Wir wollen immer artig sein!” on Amazon
Deutschlandfunk on “Wir wollen immer artig sein!” (German language)

Q: There is a lot of this German music still to be discovered that was recorded and is stored on tapes. You are quite into the German 80s synth/wave tape scene, why do you think there was such a big tape movement in that era?

Sneaker: Honestly I’d have to guess and we’d better ask a witness and activist of that time like Felix Kubin. There is a great podcast (2 parts + lyrics) made by him for a Spanish (!) museum explaining in detail the Kassettentäterszene.”

http://rwm.macba.cat/en/felix_kubin_tag/

Q: In Austria it is really hard to find tape recordings of bands that focussed on synth music. We recently discovered the Poligam material that will be out on a 2×12’’ album soon where you also contributed a remix. How can the Poligam material and the Austrian scene of the early 80s in general be compared with the German scene?

Sneaker: I’d judge that Austria was smaller only in terms of quantity due to the size of the country. And maybe you can tell me if my observation is right – that the Austrian scene was more gravitating around Vienna? In Germany it was a remarkably decentralized scene. Not only we had several higher concentrations such as in Berlin (not as dominant as you might think), the scattered Ruhrgebiet and Hamburg – you also had numerous DIY projects from the attics of small towns and villages (like “The Gotling” we remastered last year for a reissue on Mond Musik). Despite a minor, loose network people hardly gathered for festivals nor did they combine forces (equipment, exchange of knowledge and label infrastructure). So the quality remained the same charming naive approach like anywhere else in the 80s tape scene (so actually there was no vigor scene!). It was more likely to become a pro for these chaps than growing into a full-blown youth culture – what never happened!

Q: Do you think it is a good thing to make almost forgotten musical material like this accessible for a bigger audience again? In times of rising vinyl reissue numbers this is a quite controversial topic.

Sneaker: “Anything goes!” in the first place. And “Whatever works!” in the second. I like old music and it is essential to me as my direct source of creativity. For samples, edits, pattern and arrangement structures, mix balance, even mastering – all is inspired and competes with the iconic history. I wanna have it accessible. So when it comes to edits I am grateful for any CD-reissue and hi-res download. Only the best! Remastering is a different topic and more controversial to me. To sum up – myself doesn’t want to convince anybody else to like or need old music. “Live and let live!”

Q: You already contributed a widely lauded podcast on Soviet synth for the 716LaVie Mix series – now it’s NDW and German synth from tapes. – What does it mean to you to record genre-themed mixes?

Sneaker: When I compare my variety of genres – laid out from one mix to the next, entirely different one rather than in one eclectic mix – I only see a comparable theme-based scheme with classic radio DJs. And podcasts are in this tradition. However I also play like that in clubs (this NDW mix was recorded at Pracht, Leipzig during a club night). At Dr. Seltsam in Leipzig I have regular nights with Saša Sora. A year ago we played one night of NY & gay house. Then – never again. Another night we ping-pong cosmic (him) and wave (me) for hours. Then again I might play acid and techno all-night. You can’t pin me down, so “what it means” you ask? … It means freedom and the Forrest Gump metaphor of “You never know!” what to expect tonight!

All this diversity is still handled with a sense for a musical flow and for example garage house you will only truly feel after a good set of a few hours (preferably in the right setting). It’s not a genre to drop for one track. Also NDW often fails when I try to integrate it in between techno and wave (they instead go well together in the hands of a knowledgeable DJ). NDW is a gritty beast – tempos from 80 to 200 bpm, full stops and track lengths of 1:30 min, plenty of harmonic changes, cacophonic climaxes … with NDW you better assemble a DJ set one by one rather curating the flow by a proper selection (in a balance of steadiness and dynamics of moods and speeds). … just as I tried with my mix here. Still my style is classic. If you wanna listen to masterfully assembled NDW madness … experimental, daring and out there as if the newbie-horrifying tag ‘beat-matching’ never existed … one should listen to a German synth set by Ober Mannkind!

www.felixkubin.com
https://soundcloud.com/obermannkind

We announce
Euromatic Tales – a bi-monthly show for distorted, yet witty minds!

We embrace the multi-cultural heritage of the global dance music scene. From cosmic to US disco. From new beat to Chicago house.
Euromatic Tales is a German, Italian, Greek & Georgian co-production.
We don’t pre-record. The show will have feature guests. We are serious about the fun: To our ears a set is not hysterical entertainment, but conveys a curated narrative.

If you wonder why The Sneaker goes down the reggae tip you might listen closely to the first half an hour where I felt reminded of Italo Disco synth hooks and – in the mid of the mix – digital house from the 80s (cheap samples, samplers and Casio keyboards).

Euro doesn’t mean Eurocentric – rather the concious (and necessarily) “European view on”.
In this case on Jamaica. Interestingly most of the dub-infused German-lyric examples in the latter part of the 2h-show predate the digital dancehall “version”s from Jamaica. So the narrative ain’t that simple as “political correct” predators wish for.

Or as I put it in an interview with my label Uncanny Valley:

You produce and mix music from all over the world and with various cultural backgrounds. How do you approach it and what effect does it have on your own identity?

The approach is: everything goes! I look everywhere. I judge only the music. The aim is to create intensity by any means.
Yes, we had this topic … When the genre police comes or people tell me it’s politically incorrect I remember them and myself that it’s art – abstract or fiction. And art should be free! Art doesn’t harm – stupidity does.

I strongly believe in the concept of synthesis. There is nothing original to me. Everything has evolved from inspiration plus open creativity. Rearranged. Sample. Edit. Finally and after many generations the traces might not even be suspected. They are inherent and evident in full effect, but beyond … they don’t necessarily need to matter as a quoted knowledge to shape the future.

My music doesn’t have an influence on my identity. However the other way around my music is rather an expression of my existing identity. But other people’s music shape my identity. So leaving my foot print in this world may effect others, too. And thereby I see myself as stirring the cosmic pot.

All vinyl!
Enjoy!

Line-up:
GOTT (Scannoir & Sneaker)
Jenne

Reach Another System crew consists of
Niklas Wille, Klingberg & Jenne

Tune in here:
https://www.intergalactic.fm/channels/neon

Reach Another System is
Niklas Wille, Klingberg & Jenne

Memory Screen is hosted by Joshua Cordova
Past shows can be streamed here (top right button on their radio station web site): https://www.mutantradio.net/residents/joshua

This mix for Memory Screen was recorded at the legendary ‘Hot On The Heels’ night at the California Clipper. Shortly after Halloween 2024, the enigmatic Dunkeltier played the monthly, mid-week night started nearly 20 years ago and hosted by Beau Wanzer. In his 2.5 hour set, Dunkeltier brought the hyper-local Neue Deutsche Welle (the commercial tag) and Kassettentäter (DIY tape scene) sounds to Chicago exposing party goers to what he considers “THE LATER MUSICAL PENDANT TO THE 20s GERMAN DADA ART MOVEMENT”.

For those curious about the cultural background of the scenes behind the mix, here is an interview with the Dunkeltier for Discus Throwers (Wiener Brut):
https://sneakerdj.com/discus-mix-20-dunkeltierndwgerman-synth-special/

An ephemeral moment in fleeting time with family to gather together, reflect, dance, sing, cry, pray, and celebrate this thing we call life.

DEKNITIANS that night were:
TRAXX [Nation/Dirty Blends/L.I.E.S./Dark Entries///CHICAGO]
SNEAKER DJ aka DUNKELTIER [Black Lodge/Uncanny Valley/RatLife/Frigio/Macadam Mambo///DRESDEN/BERLIN]
ROBERT RUBYCON [Rubycon///LA]
KOSMIK [Black Lodge///LA]
GAY FELONY – vizual alkemist

The mix was recorded for the Needsome radio show and was aired only once on Radio Dreyeckland, Freiburg/Germany.

The session is showcasing curation and craftsmanship that was developed on the fly without sync buttons or a defined order. The selection follows a pattern of progressive music – the majority from the 90s, from Detroit and all Western Europe. A vivid mental image of what Sneaker would have envisioned as the retro trend for 2024 unlike all that generic, shallow trance and gabba.

I had and even to this day have the feeling that my fellows in the radio studio didn’t realise what they were witnessing. Despite my usual uncommon selections from a background of 30 years of digging, I played the obvious – even classics (you’ll be surprised). These are – nevertheless – unknown to the unknown.

I blended these tunes with dirty friction – cause I dare to play 3 decks. Harmonic mixing – cause I am not deaf unlike most DJs. If you are a selector (LOL) jerking off on your rotary – let me tell you straight to your face: you are lacking skilltalentandinspiration to add MUSICALITY. Cause yours is no art … cause it lacks artistry!

The mix was recorded after our one-off Bionda e Lupo live concert on occasion of the best NDW album of the past 25 years – La Deutsche Vita.
https://biondaelupo.bandcamp.com/
For my closing set I took over from Riccardi Schola, who graced our premiere by playing Tränen In Der Nacht four times that night. – According to him due to the fact that he was confused by the 4 sides of the new record and not at all due to the Spritz he was enjoying with relish throughout the night.
BTW Riccardi’s very own and second solo EP will be out soon on a private press 7″ sparkling with two Italo songs.
My selection I played from vinyl however is all over Europe and Canada. – Although … I can sense a certain French touch of mid 80′s synth pop before I shift the energy to my obscure Neue Deutsche Welle edits.
I remember the elevating feeling to see one of my favorite DJ’s Cid Hohner, dancing with his unmatched smile on his face during the last 30 minutes of this night.

Message to those who follow in our wake:
DON’T FALL FOR THE LATEST TREND! You’d actively destroy culture! BE WHAT YOU ARE – HUMAN! Not a generic bot!

Big thanks to the guys at the Sound Metaphors record shop for this opportunity to share the fun!

Sneaker DJ – The Disco Train 4 Berlin Ear Guard Radio Show

Playlist:

01. Akoya Afrobeat – Oluya (0)
02. Donna Summer – Love to love you baby (1)
03. Frontline Orchestra – Don’t turn your back (2:30)
04. Roy Davis Jr – Michael (edited) (4:30)
05. Ann Margret – Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime (edited) (8)
06. Chilly – For Your Love And For Your Love (edited) (12)
07. Aphrohead – Mornin’ in Mexico (edited) (19)
08. Vincent Montana – Esto Parese Amor (Club mix) + DJ Sneak – Feels Good (23)
09. Dunkeltier – Disco Train (edit) (24:40)
+ Terrence Parker – Your Love + Taxi C.A.B. – Chunk-A-Nova (27)
10. Terrence Parker – Your Love (28:30)
11. Savannah Band – Cherchez la femme (34)
12. Cristina – Drive My Car (edited & looped) (37)
13. Gene Farris – Hey Baby (40)
14. Neil Landstrumm – Field preaching (47)