Ellen Allien - Just A Woman

Ellen Allien, "Just A Woman" (YSI link)

Ellen Allien, "Just A Woman (Audion version)" (YSI link)

After a night at the Dirtybird monthly, it seemed appropriate to put up some tech-house music that would have fit perfectly at this amazing party at APT. Plus, it ties in perfectly with our focus on female artists, making this a multi-layered post. Yeah!

Ellen Allien is one of the biggest and best names in techno music, an OG legend who has been DJing since the early 90s, holding down residencies in her native Berlin at legendary spots like Tresor, The Bunker and E-Werk. She started B Pitch Recordings, has released a few highly acclaimed albums of her own and did one of the most recent mixes for the Fabric series.

Just A Man/Just A Woman is a 12" release, bringing together two of the biggest names in the game, Allien and Audion, a.k.a. Matthew Dear. Released on Ghostly International's Spectral Sound imprint late last year, each artist came with an original track which the other would remix. 4 tracks, no muss, no fuss. I've put up the B side, "Just A Woman," Ellen Allien's original. I go back and forth on this one, sometimes I really enjoy the song, other times I feel like it's missing something, like it was just not quite ready for prime time. Part of the problem is that I'm used to more maximalist stuff, whereas this one comes in on the minimal end of things. It features a simple, repeating drum pattern that sorta lays down a bed for the synth that comes in later. The synth is the key, as it can either seem really catchy or too restrained, curious to hear what others think. The Audion remix is more to my liking, a percussive burner that has slow build until about the halfway point when it lets loose. The pace becomes intense and you are a long way from the minimal Allien original.

We'll definitely take a look at both of these artists more in the future. For now, I highly recommend copping the 12" or the iTunes mp3s, as "Just A Man" is excellent.