Klaus Johann Grobe - Spagat der Liebe (2016)

RIYL: Moon Duo, Temples, Neu!, Marcos Valle, Todd Terje, Klaus Dinger. Klaus Johann Grobe continue to avoid easy classification with "Spagat der Liebe", the follow-up to their mind-scrambling 2013 debut album "Im Sinne der Zeit". The sinister, late-night grooves present of their debut have been tempered a bit, in favor of somewhat sunnier dispositions, calling to mind an ecstatic party somewhere in sunny Ibiza. Tunes like album opener "Ein Guter Tag" & first single "Wo Sind" feel like a warm up, preparing the listener for the four-on-the-floor propulsion of "Rosen des Abschieds" - a song tailor-made to sweat to. Elsewhere the fragile "Heut Abend nur" ("Tonight Only") & the synth-tickled "Ohne Mich" - which is closest the band has come to an honest to goodness pop tune - guides the listener by the hand towards floor fillers like "Geschichten aus erster Hand" and the absolutely DEVASTATING groove of "Liebe am Strand", which is anchored by a rubbery bass groove & a killer flute solo that takes it over the event horizon.