Batterie

Label, projects and alter ego.

Energie Du Verre is the latest project of musician and producer Soenke Duewer aka Batterie Du Verre on his own lable Batterie, founded in the beginning of 2008. February saw the release of catalogue number 001: Ensemble Du Verre - "Sanctuary For Animals", immediately awarded with the German Critic's Poll. Now and parallely with the remix EP of "Sanctuary For Animals", the Energie Du Verre download and vinyl album "United Ancestors" is being released.

To avoid further confusion here a brief description of the three different existences of Du Verre:

1) ENSEMBLE Du Verre is his jazz project, founded in 2003, performing live - until today - with trumpet, double bass, drums and computer.
2) BATTERIE Du Verre is the pseudonym used by Soenke Duewer relating to his activities as a producer.
3) ENERGIE Du Verre is the latest alter ego of Soenke Duewer, an up to now club orientated project, in which he performs as a DJ in clubs aswell as with changing live setups on stage.

Work

"United Ancestors" is the title describing an album, on which 100 years of western music history can be heard in phrases, quotations and bits and pieces. This may sound as if the listener has to finish his masters in music science to transcend the album, but that is not the case at all. The natural way of making music combines all used essences, and that's not a few of them, into a new and grooving mixture.

It's certainly not neccessary to list all the styles this record contains, because none of them is clearly recognizable. Despite this fact - and maybe just because of it - "United Ancestors" has a very authentic and straight forward sound.

The united ancestors meet in 13 sessions, exchanging their experiences. Du Verre serves as medium and mastermind and expresses himself to his fellow musicians, most of them part of his Enseble Du Verre. Sometimes old school, sometimes new school, the music is constantly coherent by his use of driving beats, funk and jazz. Du Verre claims to be a jazz purist, because according to him the oldest and all including aspect of jazz is it's perpetual evolution. He strictly holds on to this in his work.

To iluminate the multi layer concept of the single tracks, here a short description of the title track "United Ancestors".

Two drummers can be heard, on the right side a regular, impulsive swing drum and on the left a hi-hat in the traditional style, an idea Miles Davis worked with already in 1969. The double bass plays a line with an african feel, taken from the jazz of the 60's. The Fender Rhodes plays some spheric sounds remeniscing psychedelic moments of the 70's. The 8 bar harmonic progression associates John Coltrane's "Impressions" or Miles Davis' "So What". All this is underlined by a four-on-the-floor bass drum, accompanied by brizzs and pitzs sounding like the pruducts of one or the other electro producer's state of mind.

Actually the work on this project began in 2005, when Du Verre was touring with the Mojo Club presenting his first computer based dancefloor tracks.

"Jitterbug", on which Ensemble Du Verre singer Ute Lorenzen can be heard in definite 40's style, was the first track released on various compilations aswell as amongst three other pieces on vinyl. "Rockin' Habanera" was released on the new Jazz & Milk Breaks and in a special Mojo Mood version in the Mojo compilation Nr. 13 - "If You Want My Love", which came out in February 2008.

The "Spiegel" magazin has just licenced this track for the sampler "Kultur Kantine"

Motivated by this success Du Verre progresses with new ENERGIE.

Friday, April 30th - Hamburg / Grünspan

Mojo Club feat. Energie Du Verre

With twelve tracks from a total of seven albums and EPs, Batterie’s “Kollektion 2010” is an aural showcase of the label’s oeuvre so far. It features tracks that had been published in the last two years since the creation of the Hamburg-based label.

Listen:

From "Versions, Vibes & Remixes" - "The Big Wobble"

From "United Ancestors" - "Rockin‘ Habanera"

What the DJs says:

An outstanding collection of well picked jazz pearls through the vaults of Batterie.
>From lazy sunday tunes over passionate jazz tracks to the rhythm manifest of a drummer, a must have!
Renegades Of Jazz (Wass Records)

Yeah a great selection of laid back lovelies and upbeat jazzers - big Batterie brilliance!! - Diesler

"From the airy Singer/Songwriter project "Eden" to the deep electrified dub of "Groove Galaxi" and the experimental electronic jazz grooves of "Ensemble Du Verre" Batterie Kollektion showcases the variety of the label and the state of the art of nowadays jazz production. One for the heads, head nodders and laidback listeners. Recommended!" - Original Jazzrockers / Mojo Club.

" Versions, Vibes & Remixes”

13 month after the release of the debut album, it is now followed by the “Versions, Vibes & Remixes” EP on Batterie. 4 brand new tunes, 3 versions and 2 remixes add up to 9 fresh new tracks by Energie Du Verre. Some focus on the dance floor, others more on jazz. Some lean towards funk and some towards electro. Energie Du Verre’s music refuses to be pigeonholed. Instead, it invites the listener to dive head first into a musical microcosm. Du Verre and his two remixers proof just how diverse today’s club music scene is.

This year, Du Verre has already drummed “The Big Wobble” at the Mojo Club.
New Orleans Jazz, funk and a dash of jazzy spices are cooked up with some cranky shellac-samples and piano licks. Feet start to move and legs begin to shake immediately.

A newcomer to the Batterie-Universe is vibraphone-player Rupert Stamm. He is adding a new multi-facetted colour to the musical spectrum on “Cinema Oriental”. “Rockin’ Habanera” (the original on “United Ancestors” was highly praised by Mr. Scruff) adds another link to the orient. Tunes like “French Jive”, Méthode De Batterie” or “Cha Cha Bounce” bear witness to a profound and loving attention to the tiniest of details. Timo Weiner’s remix of the debut’s title track “United Ancestors” brings things to a close and let’s us experience a love-match of recent electronic and jazz elements.

Drawing a comparison to other musical projects is not an easy task to do. Just a hint: If originality would roll, Energie Du Verre would have to hit the brakes while driving uphill.

01 The Big Wobble
02 Méthode De Batterie (Rock My Soul Version)
03 Cinema Oriental (Virtuos Vibes Version)
04 French Jive (Deep Moog Version)
05 20th Century (Rupert&Mennert Raamix)
06 Cha Cha Bounce
07 Rockin`Habanera (Shadows Of Istanbul Version)
08 There Is A Soul In My Organ
09 United Ancestors (Timo Weiner Remix)