Ada
Blondie

When it was released, this "Blondie," the first solo album by Michaela Dippel, was a pleasant surprise. The eclectic German DJ producer, better known by the pseudonym Ada, had already attracted attention with some outstanding releases in the deep/minimal/tech house arenas.

It’s club music, yes, but not exclusively: Blondie, released in 2004 on Areal Records, comes across as a work halfway between danceable electronics and the so-called "living room" electronics (our artist has also made a name for herself with several downtempo experiments), where elegance, vigor, and experimentation coexist without too much fuss. Add to that a dark/hypnotic undertone, which never hurts, and the presence of various dreamlike vocals, and it’s easy to appreciate!

From the opening "Eve," you can tell this lady definitely knows her stuff: acid synths, spatial atmospheres, and plastic grooves blend beautifully with the underlying soft mood, which we find in the psychedelic "Cool My Fire,” where between sparse rhythms, and ethereal vocal lines (which contrary to the trend of the "featuring or sampling" genre, are the responsibility of Michaela herself), it’s still the "soft" side of the latter that prevails. It won’t last long: with the triptych "The Red Shoes" (catchy and pounding), "Livedriver" (frenzied grooves and deft use of effects), "Our Love Never Dies" (an ode to the historic Roland 909 and 303, which wouldn’t look out of place on Daft Punk's Homework), the experimental and techno vein that brought the artist to the constant attention of industry insiders emerges. 

Noteworthy is "Who Pays The Bill”: the bpm slows down, Ada offers a kind of downtempo, with interesting ideas in the arrangement phase, just think of the typically techno rhythms, the gliding guitar (which once again mimics Daft Punk, this time from the "Discovery-era"), and not least the warm vintage leads that later come back forcefully on the electropop of "Maps,” which takes up a well-known song by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

There’s also room for electro-progressive echoes on "Les Danseuses,” (complete with synthetic strings, winking at the style brought to its pinnacle a few years ago by Dj Tomcraft), and for another cover, this time bringing none other than "Each And Everyone" by Everything But The Girl, here adapted into a convincing deephouse version!

A "pleasant surprise" indeed, and definitely worthy of a listen!