WHIRLPOOL PRODUCTIONS Schallplatten & CDs

Review: For the latest volume in Running Back's 'Double Copy' reissue series, label chief Gerd Janson takes us back to 1993 and the debut single from Justus Koehnke's Whirlpool productions collective - a double A-side affair inspired by contemporaneous house sounds from NYC and NJ. On the A you get three takes of the Mel Terme-voiced 'Fli Hi' - the classy garage-house vibes of the crew's original mix, their Tony Humphries-inspired 'Zanzibar Mix' (arguably even better than the main mix) and a darker, chunkier and more percussive rework by then Strictly Rhythm star George Morel. Over on the flip, we get the breezier, piano-powered, Victor Simonelli-esque 'Gimme (Original Mix)', the band's own acid-powered, dancefloor dub style 'Gimme Shelter Mix' and a superb new breakbeat-driven take by long-time fan David Moufang AKA Move D.

Review: During the late '90s and early 2000s, Whirlpool Productions - a Cologne-based outfit whose members included exiled Californian Eric D Clark and future Kompakt regular Justus Kohncke - delivered a string of killer 12" singles that blurred the boundaries between micro-house, deep house, disco and Italo. Their greatest dancefloor hit was undoubtedly 1996's 'From Disco To Disco', a freewheeling affair that featured improvised vocals and electric piano motifs over a throbbing, Italo-disco style bassline and sturdy house beats. This timely reissue pairs a remastered version of the band's original mix with a later Tiefschwarz remix that's more druggy, undeniably heavier and laden with additional pots-and-pans percussion. It's a fine rework that compliments the untouchable original mix.