Berghain 03 Part I

A Tony Lionni - Found a Place
B Radio Slave - Neverending.....

As a teaser for Len Faki's newest Berghain mix, the good folks at Ostgut Ton have paired two of the most prolific producers of recent vintage for an EP of exclusive tracks. On some level, Tony Lionni and Radio Slave couldn't sound more different. Lionni prefers the beautifully melodic, while Radio Slave seemingly has never heard a loop he didn't want to pound out for ten minutes or more. But listen closer and you'll hear that Lionni's trick is much the same: He just does it with a different set of tools.

Lionni's "Found a Place" rubs two loops up against one another for three minutes—one of disembodied vocals, the other a catchy piano. He fades out the piano loop halfway through, brings in another and then loops that for another two minutes while the vocals and a simple house beat pound away unawares. Needless to say, it's brilliant. Radio Slave's "Neverending..." is similarly striking, but focuses its sights on—per usual—the hypnotic power of one loop stretched out into infinity. At nearly 12 minutes, it's almost criminal that this man can hold your attention with a tiny descending bassline and the sound of a steampipe being hit with a velvet hammer. But that's exactly what he does. Two masters of minimalism in one place? Count me in.