Even — nay, especially — Luddites will love Dominik Eulberg's unique brand of electronic music. Eulberg's a naturalist by trade and he brings his love of wildlife to his epic minimal-house anthems on Heimische Gefilde (“Native Habitat”). Before each cut on the album, you can hear Eulberg speak (in German) about the animal that inspired it. (Luckily for the non-German speakers in the audience, he often mimics that sound in the course of his mini-lecture.) Every so often it's a tad hard to hear the connection, but more often than not it's an easy analogue — the eagle owl of “Adler” is unmistakable from the moment that the melodic theme emerges, and to hear Eulberg coo like a bird, well… you just have to be there.

This isn't just a science class, though. Hardcore techno fans will find a lot to love in the expert edits that Eulberg crafts here. (Many of these tracks have previously been released in longer versions on vinyl.) “Gasthof ‘Zum satten Bass'” is a proven peak-time dance floor filler, “Der Buchdrucker” will serve as a nice cool-down for any slave to the treadmill and many more (“Der Hecht im Karpfenteich,” “Björn Borkenkäfer”) split the balance between… read more »