The A Transatlantic Love Affair playlist, a selection of 90s techno and house collaborations from German and US producers, was curated by Heiko Hoffmann. For more context on this playlist, read his article here.
You'll find his annotations to each track as well as a link to the entire playlist below.
Kraftwerk – Tour De France (Francois Kevorkian Remix) (1983)
A couple of years before house and techno emerged from Chicago and Detroit, this remix (the first ever commissioned by Kraftwerk) from France-born New York DJ and remixer Francois Kevorkian is one of the earliest examples of transatlantic collaborations in electronic dance music (another is Giorgio Moroder’s groundbreaking 1977 production of I Feel Love with Donna Summer).
X-101 – Sonic Destroyer
This track from Underground Resistance’s project X-101 was the first release on Berlin’s Tresor records, which followed only a couple months after the new techno club’s opening in 1991. Tresor’s Dimitri Hegemann and Carola Stoiber invited the Detroit group, consisting at the time of Mike Banks, Jeff Mills, and Robert Hood, to their first Berlin gig shortly after.
3MB feat. Magic Juan Atkins - Jazz Is The Teacher (1992)
The three artists working together here already had a long history of making music. Thomas Fehlmann and Moritz von Oswald were members of the German post punk band Palais Schaumburg, while Juan Atkins started out in electro duo Cybotron before producing what is considered the first techno track: Model 500’s No UFO’s from 1985. This 3MB collaboration is an early example of the close ties between the techno cities of Detroit and Berlin.
Yello - Bostich (Reese Uptempo Remix) (1992)
Swiss duo Yello’s early ‘80s singles, among them Bostich, were almost as popular on the dance floors of Detroit’s high school party scene—an important incubator of the city’s techno scene—as Kraftwerk’s. Here, founding Detroit techno producer Kevin Saunderson pays respect to Yello with this remix under his Reese alias.
Jam & Spoon - Stella (Barracuda Remix) (1992)
Jam & Spoon were a Frankfurt-based duo started by popular DJ Mark Spoon. Their track, Stella, became an early trance hit that’s still considered one of the genre’s classics today. For this remix, they worked with New York producer Moby.
Maurizio - Domina (Carl Craig Mix) (1993)
Along with club/label Tresor, Mark Ernestus’s record store, Hard Wax, has been a pillar of Berlin’s techno scene for three decades and was instrumental in establishing relationships with pioneering Detroit producers. His projects with Moritz von Oswald had close ties with the Detroit scene, as we can hear in this remix by Detroit producer Carl Craig. Domina is a remix of an ‘80s one-off music project by renowned Berlin fashion designer Claudia Skoda.
Hardfloor - Into The Nature (Plastikman Remix) (1994)
This was one of Richie Hawtin’s first remixes under his Plastikman alias (misspelled Plastic Man when it was originally released). Hawtin lived just across the border from Detroit in Windsor/Canada. Hardfloor were a German Acid-Techno duo whose productions were hugely popular at the time.
DJ Hell - Allerseelen (Jeff Mills Remix) (1994)
After his time with Underground Resistance, Jeff Mills started a solo career still active today. Munich-based DJ Hell asked Jeff Mills for one of his first remixes. A few years later, Hell started the popular label International Deejay Gigolo, on which he also released many records by Detroit acts, including Dopplereffekt and Anthony “Shake” Shakir.
Round One - I’m Your Brother (Chicago’s Twisted Mix) (1994)
Another production by Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald, this time from their house music imprint, Main Street. For their first release under their Round moniker, they teamed up with Chicago producers Chez Damier and Ron Trent for a remix, both of whom are still as productive and relevant almost 30 years later.
Pete Namlook with Bill Laswell and Klaus Schulze - Psychedelic Brunch (1996)
Peter Kuhlmann, aka Pete Namlook, was a Frankfurt-based producer whose contribution to the electronic music scene has been largely overlooked. He released hundreds of mostly ambient albums on his record label FAX, many of the collaborations with US bassist and producer Bill Laswell, as well as Klaus Schulze, an electronic music pioneer from the ‘70s Berlin scene. His memorable collaboration with Richie Hawtin, From Within, is not available on Spotify.
DJ Sneak - Keep on Groovin (Ian Pooley Remix) (1997)
Mainz-based DJ and producer Ian Pooley was one of the few German house producers in the ‘90s that was respected by the US house scene. Pooley collaborated with many Chicago and Detroit producers—including Robert Hood, Green Velvet, and DJ Sneak—frequently asking them for remixes of his productions or vice versa.
Blaze - Lovelee Dae (Eight Miles High Remix) (1998)
Frankfurt label Playhouse released this classic from respected New Jersey duo Blaze. The soulful deep house track was remixed by label co-owner Roman Flügel under his Eight Miles High alias.
Infiniti feat Juan Atkins - Never Tempt Substance (1999)
After his EP with 3MB, Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins continued his collaborations with the Berlin scene. He started his Borderland project with Moritz von Oswald, and on this release under his Infiniti project, he is remixed by Hard Wax mainstay DJ Pete, aka Substance.
Drexciya - Habitat ‘O’ Negative (1999)
Drexciya were a Detroit electro duo who developed a nautical afrofuturist myth around their releases. Starting out on Underground Resistance, they later released a number of albums on Berlin’s Tresor label. This track is from their debut album, Neptune’s Lair.
Kraftwerk - Expo 2000 (DJ Rolando Remix) (1999)
Even though Expo 2000 is 23 years old, it remains one of the most recent, original recordings from Kraftwerk, who have been more active touring and releasing reissues than creating new music. On their remix package for the track, they payed tribute to their proximity to the Detroit scene with this version from UR’s DJ Rolando (and again Francois K).
Carl Craig - The Climax (Basic Reshape) (2001)
This remix from Basic Channel, aka Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald, was their last joint production under the name. After Carl Craig remixed Maurizo with Domina, the Basic Channel duo returned the favor on Craig’s seminal track, The Climax.
Ellen Allien - Call Me (K Hand Remix) (2017)
Ellen Allien and Kelli Hand were two of the few female protagonists of the Berlin and Detroit techno scenes in the ‘90s. While they didn’t collaborate back then, this remix from the late K Hand is a reminder that the close historical ties between the two techno cities live on.