The Working Elite

CAT: BIS035
September 21, 2018

The Working Elite are Berlin-based spark plugs Thomas “Saap” Sabrowsky, of Extra Producktion, Terre des Pommes, ex-marine soldier, seasoned cook and barkeeper; and Daniel “D´LonelyAl” Nentwig, who co-directs Extra Produktionen, plays keyboard and electric bass for various outfits, and engineers at Berlin’s Butterama Recording Center. Suffice it to say, the pair have named their collaborative project suitably. The Working Elite create recreational music for dancers to shimmer through the days and nights of balmy season.

Following a killer acid-piano house 12” and contributing a Test Pressing-certified new-disco chug to a split release with Tuff City Kids (both) on Terre des Pommes in 2014, The Working Elite further refine their ability to soundtrack festivities with Rockman / Born Again. While “Rockman” conveys an understatedly cinematic mood with repeated imitation string cycles over crisp electro foundations, “Born Again” presents a new wave / rave endurance test, summoning perspiration from dedicated day-dancers with its metronomic hammer of a beat overlaid with motivating synth-lines like marching toys. On the flip, Saap and Lauer (Tuff City Kids) provide inventive interpretations of these tunes, reshaping “Rockman” into a stomping, flashing-lights electro jam while “Born Again” gets a delightfully multi-dimensional digi-dub treatment complete with acid-reggae breakdown over a 4/4 house beat.

Sabrowsky and Nentwig both grew up in Hanau, West Germany, spending their formative pre-stage days inside the cultural consequence of a U.S. Army Base near to the small town – snacking at Burger King and shopping at the PX Store. Both acknowledge the longevity of this American influence in their musical lives – Rockman / Born Again is in part a self-proclaimed testament to that influence, an offering to an American label as a small act of diplomatic celebration that elevates the bewildering global political mood and promotes togetherness through dance.