It's been a busy year for Booka Shade - not only have they released their third album to date, The Sun & The Neon Light, and toured it extensively around the globe; Get Physical, the label which they founded with M.A.N.D.Y. and DJ T., just put out its 100th release. Next year will see them begin working on brand new material, but in the meantime the Berlin-based duo of Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merziger have put together a compilation entitled Cinematic Shades: The Slow Songs.
Although they remain best known for tubthumping dancefloor anthems like 'In White Rooms' and 'Mandarine Girl', there's always been a drama and a sweep to Booka Shade productions that is unmistakably...soundtracky (for want of a better word). And some of the best productions of their career - from the string-laden Neon Light opener 'Outskirts' to the crunchy disco of 2004's 'Vertigo' - have a decidedly melancholic undertow which is a million miles from the euphoric whamming and bamming of their live shows. It's this cinematic, less dancefloor-oriented sound which the duo celebrate on the digital-onlyCinematic Shades, mixing up special edits of slower tracks cherry-picked from their 13 year oeuvre with a couple of remixes (Trentemoller's previously unreleased version of 'Outskirts', Larry Gold's 'Night Falls' string instrumental) and one new track, 'Paper Plane'.
We caught up with Booka Shade's Arno to discuss the genesis of Cinematic Shades...
There's always been a vaguely cinematic side to Booka Shade's music, right?
"Ever since the first album, especially on the first album, we’ve always made tracks that are atmospheric, what you might call cinematic. Intimate, almost claustrophobic music...It’s always been an important thing for us, making this kind of music – I think it stems from when Walter and I used to do a lot of soundtrack work for TV and films, most of it pre-Booka Shade, in the 90s and early 00s."
What prompted you to put together this compilation now?
"I think Booka Shade is these days known very well, if not best, for being a live band. Most people know us for our live stuff, that very energetic side of what we do – I mean, we don’t really play many slower songs for our live sets – and we felt that perhaps it would be good to introduce these people to this other significant part of what of what we do. Unless you bought all our records, you might not know this part of us exists at all!
"Our former label manager Tim was one of the people who said to us, 'Why don’t you put a compilation together of your slower, more intimate tracks'. We thought yeah, when the time is right, let’s do that. So we took some days off, and we did it..."
You've had a busy year...
"Yeah, we’re having a break from touring now, we just got back a couple of days ago. Everything aches, you know? My back, my head, everything…I can’t wait to visit the sauna, spend lots of time with my family and all that. The final part of the tour was in South America, with dates in New Zealand and Austrailia before that – we played, like, 12 shows in two weeks so yes, I’m ready to relax..."
Are there any particular soundtracks or soundtrack composers that are a particular inspiration for you?
"Well, one which is fresh in my mind is The Mission score - by Ennio Morricone. We've been touring in South America recently, and I was reading about the history of the region, particulatly its Christianization, and it prompted me to download that soundtrack for like, the tenth time! It sounds so beautiful still."
Would you like to record an original soundtrack for a movie?
Yes, of course! Walter and I used to a little bit of this pre-Booka Shade. But yes, we'd like to do it again in the future. Last year we did a special live soundtrack for [1911 silent movie] Inferno in London under the Noise of Art banner, and we'll be doing something similar in 2009, a bigger set-up with other artists. This is definitely something we find really interesting and would like to do more off..."
Does Cinematic Shades give any hint as to the direction you'll take for your next album?
"I'm not so sure...I think we'll do something different to The Sun & The Neon Light, which was relatively laid-back, song-oriented. Something more like our concerts, more of that raw energy."
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