Kalipo is Berliner Jakob Häglsperger, and for his second album he has focused more obviously on music to motivate a dancefloor. For ‘Wanderer’ he has taken a largely analogue approach, with four to the floor rhythms prominent but not dominating. There are some good, probing lines in ‘Donau Sunrise’, which comes into view at the deeper end of the spectrum but generates momentum, while the shimmering textures of ‘Banana Garden’ promise a hot climate currently out of our reach without an aircraft! Häglsperger’s rhythmic invention is at its best in ‘Memories of Praha’, an offbeat affair that flirts closely with breakbeat, crossed nicely with four to the floor. By paying close attention to texture Kalipo gets imaginative and varied results through the album, so that while ‘Wanderer’ functions well as a nocturnal mood piece it also rewards close-up listening. Crucially, though, it will get a dancefloor moving – so it’s very much job done.
4 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
{http://soundcloud.com/thump/kalipo-guten-morgen-laerz}
