Soundstream

Let’s be honest: most of today’s club music protagonists are as exciting as dead meat. Or if you wish to choose more friendly words, we agree that they are servants of an alternative entertainment industry. Frank Timm a.k.a. Soundhack alias Soundstream is the great exception to this rule. This boy serves cuisine instead of fast food. But before he reached that state, the true-school Berliner had to graduate from the city’s club boot camp. Awestruck by Berlin’s basements and industrial places, where techno was in its early-nineties prime, Soundstream was overwhelmed by Detroit’s beauty and Chicago’s roughness. Unsurprising, he soon agitated in the coordinate system of the world-renowned record store Hard Wax. An institution that also distributes his labels Soundstream and Soundhack. The first one takes care of Timm’s never-ending love for disco and refined house music (take the ear candy of ‘Love Jam’ for example), the latter is dedicated to cut-up and loop adventures that are better described with folly than the customary house and techno signs. Therefore the scalpel is one of his typical tools of the trade. He chops, dismembers, deconstructs and mills - until he drops. However, he never creates Frankenstein’s monster and does not fall for the risks of this mode of operation: Sophistication and consciousness, safe from harm and also from being nerdy. “DJ tools with an attitude”, as Dr. Dre would say. The same goes for his ‘band’ Smith’n’Hack. Together with his peer and friend Errorsmith, Mr. Soundhack creates amazing long players like ‘Tribute’ that takes a bow in front of disco’s vast history or incredible remixes. Just listen what they did to Ricardo Villalobos’ ‘Easy Lee’ or Herbert’s ‘Moving Like A Train’. Stripes of italo disco in the one case and a future classic paint of gold in the other. On his own, Timm’s revisions for Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir, the Olympian Rhythm & Sound duo or Auto Repeat might be the most remarkable ones. His appearances as a live act or DJ are also outstanding. A look into his box reveals lovely disco 12-inches, dirty Chicago house, immortal club classics and dew-fresh jams. All blended, mixed and sliced together with style and grace. His brand new Soundstream live set literally “Tears down the house”. Using a mixture of his “Greatest hits” as well as new unreleased “Soon to be hits”, he presents the listener with a solid, funky, “Sure to get you on the dance floor” sound. Whether live or spinning vinyl, be sure to put on your dancing shoes, your feet won’t forgive you in the morning. You can also catch him behind the machines under the Smith’n’Hack guise, which has just released 2 new 12-inches.