In the 1995 classic film The Usual Suspects, Keyser Söze is described as a devious, elusive and ruthless crime lord. The name now steeped in pop culture, Berlin duo Kaiser Souzai draw from the character’s elusiveness and are shaping their dance floor sound on their own terms. Currently turning heads by way of their epic 8-minute opus “1981” and 12-minute “1976” the pair, who have released tracks on Trapez, Go Deeva, Sublimnal and Kinetika, are pushing their techy house pedigree in an interesting direction. We asked the guys to share their five favorite tracks of the moment, and they naturally came through with a twist.
“They’re not necessarily the most famous tracks, some really flew under the radar and deserved to be mega hits, others are fresh and some are old, but still in our sets on and off.”
1. Mason – “Artex”
Mason made his name with that mega main room hit “Exceeder,” but we love the pearl that stayed rather unknown compared to his other releases, “Artex.” It’s not only perfect in production and sound, but it’s as emotional as electronic music can get — uplifting for those late morning after-hours.
2. Kaiser Souzai – “1981”
After releasing our epically lengthed “1976,” we went back to the ’80s, mixing up typical sound designs and raps of that time with a modern techno attitude. The result is a RAVE! Remixes by Alberto Ruiz and Carlo Ruetz complete the package.
3. Josh Vox – “Blumen Der Verzweiflung”
Josh Vox’s first release contains no less than four masterpieces. “Blumen der Verzweiflung” is an epic builder of monstrous progressive techno leading the pack. We had the honor of doing a remix on this one.
4. Pryda – “Madderferrys”
A modern classic, we still pull this out at gigs as it still kills the floors. This is Pryda’s best work, close to perfection, working with one arpeggiator line and making 12 minutes work effortlessly, building and building. It never fails.
5. Kaiser Souzai – “Bolero” (Dubspeeka Remix)
Last but not least, a modern highlight in dark tech, Dubspeeka’s great rework of our Beatport Top 20 “Bolero.” Nowadays we only play his version.