Some do their thing, some take their time and Kassem Mosse does both. Gunnar Wendel has been anything but inactive in recent years, shifting his output to other projects like Seltene Erden and DJ Residue, but his return to Lowtec’s Workshop label marks his first independent solo release under that name since 2017. Some do little, some do a lot, and Kassem Mosse does both at the same time, and then some. This is clear from the opener of »Workshop 032,« which is spartan and playful at the same time, using a few discrete sound events and a simple groove to form a nuanced track from only a handful of elements. In its methodology, this is somewhat reminiscent of Pole’s last album, but creates a completely different impression altogether. A sense of liveliness has always been characteristic of Kassem Mosse’s sound and is fused in his productions with wonderful sonic grit, the end result being nothing short of incomparable. In the further course of the album, Wendel clearly aims at the dance floor and works with his typical means, but he also proves how they can be combined into ever-new constellations. Tunes that would have been labelled outsider house ten years ago and that occasionally make concessions to disco rhythms, but also technoid tracks with a psychedelic quality dominate the album. Compared to the classic Kassem Mosse sound, he is more playful in terms of sound and works with squeaky and whinging sounds that give the music a humorous touch. But if that’s meant to be funny, he’s dead serious about it, too: the subtly pitched one-note melody on »B2« is used as a characteristic leitmotif that gives the track a new drive again and again, guaranteeing that the tension never drops in the course of the track’s nine minutes of playing time. Doing so much with so little: others can surely do that too, but no one can do it as well as Kassem Mosse, especially not on a whole album.
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