this is so nothing new…

… constantly looking for love in the wrong places

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elle p. & iftah - ’sick liar/pink painter’ EP -

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John Digweed starts Transitions 285 (14th/feb/2010) with a very upfront remix of Berlin’s melodramatic pop partnership ‘elle p. and iftah’ from the ’sick liar /pink painter EP’ slated for March release. Favourite track: The Pink Painter Self remix. ‘Good stuff!’

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review hearingisbelieving: New signings elle p. & iftah are inevitably Berlin based, dropping twisted synthy pop. Skip the title track and head straight for The Pink Painter, where odd shaped keys and calming vocals rule. Ruede Hagelstein takes it to the floor courtesy of urgent beats and lost synthetics, whilst the self remix is an off colour treat.

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[FR] Rewind Musik - Chronique Musical

Avec le morceau “Sick Liar”, le duo nous signe là un morceau bien délirant, entre House et Techno, pour bien rentrer dans la danse, une version réalisé par Dop du morceau est présente également, un style un peu plus dur, histoire de rentrer un peu plus dans le club. Avec “The Pink Painter” le duo recommence sont style déroutant de musique Electro abstrait, le tout avec la douce voix d’Elle P. qui rajoute une touche glamour. Ruede Hagelstein nous propose plus une version club du morceau, une version identique que celle de Dop, on récupère l’ambiance de la version original et on rajoute une trame dancefloor avec un kick un peu plus puissant.

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out on souvenir music 8th of march 2010

pink painter rmxed by ruede hagelstein

pink painter selfrmxed by lp&i

sick liar rmxed by dOP

sick liar selfrmxed by lp&i

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Chloe ‘Woooo this EP is amazing: will play the Rude Hagelstein mix, totally love the original tracks, and the other rmxs are good too… excellent!!’*Luciano‘Favourite Track: Sick Liar Original!’*AgoriaFavourite Track: The Pink Painter Original. ‘What a solid release….i love all the originals‘ and may play the tracky remixs.‘Trevor JacksonVery interesting release full of imagination, dOP remix is the floor filler, other tracks more for brain & ears.‘Ewan Pearson Favourite Track: The Pink Painter Self remix. So much good stuff here - hard to pick a favourite. Love the original of Pink Painter. and the dOP remix of Sick Liar too. And the Rüde Hagelstein mix. And the Koze-ish Self remix actually. All great.*Kiki Nice release! It´s the dop remix that i will be playing, but I definitely have time & ears for the avantgardism of the originals too!’*Peter Kruder‘Dig the Rüde Hagelstein RMX. ‘The Originals are crazy stuff. Nice.’*Philip Sherburne Favourite Track: Sick Liar Original. ‘REALLY feeling the original of “sick liar” — doesn’t sound like anything else right now, which is a very good thing indeed. Freaky!‘*Deetron ‘Their own remix is great!’

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review ’sick liar / pink painter EP’

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Ibiza-voice.com / feb 2010

Elle P. (L.P. gettit?) and Iftah are one of those experimental avantgarde duo’s that drift around the dance music scene in Berlin making us all wish we lived there, with their way-out live act and arty video’s already attracting the likes of Ali and Basti from Tiefschwarz without even a single vinyl release yet. Souvenir have snapped up their talents for this, their first real EP along with some select remixers to add a more rhythmic beat to the proceedings. It’s almost a shame in hindsight…as the individual beauty of Elle P.’s vocals are never more striking or memorable as in their original form as demonstrated here. ‘Sick Liar‘, albeit a virtual carbon copy of Prince in his deepest NPG phase, is the duo at their most surreal. Utterly bonkers and yet oddly soothing with it’s deep and offbeat funk groove, a coarse harmonic wailing is left to dominate the track, lying wantonly on a bed of 80’s synths. Pure pop in one of it’s better moments, inciting fierce curiosity into whatever else could possibly come out of this strange and wonderful box of tricks.

‘The Pink Painter‘ brings in a ballad and again, really makes me want to hear a full album from these two, this is Goldfrapp meets Florence with a touch of the Bjork and deserves a far wider audience. Their own personal - self - remix drops in some more interesting musical elements and samples, even though ultimately drops the track right over the edge of the bizarre cliff and into the hole marked weird. Thankfully, the full treatment is executed properly courtesy of Ruede Hagelstein, who neatly nips the distinctive voice and gives some space to the rest of the tune to breathe. Unique, original, potentially hard to digest and definitely difficult to categorise, Elle P. and Iftah might not slot nicely into a record box, but if you’re looking for something that can push boundaries as well as the right buttons…then you’re listening to it now.

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elle p. featured on SKINNERBOX’ album king of spades and marmelades

listen to: ‘HOTEL TOWELS’ (cut) target=”_blank”

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out on doxa records

king of spades and marmalades ::::

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review groove / nov ‘09:

House mit Humor ist möglich, kommt aber selten vor. Produzenten mit Sinn fürs Absurde geben einem, so sie die Clubs beschallen dürfen, ein wenig Hoffnung, es gehe nicht immerzu und ausschließlich ums knallharte Feiergeschäft. Skinnerbox ist so ein Gespann mit Freude am Unsinn. Doch genau genommen ist das, was sie hervorbringen, überhaupt kein Unsinn, sondern die konsequente Weigerung, sich auf ein einziges Genre zu beschränken und gemäß dessen Regeln zu arbeiten. Was als House-Stück anfängt, franst plötzlich zur Electro-Nummer aus oder bewegt sich von vornherein in eine Richtung, die so klar nicht zu benennen ist. HipHop- oder Jazzanleihen dürfen ebenfalls vorkommen, wie im sehr schönen „Hotel Towels“, bei dem sie obendrein Unterstützung von der Berliner Sängerin Elle P. bekommen. Sehr erfreuliches, struppiges Debüt. Jazz ist der neue Techno. ///TCB

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review loudersoft / nov ‘09:

The duo of Olaf Hilgenfeld and Iftah Gabbai is definitely not your run-of-the-mill techno, disco or jazz. So then, color me intrigued by Skinnerbox & their unusual (and efficient marriage) of disparate styles, particularly when it matches so clearly with the musical calico I’m hearing out of European electronic music lately. There’s a taste of Richie Hawtin meets Mark Farina meets 808 State in these songs. Do I have your attention? Under the surface, there are also tastes of Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones influence in this particular collection, dotted with edgy Grace Jones/Nina Hagen/Lene Lovich-esque references (thanks to the vocals of occasional guest Elle P.) — an embrace of experimental 80’s synth/Moog influences enmeshed with a love of Italo-Disco and New Wave lives in every corner of this music, it’s easy to fall in love with instantly and, later, return to analyze it’s cleverness. Even with it’s technoodling, Skinnerbox’s recordings here are (at their core) jazz music — completely experimental, and definitely out there.

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review de:bug / dec 09:

Eines der wenigen elektronischen Alben auf Vinyl diesen Monat. Dafür danken wir Doxa schon mal. Skinnerbox bieten auf ihrem Album allerdings auch einiges. Versonnen versponnene Beats. Sehr ausgiebig in eigenen Welten summende Synthesizer, skurrile Randnotizen mit Songflair und überdrehtem Charme und einiges mehr. Die 9 Tracks saugen sich wie Tentakeln an den Ohren fest, zurren in verschiedenste Richtungen, machen säuselnde Andeutungen, summende Versprechen und blicken immer wieder auf sich selbst mit einer so unverschämt unaufdringlichen Eleganz, dass man ihnen selbst den flüsternden Soul von “Hotel Towels” abnimmt. Eine Platte, die sich auf keinerlei Formatkleinigkeiten einlässt und genau deshalb völlig herausragt. Groß. /// bleed

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review blackoutaudio (UK) / nov ‘09:

Every so often something comes along that leaves your jaw touching the floor and your head in shreds. This is one of those releases. …..] A massive recommendation.

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esquare ’scandiving EP’ to be released in spring 2010

listen to: ‘D_CLINE’ molinari rmx (cut) target=”_blank”

rmx by molinari

rmx by dapayk

rmx by uricane

really liked the vocals and melody on the original version of “Yet”

posted the Dapayk remix vid on our fanpage wall…very very nice

die tanzfläche wird voll sein

coverartwork by elle p.

out on elsewhere

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rmx by cursor miner

rmx by skinnerbox