Damian Lazarus' Crosstown Rebels is a world-class dance music institution by now -- a regular shoo-in for best international label on yearly polls like Resident Advisor's, and a permanent presence on the global scene through its myriad transatlantic artist bookings and formidable Get Lost and Rebel Rave lineups.
It follows that the label's Get Lost compilation series has become one of the most highly anticipated releases each year -- a touchstone for quality underground house and techno with nods to the future direction of these sounds.
Mixing duties on this year's fifth installment of the series were bestowed upon Berlin DJ-producer Acid Pauli (AKA Martin Gretschmann), and with his penchant for the deeper psychedelic strands of dance music, Get Lost V is sure to be well-received by Crosstown's legions of druggy fans.
Ahead of a headlining gig at the Electric Pickle on Saturday in support of the new compilation release, Crossfade caught up with Acid Pauli to talk about five of his favorite picks from the mix.
1. Nu's "Man O To"
"First time I heard this track was when I played with Nu last the New Year's Eve party at Kater Holzig in Berlin. It just hit me deep in my heart, and I knew right away that this track needs to be on the compilation, even if I hadn't started thinking about what tracks and songs to use for the mix."
2. Kadebostan's "Love in Loxoor"
"I've had this track for a couple of years and always love to play it. Every time I play it and the strings come in, people are enlightened -- just like me, even if I've heard this track plenty of times. For the mix, I combined the first two minutes of it with a song by Amadou & Mariam, but unfortunately we couldn't get this one licensed, so I had to take it out again. But anyhow, this track can more than easily stand on its own. Big up for Mr. Kadebostan!"
3. Tempo Di Roma's "Move Your Bones"
"This one was made by a good friend of mine who sometimes sends me tracks or sketches of tracks that he is working on. I've had it it for about three years now, and I couldn't get tired of playing it. Last year, he invited me to play at his night somewhere in the south of Germany and I was playing this track again. We found out that he never had played this tune, even if he made it. Anyhow, when you play it, it takes a while until it catches the crowd, but then there is no other thing than moving bones."
4. Kraftwerk vs. Acid Pauli's "17 Ways to Kill the Model"
"This one is actually a part of the middle section and not on the CDs. Some years ago, I was playing a birthday set at Bar 25, and the week before that party, I found a 7-inch of the amazing brass band G.Rag und die Landlergschwister containing a cover version of Kraftwerk's "Das Model". This version led me to the idea of playing 20 different versions of that song, all spread into a 20-hour set, which means every hour there was another version. For the compilation, I thought about distilling one track out of these different versions. I just had to leave three of them out -- they were too bad."
5. Rayon - Libanon 7
"Rayon is a solo project of my friend and bandmate Markus Acher (AKA The Notwist and Lali Puna). He made this EP called Libanon for a film by Michael Shamberg. I like every single song on this record, and since I also wanted to have some music other than club music on the album, I knew I wanted to use one of these songs."
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