The Kool Kids

When you hear a name like Das Glow popping up, you’d normally expect it to be from a German artist. Though in this case it’s not true, seeing as Damien Granier comes from Paris, like many artists do. He was born in 1982, found in the cathedral of earth angel Michaël in Moscow and adopted by Russian functionaries. At the age of ten, he learned from one of the biggest jewellers of the city to become one. In 1995 he travelled throughout Europe, ending the journey in Paris. He settled down and bought his first turntables. After he saw Orgasmic DJing at an Institubes party, he knew what he wanted to do. “Originally a jeweller, Damien Granier turned to music when he discovered the French Touch, Bpitch Control and German minimalism. His introductory salvo, Weiss Gaz, was one of the most unique-sounding electro record to date, and it attracted the most diverse and enlightened following, from Simian Mobile Disco to Boys Noize to Miss Kittin to MSTRKRFT.”

With Das Glow he has released four records so far. In 2007 he made fame with a unique sound on the Weiss Gaz EP, which was released on the Institubes label. With the tracks “Weiss Gaz”, “Cathedrale” and “Vulcanice” it had a pure raw sound, yet it feels like it had a quite restrained passion in it along with some minimalistic elements in it. This made the EP such a unique one to hear.

After the little succes he got from Weiss Gaz, the Frenchman released “Sunburnt” as a single on Institubes, back in 2008. Sunburnt is a very raw and cut-up electro track, which is musically put together perfectly. It’s no surprise this track got on the historical “Bugged Out! Presents Suck My Deck Mixed by Boys Noize” compilation, which also has an appearance of Weiss Gaz. “After much touring and remixing, Das Glow came back with Sunburnt, a new attempt at building funk machines from tangled drum patterns, dismantled mech parts and faulty systems.”

Then in 2009 I Want To Wake Up With You was released on Vulture Music. It was probably released on this label, simply because this EP had a lot more Nu-Disco sound, which fits Vulture more than Institubes. It featured the tracks “12 Volts” and “I Want To Wake Up With You”, whereby the latter brings a great Disco feeling and is definitely worth it to check out. “When I Want To Wake Up With You appeared on Alan Braxe‘s famed Vulture imprint, the dance world discovered that in Das Glow’s avant-garde chest beat a heart capable of turning a Boris Gardiner sample into a gorgeous homage to the original French Touch, complete with emoting filters.”

Later in the year, Lite Brite Remixes saw the light, being released on Institubes. It has two amazing tracks on it; “Lite Brite” and “A Lighter Shade Of Bright”, where both are amazing tracks to be heard and where the latter is a different version of the first. They have an enormous amount of passion in it that you can feel while listening to it. Next to that “Lite Brite” also has two decent remixes, done by Strip Steve and Qebrvs, that are on the EP. “The original was, as I said at the time, sweet, delicate and quirky, the sound of a perfect melodious morning being swallowed by a perfect bass storm and spit out as a perfect evening. “A Lighter Shade of Bright” is the dusky counterpart to this initial ray of light: a slow-moving, arpeggiated meditation, a viscous, mollassed funk piece. Strip Steve delivers a cut-up, swaggered-out reinvention of the classic Bangalter sound that manages to sound at once arrogant and laid-back, like some street urchin casually looking for trouble. French newcomer Qebrvs offers a remix that sounds like a petulant child, jumping from bonus level to hidden lair before morphing into a hyperactive version of Sebastian.”

Now, in the beginning of, Das Glow comes back at Institubes, releasing his biggest EP ever! Phase IV is the fourth record he’s releasing on Institubes and features four(!) tracks of his own. The tracks being called “Earth”, “Pase IV”, “Jerrycan” and “Lost Sight”. “Earth” has a pretty unique sound, that can only be resembled with M.S.K.‘s “Mask Mask Mask” album. “Phase IV” has a heavily cut-up vocal plus a crazy distorted sound in it. “Jerrycan” shows the more minimalistic approach of Das Glow, having a really slow build-up and relaxed tune. “Lost Sight” gives you, like the name expects it to be, a dark and lost feeling. While listening to it, it’s not sure where this track is going, nor what it wants to tell you. “Lost Sight” can be a good inspiration for people, since it has a lot of feeling in it. “He’s been my friend for some years now, and it’s not like I (or you) have never heard anything violent or radical from him, but Phase IV is probably his most unforgiving work to date.”

Tracklist Phase IV EP:
1. Earth
2. Phase IV
3. Jerrycan
4. Lost Sight (FREE DOWNLOAD)

Links:
Das Glow Blog
Das Glow Facebook
Das Glow Myspace
Das Glow Twitter