[Connaisseur Supérieur]

The fine folks over at Connaisseur obviously take their role as A&R agents quite seriously, particularly for their Supérieur sub-label. So far they’ve found and provided first opportunities for Girrèsse & Erb, Sebastian Roya and Dani Casarano; and one look at their well organized website suggests there are many more to come. Their latest Supérieur brings together the odd foursome of Henrik Raabe and Jakob Seidensticker (aka the Havana Boys), Michael Hank and Florian Schirmacher (who also contributed to “Albertino And Nora P” with André Galluzzi and Guido Schneider). Together, like a German Voltron, they form the four-headed Wareika. Hotly tipped producer Reboot takes on remix duties.

Wareika channel their inner jungle dweller for “Men Village,” a loose and low-slung number emulating a tribal atmosphere through digital devices. Its soft house beat is merely the place keeper for earthly, rumbling bass and syncopated hand drumming. Sparse patches of melody, sometimes sharp and resonating, other times a smooth gurgle, call out at irregular intervals, as if mimicking nature’s indifference to the humans who live alongside. At over 14 minutes long and no discernible hooks, “Men Village” would fare better as the lower register counterpart to other tracks. Reboot’s “Women City Rework” is more bustling and ready for a main course placement from the get-go. Still indigenous in flavor, it plays up more curvaceous chime tones and insists on consistent placement of synth arrangements. Whether Wareika uses this is a launching pad is to be seen, but as first records go this is a decent start. Now where did they say Men Village was?