Dos

Dos is indeed Munich-based producer Michael Fakesch's second solo album, coming down the pike nearly eight years behind its predecessor. It's as big a departure from 1999's glitchy, robotic Marion as one would expect; after all, eight years equals between 16 and 24 entirely different subgenres in this kind of Euro-electronica. Dos is an interesting blend of tightly wound, clipped beats and profoundly funky basslines: the overall effect of songs like the ridiculously danceable first single, "Soda," is that of an alternate universe where Quincy Jones brought in Kraftwerk to co-produce Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. The Prince-like falsetto vocals throughout the album (see "Complicated" for a particularly blatant Purple Rain homage) are another signpost to Fakesch's influences for this project, in which brief, atmospheric interstitials like "Crest" and "On the Floor" provide breathing room for the otherwise nonstop dance party. Dos is that rarity: a modern club record that sounds as good on the couch as it does on the dancefloor.