Tube & Berger - We Are All Stars [Kittball Records / Embassy One]

It's been about two weeks since we featured the most recent Tube & Berger video for their track "ICMF (International Corporate Motherfuckers)" taken from their newest album effort "We Are All Stars" that has been released via Kittball Records / Embassy One these days. With their second full length piece since the duo first appeared on the production circuit back in 2003 the partners in crime are going to great lengths to incorporate a well-varied selection of twelve tunes in here to reflect on their wide-ranged production spectrum. From the softer, slightly cinematic and defo radio friendly opener "Burning Road featuring Kingdom" and the discoid title track "We Are All Stars" to the tense Indieelectro vs. TechHouse-fusion "Dust Feel" featuring Richard Judge on vocal duties whilst sporting a massive, Trance-influenced drop as well as the epic vocoder anthem "In The Name Of" with its crystalline melodies, panorama strings, bluesy guitar bits and Downtempo intro the journey goes, showcasing the unquestioned studio talent of Tube & Berger which by no means are covering up their fascination for big screen moments and Pop ambitions at any given point. Instead, as showcased by the following White Lies collaboration "Quiet Time (Shadow Of Myself)", they're emphasizing on their love for quality Pop, 80s aware arrangements and, of course, the club dancefloor - and they're serious about fusing all these aspects to the absolute max without giving a shit about the so called underground. With the fluttering vocals and brittle synths of "Fetzen" they're redefining crooning ElectroDisco for 2k17, "Automatic People feat. RBBTS" goes deep into kitsch dripping, slightly Post-Dubstep inspired territories and is a little too over the top in terms of being hypermelodic for us although we cannot deny that it is a quite catchy tune anyway and "ICMF" is the one tune that might make it on more underground-flavored floors due its rolling progressive bassline flow and dark'ish, pumping TechHouse vs. BigRoom attitude. Following up are two more collaborations with Richard Judge, "Rock N Roll Until We Die" and "Ruckus", the first mentioned heavily flirting with Indie / IndieElectro whilst the latter fuses classic song structures and Dusty Road Rock with more of a DiscoHouse vibe before the "Lucky Shot" brings back more 80s Miami vocoder action and the final cut "Loyando" brings more of an ethnocentric vibe as well as hippie'esque guitars to the table, mixed and mangled with Downtempo sequences, toddler sounds and other slightly quirky elements which makes this one the drug-infused, jam-session like oddball of the album which doesn't lead nowhere and therefore seems to be more of a filler than a really thought out tune. But besides that, if you like electronic music, Pop, some good fun and the dancefloor this might be an album for you - although your Berghain-attending hipster friends might not agree with your musical choice for several reasons.