Before Gerald Malke, who died in 2016, made his way in the trance segment from the mid and late 1990s as Gary D. with charmingly titled tracks like »Anal Intruder«, he was the mastermind of Subtle Houzze. With »Ambience«, the project released its first LP in 1990, which was followed two years later by the EP »Controversy«, for which Malke shared production credits with Boris Dlugosch, who was already active in the Subtle Houzze environment before. The respective imprints of the two – Malke was resident in the Unit, which is generally regarded as Hamburg’s first techno club, Dlugosch shaped the queer nightlife of the city in the front together with Klaus Stockhausen – find their balance in cloudy chords and working grooves on the new edition of »Controversy«, which was published via Running Back. The previously unavailable main mix of »Hemisphere« docks on Italian Dream House as well as the aftermath of the Second Summer of Love, while the previously known Blade Mix of the track is more gritty to the percussive elements and thus more in the direction of Chicago. »Magic Phantasy«, on the other hand, heads for New York: A wonderful deep house pearl with flute melodies and pushing bassline, which at the end with moaning vocals and keyboard staccatos pulls the arms up like an overdose of MDMA the corners of the mouth. In retrospect, »The Traveller« also seems like a masterful yet Janus-faced homage that spans a long way along the second Detroit wave and the gentler foothills of British techno. All of this makes »Controversy« a versatile package for all times of day and night, even if the heavenly disco smasher »Hot Hot Give It All You Got« as the then probably unsettled edit of the Debbie Jacobs track of the same name did not make it on it.
Controversy EP
