Martin Gretschmann, aka Acid Pauli was born in the 70s in the German region of Bavaria, and as a teenager he started playing bass in a punk/indie band in the late 80s. Later he got into the world of electronic music, and soon after he got hold of basic equipment consisting of an Atari, a sampler, a synthesizer and a four-track recorder. With that basic equipment and a boundless creativity, Martin created Console, the name under which he released his first tracks. From that moment on, it was clear that Martin was an absolute outsider and that fashions were not going to mark his musical career; he stamped his signature on everything he created. In those early days in Console, you can see that the influences from which he would draw in his career would be diverse. It was also in those days that he joined The Notwist, a band with a chameleonic style to which Martin gave electronic banes and to which he would remain attached until 2015. But let’s return to Console, a name under which he continued to release regularly until 2006, with a short-lived return between 2010 and 2013.
Acid Pauli was born in the last days of Console’s productive period, since Martin released his first album under that name in 2005. Since then, fame has followed him as Acid Pauli, releasing a good amount of references and always being a name appreciated in any club or on the line-up of festivals around the world, apart from other tasks such as composing soundtracks or his work on the radio.
What is something that everyone recognises is that his work leaves no one indifferent, whether as a DJ or as a producer. And always trying to find new angles and sounds.
In 2020 he released his fourth album, MOD, and in July last year he gave it the remix treatment on an EP with four remixes. Now he delivers MOD Remixes Part 2, with an excellent crew at the controls.
DJ Tennis and Roderic approach No Kick, No Cry from completely different directions. The former accentuates the prominent kick drum and adds new layers to the track, turning it into a real earworm, while Roderic keeps it more understated, carefully coating the already enveloping, ASMR-like soundscape with a nuanced texture.
Du Brecht, Ich Dub undergoes a complete makeover by German producer, DJ and vocalist Perel. With two more minutes and a bright new energy, his version sounds like the soundtrack to an aerial film of a neon-lit city. Needless to say, it’s an irresistible song for the dancefloor.
Slovak-born, London-based artist Lenka Toma adds a warm touch to Life Polarizer. United by the all-consuming groove, Acid Pauli’s squeaks and bubbles come to life against Toma’s techno backdrop.
Sublime Frequencies Of Cairo also undergoes a major metamorphosis. What was already a highlight of the album is elevated even further by Jonathan Kaspar, a resident of Cologne’s nightlife hotspot Gewölbe. His beat pulses along the initially beatless track and masterfully connects the dots between Acid Pauli’s floating loops, eventually finding its way to the foreground.
In its remixed version, MOD re-emerges as a completely new record, drawing on all these diverse influences, while firmly retaining the pioneering life force of its creator.
Available here on Ouïe, the label from Martin and Nico Stojan
