HAITO GOPFRICH
Fiat Lux
Boxer

This is the debut full-length release from Berlin producer/DJ Haito Gopfrich -- the man of innumerable faces and the Doctor Mabuse of German dancefloors. Hooked by the eclectic early DJ-work of Hans Nieswandt and Eric D. Clark, Haito is now well-trained on Berlin's Loveparade vehicles, and as a result, his work has been pressed onto vinyl by labels such as Kickboxer, Malatoid, Spagat, Low Spirit and Acker Records. With Fiat Lux, Haito tells us his stories from the club in a colorful, thrilling and filmic way, emphasizing a diversified, round dance of styles, genres, ideas, sounds and beats. From the exhilarated groove of a gritty high-school comedy ("I Ro Love"), over the sticky heat of a foreign marketplace demolished by a wild chase with James Bond ("Pusher"), to the fizzling noise of a motor in a SF manga road movie, Haito seems to know how to set everything to the music he's got in mind. The hardcore continuum is cultivated by elegantly-rushed drum patterns ("Drugpeople"), Alfred Hitchcock's shower curtain knife-scene is shot into the universe via electro-funk ("Freedub"), and a harmonized depth of field meets a roughened, saw-tooth discourse ("Disconnect"). Even the Yakuza smasher with Renaissance costumes filmed in Andalusia finds its true destiny in the spinet rave of "Non Plus Ultra." And above all, intelligent sample editing, four-dimensional, fluffy synths and springy percussion sounds can't be wrong. The peak of the album is the 2009 version of "E-Love," a revised version of the 2008 hit released on Kickboxer: a couple of tricky samba piano sounds are smuggled into the pockets of a subtly-bouncing clapper trailing a comet-tail of synths. Last but not least, after the Wall Street psycho thriller "Mummy," and "Komm Mal Klar," you'll find "Good Times, Bad Times" -- a hymn for the closing credits with vocals by Eric D. Clark that pulls out all the emotional stops to keep the audience enthralled and teary-eyed.

 HARLEY

Harley, a Black Labrador Retriever, is almost four years old. She is best pals with Lori, who works as a manager at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store.  The two start every day by going up to Lake Chabot for an invigorating morning walk/run. "My other dog Cody passed away and someone who worked at Amoeba put me in touch with someone whose dog had just had a litter. All seven of the litter were girls," recalled Lori. "Organic dairy farmers out in Cloverdale  -- so we went out there and saw her at 4 weeks and then at again at 7 weeks old when we picked her up." Lori notes that Harley has a good "dog friend" in a fellow AmoebaDog. "I share an office with Naomi and Harley and Liebchen (scroll down to see her profile) get along really well together," she smiled. 

KAHLESS

Kahless (rhymes with Payless) is an Australian Cattle Dog and is the best friend of Paul Vasquez, who works in the world music section of Amoeba Music Hollywood. Recently Paul recalled that fateful day three years ago when he and Kahless first crossed paths. "It was one afternoon in April 2004; I was looking for a dog at the animal shelter in Pomona. I looked at plenty of animals, but none of them really caught my eye. On the way out, I saw a picture on a bulletin board of a dog with beautiful eyes and super crazy spots. I looked to my left, and there he was in his little cell. I went to him and knelt down to see his reaction. No barking, no weirdness, just eye contact and a wagging tail. All of a sudden he put one of his paws through the bars onto my knee. That was it. I chose him and he chose me. We've been best friends ever since."