(International DeeJay Gigolo/Inertia)

Imagine you’re in a small, dingy nightclub. It’s dark, only a few light bulbs illuminate the room. And the music starts. As first it’s just bass and hi-hats. Then a killer electro synth kicks in. It’s Oliver Huntemann, someone says into my ear. Oliver who?

Oliver Huntemann has in fact been involved in the electronic music scene for over 15 years, but under a number of different guises. Growing up in Bremen, Germany, he was infected with a love of music at an early age, particularly the rap music and break dancing that was coming out of the US. Then acid house invaded Germany in the late 80s and Oliver was hooked. Oliver started organising his own techno parties and after meeting Gerret Frerichs created the project Humate, along with H.G.Schmidt. He was involved in the project’s release of tracks such as the classic Love Stimulation, which later appeared on compilations including Sash and Digweed’s Northern Exposure. Over the course of the last decade, Oliver has also released records as part of numerous projects including Kaycee, Taiko and Jeux Floraux, under the aliases Huntemann and H-Man, and founded the dance labels Confused, Spezial Music and Toscana.

More recently, Oliver has turned to releasing music under his own name, starting with the dark electro tracks Broadcast Service and Terminate The Fire. Fieber (German for fever) continues in the same style and marks his debut album on renowned German label International Deejay Gigolos. Fieber is a back to basics electro house album made for the dancefloor. Every track features tough and dirty synths over bass and hi-hat. It’s about “cuts, definition and a measured offensive at the perfect moment,” with Oliver proclaiming, “this is how I live! This is how I play music!” Co-production credits on a pair of tracks (Black Ice and Rubin) are shared with Stephen Bodzin, of Elektrochemie and co-founder of Super 8 Studio with Oliver. Also appearing on the album is Get Physical singer Chelonis R. Jones. His almost vocodered voice makes the track.

The album has a cohesiveness to its dozen tracks that is not found enough on albums, Oliver making the tough electro style his own. Unfortunately, the only downside is that despite the variety shown within the sound, the album gets a little boring at times – perhaps the 78 minutes could be trimmed down. Recommended for lovers of European style electro.