Lychee Lassi (new Berlin Part II)

Lychee Lassi feat. Grace

We are back with the final installment of two days in Berlin. This time with Lychee Lassi (not the yogurt drink, but something just as cool and refreshing).

Lychee Lassi is the impressive DJ Illvibe on turntables, Roland Knauf on kick-ass drums, Dirk Berger on guitar and synth, and Beat Halberschmidt on bass. The group creates experimental hip hop and electronica shot through with jazz and funk. They've been plying their sound on the Berlin underground circuit since 1999. More recently, they've played gigs throughout much of Europe and the UK -- in jazz clubs, in experimental performance spaces, in dance clubs, with breakdancers, and at a few "nerdy digital arts festivals" and "crusty, neo-hippie raves."

The group's been praised by scratch turntablist wizard and humorist Kid Koala, who said of Lychee Lassi's music: "Wicked. You guys are on some next shit."

And Koala is one of the group's influences and favorite DJs. Other influences include underground hip hop godfathers El-P & Company Flow and the mid '60s to mid '70s work of both James Brown and Miles Davis (they also listed their all-time favorite albums as Company Flow's Funcrusher Plus, Miles Davis' Dark Magus, and Kid Koala's Carpal Tunnel Syndrome). Lychee Lassi's often dark and dense instrumental pieces are in some ways reminiscent of the segment of the early '80s downtown NYC avant jazz scene that drew off hip hop -- when early turntable legend D.St (Grand Mixer DXT) would cut it up with folks like Bill Laswell, Arto Lindsay, and John Zorn.

And some of the group's jazz influence is all in the family: DJ Illvibe's father is free jazz pianist Alexander Schlippenbach. Two of the tracks on their latest album are titled "New York is Now," after Ornette Coleman's free jazz masterpiece from 1968, and perhaps even for DJ Spooky's (aka Paul D. Miller) recent video essay and collage. DJ Spooky's avant jazz and hip hop excursions are another sounding point in Lychee Lassi's music. Note also the driving live track, below, gives a nod to Miles' mid '60s quintet and its legendary drummer Tony Williams (a jazz-rock pioneer in his own right).

Since their debut 12" vinyl releases Garage Jazz and Speed, Lychee Lassi have released a few well received CDs in Germany, including last year's Live in Hamburg 2006, a delicious, multifaceted performance.

For their new album Out Now (which is, in fact, out now in Europe, but has not been released in the U.S., unfortunately), Lychee Lassi joined forces with singers and rappers Baatin (one third of Detroit's legendary Slum Village along with T3 and Dilla), Angie Reed (former Stereo Total bassist), and Grace.

Here's a taste:

Tony Williams -- Lychee Lassi: Live in Hamburg 2006

Part 2 (NY is Now) -- Lychee Lassi: Out Now (2007)

One of the most interesting tracks on Out Now is "Next Time," featuring vocals by Grace. Here's the video, which throws some old school gangsta images in yo face as it gives birth to a wicked orange mascot (it also includes one of the funniest head nod scenes since the Beastie Boys video for "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"):

You can purchase Lychee Lassi's music by download at finetunes (German Site) or through Amazon Germany. And watch the "Next Time" and "Nu Soul" videos on the group's myspace page.

p.s. r.i.p. Andrew Hill. (Note there's a very indirect Hill reference in this post: Tony Williams played on Hill's 1959 album Point of Departure).
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