ltd 2020 repress !! tj hertzs first original release since 2014s critically acclaimed flatland lp comes in the form of objekt #4, a continuation of his club-focused white label series and a tribute to the sadly now defunct basement q, a formative and beloved haunt in berlin’s schöneberg district which quietly but profoundly shaped the musical identities of hertz and several of his contemporaries until its final closure in 2012.
the two tracks on objekt #4 pay tribute to two of the many musical facets of basement q in its later years. a-side “needle and thread” aims to condense several hours of a thursday night in the basement into 9 minutes and 26 seconds, embellishing a hypnotic rolling techno backbone with hyper-detailed atmospherics, enchanting melodies and tight, strident breakbeats. b-side “theme from q” is hertz’s reinterpretation of a basement q anthem, owner and founder dj bogdan’s own “love inna basement (morning dub)”, which never saw an official release despite providing the soundtrack to over 20 years of late morning love-ins in the cellar underneath the sattler & söhne glue factory. together, the two tracks offer an incomplete but nonetheless seductive illustration of one of the most idiosyncratic and overlooked clubs in berlin’s recent history.