With the release of his fourth album, “GENERAL ECLECTICS”, on September 11th THOMAS BRINKMANN breathes new life into his stellar side project SOUL CENTER. Preceded by a short and sweet preview of part one (GE 01), available on vinyl from July 2nd, the record shows the Rhine-based expressionist at his peak – and Berlin-based label SHITKATAPULT feels privileged to release the entire series!

Don’t be mislead by the album’s title, though. Taken literally, GENERAL ECLECTICS will lead you astray not once, but twice. While the cover might allude to local noise merchants EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN’s infamous HAUS DER LÜGE sleeve and PAOLO UCCELLO’S horse’s rear, the album’s inner sleeve is covered in maps, footballs, cigarette butts, priests … each replete with their own rich history. Take the ashtray, for example: a work of art in itself („Mein Kippenberg“) that
is both light-hearted and laden with meaning.

It is Brinkmann’s sense of appropriation (the eclectic side of things), his interpretation of art/music/ image/sound, that provides the red thread to connect the individual parts – and concept – of this album. Unlike SOUL CENTER’s previous works, the featured music is almost entirely devoid of samples and returns to a deep melange of techno’s richer funk and soul flavours. Seriously – this is funkier than anything we have heard in ages. From the album’s slowed-down opener, “MARMELADE”, right up to the final hands-in-the-air stomper “DYR BUL SCYL” – it’s time to throw out the
museum guides!

But let’s start with the 12 inches of GE 01, which reverses the track listing and kicks off with SOUL
CENTER’s sure-fire floor filler. Fun is a hot gun.