Thomas Fehlmann: caretaker of Palais Schaumburg, Cold-War Germany?s White House, weather-beaten but still seaworthy Oceanclubber, chief transatlantic negotiator between Berlin and Detroit techno, self-proclaimed Visionary of Blah, elder statesman of Techno, caring keeper of bee colonies thriving in juicy 4/4 honeycombs all over the world. Looking back at more than 25 years on the tightrope between underground, avantgarde and mass entertainment, Thomas Fehlmann is the living proof that there is indeed an artistically relevant link between techno?s ostensible hedonism and the post-punk scene of the early eighties.

From the obscure early work of Palais Schaumburg (then still featuring percussionist FM Einheit who was soon to join Einst?rzende Neubauten) to international acclaim as one of the key players of minimal techno, Kompakt-style: Like Bernd Jestram and Ronald Lippok, who started as East Berlin new wave kids and went on to form Tarwater, like Thomas Meinecke (of F.S.K.) and quite a few others, Fehlmann decided to forsake the indie scene in favour of a more experimental and electronic approach. He founded the Teutonic Beats label and put out early German techno landmarks by the likes of Wolfgang Voigt, J?rg Burger and Westbam. Never one to be satisfied with shoegazing and bedroom community, Fehlmann teamed up with Monika boss and former Neubauten-member Gudrun Gut to run Oceanclub, a series of events and a radio show, which are still ongoing. Additionally, he collaborated with Juan Atkins in 3MB and later joined The Orb.

After ?Visions of Blah? and ?Lowflow?, ?Honigpumpe? is Fehlmann?s third full-length release under is own name. The title translates as ?honey pump?. Contrary to what zeitgeist-savvy readers might guess, this not-so-fluent liquid is not an ironic take on drones but must be a reference to the honey pump created by the artist Joseph Beuys. The original ?Honigpumpe? consisted of an electronic motor and several metres of hose that were used to make 150 kg of honey and 100 kg of margarine run within a closed circuit.

Fehlmann, too, has come full circle with his latest album, as it marks his return to Kompakt, the label that fits Fehlmann like no other. In fact, ?Honigpumpe? is almost an inventory of the different sounds that Kompakt has come to stand for. ?Strahlensatz? opens the album with precisely four minutes of that kind of dreamy machinism that Kompakt like to call ?Pop Ambient?. While the Pop Ambient style is still a daring and important niche in techno, however, it is unlikely to make an impression on the average Foxy Digitalis reader.

But Fehlmann moves on from there, padding the billowing synthesizer sounds of ?Soziale W?rme? and ?Atlas? with a woollen drum sound. Stepping on the dubby bass foundation of ?Schaum?, the following tracks, ?Little Big Horn (liegend)?, ?Bienenk?nigin? and ?T.R.N.T.T.F.? present Kompakt?s trademark Schaffel-sound at its best but infuse the limping bass with a bouncing, characteristically Fehlmann-ian warmth. Elsewhere, a straight techno track like ?Dusted With Power? should work well on the dancefloor. In the end, however, ?Honigpumpe? returns to unimpressive ambience, coming full circle after a massive display of advanced techno styles, and leaving the listener happy, but also a bit tired. 7/10 -- Jan-Arne Sohns (19 June, 2007)