- The year-on, year-off style that holds sway in rock—you know, your Matador acts that make an album on odd or even years, followed by months of touring—seems to hold in dance music as well, even at the singles-only level. Take DJ Kaos, Berlin's Dennis Kuan, who blanketed 2009 with superb work: the grunting "Love the Nite Away," the krautrock epic "Kosmischer Ruckenwind," and, with frequent collaborator Tiago as T&K, "Mucho Swash" on Italians Do It Better, which came in right ahead of the back-to-'87 brigade. But aside from a couple remixes (Khan and Bryan Ferry, some pair), 2010 saw only "Horny Morning Loop," on Kaos's own Jolly Jams label, and it's been 14 months from that release to this one for DFA.
Maybe he's taking longer to make each track, maybe he's simply being ultra-selective about what goes out, but Kaos's last few singles have been different enough to imagine he's trying to reinvent himself each time out. Here, that leads to a beachy, mid-'80s, new-wave-meets-disco vibe: the yearning vocal skirts pure syrup, as does the preset that sounds like wood flutes, with a deliberate pace and plucked guitar establishing enough distance to not fall into kitsch. Which is too bad, because "From Inside" is so straitlaced it drags. Luckily, old pal Tiago provides some oomph on the B-side. The remix's drums sound more roomy and alive, in the DFA tradition, his crosshatching synths involve you in their undulations even off the floor, and that's even before the satisfying build about halfway in. Even better is the dub—same good stuff, minus the stiff vocals.
Tracklist A From Inside (Original 12" Version)
B1 From Inside (Tiago Club Mix)
B2 From Inside (Tiago Club Dub)