Den Haan are a live synthesised dance act – the conceptual disco duo of Matthew Aldworth and Andy Gardiner. Previous releases have brought the group critical acclaim and firm dj support from the likes of Optimo, Cosmo Vitelli, Headman, Ivan Smagghe and Mylo. Their debut album “Gods From Outer Space” will be released on Alworth’s Courier Of Death imprint today, March 4th 2011.

Den Haan are built for the rhythms of the night. Their releases are the spirit of seedy 70’s basement dives, a deco-greco roman blur of glistening bodies and dazzling lights, Criso on the wrists, spunk in the dark corners and sweat condensed on every surface while machine-made rhythms from some far-away disco planet send shockwaves of ecstasy across the dancefloor. Den Haan’s sound is knowing-humour with a hand-on-the-cock sexual swagger. They GET the cheap pop aesthetic built into italo and especially hi-NRG. The rhythms are dark, electronic, tribal, with vocals hewn from Anvil or Van Halen rather than from Donna Summer. They are popper-soaked macho guys barking out tales of stalking the night cruising for kicks, all backed by a chorus of booming sado-cybernetic vocoders. And there ain’t no Diva’s in the Den Haan sound – save maybe for a terrifying 26 stone dog-s**t eating drag colossal know as Divine.

Aldworth and Gardiner first met when they ended up djing together by chance, and soon bonded strongly over their passion for sounds born during a short period in the evolution of soul and funk at the end of the 1970’s when producers and artists were breaking ground in new forms of disco production. Den Haan’s compositions pay homage to these producers, writers and musicians, not with a lazy ironic shrug but with a genuine admiration for their skewed creativity, their imagination and ingenuity in adapting and experimenting with technology. That ability to create something slightly un-hinged – perhaps not the most polished of effort – but something with a killer synth hook that never the less makes you scream and throw yourself around the dancefloor.

Den Haan study their favourite productions and producers in forensic detail: Celso Valli (Azoto and Tantra), Franco Rago & Gigi Farina (behind the ‘Lectric Workers releases), the experimental excursions of Vangelis, the homo-disco cybernetics of Patrick Cowley and the atonal alienation programmed into the soundtracks of Claudio Somonetti and John Carpenter. Sourcing original instruments and production equipment the duo sweat it out in the studio striving to re-create as close to a version of this original approach to sound creation as possible, their only contemporary indulgence being a bang up-to-date studio mastering conducted by Austrian based producer Patrick Pulsinger of electronic label Cheap Recordings. This commitment to process brings not only an authenticity to the productions but also to their explosive live performances. As Optimo’s JD Twitch commented after seeing them on stage – “fuck, the sound is way better than an actual club”!

“Gods From Outer Space” has been designed to work as a complete listening experience, a journey through Den Haan’s fictitious universe;- titles like “Release The Beast” and “Nightshift” conjure up the sweaty nightclub scenes from “Cruising” all hyper-macho swagger and pungent sexuality, “Gods From Outerspace” recalls the endless cheap laser blasts of 80’s sci-fi also-rans, the pompous faux religiosity of concept prog synth albums, while interludes like “The Arrival” and “The End” give a sort breath of contemplation – BBC Radiophonic workshop interludes reflecting the dichotomous dystopian/utopian divide in their film soundtrack influences – before you are propelled back into an exhilarating votex of flesh and fantasy. The music may seem to have a parodic quality, an in-built “cheese” factor – but that is resolutely not its intention. Den Haan are deadly serious in celebrating their musical influences. Its camp undoubtedly, but HIGH camp – homage and ambiguity as opposed to parody and pastiche. Theirs is an aesthetic hip enough to appreciate trashy genius whilst simultaneously in awe of the craft and imagination that was employed to create it. This isn’t a just a game, it’s a ridiculous reality. They’re not afraid to get crazy and let their balls hang right out there. Thats what they are about.

They will play an official album launch show at Stereo tonight, Friday the 11th March, with dj support from RPZ, Wrong Island and David Barbarossa.

NIGHT SHIFT by DenHaan