Dubfire & Oliver Huntemann name their top 10 collaborations of all-time

Hot off the back of their ‘Restrospectivo’ documentary and collaborative album project, Dubfire and Oliver Huntemann have teamed up once again to name their top 10 musical collaborations of all-time — exclusive to djmag.com!

Famously working together on and off for the last eight years, the pair have cooked up releases including 'Diablo', 'Dios', 'Humano', 'Aire', 'Tierra', 'Fuego' and 'Terra', and have now created a fully fledged LP via Oliver's label Senso Sounds to celebrate the history of their partnership. 

You can watch their ‘Restrospectivo’ documentary here — that follows the duo around the globe — and visit their mini-site here. Don't forget to check out their top 10 collaborations listicle below, featuring epic collabs from MAW, Global Communication, Massive Attack and more. 

DUBFIRE

1. Masters at Work 'Our Mute Horn'

"Probably the greatest house duo of all time; there’s no denying the impact Louie Vega and Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez had on not just me, but scores of budding young producers and DJs around the world. And they were not just studio wizards, but DJs who’s programming and mixing abilities were beyond reach! “Our Mute Horn” was a very early track of theirs that was sort of like a suite: there was the drawn out ambient vocal loop + clap intro, the incredible muted horn solo which made up the middle bit and then the long bonus beats outro. They were MASTERS of the groove and this is just a small piece of their vast catalog of classic productions and remixes."

2. Liberty City 'Some Lovin’'

"The first time I heard this was at Sound Factory Bar when Danny Tenaglia dropped the much sought after white label mid-set. It tore the roof off the place as it sounded like nothing else out there! It was deep, soulful, sparse, tech-y and made Ralph Falcon and Oscar G, aka MURK, famous around the world. They soon unleashed a consistent progression of music under various monikers which immediately became classics! But “Some Lovin’” was the one that did it for me and I’ll never forget how I felt when that signature bassline and hi-hat groove came thru the system!"

3. Global Communication '14:31'

"I’m a rabid collector of ambient music; from the early Klaus Shultz and Ashra material, all the way to the current stuff. But the greatest ambient album of all time is Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton’s masterpiece, 76:14. Sit back, close your eyes and prepare to be transported!"

4. Basic Channel 'Phylyps Track'

"Basic Channel, aka Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald, not only created the minimalism movement, but introduced the foundations of “dub” music to unsuspecting techno fans around the world. As a massive “dub” fan for years before this came out, I immediately heard the influence and kept waiting for the next visually AND sonically striking vinyl to hit the record shops and became a rabid collector of everything the pair touched. Their hallmark sound has been imitated ad nauseam over the years but no one has been able to top their trademark tape hiss, crackle, pop and mutating dub groove."

5. Rekorder 'Rekorder 00'

"This was what made me contact Oliver Huntemann back in 2008! Sure I was collecting the stuff under his own name which I was a huge fan of, but this record was simply a game-changer for me. For those that don’t know, the Rekorder project was a collaboration between Oliver and Stephan Bodzin, and everything about it was perfect; it was incredibly funky and perfectly produced but what took it to the next level was these evil buildup and sonically explosive sections which would slowly creep up in the mix at just the right moments then subside back behind the groove. It was the perfect tease and a record which I still play today to jaw-dropping reactions!"

OLIVER HUNTEMANN 

1. Moderat 'Running'

"The merger of Modeselektor and Apparat is my favo u rite electronic music collaboration of the past years. The productions and the songwriting is simply outstanding and far beyond average level. Even their alternative electronica tracks contain a deep techno soul paired with a incomparable crossover attitude. Not forgetting their exceptional live performances. Moderat is a great example of how Techno and House artists can successfully evolve without losing the touch to their roots." 

2. Massive Attack and Craig Armstrong 'Heat Miser'

"Craig Armstrong might not be the most famous musician but his string and piano arrangements for other artists such as Madonna, Björk and U2 are known by almost everyone. I can highly recommend his selected works album' The Space Between Us‘. Armstrong's collaboration with Massive Attack for the 'Protection‘ album was leading the way. The Trip Hop genre was defined by this album. 'Protection‘ was also the last album of Massive Attack with Tricky as a member of the group and the combination of these outstanding artists made it become a timeless masterpiece."

3. Underground Resistance - 'The Final Frontier' 

"Underground Resistance was founded 1989 in Detroit by Jeff Mills and Mike Banks aka Mad Mike as a record label and music project. Through the years Robert Hood, DJ Rolando and many more became 'warriors' too. UR belongs still to one of the most influential collectives of House and Techno Artists ever. Mike Banks mentioned in an interview that UR was born from the power of Public Enemy and from the love for the german precision of Kraftwerk. After many releases Mills and Hood left UR in 1992 to achieve international success as solo artists. 1998's "Interstellar Fugitives", the first full album credited to Underground Resistance, saw Mike Banks redefining the collective's sound as "High-Tech Funk", reflecting a shift in emphasis from hard, minimal club Techno to breakbeats, Electro and even occasionally Drum n Bass and down-tempo HipHop. In 1999, DJ Rolando released UR's most commercially successful EP, 'The Knights of The Jaguar'." 

4. Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force 'Planet Rock'

"Inspired by DJ Kool Herc and Kool DJ Dee, Afrika Bambaataa began hosting hip-hop parties beginning in 1977. He was a popular DJ in The South Bronx rap scene and became known not only as Afrika Bambaataa but also as the "Master of Records". Together with the Soulsonic Force (Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow and Emcee G.L.O.B.E) Bambaataa borrowed a keyboard hook from the song " Trans Europa Express" of German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk and was provided an electronic "beat-box" by producer Arthur Baker and synthesizer player John Robie. That resulted in "Planet Rock", which went to gold status and generated a new genre called Electro Funk. Planet Rock is named as a influential key track of many electronic music producers and DJs." 

5. Cybersonic 'Technarchy'

"When it comes to Techno, the influence of Richie Hawtin, Daniell Bell and John Acquaviva for the whole movement is enormous. Already in 1990 they were impressing with the Cybersonic project the fast growing Techno scene from Detroit to Berlin - or vice versa. Ice cold machine beats and metal sounds became the soundtrack for generations of ravers. It probably contained more punk and rebellion than punk itself."