Booka Shade is an electronic musical duo consisting of the members Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier. The group formed in Frankfurt, Germany and is closely associated as pioneers within the Frankfurt electronic music scene.
In the early ‘90s Merziger and Kammermeier were in a synth pop group labeled Planet Claire, but the group soon saw their music starting to evolve into a direction that favored club and house music. After releasing some music under the name Degeneration, the band renamed themselves Booka Shade in 1995 and released the single “Kind of Good”. The next year the group released the single “Silk”, which followed the style of traditional club music. After the release of their two singles the group decided to step away from their club music sound and started composing music for movie soundtracks as well as working as musicians for hire.
In 2002 the group moved to Berlin, Germany and co-founded the record label, Get Physical Music. The label was recognized by DJ Magazine as “Label of the Year” and Pitchfork has compared the label to early Warp Records. In 2004 Booka Shade released their debut album “Memento” under Get Physical Music. The album contained the singles “Vertigo” and “Double Identity” and follows in the traditional house music sounds.
In 2006 the group released their second studio album “Movements”, which contained the singles “Body Language” and “Mandarine Girl”. These two singles helped Booka Shade gain more attention in the world of electronic music as these two singles were popular hits in dance clubs throughout the world. The electronic music publication “Resident Advisor” referred to “Body Language” as “one of the biggest releases of the year” and the pop sensation will.i.am used the song as a sample for his song “Get Your Money”. The album contained chilling synthesizer lines and rattling bass groves in the Euro dance fashion.
Booka Shade’s third studio album “The Sun & the Neon Light” was released in 2008, which contained the hit single “Charlotte”. The album conveyed the group continuing in the style of down tempo music presented in a minimalistic fashion, and received praise from such publications as “Clash Magazine”. Each album Booka Shade releases shows them experimenting with new electronic sounds as well as sticking to some of the fundamental house music sounds that they are so respected for creating. In 2010 they released the album “More!” and in 2014 they gained notoriety for their single “Love Drug”.
Apart from composing original music, Booka Shade has also found success with remixes. They have remixed several songs by many respectable artists, which include: Moby, The Knife, Hot Chip, and Depeche Mode. Booka Shade is also a sensation with their live performances and has played many notable festivals such as the Brooklyn Electronic Festival and the Stereosonic Festival in Sydney, Australia.
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