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Active as a DJ since the ’90s, founder of the labels BPitch Control (Modeselektor, Sascha Funk, early Paul Kalkbrenner) and UFO Inc, godmother of a techno festival in the north of France, seasoned producer… you guessed it, Germany’s Ellen Allien is a matron. In spite of her success, she retains her authenticity, and you can hear it musically. The 50-year-old is capable of electrifying crowds at Igloofest and Piknic Électronik as much as she was able to move the floor at La fin du vinyle, a record store on Saint-Laurent Blvd., during a Vinylism tour a few years ago. Accustomed to the album format – she has eight on her counter, which is quite rare in the techno world – the producer has mastered the development of narrativity. Her voice, on the first two tracks “Hello Planet Earth” and “In Music I Trust” (electronic vocals) accompanies our introduction: experimental, it will be. “True Romantics” unveils a kick to wake the dead. If the first third of “Traum” looks towards psy (it gallops), its evolution leads us towards more ethereal sounds and then back to an acid line, creating a sound universe at the crossroads. The bass line of “Walking in the Dark” takes us back to EBM, Berlin of the 1980s, and D.A.F. Same for the little jewel “Confusion”. In short, Allien reminds us that we miss the dance floor, the darkness, and the smell of sweat terribly. Easily moving from one genre to another, the veteran techno player masters the codes without falling into clichés.