Westban
Real Name:
Maximilian Lenz
Profile:
Maximilian Lenz, the brother of Fabian Lenz (DJ Dick) was born on 4 March 1965 in Münster, Westphalia. Not only is he Germany's most successful and most popular DJ and avantgardist of the Raving Society, he is also the most innovative producer and co-founder of Berlin's Indie Dance label, Low Spirit Recordings.
WestBam is in fact the abbreviated form of Westphalia BamBaataa and derives from this artist's home state in Germany and his role model Afrika Bambaataa. 1983 marked the beginning of his DJ career in the Odeon Club in Münster. In 1984 he made a permanent move to Berlin which was still divided by the Wall. WestBam started as DJ at Berlin's famous Metropol and his sophisticated mixing techniques brought him fame far beyond the borders of the divided city. In 1985 WestBam worked with Klaus Jankuhn to produce his first 12" entitled "17" which was inspired by Paul Hardcastle's "19". In 1989 he made his first album "The Cabinet". This was the first DJ-concept album to be launched on the German market.
WestBam is in fact the abbreviated form of Westphalia BamBaataa and derives from this artist's home state in Germany and his role model Afrika Bambaataa. 1983 marked the beginning of his DJ career in the Odeon Club in Münster. In 1984 he made a permanent move to Berlin which was still divided by the Wall. WestBam started as DJ at Berlin's famous Metropol and his sophisticated mixing techniques brought him fame far beyond the borders of the divided city. In 1985 WestBam worked with Klaus Jankuhn to produce his first 12" entitled "17" which was inspired by Paul Hardcastle's "19". In 1989 he made his first album "The Cabinet". This was the first DJ-concept album to be launched on the German market.
Sites:
Aliases:
It's 2 Hard, Maximilian Lenz, Mr. Y, Professor Taub-Karcher, Serial Funk, Von Sternhagel, WB Loops, We Bam
Variations:
All |
WestBam
| DJ Westbam
| We Bam
| West Bam
| WestBam
| WestBam 133.3
| WestBam's
| Westbams
| Westban
edit
genres
sort
Discography
| Tracks Appear On: | ||||
| Puro Techno (3xCD, Comp) | Pure Rose, Hold Me Back | Contraseña Records | 2009 | |
▸ show all 2 reviews
Reviews & Discussion
Westbam's great days sadly have passed.
Nowadays Mr.Lenz lives in a dream world, where he is the godfather of techno, whilst reality is a bit different...
For me he's has become too arrogant, too narcisstic. He did not recognize that "techno" has been sold out by some clever A&R guys and that he's willingly part of their greedy marketing campaigns.
He also should leave elbow scratching to those who are good at it ;)
Nowadays Mr.Lenz lives in a dream world, where he is the godfather of techno, whilst reality is a bit different...
For me he's has become too arrogant, too narcisstic. He did not recognize that "techno" has been sold out by some clever A&R guys and that he's willingly part of their greedy marketing campaigns.
He also should leave elbow scratching to those who are good at it ;)
BUT!
Westbam has developed a style which, IMO is one of the most - if not THE most unique style any techno DJ has ever created. His merge of 4/4 breakbeat with electro beats and rave RULES the big room rave like nothing else. You can send in any rockaholic dummy and he/she would most likely fall into the crowd and party with the rest.
Shure, it´s commercial. Sure there´s not a visible spot free from the logos os Playtation, Motorola, VIVA etc. But at least the money buys you technique better than anywhere else. The best sound, nice light and some visuals - when you compare it to, say I Love Tehcno, there is a long way to go for those Belgium promoters, when speaking in terms of a great setup.
Also I think that Celebration Generation and the whole album Right On are absoulutely AWESOME!!! Right On sounds like NOTHING else and is really a great work of techno art. Whenever I try and push "my" music to non-electronic people and I want to give them something besides DJ-sets, this is the only non-Underworld/Basement Jaxx/Fat Boy Slim/Daft Punk album they will listen to.
PS: He really should leave some of the scratching alone, but he´s a brilliant mixer. I have heard sets (fx Münsterland dec 2003) where he creates a great flow, using loops from the battlevinyl of the Right On and does some very nifty scratching too, creating new music from scratch, right there on the decks and efx. Very convincing, I didn´t know he had that in him.
Also the Mr X & Mr Y: Nite of the Tschuldigungs (only good work by those two) is one of my top-10 vinyls of all time!!!
Westbam is someone who it is easy to dislike, but he deserves some credit for his unique approach to techno and for doing great Mayday parties up to aprox 1998.