5 Techno Bangers from Germany's Lilly Palmer
Amsterdam-based German DJ and producer Lilly Palmer has made a name for herself internationally thanks to her punishing hard techno productions and journey-to-the-underworld DJ sets. She put out her first release in 2015, an EP called Teaser, and has followed with a parade of banging techno on iconic imprints along with her own growing imprint, Spannung Records.
"In German, Spannung has two meanings. On the one hand it means voltage, and on the other hand it means tension," Palmer told Gray Area in 2021. "I love this wordplay because tension can be either positive or negative. But it also reminds me of the job of a DJ—you're always under tension."
She certainly plays with power and tension in her own original music. Read on to hear and learn more about five of Lilly Palmer's hottest techno tracks.
1. Crave - Lilly Palmer & Thomas Schumacher
Thomas Schumacher, hailing from the same German techno roots as Lilly Palmer, joins forces in their latest offering. When two of Germany's techno titans come together, the result is nothing short of explosive. "Crave" is a techno tour de force, boasting an exhilarating bassline and seductive vocals that pierce straight to the heart. With the haunting proclamation, "I'm the one that makes you crave, your body, mind, and soul," the track offers an intense immersion into the deep, dark waters of cutting-edge techno.
2. I Am Machine - Lilly Palmer & Thomas Schumacher
German techno powerhouses Thomas Schumacher and Lilly Palmer prove once again that they're a dynamic duo with their track "I Am Machine." Accumulating nearly 2.5 million streams on Spotify, it's evident that their collaborative magic resonates deeply with listeners. The track pulses with intense effects, modulated pitches, and glitched sounds that set the heart racing. Its sultry vocals not only exude sensuality but also capture that adrenaline-charged techno euphoria that beckons dancers to the floor. As the track builds, it teases and tantalizes, targeting those pleasure centers in the brain, culminating in a drop so powerful it feels like being swept up in a transcendent techno tsunami.
3. Temptation - Lilly Palmer
"Temptation" is a stellar 2021 release on Palmer's own Spannung Records imprint. It's rhythmic and driving—and about a minute and a half in, it breaks out in a burst what I lovingly call synth farts, which always make an extra impact when you feel that bass through a big-ass sound system. This track will have you running your fasted mile and/or losing your mind on the dancefloor. I'll take both.
4. Aether - Lilly Palmer
"Aether" is another 2021 track on Lilly's own label. It starts out a bit more muted—relatively speaking—and plays with tension and release as it ebbs and flows its energy levels. The track demonstrates the German artist's range, as well as her pension for always incorporating different sounds and effects to surprise and excite listeners. If you've only listened to the first minute of the "Aether," you really have no idea what you'll get across this epic, seven-and-a-half minute techno odyssey.
5. We Will Survive (Egbert & Lilly Palmer 2022 Rework)
"We Will Survive" is an amazing sample of Y2K Eurodance, a 2000 hard trance track by German duo Warp Brothers. Fittingly for 2020, Palmer and her boyfriend Egbert, a Dutch DJ and producer, revived the classic and transformed it into a spacey, acid techno heater.
The original and the remix were definitely both retrieved from the same undiscovered rave planet, but the perfect rework subdues the '00s energy and transmutes it into a futuristic banger ripe to get the dancefloor going for many more years. It marked the debut release on Spannung Records, which also gave a home to a new track from the Warp Brothers in March 2022.
Rave on!
