Lemongrass

Roland Voss, performing as Lemongrass, navigated multiple stylistic shifts before establishing himself as a drum'n'bass and downtempo producer toward the close of the 1990s. German-born, Voss started drum lessons in 1974 and performed with assorted funk and predominantly jazz groups through the balance of the decade. The 1980s brought an interest in new wave that soon prompted experiments with electronic sound generation. In the latter half of that decade he launched several projects, chiefly dance ensembles, though also the punk band Klappstuhl, and joined the Berlin group New Nations, where he began focused work with electronic instruments and sampling. His first album, the breakbeat-oriented Wuwei, appeared in 1993 under the alias Succa V. Shortly afterward he teamed with drummer Torsten Kötter as Jungle-Moon; their 1994 debut constituted Voss’s initial full commitment to jungle. Large-scale multimedia collaborations with other artists occupied much of the mid-1990s. Lemongrass debuted in 1997 with a drum’n’bass treatment of Gershwin’s “Summertime” on Incoming’s Submerged compilation for the modest German label. Dramatic Universe, the first full-length under the Lemongrass name, followed in 1998, folding Voss’s early jazz background into jungle and atmospheric trip-hop pieces. Strong reception, especially in France, earned a contract with Mole Listening Pearls, and Lumière Obscure arrived as the label debut in 1999. The single “Comme Toujours” gained club traction, leading to the otherworldly Voyage au Centre de la Terre in 2000. Windows, the fourth Lemongrass album, surfaced in early 2001 and was reissued two years later by Water Music. Further releases included the Japan-only Solar Incense in 2002 and Skydiver in 2003. After Fleur Solaire and the retrospective Time Tunnel appeared in 2004, Voss launched the Lemongrass label the next year. Pour l’Amour was issued in 2008.