Biography
German electronic outfit Terranova first gained attention in the mid-'90s through their wide-ranging work as producers of trip-hop and downtempo breaks. Their approach later shifted toward more driving, dancefloor-oriented material that encompassed new wave-tinged electro as well as hypnotic tech-house, a trajectory that eventually secured them a place on the respected German techno imprint Kompakt.
One could trace the project’s origins to the 1980s, when founding member Fetisch (Dietrich Bergmann) first encountered the powerful rhythms of American hip-hop in his native country. This sparked an immediate relocation to New York City, where Fetisch began performing regularly as a DJ and forged an early connection with the Stereo MC's; however, the trio only coalesced after his return, when he joined forces with classically trained pianist Marco Meister and graffiti artist Kaos. Together they issued several 12-inch releases under the wrestling-inspired name Turntable Terranova before shortening the moniker to Terranova in 1997 and launching the new identity with the single “Tokyo Tower,” a collaboration with Ash Ra Tempel guitarist Manuel Göttsching.
Their boundary-pushing experiments with rhythm quickly found traction in club culture via the influential 1998 edition of DJ Kicks, which drew frequent comparisons to Kruder & Dorfmeister and Tricky. What truly distinguished the group within trip-hop was the 1999 debut album Close the Door, issued by Copasetik Recordings and featuring contributions from Einstürzende Neubauten’s Alexander Hacke, Tricky, San Francisco rapper Rasco, and Cath Coffey of the Stereo MC's. The Berlin-based trio resurfaced in 2002 with the wide-ranging Hitchhiking Non-Stop with No Particular Destination and the companion collection B-Sides & Remix Sessions; the following year they delivered their more assertive third album, Peace Is Tough, on the !K7 label.
Terranova switched to the Ministry of Sound roster for the 2004 electro-driven release Digital Tenderness. Afterward the members turned to separate endeavors: Bergmann and Sebastian Müller launched Lotterboys alongside Paris the Black Fu of Detroit Grand Pubahs, resulting in the 2006 Eskimo Recordings album Animalia, while Bergmann and André Boadu later teamed with Princess Superstar as Lottergirls for the 2007 track “Right On.” Bergmann and Boadu also issued several singles under the Fetisch & Me alias on International Deejay Gigolo and Souvenir.
The group aligned with Kompakt in 2011, releasing two singles that paved the way for the 2012 full-length Hotel Amour. That record, markedly more energetic than prior efforts, included vocal appearances by Billie Ray Martin, Khan, and Tomas Høffding of WhoMadeWho. Further singles and remix EPs followed before the second Kompakt album, Restless, arrived in 2015. Selections from the catalog supplied the soundtrack to the film Wild, which Kompakt issued digitally in 2016. That same year Terranova joined the Stereo MC's for the Connected in Dub EP, a project unrelated to dub versions of the latter’s hit “Connected.” In 2017 the duo of Terranova and Reinhard Voigt contributed Speicher 94 to Kompakt’s longstanding series of singles and joint releases.
One could trace the project’s origins to the 1980s, when founding member Fetisch (Dietrich Bergmann) first encountered the powerful rhythms of American hip-hop in his native country. This sparked an immediate relocation to New York City, where Fetisch began performing regularly as a DJ and forged an early connection with the Stereo MC's; however, the trio only coalesced after his return, when he joined forces with classically trained pianist Marco Meister and graffiti artist Kaos. Together they issued several 12-inch releases under the wrestling-inspired name Turntable Terranova before shortening the moniker to Terranova in 1997 and launching the new identity with the single “Tokyo Tower,” a collaboration with Ash Ra Tempel guitarist Manuel Göttsching.
Their boundary-pushing experiments with rhythm quickly found traction in club culture via the influential 1998 edition of DJ Kicks, which drew frequent comparisons to Kruder & Dorfmeister and Tricky. What truly distinguished the group within trip-hop was the 1999 debut album Close the Door, issued by Copasetik Recordings and featuring contributions from Einstürzende Neubauten’s Alexander Hacke, Tricky, San Francisco rapper Rasco, and Cath Coffey of the Stereo MC's. The Berlin-based trio resurfaced in 2002 with the wide-ranging Hitchhiking Non-Stop with No Particular Destination and the companion collection B-Sides & Remix Sessions; the following year they delivered their more assertive third album, Peace Is Tough, on the !K7 label.
Terranova switched to the Ministry of Sound roster for the 2004 electro-driven release Digital Tenderness. Afterward the members turned to separate endeavors: Bergmann and Sebastian Müller launched Lotterboys alongside Paris the Black Fu of Detroit Grand Pubahs, resulting in the 2006 Eskimo Recordings album Animalia, while Bergmann and André Boadu later teamed with Princess Superstar as Lottergirls for the 2007 track “Right On.” Bergmann and Boadu also issued several singles under the Fetisch & Me alias on International Deejay Gigolo and Souvenir.
The group aligned with Kompakt in 2011, releasing two singles that paved the way for the 2012 full-length Hotel Amour. That record, markedly more energetic than prior efforts, included vocal appearances by Billie Ray Martin, Khan, and Tomas Høffding of WhoMadeWho. Further singles and remix EPs followed before the second Kompakt album, Restless, arrived in 2015. Selections from the catalog supplied the soundtrack to the film Wild, which Kompakt issued digitally in 2016. That same year Terranova joined the Stereo MC's for the Connected in Dub EP, a project unrelated to dub versions of the latter’s hit “Connected.” In 2017 the duo of Terranova and Reinhard Voigt contributed Speicher 94 to Kompakt’s longstanding series of singles and joint releases.
Albums
Singles
