Review
Genre and Mood
Kalabrese and Sarah Palin sing Kafi Lied, a B-side that Discogs files under disco and garage house and Apple Music under house; its label described the direction of the release as somehow dancepop, just following its own rules. The feelings on this page, relaxed, warm and uplifting, come straight from that label’s description: a song for starting the day in a relaxed mood and throwing yourself into it.
Song Summary
Kafi is Swiss German for coffee, and Kafi Lied is, in the label’s words, an ode to drinking coffee and taking time in the morning. It is the B-side of a twelve-inch that Rumpelmusig, the Zurich producer Sacha Winkler’s own label, released on 18 April 2014 under the catalogue number RUMP 003-1, with Jimi Jules’s Hello Asshole on side A. The track runs seven minutes 44 seconds. Kalabrese wrote and produced it, Reto Muggli mastered it at Powerplay, and the digital listing credits the words and music to Winkler and Sarah Vieth, the civil name Discogs gives for Sarah Palin.
Musical Breakdown
No source walks through the track part by part, but the label’s text names its layers, and this breakdown follows them.
Intro
Listen for which layer sets the morning scene first, the groove or the synths, before the voices come in.
Main Section
The label hears Sarah Palin’s voice gleaming over everything, a soul that breathes like fresh coffee, with Kalabrese beside her: the release credits the vocals to both. Around them the Rumpelorchester players sing what the label calls a rumply choir, and Dominik Löhrer adds guitar and further vocals.
Outro
How the song winds down is not described anywhere. Notice which layer stays with you last.
Concepts in Focus
A <a href=“https://korczis.github.io/sonic-playground/concept/featured-artist/” class=“concept-link font-medium text-primary-700 underline decoration-dotted underline-offset-4 hover:decoration-solid dark:text-primary-400” data-concept=“featured-artist” title=“A guest performer credited on another artist’s track, usually as “feat.”: a rapper’s verse, a singer’s hook or a second voice. Features bring together different styles and audiences and are central to hip-hop, R&B and dance music.“>featured artist credit can hide a real partnership. Sarah Palin, a Zurich drummer, guitarist and singer whom the label introduced as the singer of Kalabrese’s Rumpelorchester, is credited as a writer of the song as well as its voice; today’s listing names her Palinstar.
Under the voices sits what the label calls Kalabrese’s characteristic analog synthesizer pads, the milk froth in its coffee image: sustained chords that warm a track rather than lead it. The label also promised songs where the groove declares its love to the melody and the singing, a groove that serves the song instead of the other way round.
Artistic Context
Rumpelmusig announced the single as continuing where Kalabrese’s album Independent Dancer stopped, the album of Kalabrese, Sarah Palin – Fresh and Foolish feat. Sarah Palin. Groove later named Rumpelmusig among Compost Records’ label cooperations, and Compost’s channel carries the track. Next came Kalabrese, Khan – Desperate Man feat. Khan.
Impact and Reception
No review or chart place of Kafi Lied was found beyond the label’s own words. Save it for a slow morning, with a cup of coffee.
