Tigerskin is Alex Krüger, who also records as Dub Taylor, and the first Tigerskin records came out in 2004 on Resopal Schallware and Elektro.Komfort. The years since have taken in Moodmusic, Harthouse Mannheim, Absurd Recordings and Audiomatique, and in January 2026 ‘Getaway’ went out on Jackfruit, the label Jakob Mäder premieres on.
Dirt Crew Recordings has been running out of Berlin since 2004, with Players Paradise, Spiel and Electron Feel alongside it, and Tigerskin was already on Players Paradise in 2006.
‘Image’ is DIRT159 and his third album as Tigerskin, following ‘All Those Goodbyes’ in 2013. Twelve tracks on the digital edition, six on the vinyl, and this time not one co-production. It is out now.
We set off with ‘Be Laughing’, a low slung, lo-fi, instrumental hip-hop style affair that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Blockhead or Dan the Automator record. A piano refrain gently draws us into the album alongside a vocal sample that starts with a chuckle, then states “I shouldn’t be laughin’”
The energy begins to rise with the inception of ‘The Tunnel’, which conveys the feeling of travelling down a tunnel at high speed (thanks to the shaker percussion, staccato synth, and propulsive acid bassline), while simultaneously punctuating the mix with vocal samples that sound like they were recorded in a tunnel. Fun and bouncy; a euphoric production indeed.
The title track Image comes next, opening by telling the listener “you live in a car, you’re strung out on drugs, you show up late for the gigs”, before a more distorted sample chips in with "“image, as they say” around a jazz-house vibe.
‘Growing Stones’ takes the next round, and this is where Tigerskin breaks out the momentum. The track is forward driving techno with a fantastic acid bassline running throughout that we reckon General Jimmy would quite like. Very early 00s chord progression, and brilliant with it. Definitely a room lifter, with some superbly executed mobius loops. The end is pure euphoria.
The hazy, almost twee vibes of ’Village Vibes’ arrives next, delivering a driving house beat alongside some quite Röyksopp-ish plinky plonky synths that genuinely evoke a nostalgic dream state where the air is filled with the smell of hay and everything is bathed in an orange glow.
The glorious outbreak of keys alongside ethereal twinkling and skittering house percussion is what defines the next track; ‘Nobody Got Time’. A bubbling bassline sits underneath surreptitiously, letting the frenzied simmering in the mids and upper register take the limelight.
Blinded is the ambient palate-cleanser, marking the mid-point in the album. It feels almost Godspeed! in its presentation. It is the perfect segue into the dense atmosphere of abject tension that comes next courtesy of the ticking doomsday clock that is Time Will Tell. There are some vocals in there, although the delirium the track instils means you never quite catch what they say.
25/50 offers a limbering double bass-sounding bassline alongside some quite apocalyptic choral harmonies and string pads. Wait for the acid line alongside the bell synths. “Lock it up, we’re going in” is the vocal sample that heralds the circus-like second half of the track.
We get a bit of an EBM style workout with the next gloopy number. This is thanks in the most part to that grungy electric guitar that shreds throughout the track alongside the wonderful oscillations of Tigerskin’s chosen bassline here. Reminds us a bit of something Blackstrobe or ASCII Disco might have dropped a couple of decades ago.
We keep the dada-istic tones with the penultimate track; ‘Gerade Eben’, which translates to ‘a moment ago’ and almost certainly pinpoints the exact moment that you lost you mind to this superbly discombobulating, dubby production.
We sign off with ‘Thomas & Klaus/Rhein Fliesst Raus’ which we think refers to the German anti-fascist (Klaus) and his father (Thomas). The track is half ambient, before breaking out into a climatic crescendo that seals the deal on this long player.
Get it on Bandcamp.
