BEANFIELD

Beanfield is a duo of German musician/producers allied with the excellent groove label Compost Recordings. 

   The two members are Jan Krause and Michael Mettke. The group resides among a generation of dance acts like Faze Action, Fila Brazillia, and A Forest Mighty Black (the latter are close compadres) who balance their status in the electronic community by producing extraordinarily organic sounds, inspired by earthy ’70s sounds from funk to latin and Brazilian jazz to disco. Beanfield formed around keyboard player Tobias Meggle, who left the group after the second album, and bassist Jan Krause (formerly with the acid jazz unit Poets of Rhythm), along with Compost label boss Michael Reinboth. 

   All three played heavy parts in the recording and production of the first few Compost records (circa 1995) by A Forest Mighty Black, Knowtoryus, and Fauna Flash. Beanfield’s first single, 1995’s “Charles”, earned heavy rotation on Gilles Peterson’s BBC radio show and gained airplay in the world’s more laid-back clubs. The band released their self-titled debut album in 1997, followed by two volumes in a series of remix EPs. Earning even more praise from DJs and critics, Human Patterns followed in 1999. The latest album “Seek” was released in 2004.