Jefferson Avenue, Detroit.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Ben Klock – OK
from One. Oston Gut, 2009 | buy it
Proof of the power of simplicity. Berlin’s Ben Klock delivers a thundering drum, some high-hat hiss, and one emotional vocal loop: Ain’t no happiness . . . ain’t no sadness. Although this diva snippet is credited to Elif Bicer, I swear it’s directly inspired by Diana Ross. The more that I listen to “OK”, I hear a direct line out of Motown to Berghain, starting with The Supremes’ “Reflections,” one of the most perfect pop songs ever made, from the urgent tambourine beat to the cosmic synthesizer squiggles that punctuate the track.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Supremes – Reflections
from Reflections. Motown, 1967
Recorded in 1967, this was one of Motown’s first flirtations with the psychedelic-pop elements that later defined heavier tracks from the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. You can see the beautiful collision between Hitsville USA and Haight-Ashbury in the artwork: