[We receive a lot of quality electronic-music releases at The Stranger—way more than we can cover in the paper itself. With that in mind, I hope to frequently post brief reviews on Line Out of electronic-oriented albums and EPs that I think deserve your attention.]

Losoul
Care
(Playhouse)

Losoul (Germany’s Peter Kremeier) blew my mind in 2000 with his debut album, Belong, one of the most inventive dance LPs of the decade. He stumbled with 2004’s Getting Even, but has made a strong comeback with the new Care.

Losoul’s particular take on tech-house is minimal yet full-sounding, mechanical yet still sensual, exploratory yet still functional for club DJs, hypnotic but not in a worn-out, obvious way. What sets Losoul above most of his peers is his expansive, fascinating tonal palette. (Against great odds, he also managed to do something novel with the rhythm from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” on “Overland” and with Bill Withers' vocals from "Use Me" on "Trust" [both from Belong.])

Care peaks on the sexy yet scientific “Gridlock” and “To Last” and the sinister, stoically stomping “The Lords of Sanity.” Of the album’s 10 tracks, seven could easily be played out in the bigger, more adventurous dance venues. Not as devastatingly distinctive as Belong, Care nonetheless is a robust comeback by Losoul and so far sounds like one of the best tech-house releases of 2009.