It's kind of funny--and, in a way, inspirational--that a key figure in Germany's recent tech-house reign is almost old enough to be your father. Markus Nikolai was pressing keys in thuggish industrial/EBM groups like Bigod 20 before most of today's microhouse producers had sprouted pubic hair.

The one photo of Nikolai I've seen makes him out to be a slick, balding badass in shades and ski-slope sideburns, his face bearing a look of mild disdain and supreme confidence. He's earned that look. Nikolai heads Frankfurt, Germany's Perlon Records, arguably the world's most revered tech-house label.

Perlon's three Superlongevity compilations have served as state-of-the-art manifestos among tech-house DJs and fans. With a roster that includes Ricardo Villalobos, Pantytec, Dimbiman, Matthew Dear, and Akufen, Perlon's as deep and talented as the L.A. Lakers, if not quite as rich. What makes Perlon special is the way its artists combine innovative sound design with some of the raunchiest party grooves in clubdom and tunes that indelibly stain brains. Perlon's heady, hedonistic back catalog proves it's still possible to do new and interesting things within tech-house's tight strictures.

Nikolai scored perhaps the label's biggest smash with his 1999 track "Bushes," which became a global anthem. DJs as different as Derrick Carter and Fatboy Slim caned it, and popular house jock Mark Farina placed it on his San Francisco Sessions mix CD. The song's become Nikolai's "Rockafeller Skank" or "Born Slippy"--an albatross/wallet-fattener that's overshadowed everything else he's done. Lifted by a knee-tremblingly seductive vocal by Clair Dietrich and Theo Krieger's deft guitar, bass, and flute, "Bushes" festively and funkily bumps along with a slight Latin glide in its stride, clocking in at a leisurely 115 bpm. Words don't do it justice; ask him to play it at his show, and feel the power firsthand.

But there's much more to Nikolai than "Bushes." "Chitchat on Sunset Cliff" is a left-field tech-house classic with some of the oddest guitar plunking and wooziest horn charts I've heard in a dance track. Nikolai's Narcotic Syntax project (with the suspiciously named James Dean Brown) traffics in yet more Latin-infused house that balances cheesiness with scientific sound design. Their "Muff Diver" is aptly lubricious, tribal tech-house for peak clubbing hours. The estimable Richie Hawtin included a Syntax track on his excellent DE9: Closer to the Edit.

Nikolai's Hombre Ojo guise finds him in even campier Latin mode; here's where he really lets down his metaphorical hair, singing over hypnotic jazz-house rhythms, flute, vibes, and bass clarinet by Krieger on the irresistible "La Musica" (which Matthew Herbert included in his essential Letsallmakemistakes disc on Tresor). "Manejando un Carrito Rapidito por Santiaguito" is sexy machine funk that sounds like Mantronix being remixed by Masters at Work. Finally, Pile delves into deeper, more cryptic experimental-techno territory. No matter what moniker he uses, Nikolai brings a sly undercurrent of weirdness--and memorable vocal hooks--to his cheeky, hands-in-the-motherfucking-air chuggers. Unlike most musicians, this dirty ol' bastard's improving with age. DAVE SEGAL

With Jacob London. Sat May 29 at the Baltic Room, 1207 Pine St, 625-4444, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $10 before 11, $12 after.