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Various Artists, "But Then Again"
~scape's 5th birthday compilation.
~scape
It's been five years since the birth of Stefan "Pole" Betke's label,~scape, and in that time the artists he's chosen have had a bit of achore living outside of the shadow of Pole's near-genre definingversion of minimalist dub. Early ~scape releases were easily linked tothe "Pole sound" of clicky, spacious percussion, filtered melodies anddeep, dubwise basslines. With the Staedtism compilation series,Betke didn't help things at all by selecting artists and tracks thatwere more than happy to color inside the lines established by thegrowing roster of artists like Kit Clayton, Jan Jelinek, andDeadbeat—all of whom managed to spin Betke's sound into somethingunique, but certainly linked to the aesthetic. Now, with the fifthanniversary collection, ~scape appears to be making a decided breakfrom history, and a departure from the forumla that has thusfar guidedits sound. The results, as with most label comps, are mixed. It's easyfor laptop prodcers all over the world to grab onto frgments of hip hopculture and front like they are a part of that tradition, but it'sanother thing for them to successfully groove without sounding likethey are simply borrowing what is fashionable. David Byrne probably hadit right when he named his compilation "The Only Blip Hop CollectionYou Will Ever Need," as the sound has already worn out its welcome.Still, ~scape is moving in different directions, and with some amazingsuccesses. John Tejada's "And Many More" is the first truly memorabletrack on this disc, and it's a wiggly slab of melodic electro thatwouldn't sound out of place on a Bola record, but is somehow morefleshed out too. Triola's track "Neuland" is a bit too new agey for mytastes, but Jan Jelinek more than makes up for it with his brushedbroken jazz homage full of looping detuned guitars. Andrew Peckler alsoplays with the Jazz references, perhaps bridging the gap between fansof sample-based and improvised music even better than mid-1990s eraacid jazz. Deadbeat continues to shine as one of ~scape's most talentedartists, even if "We Like It Slow and Steady" is immediately familiaras "old school ~scape" with it's wandering synth stabs and filteredpercussion over dub backing. In Triosk, ~scape is even working with aband, Manitoba, and the sound is both warmer and more mature than manyof the tracks with a similar vibe that more obviously hatched out ofsomeone's hard drive. The ~scape version of pop music complete withvocals is less successful than it should be, but will likely find anaudience all the same. "But Then Again" shows a label willing to flexits stylistic muscle a bit, even if there are a few bumps and bruisesin doing so. With the number of good to great tracks here relative tothe duds, it's impossible to fault the effort.
It's been five years since the birth of Stefan "Pole" Betke's label,~scape, and in that time the artists he's chosen have had a bit of achore living outside of the shadow of Pole's near-genre definingversion of minimalist dub. Early ~scape releases were easily linked tothe "Pole sound" of clicky, spacious percussion, filtered melodies anddeep, dubwise basslines. With the Staedtism compilation series,Betke didn't help things at all by selecting artists and tracks thatwere more than happy to color inside the lines established by thegrowing roster of artists like Kit Clayton, Jan Jelinek, andDeadbeat—all of whom managed to spin Betke's sound into somethingunique, but certainly linked to the aesthetic. Now, with the fifthanniversary collection, ~scape appears to be making a decided breakfrom history, and a departure from the forumla that has thusfar guidedits sound. The results, as with most label comps, are mixed. It's easyfor laptop prodcers all over the world to grab onto frgments of hip hopculture and front like they are a part of that tradition, but it'sanother thing for them to successfully groove without sounding likethey are simply borrowing what is fashionable. David Byrne probably hadit right when he named his compilation "The Only Blip Hop CollectionYou Will Ever Need," as the sound has already worn out its welcome.Still, ~scape is moving in different directions, and with some amazingsuccesses. John Tejada's "And Many More" is the first truly memorabletrack on this disc, and it's a wiggly slab of melodic electro thatwouldn't sound out of place on a Bola record, but is somehow morefleshed out too. Triola's track "Neuland" is a bit too new agey for mytastes, but Jan Jelinek more than makes up for it with his brushedbroken jazz homage full of looping detuned guitars. Andrew Peckler alsoplays with the Jazz references, perhaps bridging the gap between fansof sample-based and improvised music even better than mid-1990s eraacid jazz. Deadbeat continues to shine as one of ~scape's most talentedartists, even if "We Like It Slow and Steady" is immediately familiaras "old school ~scape" with it's wandering synth stabs and filteredpercussion over dub backing. In Triosk, ~scape is even working with aband, Manitoba, and the sound is both warmer and more mature than manyof the tracks with a similar vibe that more obviously hatched out ofsomeone's hard drive. The ~scape version of pop music complete withvocals is less successful than it should be, but will likely find anaudience all the same. "But Then Again" shows a label willing to flexits stylistic muscle a bit, even if there are a few bumps and bruisesin doing so. With the number of good to great tracks here relative tothe duds, it's impossible to fault the effort. samples:
- Jan Jelinek - Western Mimickry
- John Tejada - And Many More
- Triosk - Tomorrowtoday
