| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
$29.99 CDx3
|
|
POLE
1 2 3
(~scape)
 "Fahren"
"Fliegen"
This year so far has seen the reissue of many seminal electronic works that have proven via hindsight to withstand overpowering stagnation by means of true innovation -- the works of Gas and Basic Channel in particular come to mind. Add to that list of essential reissues this 3CD collection of Stefan Betke a/k/a Pole's first three albums, simply and respectively titled 1, 2 and 3. Originally released on the now-defunct Kiff SM label in 1998, '99, and 2000, these works sounded like nothing else at the time -- perhaps the Basic Channel camp being the only other mining similar territory -- and amazingly still resonate today with an air of timelessness that few purely electronic works are able to manage.
Much has been said of the "gimmick" of Pole's music in the past, so I'll keep my synopsis brief (besides, you can read the full story in the liner notes included within): Betke was given a Waldorf 4 Pole filter by Gudrun Gut and Thomas Fehlmann which had been dropped and broken; when attempting to use this damaged apparatus, he discovered that the resulting sounds which it made -- namely a series of reductive snaps, crackles and pops -- were truly mesmerizing. Betke proceeded to strip his music to the barest of essences by letting the Pole filter's hypnotic defects dance around and in between the cavernous spaces of heavy, dub-inflected bass lines. He went on to release these tightly-crafted, fine-tuned experiments in three installments, each bearing sleeves swathed in simple, striking primary colors (1 is
blue, 2 is red, and 3 is yellow). The rest, as they say...
Now, however, reassessing these records after techno/electronic music's obsession with all things "minimal" -- after Villalobos's 20-minute 12" epics, after Burial, Shackleton, and dubstep mania, all of whom have driven further down paths Betke had helped to pioneer -- these albums truly stake claim as some of the rock-solid foundations of that movement, while sounding absolutely nothing like anything they went on to inspire. While Basic Channel's mini-dub soundscapes were still tethered to a 4/4 pulse, Pole's music was so unique in that its rhythms are nearly all implied; few had heard music which was so forward moving and so heavily rhythmic while simultaneously having no true beat! It's precisely that negative space which makes the music so appealing to so many different types of music heads; from the soothing, almost psychedelic ambience the music possesses, to the deep dread found in the heavy and melodic bass lines, there's a little something for everyone.
UK avant-rock group This Heat once had a song entitled "Music Like Escaping Gas," and honestly, I've not heard a better description for these records than said phrase. This package, finally able to be regarded as a concise whole (also tacking on four additional bonus tracks included from compilation and 12" releases of the same era), is essential listening to be regarded with the same canonical respect, enjoyment, and fervor that records like Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol 2, the first Boards of Canada album, and Villalobos's Alcachofa still command. Highest recommendation! [IQ] |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
