October 14, 2003
Ellen Allien
title:: Berlinette label:: Bpitch Control
'Berlinette' is the second full length from Berlin electronic music artist Ellen Allien, following up the 2000 CD 'Stadkind.'
This record has taken me a long time to absorb. initially, I expected one thing, and it was not that thing (a disc of songs like Sweet and Erbeermund). But I have come to really like this disc, especially the sound she gets on Sensuckt and at the end of Open, and the chances she takes on the tracks like Augenblick and Wish.
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Rita Calypso
title:: Apocalypso label:: Siesta
Rita Calypso has released a wonderful debut album with her Apocalypso album on Siesta Records. Very much like the Smokey and Miho Tempo de Amor: Songs By Baden Powell ep from 2002, Apocalypso mines the rich tradition of songwriting, but instead of sticking to one or two songwriters, Rita Calypso digs through a vast and rich tradition of many songwriters, delving into the vaults of the 1960s for what has become a peak of and a peak at creativity in that decade of the 20th century.
Apocalypso is full of great tunes like Claudine Longet's Wanderlove, Bacharach & David's Paper Mache, Nancy Sinatra's Kinky Love, Ellen Dedrick's (of The Free Design) Settlement Boy, Lee Hazlewood's Sugartown (originally done by Nancy Sinatra), Linda Ball's The End (a lost Ian Whitcomb/Roger Nichols tune), Tim Hardin's Misty Roses (covered by everyone from Astrud Gilberto to Colin Blunstone) and also some choice instrumentals: like a version of The Brass Ring's The Disadvantages Of You.
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Dub Taylor
title:: Experience label:: forcetracks
Dub Taylor follows up his debut album Detect from 2001 in fine, exquisite, classy style, with his latest offering on Forcetracks entitled Experience.
Pulling together a set of tracks that are so hot and pulsing with the beat of dub house, Dub Taylor's new album is like the artwork that accompanies it: sleek, seemingly bare, but with unexpected hidden depths and nuances. Best heard loud (I suppose best heard loud in a club setting with a group of your finest friends) and while moving (which means a car would be the next best place to listen to Dub Taylor), Experience is not the same experience when the volume is turned down.
Martini Bros.
title:: Play label:: Poker Flat Recordings
Clé and Mike Vamp are Berlin's Märtini Brös. 'Play' is their first full length. Even though this record came out in 2002, not many people have discovered it yet.
Märtini Brös. have several sounds under their belts, which can work for them and against them. No one is going to like all of it, yet almost anyone will love some of it. Perhaps that explains the theme of the album sleeve, which shows them all punched up, cleaning each other's wounds.
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Tiga
title:: Hot In Herre label:: Skint
Tiga is best known for his interpretation of the 80s track Sunglasses At Night. His 2001 version became an underground classic that eventually got extremely overplayed.
Tiga's most recent leap to recognition came when he joined the stable of artists who have released collections in the DJ Kicks series. In the DJ Kicks tradition, each artist contributes one exclusive track of their own on their DJ Kick disc. For his, Tiga chose to cover the Nelly track Hot In Here.
