Artist: Ellen Allien
Album: Dust Remixes
Label: BPitch Control
Release Date: 21/3/2011
What to say about Ellen Allien's BPitch Control imprint? Well, it manages to maintain a diverse output while remaining rooted in house for one thing, an ethic at the core of this enticing follow up to the label boss' LP of last year, Dust.
We start at the understated, yet anthemic Ripperton reading of My Tree. A track with powerfully epic strings made even more pronounced, the token whispered female lyrics and bumbling bass accentuate the atmospheric nature of Allien's oeuvre.
From here we call at soulful minimalism with boy wonder Nicolas Jaar's cover of Flashy Flashy, which wouldn't sound out of place on the last Tiefschwarz album. And then Adultnapper's Big Chief style Huibuh is a welcome plod-a-thon of chunky beats and sublime synths, leading us into the next big moments on great form.
Tim Hecker's version of Sun The Rain doesn't stand out merely because it's the only ambient addition to the 12-strong release. It's worthy of note thanks to the near-Blade Runner style soundscapes, and mesmerising, futurist mystery therein- meditation material to the point of hallucination make no mistake.
In contrast Aux 88's Black Tokyo reworking of Ever is a sucker punch from the opposite direction. There's little going on here other than raw, heavy beats, and sharp, crisp percussion that keeps it jacking, rather than pounding. Throw in some quick-fire crescendos, string and vocal stabs and suddenly instead of being in Berlin, you're halfway to Chicago.
Another prominent name of the nu-school variety, Shonky, also delivers a worthwhile few minutes. Under his control Searching's analogue, metronomic hook swings back and forth, refusing to let the electro-fuelled repetition be stopped for much. Except for those keys, of course, taken straight out of the mid80s, but somehow sounding box-fresh.
Elsewhere Camea's interpretation of Schlumi boasts some wide-load, peak-time techno beats, and You gets Munk-ed up in the usual, twisted pop fashion, giving two more reasons to check this package out. And Fabrizio Maurizi offers another way of looking at Flashy Flashy, a roller that acts as a perfect progressive counterpart to the earlier version, which is also impressive. Owners of the original album take note then, there are more than enough excuses here to splash out again.
