COMPILATIONS REVIEWS
Pop Ambient 2010 Zero dB
Kompakt One Offs, Remixes And B Sides
Tru Thoughts
Take your mind for a swim
Jazz ain’t a four letter word
This is the 10th in Kompakt’s celebrated ‘Pop
Ambient’ series, a concept devised by the Zero dB are unashamed jazz afi cionados, but
Cologne label’s co-owner Wolfgang Voigt. don’t think for one second they’re about to
Eschewing club beats for purest ambience, launch into some dull-as-dishwater free jazz
last year’s collection set the bar perilously trumpet solo.
high. But this is something else. Instead, from their Barcelona studio, this
Total immersion begins with Marsen Jules’ duo has been cooking up a sultry amalgam of
gorgeous opening track ‘The Sound Of One mongrel rhythms more addictive than crystal
Lip Kissing’, Triola’s ‘Schildergasse’ then gifts meth and twice as deadly on the dancefl oor.
us a fragile, shimmering masterpiece, Coming after their sick 2006 Ninja Tune
veteran soundscapers The Orb offer the lovely album ‘Bongos, Bleeps and Basslines’, this
‘Glen Coe’ and Dettinger the pulsing odds and ends collection is far better than
‘Therefore’. the title would suggest.
Lose yourself in Brock Van Wey’s ‘Will You Lurching from the oily, double bass sliding,
Know Where To Find Me’, while Voigt’s own pressure-cooked house of ‘Come Party’ to
MONE
Y
‘Zither Und Horn’ is unashamed Eno worship, the evil, electroid hip-hop of their remix of
SHO
T!
its repeating phrases reminiscent of ‘Music Inverse Cinematics’ ‘7x7’, it’s a wild ride, har-
For Airports’. So whether you’re watching the nessing jazz instrumentation and adding a
Ministry Of Sound
sun come up or soothing a frazzled brain, this massive dose of raw rhythms and broken beat
The Club Present SOS
is what you would want on the soundtrack. machinations. Pure brilliance. Ben Murphy
Buy. It. Ben Arnold
Ministry Of Sound
Trio’s terrifi c tech turn
When Desyn Masiello, Omid 16B and
Demi come together as electronic
house saviours SOS magic happens,
and never more so than on their DJ mix
for Ministry’s new fl agship compilation
series. Bob Blank Ellen Allien
Some might see the brand stamp of the The Blank Generation: Blank Tapes Watergate 5
London über-club and expect commer- NYC 1975 – 1985 Watergate
cial crowd-pleasers, but that isn’t the Eschewing digital DJing, SOS play CDs Strut
way SOS roll. Not for them the latest and vinyl purely — and it shows. With Allien nation
trends or throwaway big room beats. a humanity and deeply-felt funk, disc Best Of Blankety Blank
Instead, they’ve combined minds and one sees them travelling between the The Bpitch boss always brings an eclectic
hit us with a staggering, spring-loaded sinuous metallurgic bass and disco Nowadays Bob Blank is a big cheese on the fl avour to her sets without losing the
set that, for the fi rst time on CD, funk samples of MCDE’s remix of DJ senior ballroom dancing circuit in America, dancefl oor fl ow, and this mix for esteemed
reveals just how powerful the three Sprinkles’ ‘Grande Central Part 1’, to but back in the ’70s and ’80s he was the Berlin club Watergate is no exception.
are as a main room-fi lling dancefl oor Pat Legato’s Balearic house bump ‘Time brains behind Blank Tapes — one of New The opening section is sublime, as Allien
prospect. Is Running Out’ (think Munich Machine York’s most illustrious recording studios. moves seamlessly through the gloriously
Previous compilations have hinted at meets DJ Sneak). For SOS, it ain’t As a producer he worked with the likes of melodic techno of DJ Yellow and John Tejada
their diversity and intuitive, alchemi- where you’re from, it’s where you’re at, Arthur Russell, Patrick Adams and Sun Ra into the garridge-style bass of Lump’s ‘Music
cal mixing; 2008’s ‘Balance 013: SOS’ and their masterful melding of disco, and, though less heralded than some of his Lover’ and from there back into Luciano’s
was a vast three CD odyssey across all tech-house, breaks and Chi-town funk contemporaries, his vibrant and versatile angelic ‘Celestial’.
their infl uences and eclectic tastes, — from the most subterranean to the work stands up to modern listening. While the middle section of the mix tails off
taking in everything from the gothic most populist — is undisputed. Opening track on this retrospective, ‘Once into the bland deep house meets minimal
post-punk of The Cure to the cerebral The second CD exhibits their produc- You Got Me Going’ by Debby Blackwell sets techno of Juno 6 and Aerea Negrot, she
grooves of Loco Dice. tion side, pitting Omid 16B’s textured out the album’s euphoric proto-disco stall — quickly regains her composure with the eerie
But ‘Ministry Of Sound The Club Present acid house against new tracks crafted all emotive keys and an utterly irresistible riffs of Matias Aguayo’s ‘Bo Jack’ and Alexi
SOS’ is a snapshot of the troika in full- under the SOS umbrella. It completes a vocal. Delano’s moody ‘Molar One’.
on club action mode, a set intended to nigh-on perfect compilation that house Elsewhere, The Necessaries’ ‘State of Art’ At this point, and true to her open-minded
refl ect their awesome power working heads of all stripes will treasure. displays an artful Eno/Bowie-esque streak, style, she drops Røyksopp’s electro pop hit
the Ministry soundsystem at one of Ben Murphy and Lola’s ‘Wax The Van’ is dubbed-out ‘This Must Be It’ and fi nishes with Brigitte
their club nights at the venue. Balearica at least 20 years ahead of its Fontain & Khan’s neo-burlesque ‘Fine
time. Jim Butler Mouche’. Richard Brophy
096
www.djmag.com
DJ482.compilations.indd 96 15/1/10 11:31:03
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