Toshoklabs may have sprung the _State of the Art Heirloom_ on us already,
but with City Centre Offices' _Cashier Escape Route_ and Neo Ouija's
_Cottage Industries_ arrivals, it seems that the pastoral movement is
whole force. While many of the artists on these comps do double duty,
appearing on both, the familiarity does not breed contempt - instead, it
simply illustrates the strength of both labels and artists. _Cashier
Escape Route_ is ordered perfectly. Progressing from Skanfrom and
Solvent's electropop to the ordered disarray of Lexaunculpt and Phonem
and then to the glitch dub of Geiom and Pole, the whole album seems
intended to be listened to from start to finish, and argues against the
usual case of compilations being loose collections of standout tracks.
However, melody is still first and foremost. Chiming, glittering, and
smooth are all words you could use to describe the disc. There aren't
many surprises (Pole does his usual underwater welding, Goodiepal sounds
like V/VM, To Rococo Rot + D display their usual restraint) but Geiom's
work continues to be a revelation. Fresh off a 7" for CCO and a 12" for
Neo Ouija (can't wait for that new album!), Kamal Joory (under)mines the
Ovalprocess with further orchestration and creates a 4 minute symphony.
His and Roger van Lunteren's tracks are peaks on an album without any
valleys. If CCO keeps putting out stuff like this and its 7" series,
Germans might find themselves accused of not being quite-so-Teutonic
after all ; ) 'Tis a shame about those liner notes in German, though ...
_Cottage Industries_ lacks the cohesiveness of _Cashier ..._, but more
than makes up for it with its diverse sounds, as crunchy beats and
melancholy tunes abound. Phonem plays a forlorn melody with rearranged
bits of Ae's malfunctioning slot-machine soundbook (It almost sounds like
an untreated piano in some parts!). Bauri checks in with a nicely
harmonic ditty ("fleck yck"), Geiom performs more stuttering ouija twice,
and Yunx are as solid as ever whilst adding a smooth Detroitish finish to
their slot. Penfold Plum does a great job of actually making his song
sound like its title (or would that be vice versa?), as "cute toy"
resembles a wind up music box. Quinoline Yellow turns in "eythyl
maltol", a throwback to the early days of Warp's A.I. series, a sound
Clatterbox achieve as well. Only Plod disappoints (well, the absence of a
Metamatics' cut does too), as their 3 minute excursion has pretty sounds
that fail to add up to a pretty song. For a comp put out from a former
Clear records act, there is suprisingly little electro nuttiness (outside
of Solenoid's hopellessly sped up backing and Consumer Durable's funk)
and more than a few nods to an early Warp's take on the motor city
manifesto. Is this the immediate past, or the present future? Either
way, it sounds good.
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