Bright, yet minimal, the artwork of Pole’s first
three albums strangely summed up his work quite literally.
By the time 3 was
released, in 2000, Stefan Betke had firmly established
Pole on the electronic music map. This uncompromising
debut trilogy marked new boundaries in a genre that
appears more fragmented as time passes. Exploring territories
set somewhere between the cold minimalism of labels
such as Mille Plateau or Basic Channel and the more
vibrant tones of dub, 1,
2 and 3
proved a compelling and defining collection of electronic
music.
Hailing from the extremely active Berlin electronic
scene, Stefan Betke first emerged toward the end of
the nineties with his signature sound based on drowsy
glitchy dub rhythmic structures and the random crackles
generated by the Waldort 4-Pole filter he once accidentally
dropped. Often linked to Basic Channel artists such
as Monolake and Vainqueur, Betke has nevertheless always
retained his own unique sonic identity with his records.
An active remixer, producer and DJ, Betke founded his
own label, ~Scape, in 1999 with Barbara Preisinger,
and has released albums by artists as diverse as Kit
Clayton, Burnt Friedman,
Jan Jelinek, Andrew Pekler or System.
This new album, Betke’s fifth, follows two EPs
released earlier this year. Both 45/45 and
90/90 revealed some interesting new elements
in his work, further expanded here. If Betke had collaborated
with a handful of musicians and remixers for his previous
album, R, Pole integrates
for the first time vocal elements provided by Ohio-based
rapper Fat Jon on four of the nine tracks on offer here.
Although Betke pretty much retains the essence of his
earlier work here, Fat Jon actually contributes greatly
to giving this album a more urban and organic twist.
Perfectly adapting to Betke’s pneumatic beats
and minimal structures, Fat Jon gives some interesting
performances, especially on the opening track, Slow
Motion, a reflection on passing time, and on Round
Two. Despite remaining pretty uniform, his flow
gives these tracks an interesting dimension.
True to his vision that less is more, Betke’s
soundscapes remain discreet and shady. Often working
at microscopic level, the loops used seem pretty static
at first, but on closer inspection, the complexity of
these sonic constructions become truly apparent. With
August Engkilde on upright bass and saxophonist Thomas
Haas providing organic textures on Back Home
and Bushes respectively, with the two joining
forces on Green Is Not Green-Yellow, this fifth
Pole album shows Betke at his most opened and accessible.
Avoiding some of the pitfalls of his previous records,
notably some slightly monotonous ambiences, Pole is
a more interesting and entertaining piece of recording.
If the general concept behind Betke’s work remains,
the atmospheric nature of his music, combined with Fat
Jon’s organic vocal contributions and the inputs
from Engkilde and Haas, develops into something somewhat
different from his earlier releases, and it is definitely
a good move.
4.2/5 |
