Rarely a musician has made such an impact with their
first album as Stefan Betke did. The Berlin-based artist
captured the imagination of critics and audiences alike
from the moment he released 1,
with his particular definition of soundscapes and atmospheres.
By the time the second and third volumes of this minimalist
trilogy came out, Pole had become a widely respected
composer.
The nucleus around which R revolves is made
up of Raum 1 and Raum 2, originally
released on Din in 1998, and dating back to 1996. Prior
to Betke setting up ~Scape, Burnt
Friedman had started working on remixing the two
tracks, which prompted Pole to have a go at his own
material. The project, originally intended as a 12”
rapidly turned into a full-length album, with extra
reworking by Kit Clayton, plus two entirely new tracks
by Pole, concluding the sequence, Raum 3 and
Raum 4.
As in his previous work, Stefan Betke creates minimalist
rhythmic structures, on which he applies a multitude
of dub patterns built around infrasonic bass lines and
subaltern melodies. His own reworking of Raum 1
and Raum 2 changes the perspective on the respective
tracks entirely. If the variation on Raum 1
retains some of the original’s dopey semantic, Betke
transforms the almost pop Raum 2 into a deeply
atmospheric piece of nonchalant beauty. The treatment
to which Burn
Friedman submits the same tracks is altogether different.
While Raum 1 still transpires reluctantly through
the convulsions of the syncopated beat, Friedman
puts Raum 2 through a kaleidoscopic dysfunctional
funk machine, encapsulating the very essence of the
composition, yet giving it a very personal twist. Kit
Clayton chooses yet another approach to Betke’s work,
as he extracts the rhythmic architecture from each track,
propels it on the front line, and transforms the originals
into monolithic dance floor curiosities.
To complete this recording, Betke includes Raum
3 and Raum 4, specially composed for this
album. Like Raum 1 and Raum 2, these
two new tracks concentrate on the notion of space and
room. For the first time, Betke collaborated with guitarist
D. Mateo, and the superposition of guitars on Pole’s
creations gives an eccentric, extra dimensional, aspect
to the record. Although both tracks are similar in settings,
Raum 3 is the most introvert and dense of the
two. Despite the melancholic touches scattered over
Raum 4, Mateo’s contribution extracts the more
uplifting side of the track to great effect.
With this new album, Stefan Betke demonstrates once
again that he is one of the most talented minimalist
musicians on the planet. R also benefits of
the inputs of Burnt
Friedman and Kit Clayton, possibly making it Pole’s
most accessible release to date.
5/5 |
