Various Artists – FabrikSampler
FabrikSampler. The title to me comes over as “here’s some stuff as made in a factory.” Pretty standard stuff. But don’t trust the title. This compilation is the complete opposite.
Fourteen tracks from fourteen different artists make up this compilation. It ranges in styles from ambient to IDM to experimental, in such a rarely balanced way that it can be simply described as unique. The balance between styles is simply perfect. Rarely have I heard it like this. Adding to this effect is the fact that the tracks are not individual tracks, but they have been mixed together to flow into eachother, creating this single long experience. Excellent!
Psychedelic Desert opens with a beautiful soundscape of ambience and noise, carefully crafted not to overdo it, but extreme enough to immediately overflow the senses and make the listener drown in a wall of pure bliss. Biaxial Creep follows with a nice downtempo rhythm accompanied by floating, dreamy sounds. More laidback, less noisy. Following that is 4 minutes of very minimal soundscape, but watch out for the details! They make this track by O-tower so much more interesting.
A tribal gathering follows in Chris Wood’s Zulu, which breaks up a tribal rhythm with glitchy sounds. Did we already have a genre called tribal IDM? If not, Chris Wood invented it. Very interesting. When reading the title ‘the stabbing party’ I immediately think of some mass murder or mass suicide. Something very harsh. Cathartech, however, seems to have a different interpretation of such a happening, as this track is very ambient, with beautiful textures, evolving the whole time. Seed’s Sotto La Pelle is more like what I had expected in The Stabbing Party. Harsh noise, rhythm yet without an actual rhythm. Reminds me of some german industrial act. Excellent stuff, and though completely different in style than the other music on this compilation, it fits right in.
The only transition between tracks that I feel is not perfect is the one from Seed’s track to Leaving The Fabric by Wodan. The tracks don’t fit together in my opinion. This is quickly forgotten though while listening to Wodan’s contribution. Making up rhythms from sounds that seem to come from machinery, and adding all types of electronic elements, this track is one of my favorites on the album. Especially the melodic element with it’s far away chainsaw-like feeling is very well executed. Enough harshness for now, says Richard Dunlap, who brings in Origami Memories, a beautiful soundtrack to a fairytale. More classical in nature than the other tracks, it’s an interesting contribution to the whole of this album.
Breaking open the album to more accessible territories, Teresa 11 comes with beautiful rhythmic ambience combined with great vocals. It’s Clear Love gives me an immediately clear love of the music of Teresa 11. Moshang then goes more uptempo with Sun Gong Moon Song. Interesting IDM-ish music, starting out minimal but extending itself. Dusted is the next track, executed by Glaxprism. This is my overall favorite of the album. Nice rhythms, great bass, wonderful atmosphere. Dreamy, yet energetic. Beautiful. Burp then brings Hanged Mans Paradox. It clocks in at exactly 4 minutes and is a nice uptempo break-ish track with a twist. Very interesting stuff. Kleemar then comes with a soulful track called Loveful. Nice and deep. Micheal Oster closes down with Out, a short one-minute track. Glitchy, clearly ending the album. Beautiful.
Overall, this album is simply amazing. It is definitely one of the best releases to have reached my ears this year.
Related posts:
Hi Stefan
Would like to send you a copy of my new album?
great reveiw
Chris Wood