Actualités Electroniques / EN / Werkschau

Imagine you had the job of representing your entire life in the form of seventeen unreleased songs - a difficult task? Unsolvable? B Pitch Control has attempted to do just that, packing a turbulent twelve-year label history, mostly techno, onto one silver disc that will be released on January 31st, 2011 as CD/digital. The resulting album is not just a simple reflection of the past, it is a statement showing how comprehensive, complex, progressive, emotional and ultimately enthralling electronic music can be; the kind of potential and opportunities for development that can be found in a genre which is apparently so narrowly defined - given the necessary courage to ignore pigeon-holes and open new doors. The “Werkschau” (”Showcase”) compilation presents BPitch Control and its forward-thinking artists in all their stylistic elasticity.

TRACKLISTING – WERKSCHAU – B PITCH CONTROL [Buy the album]

01. Cormac - The Present
02. Ellen Allien - The Kiss
03. We Love - Harmony Of The Spheres
04. Dillon & Coma - Aiming For Destruction
05. AGF/Delay - Most Beautiful Kill
06. TimTim - How We Moove
07. Sascha Funke - Hiddensee
08. Kiki & Lenz - Morning Maniacs
09. Zander VT - Gotta Look Up To Get Down
10. Jahcoozi - Day In Day Out
11. Mr. Statik feat. The Boy - Sinphony
12. Aerea Negrot - Deutsche Werden
13. Thomas Muller - West
14. Chaim - The Country
15. Paul Kalkbrenner - Plaetscher
16. Mark Broom - Refund
17. Telefon Tel Aviv feat. Robin Guthrie - The Sky Is Black

The B Pitch Control Werkschau compilation is in no way a conventional “Best Of” album. Such a reductive concept would hardly do justice to the task at hand. Instead, all seventeen tracks are previously unreleased works. The featured artists include label colleagues from BPC’s founding period as well as completely new faces and musical collaborations which have been formed here for the first time. The artists’ homelands are also worthy of note, ranging from various European countries to North and South America. The oft-cited Berlin sound has grown into a veritably global phenomenon here at BPitch. The stylistic range of the productions is equally diverse. In fact, the only characteristic they all share is their individuality. More precisely, here are some details.

Paul Kalkbrenner finally presents his first new track since his resounding success with “Berlin Calling”: in “Plätscher” he gives us an ironic wink as he combines straight, catchy tech-house production with a highly distorted Hammond organ - there’s no such thing as “no can do” here! The same goes for the (as yet) insider tip Mr. Statik, who unashamedly lays house beats under crooner vocals in the undoubtedly misleadingly entitled “Sinphony”.

The track “Deutsche Werden” from the Venezuelan singer Aérea Negrot has a considerably more fantastical feel. The intermittent singer of Hercules and Love Affair sets off a reaction between her apparently deranged, broken-German-speaking vocals and a unique and very coherently arranged electro production style. One remarkable, but absolutely logical feature of this increasingly broad yet unmistakable label identity is its inclination towards song structures and the high presence of vocal tracks.

The powerful yet reserved, straight-up tech-house opener “The Present” from Irish Memo artist Cormac is carried by vocals, as is the wonderfully atmospheric synth-pop song from the Italian duo We Love “Harmony Of The Spheres”, whose superb and deservedly successful debut album was released on BPitch at the end of 2010 and who must naturally be allocated a slot on this showcase.

BPC’s “Werkschau” expresses a general rejection of the rigid adherence to typical genre boundaries and limitations: Dominique Dillon de Byington, or Dillon for short - an enchanting young lady with Brazilian roots and a much-lauded new recruit at BPC – combines on “Aiming For Destruction” a beatbox-electro with pop vocals that also have a certain manic quality in her collaboration with the celebrated Cologne Kompakt act Coma, that we will interview soon. Certainly one of the best track of the album that sounds like the track of Seelenluft & The Silvercity “Manila” remixed by Ewan Pearson.

The Berlin multi-instrumentalist TimTim already underlined BPitch’s independent thinking with his excellent album in 2002. His showcase contribution “How We Moove” merges what we might almost call classic singersong writing with bleepy electronica sounds.

This is followed virtually seamlessly by the finely woven dub textures of AGF/Delay (Antye Greie/Vladislav Delay). After their 2009 album “Symptoms” and AGF’s production work on Ellen Allien’s LP “Sool” the duo are now exploring new facets of futuristic pop music with “Most Beautiful Kill”.

Futuristic yet retro, both catchy and challenging - that’s the sound of the Chicago postrock/electronica geniuses Telefon Tel Aviv, who are offering up their first release since their album “Immolate Yourself” in 2009 with a featuring of Robin Guthrie for “The Sky Is Black”.

Known and loved for being just as challenging, perhaps even highly provocative, are Jahcoozi, who were welcomed into the BPC ranks with a great “hurrah” and, after last year’s album release, no longer need any introduction. With “Day In Day Out” the trio based around song-writer/MC/singer Sasha Perera makes a surprisingly docile appearance, showing their laid-back, dub-sounding side and adding another string to BPC’s bow, with a sexy vibe.

Naturally BPC’s Werkschau also refers to the “Made in Berlin” techno sound with which the label remains intrinsically connected: long-time master of the art Sascha Funke spreads his epic sound carpets over characteristic minimal techno structures and gives the track the ambiguous name “Hiddensee”. Thomas Muller - who has made himself a BPC resident thanks to a string of first-rate EPs - creates another irresistibly dynamic clockwork construction with “West”. Massive!!!!!!!!

Chaim's Chicago-inspired tech-house track “The Country” could be a promising taste of what’s to come on his album “Alive” that we reviewed some weeks ago, due for release in February 2011. We will offer you too, an exclusive interview with the man soon…

Workaholic Mark Broom, who makes his trade as half of the London party team Rue East as well as with Pure Plastik Records, offers up a pure and simple dance floor bomb with “Refund” - minimal in structure, maximal in sound and effect.

There’s also a perfect place in this showcase for real house “Jacks” such as Zander VT, with his rare pearl “Gotta Look Up To Get Down”, and Kiki & Lenz, who are releasing their first co-production on this CD : “Morning Maniacs”. Finally, label boss Ellen Allien effortlessly slots a classic house stomper in amongst the ranks of her colleagues “The Kiss” - without doubt a fabulous release, a clearly defined point in the label landscape and a starting point for the next twelve years...

“Werkschau” is a release with countless magic moments, like a light of hope in this saturated world of electronic music. It aims to give a comprehensive look at the label and reach easily its initial goals: make us discover electronic music in an unconventional way and make us dance. It works perfectly and we love it!

Here is the music review for each track.
01. Cormac - The Present: “What a techno introduction, with a dark vocal. It predicts us the best.”
02. Ellen Allien - The Kiss: “Techno is definitely not dead. It embraces us in an indescribable dance. That’s an epic song. In the album’s top 3.”
03. We Love - Harmony Of The Spheres: “Massive bass, with superb violins, a sort of crying walk, that progressively increases in a run of deep and catchy sounds.”
04. Dillon & Coma - Aiming For Destruction: “In the album’s top 3, with a beautiful vocal. It evolves in the same spirit of the track from Seelenluft & The Silvercity “Manila” remixed by Ewan Pearson.”
05. AGF/Delay - Most Beautiful Kill: “Once again a great hypnotic vocal, for this industrial track. There are also some sounds of an electro-cardiogram. Control your beat pressure!!! It’s huge.”
06. TimTim - How We Moove: “It is funkier than the previous compositions, with a house vibe. It’s time to relax.”
07. Sascha Funke - Hiddensee: “It’s also time to relax. A dreaming song, with lovely piano notes and an underground vocal, and a minimal beat.”
08. Kiki & Lenz - Morning Maniacs: “A perfect song to wake up, using too piano notes and a funky vocal. Quiet but still dancing.”
09. Zander VT - Gotta Look Up To Get Down: “This is definitely pure house music. You just need to listen the track to understand.”
10. Jahcoozi - Day In Day Out: “What a tune with a voice that matches instinctively with the beat. Like Zander VT, that pure house music.”
11. Mr. Statik feat. The Boy - Sinphony: “The house session continues with a funny male vocal. This album is undoubtedly about vocals!!!”
12. Aerea Negrot - Deutsche Werden: “Acid music, with a German voice. Have you ever heard a track like that? There is a Marc Romboy spirit here. Weird but really good.”
13. Thomas Muller - West: “Techno, techno techno. A must have. In the album’s top 3.”
14. Chaim - The Country: “A peaceful track with a moaning vocal.”
15. Paul Kalkbrenner - Plaetscher: “What a beginning with the synths. Definitely best track of the album.”
16. Mark Broom - Refund: “It’s all about industrial samples. Dark and deep. Huge.”
17. Telefon Tel Aviv feat. Robin Guthrie - The Sky Is Black: “Perfect to end a superb album, with an amazing song, difficult to describe.”