Sometimes I come across some curious releases of famous musicians as for example the last album Pole - Steingarten released almost a year ago on Scape records, some kind of New Year Eve's edition.
This time Stefan Betke disappointed me a little bit starting recording and releasing such kind of music. To be more exact, not music but experiment in synthesizing of dance music and sound-design. Distortions in moods between dance rhythms and the sound support of the album surprised greatly. Due to this there appears such a feeling that during some time any genious musical idea is made up by the author into just a program product, especially when nearby is the conveyor of bmg Germany Corporation.
Nevertheless the album is worth listening but doubtfully buying. Probably the best track here is the first one - "Warum". But at the end it starts mutation, there appear oversaturated sharp noise sounds. The second composition procedes monotonous dance-cycled rhythms. There is such a feeling that you move around the attic of the well-known european castle depicted on the album's cover and you can hardly find the way to light, stumble on rubbish left here some hundreds years ago. Noise of stylish acid disco around, samples reminding soviet dental drill inside. Utter amusement. After listening all nine tracks leave the feeling of unfinished, unperfect work, especially after the odd track "Pferd" very much unlike with the other previous tracks of Steingarten. Paradox.
Music of Pole always used to have some unique melancholy and hypnotic unoccupacy reminding so much the loneliness. But now all that has dissapeared, professionalism and producer level displaced the creativity of the album. Only numerous noise effects and monotonous dance rhythms are left. Having come across a compact-disc Steingarten remixes in one record shop I understood the sense of German practicalness - if you put something on stream it must give the maximum profit for the author. But how does it refer to creativity?
- ~scape