Entertainment :: Music
V.A. Boogy Bytes Volume 4 by Christopher de la Torre
EDGE ContributorThursday Apr 3, 2008 Be prepared; there comes a point during your affair with Ellen Allien when playfully eccentric turns dark and anomalous. It’s quite simple, really. And as Axl Jansen’s still life photo on the cover of Boogybytes Volume 4 suggests, this young German electronic artist is no stranger to the edge.
It was a disappointment to some fans that her highly acclaimed 2007 Time Out compilation, "The Other Side: Berlin", wasn’t continuously mixed, as if she’d fallen short of some glorious potential. So one year later she returned, taking to the task, giving nouveau disco a run for its money.
Allien (born "Ellen Fraatz") takes the reigns of her series for the first time; a bit late some might say, for the founder of its label, Bpitch Control, to claim such familiar territory. Regardless, it’s no surprise that after her Apparat co-created 2006 cult hit "Orchestra of Bubbles", Allien’s latest installment warps back to her anything-but-safe haven of minimal house, showcasing Berlin’s vibrant, experimental spirit between transitions.
The set is introduced with a strange awakening of voices before priming a layer of minimal to give us our bearings. Then it’s on with the first coat of rhythm. It’s the rhythm that actually fuels most of the set, gaining confidence with Melon’s "Nitzi (In My Mind, So Fine)," luring us in with its familiar house substrate, before throwing us into a fine line of experimental with Seph’s Vidrionela Remix of "Carbonela" by Andres Zacco & Lucas Mari.
Lucio Aquilina’s "My Cube" prompts memories of Tetsuo, Manga Classic Akira’s child protagonist, as he speeds through Neo Tokyo on a stolen motorbike, dodging clowns and flames within a mad rendition of tribal drums. "Don Juan" by Melchoir Productions slowly saturates a darker Parisian-esque tone, leading into the Martin Buttrich remix of Friendly People’s robotic future anthem, "Music is Improper." We’re rounded out with Kassem Mosse’s cliffhanger, "A1," before winding down in nostalgic guilt with Little Dragon’s "Twice."
"I grew up feeling surrounded by the Wall," Allien writes. "I lived on the small island of West Berlin. Border controls on Sunday excursions, the rummaging through bags, the military. It was scary." But out of fear grew courage. "The island of West Berlin was a destination for creative minds in search of alternatives... My side of Berlin provided a home for the curious, those who were going against the flow."
What truly gives Boogybytes Volume 4 its seductive edge is the way it seamlessly brings us into a future society of robots and emotional mechanization. Allien demonstrates her expertise with an innovative medium yet again, and gives Berlin cause to celebrate its success of producing yet another great master of the unknown.
Allien performs live in Montreal and New York, and releases her fourth solo album, "Sool," in May.
by Ellen Allien
List Price: $16.98. US Release Date: April 15, 2008. Bpitch Control.
Media theorist and freelance journalist, Christopher de la Torre currently manages online content for a national civil rights law firm headquartered in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @scriptdaddictd or message him at christopherdelatorre.com.
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