Featuring an impressive line-up of artists Perspective Fragments Volume One is a collection of melodic beat-infused tracks, all of which are previously unreleased. Alongside tracks from Tim Koch, Kettel, Crunch, Funckarma and Lusine ICL is the added attraction of remixes from Ontayso and Quench.
Opening with Electric Birds hazy maelstrom of melancholic drones and echoed incidental electric guitar and followed by Tim Koch’s “Ecittal” with its intertwining synth lines soaring through each other, a sombre mood is initially set. “Freak (Quench Remix)”, the first of 2 tracks from Lusine ICL, lifts the mood by maintaining the swathes of sweeping synths but adding a jabbing bassline and prolonged bursts of percussive beats. Also keen to lighten the mood is Kettel with his own brand of percussive disjointed breakbeat over old-skool melodies and a drifting backdrop. “A brown eyed little horse.” is constantly building until it is ultimately stripped down until just the percussive drums, drifting backdrop and a hint of piano are left. Dispensing with the atmospheric elements altogether are Skipsapiens’ “Delaybot”, a busy track of assorted blips, bloops, fuzzy bass and general computerized mayhem. Picking up where they left off is Crunch’s impressively titled “( “” :: .. edit1 – )” and The Buddy System’s “None Taken”, both of which have a similar computerized feel but are less busy and have a warmer, more emotive feel.
In a return to the gentler side of the album, the Speedy J influenced “Hayfever” by Funckarma is a beautifully uplifting rhythmic melodic track with just the right mix of elements to be soothing and funky at the same time. Lusine ICL, the only artists with a second track on the compilation, returns with “Neon”, an excellent track featuring precise percussive beats, a dubby bassline and a slowed down synthesized voice. Cosmic Connection take things in a completely different direction with their deep sub-bass dub meets ambient textural exploration “Bossa Robo (Remix)”. Probably drawing the best parallel with the album itself is Llips lengthy “Things End Where They Start” which, like the album, is a combination of drifting synth tones that build over a 10 minute duration into a tense fusion of anxious beats and vocal samples finishing with a short passage of female vocals. Fittingly, the compilation closes in a similar vein to the way it opens with Ten and Tracer’s short yet serene “Autumn Waves” featuring a distant radio commentary over gently swirling synth washes.
A clear sense of atmospheric tension and a restrained use of beats are evident throughout Perspective Fragments Volume One with both Lusine ICL tracks and the contributions from Crunch, Funckarma and Llips being of particular note. As a reflection of their roster and round-up of the label’s musical mind-set, this compilation is an ideal showcase.
