Global Surveyor: Phase 4 is one of the most complete electro compilations of the last year, arguably it is one of the most complete of the last decade. The album brings together a spread of styles whilst remaining true to the cold edge of the machine. With this, Dominance Electricity’s decision to give ample room to new artists has worked wonders.
I’m still not entirely sure where it came from, I’m never sure where “trends” in electronic music really surface from to be honest, but this year has been dubbed the “year of electro.” Perhaps the manifestation of this phenomenon is Helena Hauff’s excellent residency on BBC1, a fact I’m still coming to terms with, where she has dished out heaped servings of frosty funk and ice clad cuts to global audiences of dizzying figures. In fairness, electro has always deserved more attention but the reception it has received in the last twelve months feels a bit too band-wagon. It’s too “fair weather fan,” too “flavor of the month” and too pigeon holed as well. While certain have been beatified, the sharper edge and the more cerebral, others like electrofunk and the bass variety have been left out in the machine cold. Dominance Electricity is out to right this wrong and give ample vinyl and CD space to the full spectrum of styles that make up this multifaceted sound.
The Global Surveyor series turns four and to celebrate this latest installment, almost a decade after number three, a quadruple vinyl set is the offering. Immediately what strikes the eye on perusing the track list is the number of new names: Blake Casimir. Low Orbit Satellite. N-Ter. However, these are not novices to the clinical edge of machine music. Instead these are artists from far and wide who have plied their slicing trade on digital labels and produced some cracking music, as the above trio have done for this compilation. Across the twenty four tracks the majority are lesser known entities who seriously punch above their weight in terms of record shop kudos. Take Wilx who delivers a track of racing aggression or the unceremoniously named C*NT who pierces cruising chords with sharpened snares in a track that simple oozes old school cool.
Some better known musicians are hidden behind lesser familiar monikers. Robin De Bekker aka FAH of 030303 fame dons his Patronen mask to construct a futurescape of towering glass and microchip stained glass in “Zukunft Flug.” Although there are veterans on here, like Hardfloor and Silicon Scally, who show their prowess from behind the blinking bank of hardware, there are other less high profile artists who shine. The excellent Keen K (wonderful to see him back releasing) delivers a cracking work of fragmented funk that is superbly light and free. For anyone searching for an electrofunk fix, don’t worry the 4LP or 2CD set won’t disappoint. Middlemen, Kalson and Obsolete Robotics are serve up cold vocal cuts dripping with attitude with a cybernetic eye firmly fix on the future.
Global Surveyor: Phase 4 is one of the most complete electro compilations of the last year, arguably it is one of the most complete of the last decade. The album brings together a spread of styles whilst remaining true to the cold edge of the machine. With this, Dominance Electricity’s decision to give ample room to new artists has worked wonders. Alongside established talent these new names not only radiant in their raw brilliance, they also show how healthy both the scene and its future are.
Global Surveyor: Phase 4 is available on Dominance Electricity.
