The collection gathers newcomers and less known artists and gives them the wax to shine, and they truly do. Cracking stuff from a Leipzig label that is carving out quite a reputation for itself.
Pulse Drift has been hitting high notes since it opened 2016. The Leipzig label has managed to unearth quality new names like Iteration Corporation, kon001 and eoism whilst securing established talent in the form of Morphology and Das Muster. It is to Solar One musician that the up and coming imprint turn, alongside five other artists, for a new compilation: Artificial Signal Network.
Das Muster is one of the best known of the collection and offers a work of refracted coldness. Keys loom above minimal drum patterns and bulging bass in the frigid brightness of “Zeitkapsel.” Phase No More follow a similar path. Trembling notes hang over clean beats, quivering and quaking before computer samples loop to the tune of “Energy Vampire.” The 12” balances these more cerebral tracks with some floor pounders. The opener by Dextrous Numerics races at a frenetic tempo. Slicing snares are glazed in subtle string and burbling bleep a pulsating cut. Likewise, Nebenprodukt delivers a speedy reaction in the form of “Photochemical Oxidation.” However, in spite of its high octane percussion the stand out sound are wisps of melodies and floating lines that tether the piece to electronica. Another name that might ring a few electro bells is DVS NME, an artist who has released on the likes of Transient Force and is responsible for the excellent Dark Science Electro on Intergalactic FM. Here the US artist serve the lush mechanics of “Subsequence.” From a stern beat forms a complex work that shows just how able a musician he is. The closer comes from Denmark’s Krypton 81. The Copenhagen partnership, who have featured on Bass Agenda in the past, push a different angle to their predecessors with “Expelled User.” Somewhere between electro and synth the track brings together robotic female vocals, arctic rhythms and brilliantly bright bars for a cracking curtain fall.
Electro is undeniably in an enviable position at the moment, receiving more attention from DJ’s, press and social media outlets in the last twelve months than it had done in the last five years. Now whether this fanfare equates to more recognition, or sales, is another question, but what cannot be disputed is the burgeoning quality associated with the genre. Artificial Signal Network is a stark illustration of this, as is Pulse Drift. The collection gathers newcomers and less known artists and gives them the wax to shine, and they truly do. Cracking stuff from a Leipzig label that is carving out quite a reputation for itself.
Artificial Signal Network is available on Pulse Drift.
