This compilation is a balance of concepts and styles that showcases bright new talent that pays homage to what came before while producing their own sounds.
A balance of concepts and styles
Electronic music suffers from a central paradox. It has always been espoused as the sound of the future, a rallying machine cry of something better. Despite this, its audience generally relishes navel gazing into the past. Nostalgia is part and parcel of appreciation of the present, comparisons to a by-gone time of authenticity. Whether this claim of quality erosion is true or not, there are many artists and labels who continue to venture down these original lines of analogue inquiry.
To Pikap is an imprint that explores all aspects of machine music, from ambient field recordings to caffeine loaded acid techno. Their Remember the Future series digs deep into the floor and seeks to breathe new life into styles that contorted bodies and minds in the 90s. The first volume was a superb slice of nostalgia that juddered with 303 squawk and broken beat belters. The second instalment is just hitting shelves with the promise of the past still having much to say.
The first offering LEGACY. Instead of some retrospective work, “Nom De Guerre” is a considered complex piece of electro. Snapping rhythms and silken squirms are frosted by icy blasts in this multifaceted introduction. Future Draft follows with the generous beats of “All That Remains.” Stuttering key stabs are shrouded in haze with piano notes rising above lo-filter passes; clever and rich from this newcomer. The Jaffa Kid, a relatively old hand these days, arrives with the gentle “SH-Dinosa.” Somewhere between noodling braindance and gentle electronica, the track has an ephemeral and wistful quality. It begins to dawn that this past appreciation isn’t solely focused on the floor, the armchair is enjoying its own retrospective. “Badass Nostalgia” begins with all the trappings of speeding ghetto tech jam. Instead, what Odpein delivers is a tough and thoughtful burner where two styles merge to produce a celebration of both. With a penchant for titles, Dj Tsoug serves up “You are the unfortunate product of a doomed culture.” Curves of acid are ruffled by slips of snare and hi-hat hustle as a wistful melody weaves a ponderous path. The TB303 features prominently in the braindance infused close. [email protected] molds a beatless work of introspection through gentle folds of silver box soul.
Despite a decent dollop of nostalgia swirling through the record, this latest volume Remember the Future is far from pastiche. This compilation is a balance of concepts and styles that showcases bright new talent that pays homage to what came before while producing their own sounds. Quality; past, present and future.
Remember the Future Part Two is available on To Pikap. [Bandcamp]
