V/A :: Collapsing Culture (Exponential, CD)

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(04.20.06) These days it seems that small electronica labels are two a penny. They
float in and out, releasing a handful of records and then disappear as
quickly as they had materialised. It can be a sorry thing that more of these
labels don’t get a chance to get their name our there. But the climate for
electronica these days is getting milder and milder, with more and more
people taking to the digitalized sound. The music is still relatively new,
and the giants that are Warp and Skam are having a much more positive than
negative effect on small labels. People are more willing to pick up a record
from smaller labels now more than ever. The big question is, do they go back
for more?

Electronica is dividing and re-structuring itself along the lines of its
influences. Blip hop has become a new staple of the electronica scene.
Record labels like Merck, Chocolate Industries and Skam had a profound
effect on getting this new sound out there. Cut up beats, snatches of
samples layered and chunky melodies tickled the ear of the electronic
enthusiast. One fledgling US label is trying its hand at this style of
electronica, Exponential. Exponential is a Texas-based label out to prove a
point, that good US electronic music doesn’t have to come from New York or
Miami; that electronic music is not about the place, but the people making
it. Exponential is the brainchild of Ernest Gonzales, aka Theory of
Everything, an artist from San Antonio. The label was born in 2000 and has
just brought out a new compilation of its players, Collapsing Culture.

This San Antonio CD is brimming over with influences; as the label itself
says: “First take a multimedia artist, a teacher, a Buddhist, and a half El
Salvadoran half Nicaraguan, all from Texas and then tell them to
make a CD.” This CD helps to illustrate one of the greatest things about
electronic music, the lack of tradition attached to it. Unlike other sounds,
electronica can do whatever it pleases without any cultural guilt. German
horn blasts can be layered over a pair of bongos while a sample of someone
scratching Bach plays. Electronica takes what it wants without
sentimentality, and why should it have any. Culture Collapsing is
literally what electronica does; it breaks those divides that keep music
segregated.

The CD attempts to embrace its namesake, and in many respects does achieve
its aims. There are some lush electronica tracks, some with a real Toytronic
feel, like Theory of Everything’s “Lullaby #5;” a gorgeous three-minute medley
with some playful synths lying over a luscious soundscape – breathtaking.
The album suffers from an affliction though, interspersions of sub par blip
hop. The only let down is that many of the blip hop tracks lack the quality
of their electronica counterparts. The blip hop cuts seem to more like an
interruption to the flow of high class electronica than an interesting
break. Some of the Mnolo tracks on the compilation seem like they’re just
there to be skipped.

The compilation is interesting, though, with some musical merits; but as a whole it
doesn’t hold up very well. There are some wonderful pieces on here, but the
lack of unity really lets the CD down. Yet, it is a good showcase for new
electronic artists who don’t hail from the supposed cultural hubs of the
States. Theory of Everything is an artist to definitely keep an eye on, as
is Æther216. The CD, with its stunning artwork, is a sample of what is out
there, away from the bright lights and masses; it shows the potential of
small labels from unknown areas. Overall, a good CD with some cracking
tracks; only let down by ill conceived blip hop.

Collapsing Culture is out now on Exponential.

Exponential