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Recording:
  Blue Skied an' Clear  
 
Artists:
  variou Morr Music artists  
 
Label:
  Morr Music  
 
Release Date:
  15.October.2002  
 
Reviewed by:
  PostLibyan  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

It seems that every few years a different scene stands up and says "we're doing cool stuff over here -- so pay attention". a few years ago it was distorted guitar bands in the greater Toronto area. And now it is, apparently, Germany. Sure, Germany is a big country with lots of folks in it, and to lump all of the country into one "scene" is probably terribly wrong. However, my German isn't too great anymore, and American journalism is so insular that it will be 15 years before people will write about "the stunning German music of the first decade of the 21st century". And there is some interesting stuff coming out of Germany these days: from Mouse on Mars to The Notwist to Kompakt's Records Pop Ambient series to this, a 2CD set showcasing the Morr Music label of Berlin.

Apparently Morr Music is a label dedicated to music that is dreamy and echoy, with subtle meandering beats. It's not quite ambient, but it is mostly mid-tempo. It is also mostly electronic, although some of it has the feel of being electronic-analog fusion, much like Mouse on Mars and The Notwist. I guess the Germans are really into that.

The first CD of this set is all covers -- 12 Morr artists and icelanders Múm cover 10 different Slowdive songs. Slowdive, if you remember the early 90's, were a shoegazer band with rich melodies and subtle waves of guitar. Here, the melodies are still rich, but the waves of guitar have mostly been replaced with keyboard tones. Additionally, there are often subtle glitchy beats rather than the minimal drumming of Slowdive. It's slow dreamy music, and quite nice for sitting and listening, but not so nice for dancing. Standouts include the Lali Puna cover of 40 Days, which is a darned fine IDM song with nice vocal interplay, and Ulrich Schnauss's cover of Crazy For You which drips 80's cheese in a good way. But really, the whole disc is interesting, especially if you are a Slowdive fan.

But the second disc! As the germans themselves would say, "Mein gott, das ist sehr schone!" That is, "My god, this is beautiful!" This second disc is a simply stunning collection of cutting edge music: all glitchy and fuzzy and groovery and fun. It, quite simply, totally rules. There are so many good songs on here, and let me talk about just a few of them.

The first track is a fusion of glitchy beats and fuzzy noise, all layered behind a sultry dreampop vocal, called Summer Haze by the band Manual. Good stuff.

And then there is House Full of Time by Guitar. People on My Bloody Valentine fan lists started buzzing about this act late last year, and this is all i have heard to date. But, from this one song i would say that the comparison is pretty apt. House Full of Time is a wall of overdriven guitar that echoes in cascading layers, with a little dance beat thumping away behind it and a female voice singing in that bored tone that Germans seem to have. Good stuff, and loud compared to everything else on this compilation.

Ulrich Schnauss, now joined by vocalist Judith Beck, turns in a good original peice called Wherever You Are, which is a nice compliment to the cover he did ont he first disc. It is generally pretty similar to the work on his Far Away Trains Passing By, only with the addtion of female vocals. Nice, dancey keyboard music.

But really, there is so much to like on this compilation. I personally think that it is rather brilliant. Fans of glitch, electronica, and shoegaze will all find things to like here. I had not really heard any of these artists before now, but after absorbing this compilation, any releases by Morr Music are on my "to look for" list. And that is, after all, the poing of a label compilaiton. I hope that Morr Music keeps churning out stuff of this high quality.

 
         
 
Related Links:
 

Far Away Trains Passing By, by Ulrich Schnauss, the only release by any of these artists i have heard so far.

 
         

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