From Lance C McGannon Sent Wed, Jul 15th 1998, 00:14
It appears that the US Matador label is really serious about releasing quality electronic music in the states. After signing the Boards of Canada and Burger Ink (J Burger & Mike Ink), Matador have just secured the rights to release the new Pole album on Kiff here in the states. Unfortunately it won't get a domestic release until late summer but it's exciting to see a sami-major label sign such talented techno artists. In case you don't know about Pole yet, here are the Recoreviews of the two existing Pole releases: . Pole: Tanzen 12" (Kiff sm) Stefan Betke's experience as the engineer at the Basic Channel studio has obviously allowed him to hone his skills and absorb the styles of his employers. On this 12" are three great tracks of crackling, popping dubby electronica much in the same vein as the Burial Mix and Rhythm & Sound records but better. All three tracks are great but p like the b1, Fliegen, best. A must have for fans of Maurizio, Basic Channel, Burial Mix and Rhythm & Sound. And i here that we can expect a lot more stuff from Stefan Betke in the very near future. 9/10 . Pole: Raum 12" (Din) Stefan Betke with his second release of beyond-Basic Channel experimentations this time on the excellent Din label. This 12" features two tracks which are basically remixes of each other. The a-side, Raum Zwie, is a long spacey dub track with loads of poping/clicking surface noise over a bed of very-autechreish complex percussion. The b-side, Raum Eins, has more of an ambient feel with less surface noise but it still has the great dub lines with a few extra autechreish effects. This record sounds like a combination of Burial Mix, Autechre, and Musik Aus Strom. Another beautiful example of how the Basic Channel sound can still be given an original slant. Amazing stuff. 10/10 -->-Lance--- p.o. box 450715 westlake, ohio 44145 united states