Erased Tapes Collection II - Label Sampler
Album ReviewsThe recurring theme of emotion, of powerful music expressive of mood, is key here.
/ By Alistair Clark
Cinematic music being its coherent thread, one approaches Erased Tapes with the impression that its roster will indeed be a mixed bag. This sampler, 'Erased Tapes Collection II', undoubtedly fulfils that prophecy, as IDM, indie pop, and solo piano compositions reside together, and at times awkwardly, on this document of the label's forthcoming releases.Though it settles into a more comfortably narrow troupe of tracks characterised by glitchy, spazzy drums towards its end, the cluster with which the sampler begins possess a fairly questionable flow. Rather than settle immediately into one of Erased Tapes' two most productive camps, IDM and chamber music, the sampler flits across genres in a quite disconnected manner, creating perhaps a false impression that variety is a fundament where it is not. By no means is this lack of variety a blight on the release. In fact, the steady focus on niches of atmosphere is a strength later played to extensively on 'Collection II'. However, it does seem that in these opening tracks, one is misled with regard to Erased Tapes' core values.
The recurring theme of emotion, of powerful music expressive of mood, is key here. It is achieved to varying degrees, but always a clear aim. Codes in the Clouds' input, 'Don't Go Awash In This Digital Landscape', provides a rather paradoxical example of how this goal plays out. Epic in its intentions, to the point perhaps of overstatement, this track's zealous crash and pomp is so blatantly cinematic, tugs so firmly at the heart strings, that one can't help but feel a little put off, a little patronised by its approach. So it goes throughout: always with a focus on the atmospheric; occasionally with a sickly product; occasionally with a genuine one.
Mixed results are again found in terms of production. Where some tracks bring jarring contrasts of organic and deeply electronic sounds, to an unpleasant degree, others capture moods more subtly, somehow with more authenticity. Nils Frahm's remix of Peter Broderick's 'And It's Alright' for example, marries the natural and the synthesised sweetly. It plays with the source with such elegance and adds such crisp accompaniment to the track, that its appearance as a bonus on an album it generally one-ups effortlessly is a little confusing.
Nils Frahm in fact provides another of this release's more prominent peaks in the form of 'Ambre'. A tender piece, consisting almost entirely of piano, although sparsely and gently coupled with xylophone towards its end, the real atmosphere comes from the amusical sounds captured in its production. Fingers tap keys, the room hisses, and on rare occasion the player's breath is heard. Combine this with the deliberate, yet not oppressive, emotional pandering of the music, and one must surely arrive at the conclusion that this is the sampler's stand-out track, that Frahm is an artist Erased Tapes will find themselves investing much in.
An assortment then, by all means. 'Erased Tapes Collection II' fulfils a strange purpose. As cinematic music, each track is faced with the challenge of engaging with emotion and atmosphere in a very upfront way. Sometimes, this works nicely, other times it is a touch overdone.
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