POLE - STEINGARTEN, CD, 2007, ~scape RECORDS, GERMANY
Downtempo never sounded this upbeat. Don't get me wrong, neither of those 'tags' does this music justice, as Stefan Betke, who goes by the moniker Pole, really created a nice patchwork of some über-groove space-out chill tunes, and stuck a famous German castle on the cover. What Betke does best is maximized on this release, and there are plenty of drippies, bleeps, bloops and slurps, giving his record a natural, by way of drain bramaged laptop keystroke, ambiance. The layers don't hide anything, like most psychedelic records utilize to their advantage, but instead compliment each other quite well. Don't believe me? Check it for yerself. This IDM tide-washer will certainly hold you over if you're a Kompakt records fan, or if you like the German electronic output of the last ten years. Steingarten! If you haven't garten it, you need to. Man, that was a bad pun...BLACKOUT BEACH - SKIN OF EVIL, CD, 2009, SOFT ABUSE RECORDS, CANADA
Carey Mercer, from the underrated groups Frog Eyes and Swan Lake, released his second solo album, Skin of Evil, in '09 and it is just as tremendous and cryptic as one would expect from this soliloquy spouting spire. Drenched in a cavernous reverb and filled with sneaky guitar puzzles, the album tells the story of a woman named Donna who destroys every man she comes into contact with, typically in a disturbing fashion, and Mercer comes to us as a tormented chorus detailing each exploit in forceful ferocious fashion. Though this 'violent' record feels sparse with its instrumentation, it's also packed with a whopping dread-inducing atmosphere, whilst Carey goes along with his howling rants, making the untrained listener feel as if he were making shit up as he went along. Despite the fact that this record is only 30 mins long, it carries the weight of a double-LP concept record; quite the feat! If you're a die-hard Frog Eyes fan or enjoyed the Mercer tracks off of both of the Swan Lake albums, you'll want to give this a listen. You won't be disappointed, but you might raise your sacrificial goblet to the stars and claim a dead virgin for yourself; I guess it comes with the territory. 
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