Ellen Allien - SOOL

kind of a bummer though huh? however well-intentioned seems like a pretty bad misstep :/

about a third of the album is quite beautiful mind, but it's not really enough. whither the melody, or the funk?

maybe it's still gotta click but I'm a fair few listens in and it's still not really having anything like the impact of her usual stuff on me.

monsiour sherburne also seemed kind of awkward in this months techno column...

Doomed to be hated by everyone, but I really like it. I think it could have been billed as "Ellen Allien & AGF" and people might understand its sound better.

how does it sound?

kinda like 'Stadtkind' updated for NOW, but with more of a so-called minimal techno pulse than electro-y, and more obvious colour, more analogue synthy touches.

bits of it wanting to be a bit experimental (albeit still 4/4) but they don't really jar enough or feel orignal or left-field enough to provoke much frisson. it's enjoyable when she throws in something random (whistles? flutes??) as is her wont (which is fine)) but it's only a brief pleasure.

where it's upbeat it's kind of predictable, very technozzzz.

a lot of it kinda sounds sorta lonely, melancholy, like a midday sat in a Berlin park, pastoral. I really DO like 'Zauber' a lot here.

The sequencing is a bit dodge too.

overall it's kind of inaccessible in the way 'Stadtkind' is the first couple of listens only here the kind of odd, stiff-techno-funk and tunefulness or emotion even, is so hidden/subtle/lacking or just routine that in the end it's pretty hard work and unrewarding... all the worse 'cos she's clearly put a lot of work into this.

I dunno, I feel terrible writing this 'cos I've just loved LOVED her music, her existence on this planet in general, and I'm all for her having free rein to push her muse as far-out as she wants to go. Arty, commercial, obscure or whatever...

But SOOL sadly doesn't connect almost completely for me. It's a stunning disappointment when I was really hoping it was only her dj-ing and the label that was in a bit of a purple patch. I'll still be up for the next records mind, she means far too much for me to dismiss the possibility of her doing something interesting in the future but *sigh*

"I'll still be up for the next records..." is what I say about Bjork too though (meh), and like her last offering this is more than a disappointment. It's a heartbreaker tbh :(

lol emo

I want MFG to expand a bit on this anyway, good point above although I hear far less AGF in this than I expected to really... and yes it is sorta side-projecty.

I dunno. I could come around on this one day perhaps but it's definitely going to be more like than <3 <3 <3

will teh(chno)lex bother reviewing this for the Guardian me wonders....

I'm going to reiterate some things I wrote to the ex-Stylus people.

Besides the seemingly jarring difference in sound, I do think Sool fits with her MO of making albums that are very mechanical/urban/industrial in mood (read my stylus review on Thrills for more on this). One of the ex-Stylus guys wrote that it sounds like "empty trains."

I guess the main thing that people are going to dislike is that there is nothing ambiguous or obtuse about this record - it's all there right in front of you. She's leaving herself pretty bare: no tricky or sophisticated sound design, no elaborate structure, not even that many sixteenth notes. The tracks live and die on her primitive equipment and sounds. In comparison to all the cutting edge sound-design minimal that is going around, Sool probably sounds too hollow, amelodic, and stillborn in comparison.

It's a bit hard for me to concisely sum up why I actually like this record. Theoretically, I love her almost stupid boldness and openness, and her super limited shapes of sounds which amount to mostly sharp squares and ugly rectangles. I used the phrase "True words aren't eloquent; Eloquent words aren't true" to the ex-Stylus guys as sort of a reference point for me.

But all of this would fall flat if I didn't actually like the music on the record, and the actual experience of listening to it, which I do. The whole experience feels very blunt and face-to-face to me, like I've "felt" like this album before. I've come across similar emotions listening to Masha Qrella actually, in that her lyrics are very simple and direct possibly because English is her second language.

interesting... I get where you're coming from I think. My biggest stumbling block so far I suppose is the actual rhythms are often just spectacularly ordinary here & there though and it's well, a problem. Even as a framework for something else. Not especially 'compared to' x,y or z, just as in themselves not being able to sustain a high level of interest over 5 minutes+

It's just a very academic & pleasureless sounding record a lot of the time. Kind of difficult in an unintentional way? and true it might be... but it's also a little dull with it. I dunno. I'll keep trying but I'm not hopeful about Sool really. It just seems absurdly one-dimensional knowing what she's capable of :/

Ah don't force yourself to like it or "uncover its secrets". As I mentioned, I don't know if there is too much hidden in this record. I like that you said "absurdly one-dimensional" though, which may be another reason why I like it. Sometimes I think I'm an absurdist at heart.

It's not that I'm going to force it... it's just that I'm actually there for about half of the record (and on board with how you're understanding it) and still finding it quite interesting.

But the other 50%, I don't know. It just gets awful boring. Hmmm.

Christ this is drab.

i don't get it

except for the ambient little opener and Frieda

I'm actually sort of coming round on this... not as any kind of thing approaching the greatness levels of Berlinette or Thrills etc, but as it's own little entity, I do keep coming back to it a fair bit. I do think it shares with her previous records a lot, but do think she's probably run the MO Micheal describes... to (beyond?) it's logical endpoint now and I really can't see what's left after this?

I'm kind of willing to go along with where it goes for at least 50% of the time here, I do think it's a big weakness that that half is (almost) entirely the first half of the record though!

It might a logical endpoint as far as translating urban/industrial into minimal/techno goes, but I wouldn't put it past her to come up with a new angle to play. And I do believe she's still got a lot to say.

Sool may have seemed a little more "minimal" than usual on first listen to me, but after some more listens the thought that this record is "cold" or "too bare-bones" has rarely passed my mind. It is perfectly clean and clear, but there isn't a wasted motion present.

I'd think I go as far as saying each track goes in the direction in which nature is already going. Nothing feels out of place, and hearing the album in full from start to finish is like feeling a resounding affirmation of lucidity for an entire hour.

So, that's it?

i like it more than Orchestra of Bubbles, and a tad less than Thrills.

stupidly, maybe obviously, I've come around a lot on this....

glad she made it because I probably would have been itching for a more fully developed set of tracks from this side of her brain at some point if she hadn't eventually. I just embarrass myself on these threads really.

The sheer flatness/openness of SOOL I suspect threw me off initially. And the melodics being merely whispered this time round. I probably was expecting more of something mind, I kind of still feel like she could go far beyond just 'techno' if she wanted (which is frustrating sometimes) but ah well. God I haven't even picked this up on CD yet! Must rectify that asap.

It's also the kind of record that works wonders when you're not expecting any kind of anything, when you're decidedly hungover/tired/other and you just want... sounds. At a medium volume. And then it starts to feel a lot more perfect than when you're wide awake.

^ last sentence is how i like my music, lately :)

I've ordered the album. What I've heard sounds sparse and terrific. Can't wait to listen to it @ home.

Is this officially out?

Yes.

I like this a lot, just like I like the new Booka Shade, so now you know -- don't invite me to the club. I'm boring.

makes so much more sense on headphones... ssooo much space and clarity and makes an artform of precise stereo positioning.

kinda less album, more architecture. but good if appreciated on its own terms.

Listened to this again and then re-read the thread and it just seems like people are trying to find serious, critical, rational ways of saying "she's taken too many drugs, there's nothign going on here". Which, sadly, seems to be the case :(

I'm still scared to pick this up. I love the cover though

this is a really good hangover record...when you need something with not much there, just some flatness to keep you going, some sounds to cocoon yourself in.

funny how this thing received zero attention

it's not a very prepossessing album...i mean, it IS grey and somewhat drab, it's hardly a high point of ellen's career and i've hardly gone back to it - it's just that when you're in a certain mood or state, then and only then it really hits the spot.

the snaking melody on 'zauber' is just gorgeous though

oh fandango actually said this upthread!

It's also the kind of record that works wonders when you're not expecting any kind of anything, when you're decidedly hungover/tired/other and you just want... sounds. At a medium volume. And then it starts to feel a lot more perfect than when you're wide awake.

yes to this.

jeez, I was laying it on a BIT thick upthread :-( poor little SOOL...

am looking forward to the new album :D I don't think I'll be quite as erm, pathetic, I hope, if it doesn't live up to my (ex, I think...) fanboyish expectations after all.

would actually retract almost everything I said initially tbh :/

Sool is fantastic! Haven't read the whole thread but anyone criticizing it is nuts.

Any word on the new Watergate mix? 1st half ain't half bad.

Watergate mix is okay, no classis by any stretch though. That Apparat remix about 2/3rd's in though sinks it utterly for me. Awful and overbearing nonsense... I've gone off The Knife/Karin in general though (although it's not just the vocals).

There are previews floating around the web now of the (by the way I must not have said it loud enough but NEW ELLEN ALLIEN ALBUM "DUST" MAY 17TH !! (where is the Lex when you need him?!)

http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=11770

Oddly enough, sounds more like a Monika Enterprise release than a Bpitch Control one, very nice girly soft electronic pop... I'm thinking it sounds like it could be a good record, although yet again a "not what anyone was expecting" move for sure.

I think I'd better delete that preview for now and hold out for the real thing anyway....

hi fndngo, long time no see

thrilled about upcoming Ellen Allien

Really curious now. Why have to wait so long!

Hmm, this seems to follow her pattern of releasing techno/"alienating" albums followed by more accessible/"hip" ones. Nevertheless, can't wait to hear it.

hey Turangalila, MFG, long time yeah, good to see all :)

kate, it's only a month and a half away, could leak any day really! I think I'm ok waiting for a summer treat though tbh...

I don't really want it to leak! I want to wait and hear it properly, but the way things go, everyone goes and d/l the leak, and by the time the actual album comes out I've forgotten all about it and people have stopped bumping the threads to remind me.

Don't worry Kate, I will bump a thread or start a new one when Dust is out on CD.

btw I really like SOOL. I only got around to buying it recently cos of all the lukewarm comments upthread. This:

kinda like 'Stadtkind' updated for NOW, but with more of a so-called minimal techno pulse than electro-y, and more obvious colour, more analogue synthy touches

is OTM, but turns out that was exactly what I wanted from Ellen next, though if Dust is very different again then yay for that.

Maybe I should give Sool another spin, I just remember being disappointed by it and moved on to another CD I'd bought the same week. (Perhaps this is the problem with buying loads of CDs at once. You end up not re-engaging with the ones that don't leave an immediate impression.)

So, Dust is out now. I will probably get it soon.

Thought it was next week?

Don't worry Kate, I will bump a thread or start a new one when Dust is out on CD.

Um, yup. So I almost forgot I bought this the other day. And then proceeded to leave it at work so I've not had a chance to listen to it until now.

So far I'm enjoying it.

OK, there's some full-on WUB going on on "Should We Go Home" - total Kate-bait this.

I was disappointed by Dust tbh; hoping it'll grow on me eventually. Flashy Flashy was the only track that stood out to me, and even on that one the vocals are boring. Should We Go Home is pretty cool tho. "Dust" is actually a pretty appropriate title cause it seems insubstantial, anytime I listen to it it just seems to sort of float by without me really noticing.

I predictably think Dust is awesome. And both sides of the Pump 12" are greatttttt.

^ me too!

Picked up Dust tonight, will listen soon. Too busy listening to Orchestra of Bubbles at the moment to bother.

it's alright I suppose - although what most grabbed me so far were the "rock" tunes

dust is great imo - not as mind-blowing as thrills or orchestra of bubbles but i'm definitely down with its "banging music box" aesthetic - "our utopie", "ever" and "huibuh" are prob my favs, "flashy flashy" is lots of fun too

Oh come on, it's got a bit of that toybox techno aesthetic that I absolutely love. Plus lots of wub and wibble and whispery little vocals. It seemes quite subtle - thankfully not as subtle as Sool was (which kind of subtled me to sleep) but it's got enough of a beat going on that it keeps my attention.

"Banging music box" has totally got me interested now. Otherwise the only Ellen record I really rate is Orchestra of Bubbles which leads me to believe it's Apparat who's responsible for most of the bits I really like.

loved Berlinetet when it came out but 'Thrills' was something else. A real monument of a record.

I know this is heresy around these parts but Thrills >>>>>>> Orchestra of Bubbles. OoB is always too indie rock in places while Thrills is like sitting on the washing machine during spin cycle amounts of fun.

agreed

If you mean to say that listening to Thrill is as exciting as sitting on a washing machine for an hour, then yes, I'd be inclined to agree.

A washing machine, on spin cycle, for an hour? Man, I'd be a quivering mess.

the beats on Thrills and that bass ARP sound still sound so badass. for the time being 'Dust' sounds a bit like the techno equivalent of a late-career album of an NPR artist.

I'm a bit sad that I've gone from adoring all of her stuff right back to Stadtkind as soon as I laid ears on them, to going in the opposite direction of not immediately liking at all (but then eventually coming round v.much).

I'm hoping I shift on Dust, but if it wasn't Ellen...? right now, it's more dislike, quite badly, with the odd "good bit" but not many.

I dunno, I've been pretty much "so what" about the whole limp, dull, faux-balearic/sunshiney/indie/90's revival thing that seems to have been trending through indie-electro-pop the last few years from the off. And wondering if this is the zone this record is supposed to be hovering around, intentionally or not... might explain my lack of enthusiasm :/

Dear Customer,
We regret to inform you that the following items have been delayed as we are still awaiting stock from our suppliers :

Ellen Allien "DUST"

One of Amazon's aims is to provide a convenient and efficient service; in this case, we have fallen short. Please accept our sincere apologies.

And I pre-ordered this too! Grrrrr

and have probably said this before to Kate but OoB (though AWESOME) is yeah, probably over-rated due to having appeal outside of her usual fanbase. Thrills is probably the purest hit of what makes her so good (though I would probably still take the all-time-love of Berlinette over ALL in a housefire... if one of my arms had already been chopped off so I couldn't grab both!!!)

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

xp

the whole limp, dull, faux-balearic/sunshiney/indie/90's revival thing that seems to have been trending through indie-electro-pop

this is quite a broad range of styles you're conflating into "this whole [singular] thing" there, what exactly do you mean? and how does the toybox techno of dust fit into any of it? it's not balearic, it's not sunshiney, it's definitely not indie apart from one two-minute track...uh?

exactly I'd find it hard to say, but aesthetically... I know what I mean.

anyway, I'm not goning to get all specific when not really trying to make any kind of a case, just say how I feel about where this record's sound might be coming from (and what else I've heard coming from a similar place recently, and also been ambivalent-to-uninterested by..).

I'm not even going near a discussion of what "indie" means to the lex vs. the rest of the world, today, thank you.

it might be something about the production this time... dunno.

Would rather have a few more listens then come back to the thread, maybe a bit more positive, or not come back at all if not.

and erm, really, pardon me, but "My Tree", "SUN the Rain" not (really obviously) sunshiney in sound & mood? You sure?

leaving this thread alone, would rather not dwell on not liking this record and build up negative vibes when it might be a grower/sleeper for another time....

enjoyed listening to this while playing this game:

http://wonderfl.net/c/tNGi/fullscreen

"Ever" is v nice

Dust finally popped through my letterbox this week. (I had to cancel the Amazon order in the end after the third apologetic e-mail advising delay. Indigo fvckin Starfish please die soon.)

It's very frisky and playful, innit. A complete contrast to the grey packaging of the CD. Not sure about all the indie guitar but otherwise this is lots of fun, especially the treated vocals. I think I actually prefer SOOL to this, but yet another left turn from Ellen is fine by me.

'all the indie guitar' is enough for me to give this a wide berth after that dismal flashy flashy record

I don't really like her goblin vocal effects, I wish she'd sing more :/

kind of digging 'dust'

it's a vg album.

nicolas jaar's remix of "flashy flashy" is u&k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GzX7OEZCgg

it's not a very prepossessing album...i mean, it IS grey and somewhat drab, it's hardly a high point of ellen's career and i've hardly gone back to it - it's just that when you're in a certain mood or state, then and only then it really hits the spot.

the snaking melody on 'zauber' is just gorgeous though

― lex pretend, Friday, November 28, 2008 3:57 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

all week so far

I find this part of Sool's Allmusic review a kinda amusing:

Opener "Einsteigen," a found-sound open mike of what seems to be people milling about an airport...

Even if you don't recognize the metro noise, or the "Einsteigen, bitte!" announcement, towards the end of the track the announcer quite clearly says "Nächste station, Alexanderplatz".

Which I've always found a little weird, actually, since if the metro of in the intro is supposed to take us to the fantasyland described in the liner notes, surely it's not anywhere near Alexanderplatz?

i didn't know about this fantasyland in the liner notes, explain tuomas?

surely it's not anywhere near Alexanderplatz?

hence the metro noises in the intro taking you away from alexanderplatz?

The album sleeve has an explanation by her of what "Sool" is - I can't remember it clearly, and I don't have the album at hand, but I think it's supposed to be some kind of wonderland of imagination and creativity.

surely it's not anywhere near Alexanderplatz?

hence the metro noises in the intro taking you away from alexanderplatz?

No, the intro begins with someone entering the metro somewhere else, and ends with the metro arriving at Alexanderplatz.

taking you the fantasy land of Prenzlauer Berg

Maybe she just chose the Alexanderplatz announcement because it locates the intro more clearly than any other station name would for those who haven't used the Berlin metro?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_station

Wow, I didn't actually know this about the U-Bahn! Choosing one of those stations would've been more apt, maybe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6djN2Qn_MeQ

Samples of a new album, sounds like it's pointed very much away from any kind of dancefloor.

LISm is really good

She still can't mix properly after all these years. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, her selections is good.

Best thing she's done in a while:
https://soundcloud.com/djmag/02-lou

New single is very good, but I always like EA. Butterfly, Freak The Night, and her Shinedoe remix were also great recent (2014) tracks.

Just when I was getting past The Pinkprint perfume…

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CX-StgjW8AAYL6i.jpg

Interview to mark a vinyl release for LISm

https://thump.vice.com/en_uk/article/ellen-allien-explains-why-lism-is-the-freakiest-most-non-commercial-music-shes-ever-made

New song, 'Off':

http://www.mixmag.net/read/ellen-allien-premieres

Nobody gives a toss anymore but: new label, new sound(?). I love this.
https://soundcloud.com/mixmag-1/premiere-ellen-allien-ufo

Banger

was recommended this video lately and had a lot of fun watching
https://youtu.be/K482gMU-J10