Ellen Allien - SOOL

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