Search - Ellen Allien :: Sool

Sool
Ellen Allien
Sool
Genres: Dance & Electronic, International Music, Special Interest, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (11) - Disc #1

Double LP version. Welcome once again to the Allien world: The album Sool is subtle, mysterious, and minimal. This could easily be Allien's most intimate album yet: the sounds of everyday life and snatches of whispers reve...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Ellen Allien
Title: Sool
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bpitch Control
Original Release Date: 1/1/2008
Re-Release Date: 5/27/2008
Genres: Dance & Electronic, International Music, Special Interest, Pop
Styles: Electronica, Techno, Europe, Continental Europe, Experimental Music, Dance Pop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 880319304323

Synopsis

Album Description
Double LP version. Welcome once again to the Allien world: The album Sool is subtle, mysterious, and minimal. This could easily be Allien's most intimate album yet: the sounds of everyday life and snatches of whispers reveal themselves with field-recorded closeness, the beats are as soft and as near as a heartbeat, ambient synth sounds are as long and spacious as an arm stretching across a couch, and everything is arranged in exactly the right place, as in a well-appointed parlor. But Sool also illustrates that minimal is not only meant for private moments, but also for the dancefloor. Some songs clang with an industrial aggression, others throb with a stark intensity, while still others gently coax you onto the floor just to break your heart.

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CD Reviews

Ellen Allien pushes techno into new territories
Steward Willons | Illinois | 07/09/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)

""Sool" is a surprising departure for techno queen Ellen Allien. Rather than give us another album of awesome, tuneful techno, she gives us a CD made more for listening than dancing. The music is at once unexpected and a logical progression from her earlier work. Where her previous albums were made of individual songs, "Sool" is more like one continuous work. It's not exactly a concept album, per se, but the flow and overall form points to something larger than a track-by-track format.



Since I have no doubt that Allien will continue to pump out the minimal techno tracks, I'm happy that she's also exploring this new direction. I've always thought techno could be more than music for dancing, but the "listening" type records always seem to fall under different labels such as downtempo, trip hop, or the unfortunately named IDM. Well, here it is - a techno album you can listen to all the way through while maintaining musical interest.



I'm not giving it five stars because it's not quite a masterpiece. Some of the tracks are a bit weak and periodically lapse into a momentary autopilot phase. Essentially, it's a great album, but not a masterpiece. She's got something even better coming in the future and when it arrives, I'm sure it will warrant a five-star review.



Ellen Allien fans need to get this - techno fans need to get this - electronic music fans need to get this. It demonstrates all the potential of techno beyond its dance function and it demonstrates it well. Check it out."