Search - Various Artists :: Swim Team #1

Shapeshifting

loteq | Regensburg | 06/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Swim label is the vehicle of Wire singer/guitarist Colin Newman and his wife Malka Spigel, a record company which has established itself as one of Britain's most progressive outfits. However, unlike the excellent double-disc set "Water Communication" and much of Swim's mid-'90s output, "Swim team #1" breaks no new ground. Aside from the fact that this compilation primarily collects previously released material, there's nothing really innovative to discover here. Most of the new tracks come up with bass-heavy trip-hop beats, using growling guitar riffs as hip window-dressing. But where the rhythm/guitar loops are repeated 'ad infinitum', it doesn't always make for enjoyable listening. Undoubtedly, the best tracks are the more ambient-inflected numbers. Lobe's complex, moody "Red spaces" is easily the album's highlight, along with Symptom's elusive "Burn". Another stand-out track is Bumpy's funny electro-disco burner "Pizza". No matter how useful this compilation may be for the newly interested, Swim fans are served poorly: There's no point in shelling out the cash for numerous edited versions, since the full-length versions can be found on the artist's individual albums. Also, there are two tracks which are already half a decade old. Not a bad album, it's just that I had expected a little more from Newman & Co."