Decollage - No.1

Hear The Track Here

Although I seem to have become, by default I might add, a fan of certain kinds of experimental music, it still has the power to raise my hackles when I see it. It's one of those genre pigeonholes like 'jazz' that makes people shudder convulsively and cross themselves for luck. Believe me, after having reviewed the cream (if that could be the word) of Soundclick's HUGE experimental sector over the last four years, I consider myself an expert in the wacky, cracky, wtf am I doing here? rough and tumble of the genre and I know what I like. For my money, there are artists hiding under this genre when in fact they could just as easily be placed in the 'we make odd noises for fun' section. See, as experimental as experimental gets it still has to have SOME viabilty about it.

A liddle bit a riddim help too ya know...

One of the prime exponants of really top class music of this variety (electronic/experimental to be exact) is our old mate Burp. Surprisingly enough because the very first thing I though about while listening to No 1 for the first time was it reminded me of Burp's work in lots of ways. All that was before I found out that - like Burp - Decollage is a German artist and I think I knew that from the first play too. There is a set classicism to this track that makes you go 'ah!' and 'that's right' every couple of seconds and believe me that makes a change for this reviewer. It isn't that often that a track comes along that instantly shakes me awake but the first couple of plays of this track did that and more.

I'm also, I hope, paying Decollage a big compliment in comparing him to Burp and I hope he takes it that way. To my mind, No 1 isn't exactly experimental (he doesn't play sonic tricks the ways that Burp does) and by rights should actually be classified as electronica. As that, this is a tour-de-force of a track; alive and hitting all the right buttons. From the very effective stop-start intro, No 1 boldy stakes it's claim to the title and you just have it give it a nod of respect for having the balls to stand up for itself. Although continued plays dented that initial high, I still continued to like what was going on but now found it a bit samey... It's not repetition but it sounds like it, if you know what I mean. Nonetheless, only a toothless old hag like myself would denigrate this remarkabley potent track - most people will just be to busy gawking at the aural storm that suddenly assaulted them. On the strength of this, I'll be checking into this further because although this isn't the class track it should be - I know this artist has one tucked away somewhere. I can smell it, I tell ya...

Excellently drawn electronica with a very neat beginning. Highly Recommended.