Review: Ellen Allien - Dust
June 30th, 2010
Ellen Allien Dust [BPitch Control]
Need to know: Ellen Allien (nee Fraatz) is an 18-year veteran of Berlin’s techno music scene. In 1999, she founded what would become the highly influential BPitch Control, a label that has been a home to artists such as Modeselektor, Apparat and Sascha Funke. After nearly a decade in the business as a DJ, Ellen became an artist and released her debut album, Stadtkind in 2001. She later hit a career peak in 2006 with labelmate Apparat and their collaborative effort Orchestra of Bubbles. Dust marks not just her sixth album in nine years, but also another direction turned, this time heading towards full-on pop music. Oh, and in 2006 Ellen launched her own self-titled fashion line, which can be checked out here.
In a few words: Eschewing the cold, bleak climate of 2008’s Sool, Dust finds Ellen warming up with a little pop just in time for the summer. “You” tastes more pop-flavoured than anything she’s done in the past, traveling to a 4/4 beat that calls on the motorik beat of Krautrock born in her home country decades ago. “Sun the Rain” gets even brighter, summoning a guitar to lead a shuffling bit of glitch into an unlikely On “Flashy Flash,” Ellen turns on the “disco lights,” but only subtly, as she pacifies the rhythm and brings up the plucky synths. “Huibuh” has a Caribbean lilt with drowning vocals that recall Karin Dreijer Andersson’s work as Fever Ray. While the consistency of Dust doesn’t meet that of previous albums, Ellen’s exploratory itch results in some interesting moments. Only “Ever” and its bubbling, synth oscillations really borders on what most people have grown to love about Ellen Allien’s work, but it’s clear she isn’t looking to do anything but move forward on Dust.
Best track: “Sun the Rain”
R.I.Y.L. Apparat, Fever Ray, Booka Shade, Miss Kittin
Rating: 7.5/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy on CD.
Sample: “Sun the Rain”
Website: ellenallien.de
Tags: BPitch Control, Dust, Ellen Allien
Posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 3:15 pm by Cam and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
