POLE
3 (Matador)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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Oh those crazy Germans! How I never tire of saying that, and it's been thirty years now since Kraftwerk first sent electronic blips and pulses through my chorus/verse/chorus universe. Enter Pole, er Stefan Betke, to rattle music cages a wee furthermore. Named after the 4-Pole Waldorf, a diabolical filter of analog hiss and crackle, Pole employs said qualities as backdrop for a dreamy excursion of Jamaican dub. The hypnotic sequences are quite fetching, but it is their combination with the snap, crackle and pop aping vinyl imperfections as percussion, that elevates 3 above the usual curio factor.

© 2001 - John Sekerka