Review
Earplug
May 2008
Breezy and incessant, “Einsteigen” kicks off Ellen Allien’s latest full-length with impatient beeps and the sound of commuters jostling inside Berlin’s Alexanderplatz station. It’s an appropriate intro, one that marks SOOL as the work of an artist in transit. While Allien’s recent Boogy Bytes mix was subdued, bubbling, and spectral — many shades removed from Berlinette’s techno-pop — SOOL often sounds like a phantasmal vision of minimal dance. Airy brushstrokes and pneumatic beats are in danger of fading away; on songs like “Out,” a solitary beat is augmented with pops, percussive strikes, and spare vocal flourishes. Going this minimal often makes a record fall flat, but, as the reams of metallic scrapes and the melancholy woodwind melody of “Zauber” indicate, Allien and co-producer AGF have lovingly sculpted what remains, creating a record with surprising space, texture, and color. It’s not always the most engaging journey, but the destination remains intriguing enough.