“The recent hype surrounding German labels like Shitkatapult and BPitch Control has failed to implicate these labels? English brother, AI Records, an imprint that has achieved a similar, and consistently exciting blend of vintage electro, house, and IDM as of late. New Town is the first AI dual-format compilation, and all-exclusive, it serves as the perfect introduction to a label whose reputation is clearly not due to the relative obscurity of its earlier releases. The comp provides an archly fluid listen; it’s an impeccably picked and paced journey through the AI roster. I was so involved during first listen that I had to scan some of the gaps later to check if the disc was a continuous mix. (It is not.) The music travels from the balls-out, trance-induced techno of Andy Freer who opens the disc, to ADJ’s gritty atmospherics, to SWF’s aggravated ghetto tech and back in the span of only a few minutes. The sounds of Detroit and vintage Warp mingle most beautifully in tracks by label posterboy Claro Intelecto. Intelecto appears twice in New Town, first with the eerie, Drexciyan electro of “Delete,” a song grounded by a single, oscillated, and positively electric synth note, and next with the light, syncopated rhythms of “Breathless,” which threatens to drift into sweet oblivion if not for groaning bass underneath it all. Other tracks like Fold’s “Donna Hectic” integrate unlikely machine drones into low-level, foot-stomping electro that remains thoroughly accessible; T.R.I.P.’s “Donald Plays Techno” sees cold atmospheric strains butting in on a not-so-subtle disco groove. The common thread, though, is always the songs’ emotional resonance, which suffers no shortage on New Town. While other electronic labels may rely heavily on conceptual oddities or alien sound sources to make their records go, AI seems to have its heart planted firmly on its sleeve. Whether or not this is due to the (somewhat) overstated influence of certain Warp artists may be open to discussion, but this cannot detract from the simple irresistibility of everything included here. New Town could be the best, most soulful electronic compilation I’ve heard all year.”
Waist.
