~scape, 2007
Pole’s style has changed drastically since his early days. From a blind listen, you wouldn’t even know he’s the same artist. This is his least minimal album yet, with bass that could make Miami envious, and lots of downtempo, dare I say hip-hop, beats.
Once I got past my glitchy techno expectations, I discovered some unusual grooves here, but for some reason this album leaves me feeling empty. Many of ~scape’s artists (Jan Jelinek, Andrew Pekler, etc.) have adopted similar aesthetics. The style is almost generic Krautrock, with rollicking rhythms and overly synthetic sounds. The compositions are busy, but they loop without building. It’s as though each track was carefully constructed to lack soul.