if u love electroclash........or even only slightly like it......there is one album you cannot go past this year, and that is:

Ellen Allien - Berlinette

Opening with "Alles Sehen," the listener gets a nice dose of what the release does so well. A slightly off-kilter beat (but still good enough for the dancefloor) pumps along while some slight resonation adds a ping to it and swirling electronics boil up before more fluttering noises float the whole track on a warm bed of sound as slightly processed vocals curl out another melodic layer. "Sehnsucht" follows up with a slight variation. More warm beats, nothing too flashy, but without being simple, while quiet synths swirl and chopped-up vocals stutter out lyric-less vocals that add a warm human touch despite their slightly robotic sound.

My favourite track on the album would have to be "Trash Scapes", probably for the line "the past is a night train.....to unknown trash scapes" but it also has really banging music and dis-jointed synths that work together so well. While you're not going to find anything groundbreaking lyrically, the simple statements and subtle manipulations actually play in favor of the release. So i'd reccomend any1 reading this to check out "Berlinette", it's definately one of the best albums i've heard all this year.

J:SiN

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