- This is a fine example of a release slotting right into the particular sound and aesthetic of a label. Over the last decade or so, BPitch Control have sculpted a highly identifiable sound: forceful techno that doesn’t leave the listener cold. Ellen Allien’s two solo long players, Berlinette and Thrills exemplify this, as does last year’s Kiki track ‘Trust Me’.
‘Go’ has that sound, but unfortunately it has other problems, not least of which is that it doesn’t go anywhere. Instead it hobbles along rather lazily for six-odd minutes, and while this needn’t be fatal, the cut is also devoid of a noteworthy groove or melodic hook which could compensate. The only memorable elements are the repeated “Go” vocal sample, which gets annoying, and the mid-track crescendo which builds up for seemingly no reason other than to come down to where it began. These components aside, it is almost like the track never happened.
The B-side remix by Ostgut Ton’s Marcel Dettman fixes many of these problems. The plodding percussion is replaced by genuinely meaty kick drums, which would sound very much at home in one of Dettman’s Berghain sets. The vocal sample from the original is also manipulated into something that is both less intrusive and more interesting. Dettman has a knack for a particular kind of track that works very well in darker techno sets, and this, although not quite as good as his contribution to Cocoon’s G back in June, is a fine example of his skills.
‘Go’ is Allien’s first release on Bpitch since her excellent Orchestra of Bubbles album made with Apparat, but it pales in comparison to that record, which bristled with ideas and was full of life. A very mediocre A-side complemented by a pretty good B-side then.
TracklistA Go
B Go (Marcel Dettmann Remix)