Various Artists - 4.4U [2012.11]

'4.4U' is a compilation/sampler series that Alfa Matrix has been recently releasing. The label offers up four exclusive and/or new tracks for immediate download in a variety of formats. The purchaser can decide how much they would like to pay for the sampler, so in essence they decide how much they want to support the bands that contribute to each sampler. The purchaser spends a designated amount for the sampler and any money on top of that goes to the artists. I think this is a great idea for DJs to add music to their collection, and for the artists to get promoted and possibly obtain some funds. The nice part is that the label gives you a preview of the songs you're about to buy, as well as a short description of what the song sounds like. So far, it appears there are only three '4.4U' samplers at the moment. Each sampler is a little different from the other.

The '4.4U' compilation I received includes tracks by Metroland, Aesthetische, Mentallo & The Fixer, and Daniel B. Prothese. It was released in November of 2012. The general theme of this sampler is the sound of old school EBM and experimental music. The songs themselves are new, but have that familiar 1990's EBM sound to them. In general, I thought the tracks picked for the sampler compliment each other. They all sound different from each other, but stay within the general theme of "old school." Fans of Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb will definitely enjoy the tracks that are chosen for this sampler.

Metroland - Theme for Metroland (Mix for Brussels): This track from Belgium artist Metroland is taken from their album entitled 'Mind The Gap,' which was released in 2012. The song has the old school EBM feel to it, but it's a little more on the synthpop side of the spectrum. It sounds like Front 242, but the use of robotic vocals and the simplicity of the track reminds me of tech-pop bands such as Console, Green Velvet and Waldorf. There are no crazy build ups to a huge climax. The song is very simple, doesn't change much. Not too many layers of synths. Very clean sounding. Just a steady beat throughout. The track runs 05:40, which is a little long considering how monotonous the song is. I wouldn't consider playing this when I DJ at an Industrial night. It seems to fit more into the Electro Clash scene and sounds a little Euro Trashy.

Aesthetische - Blausaure: This Brazilian act is made up of members from the bands Aghast View and Biopsy. This track can be found on their EP entitled 'Nachtbrenner' which was released this year. Once again, we get an EBM vibe, but this song is a tad glitchy as well. The vocals are distorted somewhat and some of the effects used remind me of a toned down version of Combichrist. I don't mean to make anyone cringe by saying that band name. What I mean is that it would sound like Combichrist from the 'Sex, Drogen und Industrial EP', before it was all screwing chicks and punching people in the throat. The music on this track is fairly simple and it doesn't change much. In fact, if it wasn't for the vocals glitching out here and there, this track would be rather boring. It is danceable enough though. I wouldn't mind playing this out when I DJ. This was the track that stuck out to me the most from this sampler. The track runs 04:13.

Mentallo & The Fixer - Gammera (Equinox): Mentallo....you either love them/him or hate them/him. This exclusive track was created by the U.S.' Gary Dassing. Let's start off with saying, it's no Where Angels Fear To Tread. However, this song has an indescribable old school industrial sound to it compared to the rest of the sampler. There is a 4/4 beat to it, but there is no bass line making it go oontz. As per usual, this Mentallo song consists of many layers and tends to be schizophrenic throughout the entire song. There are vocal samples, but they are very hard to make out. This song portrays a good idea of what goes on in our heads on any given day and tends to stick with Gary's theme of his last album, which was regarding drug induced days and nights. The track runs 04:25, but seems a lot longer because of how chaotic it is.

Daniel B. Prothesev - SSyme3: Only seems fitting to have a member of Front 242 be on this sampler somewhere. This song is also exclusive to this sampler, as it hasn't been released on his forthcoming album as of yet. This song I really just didn't understand at all. It stands out from the others because it's mostly experimental. It's slightly glitchy, and full of clicks and pops. About half way through the song it turns into experimental ambient. I really didn't enjoy this song much. I found it to be very boring once it turned ambient and it was as if it were a completely different song. It just wasn't GOOD ambient. It kind of just kept going on and on. It didn't really make me FEEL anything other than annoyed. I respect him as an artist, but this song really didn't seem to have much thought put into it. Jun 07 2013